Walz vs. Quist: Rochester Chamber of Commerce Debate

Twenty-five minutes in and it is obvious the two men cannot stand each other. What surprised me is that Republican Alan Quist managed to get under Democrat Tim Walz’s skin and make him angry. Quist is always angry with prickly being the mellowest you ever see him. The whole tone of the debate is personal attacks, led by Quist -- and complained about by Quist. I thought Walz was slicker than this, but he has been red faced multiple times throughout the debate.

Wow, neither candidate looked good in this forum. This debate is the epitome of complaints about a lack of civility in politics these days. Only partisans on each side would declare their candidate the winner. Quist was hectoring, took constant nasty shots,  and was constantly confused whether it was his time for rebuttal. Walz was flustered and increasingly angry while sticking to boilerplate talking points (Akin SQUAWK).

Interesting how Walz tried to steer everything toward bipartisan cooperation being needed and how he has gotten compliments from across the aisle. He also is promising recordings of Quist’s past statements that Quist denied exist. His hammering extremists on the Republican side are preventing any budget deals or work being done is not going to fly outside the political left.

Sad, but the lightning round did a better job at informing the audience to what the candidates are about. That is strange to write, but that is the impression.

Past the hour mark now and things have calmed down a little. Walz has found his feet and is on a roll on manufacturing, but Quist handles it well in the rebuttal. Quist repeatedly states that he is a farmer and Walz keeps hitting him over receiving $600,000 in farm subsidies from the Federal government.  Oh that is going to leave a mark, Walz nailed him hard after a poor response that Walz is the one responsible for passing the bill providing the money.

Now they are after each other for being hypocrites.

Interesting, both are against tax cuts to solve the economy. Quist inserts penalties against married couples into this, like he did on healthcare. This seems to really anger Walz and again he hits Quist about wanting to cut veteran’s benefits while promising an audio recording of it.

“Alan seems to bring the worst out of all of us.” – Walz after discussing Republicans who have dealt with Quist. It was said ruefully and I think he was surprised how much Alan got under his skin. In his closing statement, he apologized to the people watching before going to a positive message about America’s future, with a back door slam on past methods being divisive.

“I don’t need this.” – Quist on his motives for running. A clear statement about American exceptionalism and that more freedom is needed for economic growth. And promptly exceeds his time with no clear conclusion to his closing statement.

Yep, there is no chance a race Quist in will stay civil. It looks like Walz was blindsided by this and thought he could remain above the fray. I am actually glad that hardly anyone will see this debate. It was embarrassing on one level and horrifically funny on another (that’s what happens when you have been in politics too long). It looks like the chamber liked Quist from the applause, which is no surprise given the economic realities of the time. The applause did get more tepid as time went by, however.

Winner: Neither

Loser: CD1