Printer ink, Israel loom large in Republican Senate candidate debate

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The three Republican candidates for U.S. Senate met in a radio debate Friday hosted by conservative radio host Eric Hogue. The three confronted one another directly in a free-flowing exchange that was testy at times with the candidates lobbing personal charges against one another.

The first third of the debate focused on Tom Campbell’s record on Israel -- an issue that has emerged as an early focus on the young campaign. Campbell said he wanted the debate to stop his opponents from ‘calling me an anti-Semite and then denying it. The silent slander stops today,’ he said.

Chuck DeVore joined in on Campbell’s attacks on Carly Fiorina, saying the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive has launched ‘a campaign of whispers against Tom Campbell and myself.’

Fiorina responded to charges that a subsidiary of HP violated U.S. sanctions against Iran by selling printers to the country. She took a shot at DeVore, whose campaign raised the allegations, saying, ‘Redistribution of printer ink in compliance with U.S. law is not a national security issue.’

The economy, which is seen as the top political issue for most voters, did not surface in the debate until the final 10 minutes, when all three candidates called for tax cuts and cuts in federal spending. Fiorina and DeVore attacked Campbell’s record on taxes, saying Campbell has consistently voted to support tax increases.

-- Anthony York