Ohio’s candidates for U.S. Senate squared off yesterday in the first of three scheduled debates.
The debate was similar to the largely negative ad campaign being over the airwaves as incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown and state Treasurer Josh Mandel hurled criticism at each other.
Brown pointed to the endorsements he’s received from newspapers like the Plain Dealer, Akron Beacon Journal and Youngstown Vindicator, saying they don’t trust the way Mandel runs the treasury.
"He doesn’t show up for work, he hires his political cronies, but most importantly they don’t trust him to stand up for the middle class," says Brown.
Mandel defended his staffing decisions, and blamed Brown for the state of the economy.
"He claims he’s fighting for the middle class. Yet in his time in Washington, unemployment- up. Gas prices - up. Tuition – up, Foreclosure rates – up. Health care costs – up. Senator, that’s quite a record," says Mandel.
Brown painted Mandel as an over-ambitious politician who no sooner wins one office than he’s running for the next. Mandel said Brown is among Washington’s career politicians who live by different rules than everyone else.
The two meet again for debate number 2 in Columbus Thursday night.