ELIZABETHTOWN -- Similarities in policy positions between state Sens. Brett Guthrie (R-Bowling Green) and David Boswell (D-Owensboro) took a back seat during last night’s 2nd Congressional District debate in Elizabethtown, as disagreements on political tactics stole the spotlight following a week in which the candidates sparred over television advertising.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a thirty-second ad on Boswell’s behalf last Tuesday, just after Boswell and Guthrie met for an amicable debate in Lexington. The DCCC spot attacked Guthrie and accused his family business of “shipping manufacturing work to Mexico” – an assertion Guthrie’s camp threatened to sue to have removed from the air, arguing the sentiment was “false and libelous.”

The tone for the latest debate was set early in the evening, ostensibly by the fight over that ad. Guthrie referenced the DCCC spot in his opening statement, contrasting the message of the spot with the noticeably bipartisan approach the two candidates had taken at last Monday’s KET debate.

“We got together last week in a debate that was civil and we all talked about being bipartisan and going to Washington to work together,” said Guthrie.

“And I woke up the next morning to be attacked in an unethical ad - an unethical ad that was so dishonest one TV station took it off the air,” he added, referencing WAVE-TV’s removal of the ad until it was re-cut to remove some of the offending language.

Guthrie defended his company, Trace Die Cast, as he has in a response ad and several press releases since, arguing “every single product is made in Kentucky, regardless of what people hear.”

Still in his opening statement, the Republican seized on the DCCC’s presence in the race – a presence legally required to be independent of Boswell’s own campaign efforts, though Guthrie had no problem associating the two.

“This group that came in to run these ads was invited into Kentucky by my opponent,” said Guthrie.

“One person - Jennifer Moore, whoever she is - went up to Nancy Pelosi personally at the convention and said ‘please, come intervene in the race,” added Guthrie, seemingly referencing Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Jennifer Moore and the efforts of some Democrats to talk up the KY-2 race at August’s Democratic National Convention. “They may say it’s not their campaign ad, but it’s here.”

For his part, Boswell’s own opening statement found him moving away from Guthrie’s line of assault.

“I take pride in my ethical behavior and I resent the charge of being called dishonest,” said Boswell. “I choose to take the high-road tonight.”

Instead, he turned back to his debate mantra, referencing his years of experience in the state Legislature and as Commissioner of Agriculture.

“My commitment is I will roll my shirt sleeves up and apply that same work ethic to attack the very severe problems we are faced with in Washington, D.C.,” said Boswell.

The candidates next fielded questions from a three-person panel. Given the events of the day, the first was concerning how each would have voted on the bailout legislation defeated in Congress just hours before.

Boswell said he would have “voted against the proposal” as he said he felt it was being rushed through, but he urged transparency and oversight in any legislation.

“We need to move a little bit slower, because in my opinion the devil is in the details,” said Boswell. “There’s an awful lot of bad loans made out there that we need to address from a regulatory standpoint.”

Guthrie said deciding on the bill was “difficult” as it was not “in front” of him, but added a call that the government “protect personal savings” in any legislation considered.

Responding to most of the questions from the panel, Guthrie and Boswell largely matched the positions each had earlier taken on earmarks, the conflict in Iraq, trade, and energy.

However, it was clear the tone of the race had changed after last week, and Guthrie returned to the supposed impact of the ad on several occasions.

When questioned on trade, Guthrie again defended his family’s company from the DCCC’s criticism, arguing Trace Die Cast never sent jobs to Mexico, only products sold to a “customer” who located their facilities there.

The issue also popped up when Boswell discussed using a “bipartisan” approach to solving energy issues using agricultural products.

“We can fire at one another getting there, but when we get there, [we should] attack these all-important issues,” said Boswell. “We can work together in a bipartisan way to solve those problems.”

Guthrie responded that “firing at one another getting there makes it difficult to work with each other when we are there, in my opinion.”

Question time

The most contentious portion of the evening, however, came when the candidates queried each other.

Noting both candidates took “pro-life, pro-gun” positions while saying the leadership of Boswell’s party largely did not, Guthrie asked Boswell “if you cannot stand up to those who are running negative attack ads that we know are false against me, how can you stand up to the leaders of Congress?”

Boswell retorted that Guthrie was “whining” about campaign tactics, and referenced earlier robocalls into the 2nd District allocating some responsibility to Boswell for high energy prices.

“I didn’t stand up and whine when my opponent’s party started running robocalls all over the district blaming me for the high cost of energy at the pump,” said Boswell. “I didn’t whine or complain about that.”

“I represent my constituency. I have sponsored or co-sponsored every pro-life bill that has come through the gen assembly since my arrival in 1978 – I don’t back up an inch from that,” continued Boswell. “When Speaker Pelosi is off-target with the issues of my constituency, you can be assured that David Boswell will vote for his constituents.”

Boswell said he had a record of deviating from his party line, but accused Guthrie of adhering to the wishes of the Republican leadership in the state Senate.

“I’ve never been a rubber stamp as my opponent has been a rubber stamp for [state Sen.] President David Williams on the senate side,” said Boswell.

Guthrie responded by turning back to the “pro-life” issue, arguing “the question is how many pro-life bills will you get to vote on if Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House.”

“I know in Frankfort if the leadership is not pro-life those bills never come to the floor,” retorted Guthrie.

Boswell later tried to turn the political criticism around on Guthrie, questioning if the Republican would again bring Vice President Cheney into Kentucky for a fundraiser, as Guthrie did in late March. Boswell said he “precluded himself” from raising funds during this year’s session and pointed to Cheney’s appearance during the same period as a counter-example.

“Your report showed that you did raise some money during the session,” responded Guthrie. “I don’t know if you said you raised zero dollars, I think it was 34,000. If you had raised zero dollars during the session I think that would be a fair point.”

Guthrie defended Cheney off-handedly, as well, questioning what the country would be like if U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and his running mate John Edwards beat President Bush and Cheney in 2004.

“Let’s say John Edwards was President – you would not have [Justices John] Roberts and [Samuel] Alito on the Supreme Court,” said Guthrie.

“I think my opponent started to say ‘take the high road,’” said Guthrie. “It’s easy when they aren’t spending $100,000 lying about you.”

The two continued to exchange jabs, with Guthrie asking if Boswell had a “conflict of interest” by filing a gambling bill given his status as a legislator and a “registered lobbyist” for a company in Owensboro. Boswell said he had a “written opinion” clearing him of any conflicts from the legislative research commission.

Hometown appeal

Returning to questions from the panel, the two returned to some modicum of agreement on issues, both stressing the importance of maintaining the Ft. Knox military facility and agreeing on allowing “pre-tax” dollars to be used to pay health insurance premiums.

The candidates were also asked what percentage of their campaign contributions came from out of state donors and why those donors would be interested in the race. Guthrie, saying the funds came from “people who are concerned about national policy,” estimated that 25 percent of his contributions came from out-of-state, while Boswell said 50 to 75 percent of his funds came from within the state, but did not explicitly address why.

With each candidate coming from one of the two largest cities in the 2nd District, Elizabethtown – the 3rd largest – and the surrounding Hardin County may represent the swing area in the election. Each candidate said they would continue to focus on Hardin, which loses a hometown Congressman given U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis’ (R-Cecilia) retirement.

In making appeals to the county, Guthrie said Hardin was “important to me” and assured attendees he would work to ensure Ft. Knox received priority attention. Boswell, for his part, said the area was the “hub of the district” and pledged to open a field office in the county if elected.

Monday’s debate was co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise. Forthcoming meetings between Guthrie and Boswell are said to be in the works.