KUER News Transcript: November 2, 2000
By Jenny Brundin

HOST: Utah's second congressional district race is heading for a showdown next week. It's a hard fought contest between Jim Matheson, an energy consultant and son of the late Governor Scott Matheson...and Derek Smith, an internet entrepreneur and political newcomer. In a closely watched race thought to be key to a GOP House majority, Republicans have resorted to an onslaught of negative ads. But today, KUER's Jenny Brundin focuses on what voters want to hear about most: the issues.

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BRUNDIN: The second congressional district is unusual in Utah....it's got unconventional demographics - a mix of urban liberals and conservative suburbanites, making it the most Democratic district in Republican-dominated Utah. Some estimates show it at 40 percent Democrat, 10 percent independent, but still a full 50 percent Republican. Candidate Derek Smith's message is clearly aimed at Republican voters. He's an unabashed party man....repeatedly dropping the names of Ronald Reagan, House Speaker Dennis Hastert.....and GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush.

SMITH: "I'm proud to stand with Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of the House...he came out and campaigned for me. SMITH: We must, we must continue to keep control of the congress with Republicans... if we want to pass this legislation SMITH: It won't be up to Jim or I..it will be up to one of the parties..." SMITH: "And I would support the plan as it's put forward on George W.'s web site..." SMITH: "This election is about control of the House of Representatives..."

Conservative Democratic candidate Jim Matheson, meanwhile, trumpets his independence and dislike of partisan politics. His strategy is to appeal to the political middle - Democrats, moderate Republicans and Independents.

MATHESON: "My opponent has consistently said throughout his campaign that he's running to hold this seat for a party, I'm running because I want to represent all of the people of this congressional district ." MATHESON: "We've got to get away from looking at things that there are only 2 points of view. there are 435 people in congress that means there are 435 points of view" MATHESON: "I'm not going to go back there and be a rubber-stamp for any political party I'm going to go back there and I'm going to work for any good idea regardless of where it comes from MATHESON: "I say shame on both presidential candidates for having already gone out and overpromised the surplus." MATHESON: "There's too much partisanship, the Democrats say one thing, the Republicans say another..."

In debate after debate, ad after ad, both candidates cast themselves as fiscally conservative, and skeptical the federal government. But there are differences between the candidates. Take Social Security. Derek Smith advocates George W. Bush's "third way"..allowing people to invest a small percentage of their Social Security into personal accounts...so they can earn more than the 1 to 2 percent they currently do.

SMITH: "When I ask people out at the schools, how many of you think social security will be there for you? I get no hands raised! And you know why? Because they don't think they can impact the system they don't think it'll be there for them. If you let them have the ability to self-direct a small portion of these funds, it'll draw them in."

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Republican senior Myrle Elwood at this American Association of Retired Persons debate agrees with individual accounts-- a major plank of George W. Bush's social security platform.

ELWOOD: "I see that Social Security is going to go broke. I also think that my grandchildren cannot afford to pay more taxes I think there has to be investment."

MATHESON: "The problem with the bush plan is that it's not a small percentage, it's 1 out of every 6 dollars that's in Social Security today-if you take that out you're going to have to either cut benefits, or that 2037 date when the solvency exists..is going to get pushed a lot more forward in terms of taking money out of the system right now."

Candidate Jim Matheson favors managing Social Security like a pension or insurance fund allowing investment in higher-yield assets beyond government bonds.but not individual accounts.

MATHESON: "I've talked to people in the financial services industry and the notion of creating 150 million new small accounts is not in their interest either - they said the administrative and efficiency concerns would overwhelm the opportunity there. As I've said, if we manage it in a pool. that's the way to go."

On Medicare, both candidates would use a portion of the projected budget surplus to bolster the health program for seniors. Smith says eliminating the program's estimated $20 billion dollars in fraud and waste would free up some cash. Matheson favors "lock-box" legislation to protect Medicare from budgetary raids...a position popular with the seniors here at St. Mark's Towers Senior Center...

WOMAN: "Well why don't they just set it so that a person's income...whatever the income is...that's the amount of help they get..." MATHESON: "I think that that's one of the criteria....we ought to be looking at this medicare coverage.."

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On taxes, both candidates support repealing the inheritence tax and the so-called marriage tax penalty. Both are fiscal conservatives. But Matheson says, when the economy is good, the first priority should be to shore up Social Security and Medicare...second, pay down the national debt, followed by middle class tax cuts.

MATHESON: "Right now the economy is not slow...and Alan Greenspan chairman of federal reserve, a life long advocate of limited government and reducing taxes, says, 'Don't cut taxes now while I'm raising interest rates to keep the economy in check, pay down the debt,' and I'm going to stick with Alan Greenspan on this one."

Smith's preference lies with a tax cut off the bat. He subscribes to the philosophy of Ronald Reagan.

SMITH: "We learned from President Reagan, if you cut the taxes, you increase income to the government, it sounds paradoxical, but that is exactly what happened."

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Alongside taxes....education is Smith's number one issue. Less than 7 percent of funding for Utah schools is from the federal government-- but Smith is passionate about what he calls "cutting the bureaucratic red tape" from Washington that mandate how money is used.

SMITH: "We need more teachers but what if in your daughter's school what they need are textbooks or computers or some other thing instead of teachers, I really think that that should be a decision made at a local level not a federal government level."

Smith supports tax credits for private school tuition. Matheson, by contrast, says diverting more money from public schools could cripple Utah's cash-strapped school system. He supports more money for teacher training and teachers....and, like Smith, supports accountability and local control of public education

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According to a Salt Lake Tribune investigation, national political parties and outside interests have spent $2 million dollars for soft money ads in Utah's second district. Early in the campaign, Matheson asked Smith to refuse the steady stream of unregulated soft money.

MATHESON: "What you have is you have huge special interest dollars going into the two political parties and it overwhelms the political debate because I gotta tell you, our two political parties are for sale all you gotta do is look at the two national conventions in August it was absurd people were saying you want a floor pass? $20,000 bucks a piece. That's not what politics is supposed to be."

Smith refused the proposal to ban soft money.

SMITH: "Now is that pernicious? Or is it free speech? Tough question. I think that it's first and foremost to stand up for first amendment rights that say free speech by an issue advocacy group ought to be protected"

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Any representative from Utah will have to tackle the intractible wilderness problem...yet the issue has rarely come up in-depth in any debates. Both candidates side-step the question of how many acres of wilderness should be designated in Utah. Matheson allows that he'll be an "advocate for wilderness."

MATHESON: "We need to be talking about different pieces of land and determining what's the most appropriate use for this land and there are places in this state that ought to be declared wilderness."

As for Smith, during the primary, he supported proposals "in the range of 3.4 million acres."

SMITH: "I think we need to find a balance that allows all of our citizens to enjoy the public lands not just the few who are able to hike or back pack into the wilderness.I think to stridently say it has to be locked away forever is just a little too far."

Both don't like the way the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument was created. Matheson opposes the Legacy Highway...Smith says it's necessary. Both are opposed to draining Lake Powell, and both are opposed to shipping nuclear waste to Utah. But each candidate is hoping voters in the Second District grab onto their themes: For Smith, it's lower taxes, less government regulation and more personal freedom; for Matheson, it's an independent voice, eliminating the country's debt, and decision-making for the future.

For KUER News, I'm Jenny Brundin.

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