ATLANTA — Rick Allen and John Barrow said during a televised debate Sunday that they’re not pleased with the negative ads any more than voters are, but they stopped short of disowning any put out by their campaigns or supporting organizations.
And each was blunt about accusing the other of lying.
“What he’s saying about our record just isn’t true,” Barrow said.
Barrow, the Democratic congressman representing the 12th district that includes Augusta, and Allen, his Republican challenger, blamed the worst of the attack ads on outside groups rather than the actual campaigns themselves. Barrow also condemned a mailer the Democratic Party of Georgia sent black voters to spur turnout that warns if they don’t of another incident like the police shooting of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri.
“It appeals to the worst of us and not the best of us, and that’s why I don’t condone it,” Barrow said.
Allen, the owner of an Augusta construction company, said the reason Democratic groups are attacking him is they’re worried Barrow could lose.
“I’m sick of it. All of it is a bunch of lies, and you know why they’re doing it. Because they want to keep their boy in Washington,” Allen said.
The debate has drawn national attention because Barrow is one of the last white Democrats in the South. Organized by the Atlanta Press Club, it was broadcast statewide on Georgia Public Broadcasting and will air nationally on C-SPAN.
One of the first opportunities for them to debate almost didn’t happen until it was moved to a government facility. It was organized by the Islamic Society of Augusta last month.
Allen’s campaign signaled it needed to be moved from the local Islamic Community Center, and his press secretary issued a statement saying Barrow and the Muslim cleric were “standing shoulder to shoulder.” Asked during Sunday’s debate whether he was playing a race card himself, Allen denied it.
“Nothing that came from my mouth or from the campaign refused to debate John Barrow anywhere, anytime,” he said.
When the candidates questioned each other, Allen asked Barrow when he was going to address the federal deficit and spark job creation. Barrow responded that he’s been effective because he’s gotten a mileage boost for veterans and pushed legislation to withhold congressional paychecks until the budget is signed into law.
Allen called Barrow’s no-budget/no-pay bill as a political gimmick, but he also said he would have voted for a Republican version of it that was only temporary.
Asked about term limits, the five-term congressman said he considers two-year elections the form of term limits the country’s founding fathers favored. Instead of a set maximum in office, Barrow argued that what is wrong with Congress is redistricting that creates lopsided constituencies so that politicians from them have no incentive to take the bipartisan approach he does. Republicans in the Georgia legislature packed the 12th district two years ago with GOP supporters, which has why they have been so frustrated that they have been unable so far to dislodge him.
Observers believe Allen has the best chance, in part, because he had deeper pockets than Barrow’s previous challengers. Allen has poured more than $1 million into his campaign, and when asked in the debate if that money could have benefitted the district more if he had donated it to a charity or his church, he responded that he wanted to use it to solve problems.
“We cannot solve our problems in the community as fast as Washington is making them,” he said. “That’s why I want to go to the source.”
Follow Walter Jones on Twitter @MorrisNews and Facebook or contact him at walter.jones@morris.com.
