Despite a double-digit lead in most polls, incumbent Sen. Mark Warner still felt he had to distance himself from his party, telling NBC’s Chuck Todd during a debate Tuesday that the Senate “could perhaps do better in both parties moving forward” than having Sen. Harry Reid as majority leader.
The Virginia Democrat made the comment after Todd asked him if he thought Reid, D-Nev., was the best possible leader the Senate could have. “I’ll take that as a no,” Todd said.
Asked if Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was the best Republicans could have, GOP candidate Ed Gillespie gave a clear yes.
Later in the debate, which was hosted by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce in Northern Virginia, Warner also distanced himself from President Obama, declining to answer whether he would support the president if he enacted an immigration policy through executive action. Warner professed to not know what the president would do, Despite Obama’s repeated comments that he would act unilaterally if Congress does not pass legislation.
Gillespie was put on the spot a few times, too. The first question from moderators involved gay marriage, which he tried to sidestep by saying that while he believed “that marriage is between a man and woman” he did not think that the Senate should pass legislation on it.
Later, a moderator pointed to earlier comments Gillespie made that contraceptives should be sold over the counter and asked which ones he thought specifically should available without a prescription. “I am not the one to determine,” he replied. “That’s for the [Food and Drug Administration] and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.”
Reflecting Virginia’s new status as a political swing state, both candidates made efforts to distance themselves from their parties during the debate. Warner expressed support for the Keystone pipeline and oil drilling off the Atlantic shore of Virginia — provided the state gets a good share of the profits.
Gillespie, asked to highlight an issue where he has stood up to the GOP, said he opposed mandatory minimum prison sentences: “I am someone who believes in redemption.”
