Face The State Staff Report
A taped debate between the candidates for Colorado's 2nd Congressional District at KBDI studios, Friday, showed nuanced differences, with Rocky Mountain News reporter Lynn Bartels concluding, "Sometimes it's hard to tell these guys apart."
PolisFTS Staff Photo
Candidates, including former state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, conservationist Will Shafroth, and former Colorado Board of Education Chairman Jared Polis, all agreed that ending the war in Iraq should be a top congressional priority. They also all oppose domestic drilling and school vouchers, and all agreed that the Federal government's bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was a good move.
The debate's most divisive moment came when Bartels, who together with moderator Aaron Harber questioned candidates on their positions, asked Fitz-Gerald what she thought of a recent ad launched by her union supporters. The piece blasted Polis's support of charter schools and a voucher bill. After first attempting to dodge the question by pointing out she had no control of the content of the ad, Fitz-Gerald finally answered by saying she has never voted in favor of vouchers and opposed the state's Charter School Institute.
As Face The State has previously reported, Polis has a history of supporting conservative-leaning school choice causes. He is responsible for founding several charter schools that target immigrants, minorities and the underserved.
Polis's position on vouchers is less clear. While the ad claims he supported a "radical" school voucher bill while serving on the CBOE, Polis insists he rejected the final bill. Polis used Friday's debate to assert he does not support vouchers, but he proudly touted his record on charter schools, calling such institutions an "outlet for innovation" and something he hopes to encourage at the federal level. Fitz-Gerald, conversely, has suggested that charter schools are racist, serving as vehicles of white flight.
After the debate, Polis told FTS that the No Child Left Behind Act is a "disaster" and that this nation needs a system that "helps not hurts schools." He also advocates more college tuition assistance programs and doubling Pell grants, a Federal program providing need-based grants to low-income undergraduates.
Harber concluded that the group was not as aggressive as candidates for Colorado's hotly contested 6th Congressional District, who had debated in the same studio a week earlier, calling Fitz-Gerald, Polis and Shafroth a group of "gentle souls."
The 2nd CD debate airs tonight at 8 p.m. on KBDI Channel 12.