en buck in a- kr tight race. buck is being backed by the tea party. . >> campaign 2010, the senate debate for colorado. >> thank you for joining us this evening. for the next hour we will be quizzing the candidates running for u.s. senate here in colorado. this is the first time that they have faced state-wide general elections. senator michael bennett was appointed to the seat. he has worked with the denver public schools and in the private sector. he is 45-years old.

he is married with three children. his opponent is republican ken buck. he has worked as a prosecutor for the u.s. department of justice and in the colorado attorney's office. he is married and has two children. someone. beack beat this is one of the most hotly contested senate races in the country and could tip the balance of power in d.c. has anything about this race been what you expected? mr. but we'll start with you. >> it is a hard-fought race. there is a lot of outside money in the race. this is a key race in the united states. i think the issues are pretty much what i expected the issues

to be. we are talking about the jobs, the economy, and spending. those are the issues that i think are imported or, rather. >> senator bennett? >> i have travelled around this state. we have had serious conversations about what is happening to our working families, our middle class families who are going through the most savage economy since the great depression. i am surprised at all of the outside money that has been spent on this race. i have to go back to washington and make sure that we can get these advertisements with disclosures on them. >> now that we have set the scene for this race, let's get to the issues. we are joined by a political specialist and analyst.

let's talk about the economy is affecting this race. >> it seems like every candidate running this year is promising to create new jobs. other bad shape policy, my question to you is what can you do specifically to put people back to work with these new unemployment figures in colorado around 8%. >> it is higher than 8%. it is 8.2%. unemployment in the country is far too high. if you look at the last period of economic growth, it is the first time our economy has grown. we have not created enough new jobs in the united states since 1998. we need to give small businesses access to credit so they can hire people. we have to commit ourselves to

an energy policy that breaks our reliance on foreign oil, quit spending -- quit sending money to the persian gulf -- to regimes that give that money to terrorists. we need to invest in energy here in the united states. colorado has seen 20% job growth in clean energy jobs and natural gas jobs as well. that is what we need to fight for. >> night 4% of the businesses in colorado or small businesses -- 94% of the businesses in colorado are small businesses. they will not expand right now because they do not have the certainty they need. they do not know what their health care bills will be in three years. they do not know what their tax bill will be. they do not know what their energy bill will be. at the very moment when we went into this recession, we had a

dramatic lurched to the left in government. it has caused uncertainty in the marketplace. we need to develop an intelligent energy policy, not cap and trade. that way we do not overtaxed by puttin his syntaxes -- by putting hidden taxes in other places. they need to be able to grow and create jobs. >> there is some certainty out there. the economy is what is really uncertain. every small business in the state will see a tax credits if they give -- will see a tax credit if they give health insurance to their employees. my opponent proposed that -- opposed that legislation. the entrepreneurs and elevators in colorado -- and not the

special interest in washington. about tax policy specifically. we will start with mr. ken buck. what changes to tax policy would you support to promote certainty, investment, job growth, and deficit reduction? >> i would absolutely do away with the 1099 provisions that were hidden in the health-care bill. i'd think they were incredibly onerous on our small businesses. they place a burden on the small businesses when they need to expand. what we need to do it ultimately is habitats code that is simple and efficient. -- a tax code that is simple and in addition. we need to reduce the burden on businesses who need to find out exactly what their tax that is going to be. >> we need a tax code and

regulatory code that supports job creation in the united states and does not inspire companies to ship jobs overseas. i agree with what my opponent just said. for 18 months he ran a campaign that said we should get rid of our corporate taxes altogether, cut income taxes altogether, and instead have a national sales tax that will increase taxes on people by 23%. as we think about how to innovate in the 21st century, we have a tax cut that is full of special interest giveaways to all kinds of interest of one kind or another. we need tax policies that will support color other businesses. >> you have made it much more complicated with your health care legislation. i am not opposed to corporate tax. i am not opposed to and contacts. i am opposed to having the second highest corporate income

tax in the world. it undermines our ability to compete in a global manufacturing world. we need to reduce our corporate tax rate. japan is already producing bears. that will make us at the highest corporate tax rate in the world. >> the next question is yours. >> i take you will agree the country is still divided over president obama's health-care reform. we know it will be more expensive than we were led to be initially. senator bennett, you cast one of the deciding votes. what do you say to the lawmakers who are trying to repeal it? >> ken buck says he wants to repeal it. there is a woman who came up to me and said her daughter had a tight-1 diabetes. she now knows you have insurance going forward. -- she now knows she will have

insurance going forward. she no longer has to worry about that. ken buck has said that -- ken buck is accusing me of cutting medicare. it is despicable. i wish you get your advertisements all the air. that is the heart of the health care reform bill. i have fought hard for amendments to reduce cost and have made sure that the administration promises the savings will actually materialize. we are making get better with common-sense approach. that is the right idea. >> senator bennett cast the deciding vote for health care. without his vote, health care would not have passed. we need to repeal it for two reasons. it would past -- it was passed in a fundamentally corrupt way. some senators were coerced into

voting for the health care bill based on goodies they got to bring back to their state. that is fundamentally wrong. americans do not believe that this health care bill was voted on based on its merits. we need to get rid of it. this health care bill on the nephele lifted the mark -- fundamentally lifted the marked. we made a bad health care bill a bigger bad health care bill. >> i fundamentally disagree that repealing this is the right idea. what we should be doing is stopped screening each other and pointing fingers. we should be making it better. our government cannot afford to consume the amount of money we are consuming on health care. it is 18% of our gross domestic product. every other country in the world spends half that on health care. it seems to me that if we take the business approach to

providing what is there, the people of colorado and across the country will be better off. >> next question. >> our question for ken buck, does the country have a moral obligation to provide coverage for the 51 million americans who currently lack insurance and, for mr. bennett, had you assess the witnesses or shortcomings of the health-care bill and why was there so much emphasis on coverage rather than cost? >> i think we have a compassionate country and we need to do everything we can to give health care to every person. that does not mean that we had a top-down model of health-care presented by the federal government. it means that we lowered the cost of health care and create a system where everyone can afford health care. those who cannot, we have medicaid and other programs for them. we have to encourage people

based -- encourage people to get on health care. we do not do that with the government top-down model. we do it by coming together as a community and developing a model from the bottom up. >> i appreciate that observation. these are colorado ideas. they are now in the health-care bill that ken buck has demonized and said we should repeal. what we had before and what we continue to have endless ander unsustainable path. i have always maintained from the very beginning of the debate that we ought to be focused on costs. whether people are covered are not covered, cost is destroying -- whether people are covered or not covered, cost is destroying us. that is an incredibly expensive

way to deal with this. it is a tax we are all paying. that is an unfunded mandate. we can do better than that as a country if we set partisan politics aside and work together in a business-type action. >> the reality is the costs are going to rise at a faster rate. i read recently that at the government did nothing, cost would go up last that they are going up under this health care bill. that is a disgrace. again, it is a top-down model. senator bennett was the deciding vote on it. it is not the kind of health care we need in this country. >> if i do not know what you read, but that is certainly not true. >> thank you for your questions. your campaign advertisements have created a lot of attention.

>> is it not a shame, we have two seasons, smart hardworking men here and he would not know it from the advertisements. out of staters have spent more money than any other state in the country. attack advertisements work and the candidates know it. of what to thank you both for being here. i have spent the last several months researching these ads and breaking down the claims. i want to give you a chance to respond to some of the more provocative charges. each of you had boarded by seconds for a response and a rebuttal. we will start within at the adjusted the air last week. it attacks can but for his handling of a rape case as district attorney. >> conducting see is more qualified because he does not wear high heels, because he is not a woman. he refused to prosecute a convicted rapist. >> the ad would both have less

believe you are a sexist. >> there is a line even in politics that you do not cross. that line has been crossed in this case. this ad was called an ad of idiotic political malice. my office has a huge success rate. we have 192 year sentence against a rapist. we have five life sentences in rape cases. this case is abnormal. to use this story for political game is a sad commentary. >> senator bennett, rebuttal? >> in what is causing the line is being across the cuter in describing a victim in a rape case -- i think what is crossing

the line is describing a victim in a rape case. i think ken buck is out of touch predicted as the father of three little girls, he has advocated a constitutional amendment that will ban abortion including in cases of rape and incest. it is just wrong. i believe it is an appropriate discussion to have a. >> i am not out of touch. senator bennett advertisements have been called deceitful, false, and misleading. for senator bennett to question my office or my entire jury -- or my integrity is just empty.

>> that is just wrong. i am been a -- i have been a prosecutor. once again, you are wrong. i have a lot of sympathy for the fact checkers. >> let's turn to an ad that attacks you, senator bennett. it regards comments about the national deficit. >> the tragedy of it is all we have nothing to show for it. >> voters have sent an average $2.50 million on the stimulus and obama care. now than it is outraged -- anow bennett is outraged. >> it was taken completely out of context. i have said exactly the same thing all across the state in read parts of the states and blue parts of the state.

most people believe this has saved us from having a great depression. we have had a recession. as a father of three little girls, i do not think it is necessary to save us from the great depression. we have a failed to fix our roads, our bridges, our waste water systems. we have not had the decency to maintain the assets that our parents and grandparents built for us. transportation, transit, and energy -- this is a consequence largely of the policies that can but has endorsed -- that ken buck has endorsed. >> it is one thing to say that somebody else accumulated 13 trillion dollars of debt. mr. bennett has been in washington d.c.. he refuses to take responsibility for three

trillion dollars in debt. it sounds as if he is going to -- the has been in d.c. and has not done anything to clean it up. >> quite the contrary. what i am doing as a member of the generation that has been given more than any other generation is saying that we as a generation has done this and that we do not clean it up, the next generation will pay a heavy price. my daughter has made it clear to me that she is not willing to pay it back. we need to make the hard decisions to pay this debt. i have had a lot of experience in the private sector. i have had a lot of experience restructuring very difficult budgets at the local level. i bring a lifetime of experience to this job doing exactly that. >> thank you. and there are some clients that i have found misleading at best.

>> what is unfair to colorado is the record of overspending, under regulating, and under taxing. >> it said that senator bennett favored higher taxes 24 times. i looked up these votes and i felt most of them to be procedural motions, for example to kill health care reform or the stimulus. is a disingenuous to say that he voted to favor higher taxes 24 times? how exactly do you legislate on employment? >> i tell you how you legislate unemployment. you do not do anything about unemployment. what senator bennett did was act is a rubber stamp for president obama, harry reid, and nancy pelosi. he focused on financial reform. he focused on other issues, but he did not focus on

unemployment. they put 10 tax increases in the health-care bill. >> senator bennett? >> i appreciate the chance to respond to this. i have contacted 98% of people in colorado. this is for everybody. it is for small businesses as well. i imagine the $12 million in tax cuts in the small-business bill we passed two months ago. he is saying i am raising taxes. that is totally false. i believe we need to have a tax policy and regulatory policy that drives innovation. we do not need one that protects the largest insurers, but one that supports our working and middle-class families. >> mr. buck? >> i understand you did not read

the stimulus bill before you voted on it. you must not have read the health care bill before you voted on it either. it has 10 tax increases. they have not kicked in yet. when they do kick in, colorado residents will be mad. >> time is up. senator bennett, there was a pattern to your ads. they frame your opponent as an extremist. i felt some of the claims to be a bit extreme. we'll take a look at a couple that were in heavy rotation. >> ken buck was to privatize social security. he even questioned if social security should exist at all. >> you talked about having your comments taken out of context. you used as a backup for the basis of these claims some of comments.s

he suggested that we should be able to will our benefits should we die before collecting them. on student loans, he was not opposed to the loans. he was opposed to a lot that put them in the hands of the federal government. >> i have great sympathy for you and the job you are doing. every time i come to a debate i feel like i am debating ken buck 1.0 and 2.0. he said that he likes the idea of privatizing social security. he believes that the government and called the was fundamentally against what he believes. those are his words. those are not my words. he said he believed the founding fathers did not believe we should have stood all. he said americans would have to wean themselves all of these loans. it is the consequence of his

having run an entirely different race in the republican primary that he is tried to run in the general election. that is what is wrong with washington, d.c. >> he says he wanted to go to washington, d.c., to clean up washington, d.c. you had the opportunity to look at those ads and look at the tape. i did not say the things they said i said. what i talked about when i talked about stallone's was they took the guaranteed student loan program and put it in the health-care bill to try to reduce the cost of the health care bill. that is not what i want. i do not want the federal government running this program. on what the banks running this program so we can have some up capability. >> even if you -- even if what you were saying was true, it is not a true reflection of what you said in the republican

primary. the idea that we would take the student loan program and put it in the hands of banks which charged credit card rates to our students tried to go to college, i think it is a tolerable -- students trying to go to college, i think it is horrible. >> it created a huge subsidy for private companies at the expense of our kids. we are in the worst economy since the great depression. they are taking refuge in our community colleges and dark four-year colleges. >> did he say do away with student loans? >> he said the american people will have to wean themselves off of student loans. >> the reality is the federal government will not run this program as efficiently as banks run this program. it has been run the right way for years. senator bennett believes in big

government. he says one thing in washington, d.c., and he says another thing when he is in colorado. >> that is not true. we should be giving our kids the most efficient all possible. the government is more efficient. there is only one of us has ever worked a reform bill. that is me. we made huge strides toward denver public schools. >> pal is that pension fund doing, michael? >> do not make up your own packs. -- make up your own facts. >> there is a actuarial report. i will be happy to show it to you. >> i want to get to this final question. it is for both the deep. we have had a lot of comments from our viewers disgusted by

how ugly this race has been. i cannot help but notice that the most recent ads that both of you have paid for are both positive. they both have your families in them. had gotten the message? as our viewers have said, this race has gotten too negative. why? why has it gotten so ugly? >> i do not know why it is so ugly. we have control of our ads, but we do not have control over the outside ads. our kids or a whole lot better looking than we are. we will get more votes by putting our kids on air that we would by putting ourselves out there. people should know that i care deeply about my family. i love my daughter and i care very much about the rights that she has in this country. >> senator bennett? >> i regret nothing more than

the fact that the two of us are paying the salaries of everybody at channel 4. you deserve a raise. i believe very strongly that we have to reform our campaign system and the way we approach this advertising. o thatd twice said it, bro coloradans can know who is paying for these ads. >> many of your assets have been negative. >> many of my assets have been positive. many of them talk about the economy. many of them talk about the issues that are facing candidates. whoever represents the people of colorado days to say the same thing wherever they are, wherever -- whether they are in a red part of the state or a

blue part of the state. >> i have to cut you off. >> a tough job doing the reality checks. we want to move on to the next segment of our debate. we asked our viewers to send questions to our web site and it took her. -- and twitter. >> in addition to lots of complaints about the negative advertisements, we received lots of questions about the "meet the press" debate. a lot of viewers want to know kent health care about's -- reflect on the gay rights. >> we are seeing some states decide they want to move ahead with gay marriage and others that are not. i do not think these questions of merit -- of marriage should be left up to the federal

government. >> i am opposed to gay marriages. i believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. i do not believe the federal government has a role in any way in making these marriages of legal or illegal. i believe it is a state issue. i would vote for the defense of marriage act. i think it is a state issue to regulate marriages. >> senator bennett, let's go back one second. you say that is a question for the federal government to answer. are you not that? or you try to be that? >> i ashley said the opposite of that. i was not clear. i do not believe that the federal government should be making decisions about marriage. >> you do not have an opinion on that.

i mean, you are basically saying it is for the federal government. >> the question was would gay marriage go forward in d.c. i'd think there will be some aspects that will moved lower. others will try not to. i do not take it is a question the federal government should be dealing with. >> let's move onto the next question dealing with illegal immigration. it is a hot topic in colorado and much of the nation. what are you willing to do to secure the southern border? how'd you feel about amnesty for the people the are already here. .e'll start with you mr. buck >> i am opposed to amnesty for those already in the united states. we need to secure our borders. i voted against a plan that would have been important to implement a guest worker program in the state. he has voted against sending border patrol agents to the

southern border. while he agreed to vote -- he voted against border patrol agents. if we do not enact a guest worker program that makes sense and make it a much shorter period of time to get people into this country, we will continue to have this issue and handed down to the next generation. >> senator bennett? >> my vote with john mccain to increase the number of national guardsmen on the boiler -- on the border. i do not support amnesty. i support a path to citizenship in the united states. my opponent has said he would like to have a plan to ship 12 million people back across the border. that would be over $300 billion

not including the difficulties it would cause for local law enforcement all across the country. we do not need 50 different states with 50 different immigration policies. we need for washington to start screaming at each other and approach this problem in a pragmatic way. >> let's move on to abortion. it has prompted plenty of questions from viewers. some say that government is becoming too interested in their lives. will you really make a great woman carrying a child to full term? others ask about abortion in the case of incest. give me your stance on the abortion issue. >> i am pro-choice. i do not think the government has any business telling my three daughters out to make the incredibly painful decision that ought to be made by a woman with her family, or clergy, and her doctor. i find it amazing that people talk about getting government out of our hair, but want to

give government the most intimate decisions that could possibly be made. i support -- >> i am." life. i can tell you that there -- i am pro life. federal funding for abortions, mr. bennett voted for it. i would have voted against it. there was also a bill on funding for organizations that perform abortions with u.s. funds. i would have voted against it. mr. bennett voted for it. >> just to be clear, with respect to the viewer, the question you're asking was with you force a rape victim to carry her baby to term. >> i was going to follow up with that. >> i have answered the question.

we get caught on these social issues. the voters want to know about jobs. they want to know about unemployment. they want to know about spending. we get caught on social issues. the story today is on social issues. we need to stay focused on the issues that the voters care about. >> hold on just a second. social issues are important to the voters in this state. i need you to answer that question. abortion is very important when you start talking about rape and incest. that is important to the voters. >> i am pro-life and i do not believe in exceptions for rape or incest. we need to stay focused on the issues that are important to the voters in this state. if you look at any polling data, in over 800 meetings i

have had with voters, i have been asked five or six times about gay marriage or abortion. people want to know about jobs. >> iran on those issues in the republican primary. i think it is cynical. if you want to talk about economic issues, we have to talk about those two. your positions are as far out of the mainstream as your positions on these issues. this is about, in his view, protecting oil companies and others. it has nothing to do with colorado. what it is not about is supporting our economy here in colorado -- >> let me talk. but the respond to that. -- let me respond to that. i am not the one that has accumulated three trillion dollars of debt in the united

states senate. that is senator bennett. that is out of touch with all the broader values. when you rubberstamp a health- care bill, that is wrong. we can talk about economic issues. >> we are out of time. we can keep this going. >> it is always great to give the voters a chance to ask the questions. we also give our candidates a chance to ask some as well. this is the head-to-head portion of our debate. senator bennett lost a coin toss giving him the choice to answer the first question. he chose to answer the first question. >> senator, you have four months said that you will not take a position on the employee's rejoice at. -- employee the free choice act.

he said he disagreed with the language in the house bill. you did not explain what you meant by disagreeing with the language in the house bill. do you disagree or agree with certain provisions? i want to know what you like about that bill. do you like the ability to take away the right to secret ballot, or are you in favor of mandatory arbitration with the federal government decides the conditions in the workplace? >> it is great to take questions from viewers, but we should give them the dignity of answering the questions they ask. one thing i like about the bill is shortening the time frame between a first book and a second book. that is where intimidation can happen. what i really would like to see is labor and management working together to make sure that we can solve the economic issues

that we face. i believe this is a very divisive issue. i think more time should be spent on how we are going to create jobs in this country and stop exporting them overseas. we need to build them right here in colorado. secret ballots at arbitration -- that was the question. you ask me what i liked. i think that a secret ballot rules should not change. i think it is the american way to have a secret ballot. being the only person up here that has ever conducted collective bargaining, i am skeptical of the provision. it is important to keep collective bargaining negotiations in the hands of parties. >> the next question is mine. thank you. you have said you do not support a renewable energy standards did

you do not support tax credits for renewable and clean energy. we have seemed more job growth in that part of the world that we have anything else. 20,000 jobs already. 30,000 more jobs coming. i would like to know three things you do to support this important issue in colorado. >> if you made a great point on your previous debate, senator. we have to import solar panels into this country because we cannot make them in this country. the reason is because our corporate tax rate is too high. our energy costs are too high. we have overregulated our energy production in this country. we need to make sure we have an energy policy that is based on good science, and energy policy that encourages energy growth so we can do the sorts of things you are talking about -- make the windmills' appear, make the solar panels here, and create the kinds of jobs that

manufacture those in the private sector. i would decrease the corporate tax rate. i would buy sustainable and low- cost energy sources. i would make sure we do not impose a health care bill on our employers of the cannot manufacture. >> the next question issuers. >> senator bennett, you've talked about the importance of social security and you have not yet put a plan on the table for how we makes it -- social security sustainable. you have been on the committee on aging. the committee on aging has oversight for social security. you have missed a 92% of the meetings. why are you missing 70 meetings? >> i do not accept your map of the number of meetings i have missed. i am one of only 12 senators that has a 1% voting record. i have not missed a single vote. i have traveled 30,000 miles

having tell all meetings where i have not made up a new facts or said new things based on how receptive the audience was. it is hard to take that question from somebody who has missed 113 days of work in the d a's office what you are campaigning on the taxpayer's dime. no one has ever questioned my work ethic before. i think my record speaks for itself. >> i wrote the amendment in the health-care bill that says that our senior's medicare will be protected. it was the most bipartisan piece of legislation passed in the senate. i do not think our seniors want to see the privatization of social security. i am glad to give you a specific plan of social security. >> i have turned back to much of my salary to the taxpayers since i have been campaigning. you have turned back nothing.

the senate has been in session 39 days in the last 140 days. you have little ground to stand on to criticize me for where i have been in relationship to the taxpayer. we have decrease crime in our county bite 50%. you had nothing to show from your time in the senate. >> i would like to go back to the viewer's question from a minute ago. my question is, who is going to go to jail? >> to is going to go to jail? >> we decriminalize abortion in the case of rape and incest, too is going to jail? >> i do not think abortion will decriminalized any time soon. you have once again tried to take this debate off topic. we are talking about issues that

are important to colorado voters. we are talking about jobs. we're talking about your vote on health care. we are talking about these colorado voters want to know about. answering the question that i have asked you. this is the time when you need to answer just as i did. >> finish, please. >> once again, i am going to focus my campaign on the issues colorado voters care about. i have said that i am pro-life. i do not believe in exceptions for rape or incest. i am hopeful we can work together as a country and reduce abortions. that is the key. the votes in the united states senate have been two. one is for federal funding, and the other was for foreign organizations that conduct abortions.

>> we will end it right there. thank you for your questions. it is a great way to find out what is on our candidate's might this evening. we have a question about four>>e economy, the war in afghanistan is not getting as much attention. mr. buck, i know you oppose announcing timetables for afghanistan. would each of you outlined what would be the best course? >> i believe we need to define our mission -- very nearly. the pakistani military -- we need to give them time to secure the nuclear weapons in pakistan.

it is a concern -- it is a worldwide concern that those weapons be secured. the pakistan government cannot be counted on to do it and we cannot do it. i think we need to start coming home in the middle of next year. this is the largest shooting war in our country's history. we simply cannot afford it anymore. i believe the troops that have come back to colorado's share that view. i do not think they want to state their longer than that. >> i think we have the wrong policy in afghanistan. i do not think we should be in the business of nation-building in afghanistan. we set certain goals and we accomplished those goals. we need to draw down our forces and bring them home. i think we need to do three things. the first thing we need to do is make sure that afghanistan is

not a safe-haven for terrorists. i am saying that when you look at other countries that afghanistan is at least as safe as those countries. the second thing we need to do is to disrupt and dismantle the drug trade coming out of afghanistan. the third thing we need to do is support stability in central asia. we cannot lose more lives and we cannot spend billions and billions of dollars more to rebuild afghanistan. >> we have lost 81 colorado residents in iraq and afghanistan. there was a role for nation- building. he has changed his position so many times on afghanistan. it makes it on possible -- it makes it on possible to understand what it is. we need to make sure there is military stability there.

that region cannot be stabilized by the united states of america's military forces. >> mike turner? -- might turn here? -- my turn here? do you believe the patriot act has served our country weldon? where are you on closing the debate -- closing the base at guantanamo? mr. bott, i think you are up. >> my son is in his last year of west point. this is a personal issue. i think we have been well served by the patriot act. i think we need to look at it every single year and make sure

that law enforcement and other security agencies are using it in a way that is responsible given our love for liberty in this country. i would not close guantanamo. i think the idea of treating terrorist as committing and the unlawful acts as opposed to a terrorist or military act is wrong. i think this country is giving terrorist too many rights we bring them to this nation and try them in this nation. my opponent voted for funding the trials to be held in new york city of very serious terrorists. that is a mistake. we should not give them our constitutional rights. >> thank you. >> i think one of the things that brought my family to this country as survivors of the holocaust was commitment to the role of law.

the terrorist threat that we face is evolving and is incredibly dangerous. i agree with my opponent, we need to make sure that we are vigilant in balancing our important civil liberties. we should not give them up either. i support closing guantanamo bay, but to answer the answer -- but to answer the question directly, a number book did against the administration tried to close it because they did not have an adequate plan for what to do with the people that were there. until the administration comes up with an adequate plan, i will continue to vote that way. it is in the long-term national interest of the united states to close guantanamo bay. >> thank you both. we will take a moment to ask a few questions. you each have 20 seconds to answer. in every campaign, and mistakes are made. what mistakes do you wish you

could take back? >> i do not wish that i could take it back, but i would say it is a time to explain the $13 trillion contract. i clearly i am not responsible for 13 trillion dollars in debt. -- $13 trillion in debt. i am comfortable with the miss stakes in may. -- with the mistakes i have made. >> i recently made a statement about global warming. i was trying to "someone. i think the science is unproven in global warming. i think, unfortunately, it was attributed to me in a way that is not my belief. >> by this time you know your opponent as well as you know yourself. which comedy you think he wishes he could take back? >> while.

i think all of his commercials. i am short senator bennett is an honorable man. i am sure he would like to take back those commercials. with the colorado springs gazette says that you are running a sleazy campaign, i am short senator bennett does not want to face his three daughters and explain why he is doing that. >> here is what i would like to do. i will post every bit of evidence for every advertisement on our website. you can take a look at that and make the decision of whether these advertisements or -- are credible or not. i am sorry that politics has gotten this way. >> we know the time has been all consuming for your campaigns and has taken a toll on your families. how big of an impact has it taken on your families?

>> it has taken an impact on my family. fortunately both the my children are out to state and do not have to watch the ads that have been run. unfortunately, my wife is in state and has seen them. i think that my wife and i have grown closer i get a lot of ways. campaigning with my children was a great experience. >> everybody should understand that there have been far more negative advertisements run against me in this race. second, it has been a delight to be with my wife and three little girls traveling around the state. this has given them a chance to see the beautiful state we have. also, how much bigger a world

that we live in. the struggles that other people are having across the state. >> we have reached the closing segment of our debate. we would give each can get one minute to make your case. mr. buck won the coin toss. >> all like to thank you for putting this debate on. i am very grateful. it is important for your viewers to be able to see it. we are facing enormously difficult economic times in this country. we have a run rate deficit and runaway debt. i believe we can come together, roll up our sleeves. we need to forget about ideologies and focus on pragmatic problem-solving. that is what i have done my entire career. i think that having experienced in the private sector and working in tough government

situations at the local level give me a totally different perspective than 99% of the senators in d.c. i will do absolutely everything to make sure we are not part of the first generation of america to left these problems for our kids and grandkids. >> we have a great opportunity to choose between repeating our mistakes and creating a state and a country that our kids and grandkids would not want to live in. we all protested when the congress ran up more and more debt. as taxpayers we have to face the price of that debt at some point. we set e-mail's to our senators and representatives when they're going to pass the health care bill because we knew the burdens it would place on us. we told our progress that we did not want them to stymie growth

and to get off the backs of small business. they did not listen to us. they ignored us. on november 2, will have the opportunity to make sure that the people in washington, d.c., do not ignore us anymore. go to my web site and click on the advertising section and see what other news organizations have said about those advertisements. >> we appreciate you being with us this evening. we hope we have helped voters prepare for campaign 2010. it will be a very interesting election day. our partner, colorado public television, will be rearing this debate. next friday will bring you the gubernatorial debate life. we will be aired the same evening on channel 12. for complete election night coverage, join us on call lot of public television -- on colorado public television [laughter]

[applause] you can also find our debates on line. we will have complete coverage of campaign 2010. thank you for being with us this evening. we know we have helped to make an informed decision this election year. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> that completes c-span's live coverage of the final colorado senate debate. senator michael bennet was appointed to his seat in 2009 following the appointment of gen salazar as interior secretary. ken buck is the district attorney for a north central

county. but the cook political report has rated this race a tossup. we'll show you this debate again and about 2.5 hours at 11:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. it will also be part of our debate coverage tomorrow beginning at 1:00 p.m. eastern as we look at some of the closest senate races in the country. before that, at 12:00 p.m., which review the candidates vying for the pennsylvania senate. also on our schedule, the last debate for candidates in wisconsin. then finally, three candidates participate in a florida senate debate from fort lauderdale. what's all these debates sunday beginning at 12:00 eastern here on c-span. >> voters had to people in less than two weeks. all the races on the c-span

networks with debates every night right up to election day. archive debates on line at the c-span video library. upcoming coverage, political advertisements -- all the coverage right through election day. >> one of the great features of the c-span video library is the ability to clip and share with your friends. that includes more than one the debates we have erred on c-span. if you are new to it all, what's the tutorial on our website. search, find, and share with the c-span video library. >> earlier today, wikileaks released classified military documents on the iraq war. documents on the iraq war. its founder was amo