Challengers question Petri, GOP in debate
Challengers question Petri, GOP in debate
Three face off Nov. 2 for area seat in U.S. House
By Alex Hummel
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
OSHKOSH — U.S. Rep. Tom Petri equated fund-raising ethics violations House of Representatives majority leader Tom DeLay has weathered to a “traffic violation” Monday.
Petri, 64, a Fond du Lac Republican and 6th Congressional District representative since 1979, defended both himself and his GOP leader, as he debated with two Nov. 2 election challengers — Democrat database marketer Jef Hall, 31, of Oshkosh and Green Party candidate Carol Rittenhouse of Plymouth.
During the 75-minute debate at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s Reeve Memorial Union, Petri was asked whether he believed DeLay — a Texas Republican rebuked for raising campaign funds from a company standing to gain from an energy bill — should resign as majority leader.
“I don’t think so,” said Petri, a former House ethics committee member.
“It’s a little like a traffic violation,” he said of DeLay’s recent ethics reprimands. “You can get arrested for things, but it’s not like it’s murder.”
It was just one question put to Petri in the mostly cordial debate sponsored by UWO’s political science student association. Petri also defended transportation bill votes amid his support from related political action groups, saying there is “no quid pro quo.”
Hall asked Petri to defend his vote for the fall Medicare bill given the congressman has at least $5 million in Walgreen Co. stock. The company could benefit from the legislation via new prescriptions.
“Walgreens is not a drug company,” Petri said. “They just sell prescriptions.” He further argued the stock of the company dipped after the Medicare bill vote.
Hall called the issue “a big question” for him and constituents. But he didn’t criticize Petri on all points.
The Democrat, who only recently raised $5,000 to Petri’s $1 million-plus, complimented the Republican for his support of bike trails.
But Hall argued for middle class tax cuts to bolster the economy and new jobs, called no-bid contracts in Iraq a “sin and a shame,” and said 6th District voters — after 40 years of Republican rule in the district — are gravitating toward a Democratic party for people, not property.
“(President) Bush even says ‘the ownership society,’ which sounds a lot like feudalism to me,” Hall said.
Rittenhouse said she decided to run as a Green largely based on environmental issues. She advocates the end of “Iraq occupation” in two years, closure of U.S. bases there and universal health care.
Alex Hummel writes for the Oshkosh Northwestern.
