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Wexton Warrior and Captain Cao have the final congressional debate [1]

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Date: 2022-10-20

Much has changed since then. Capt. Cao, who used his opening statement to again perform faux rage for being labeled an extremist, went on to recite many of the Republican talking points that might have raised more cheers during The Former Guy’s years. But his muddled mix of outrage with elliptical anecdotes left today’s audience underwhelmed as they came to hear about policies and solutions over breakfast, not attend a pep rally. So when he invoked the call, “Are you better off than you were two years ago?”, the general response was, “You didn’t answer the question, Captain.”

The debate, which was live-streamed, consisted of 12 questions, with each candidate having two minutes to answer. By the agreed-upon rules, the candidates were not allowed to question each other (though Capt. Cao did that in his very first response). The candidates alternated going first to answer the questions. Tony Howard, the moderator and President and CEO of the hosting Chamber of Commerce, was empowered to redirect a question if the respondent failed to answer the question. He never did so, though Capt. Cao failed to answer a number of questions that asked for specific policies or what could be done on the federal level to address an issue. Since WUSA9’s video started late and missed Rep. Wexton’s bio, I’ll summarize that she has over two decades of serving Northern VA as a prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney, and State Senator, winning a special election in January 2014. She built her reputation on helping victims of crime and the opioid crisis. During her time as State Senator, she passed 40 bills working in a bipartisan way while in the minority party. She was elected to Congress in 2018. Her committees and caucuses assignments are here.

(The transcript below is paraphrased from crib notes. The video link can provide precise language for quotes. If you’d rather just read what was different this year, jump down to My Concluding Thoughts at the end).

Question #1: What is your top priority for the upcoming term?

Wexton: Make sure the infrastructure funds are used well to build our workforce and help address immigration reform so that our many workers here on H1 visas have a pathway to citizenship so we are not at a competitive disadvantage globally.

Cao: The number one issue is the economy, soaring debt, high-interest rates for mortgages, and we’re begging other countries for oil. I want to get politics out of the classroom and want to know if my opponent agrees with state Del. Guzman who wants to criminalize parents who don’t accept their LGBTQ children.

Question #2: Do you have specific immigration proposals, and how would you work across the aisle to get that done?

Cao: We should have high walls and wide gates. We should have seismic technology installed. You need a wall because that’s where you put the technology.

Wexton: I don’t know why the issue of immigration has become so politicized. We are a country of immigrants. We should pass the Legal Act for H1 visas and the Farm Modernization Act. I’m for border security, but not expensive and ineffective fencing. I’m for smarter security, like facial recognition technology.

Question #3: What does the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill mean for transportation and Broadband?

Wexton: Everyone has said year after year how infrastructure was the top priority, and we delivered it in the House. This will go toward addressing traffic issues, metro funding, and protecting our waterways. Universal broadband should be the goal, and so far, we have 8,800 more people in VA-10 hooked up. There’s also $2M set aside to use for Loudoun County Parkway and Waxpool Rd.

Cao: (complains) All the infrastructure did is give more jobs to unions. Unfortunately, it’s going into green technology, and I can’t afford a Tesla. Millions of dollars are lost on transportation because people are jumping metro turnstiles because of “Defund the Police.”

Question #4: I missed the actual wording of the question, but it was about sending aid to Ukraine.

Cao: My heart goes out to Ukraine, but we’re paying for this war by going into debt to China and the rising price of oil.

Wexton: Putin invaded a sovereign country, and we cannot let that stand. Regarding the price of oil and gas, Joe Biden didn’t cause the energy crisis. Oil and Gas have 9000 leases they haven’t even tapped into yet. There was price gouging during Covid and CEOs making their quarterly profits.

Question #5: Regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), has it succeeded? Is there still more to do?

Wexton: Healthcare is a right. No one should have to choose between health care and going bankrupt. It’s why I ran and why I was elected. There are many more people who are insured today because of the ACA. We still need to rein in Big Pharma. We were able to bring price reductions, cap costs on insulin, and help older Americans. We also helped reduce the cost of premiums. We need to strengthen the ACA, not repeal it.

Cao: [big pause] I know people who come to America for medical tourism because we have the best health care in the world. The market will take care of it. Competition lowers prices.

Question #6: What will you do to help the Federal workforce and increase affordable housing?

Cao: (Didn’t really answer the question). People have long commutes and they can’t afford gas. Your 401Ks have lost a lot over the last two years. But these skyrocketing prices in housing will eventually adjust with the market.

Wexton: We can tap grant funding to assist in homeownership for lower-income people. We’ve been concentrating on a diversity of housing. For example, building more densely around transportation hubs while maintaining more of our rural areas. We can also create incentives that give the county credits for these choices and access to grants.

Question #7: Given that the cost of energy is on the rise, how does this affect plans for renewables?

Wexton: I think the rising cost of energy is a sign that we should be increasing our investment in renewables. The rise in prices is in part due to corporate profiteering and price gouging, which we need to rein in. We should incentivize conservation efforts like better home insulation, taking your existing infrastructure and making it more energy efficient.

Cao: (Rambles a bit but landed on this point) We can’t get to energy efficiency in 2035 just by snapping our fingers.

Question #8: The global economy is also suffering. What do you think is the reason for this?

Cao: Two years ago, we were energy-independent. Oil production is the cause. The trickle-down effects of too much regulation on oil production alongside supply chain issues are what has affected the global economy.

Wexton: Inflation was not caused by energy prices. Energy prices caused inflation. The real issue here was supply and demand. COVID also affected this and the supply chain issues. We have passed laws to address some of these supply chain issues. The Fed rate is a blunt instrument, and I sympathize with the suffering it causes. But the Fed is also independent of us. I don’t like what they are doing, but I understand why they are doing it.

Question #9: As we increase high-speed internet access, what should we do about 5G?

Wexton: Broadband is an absolute necessity, much like electricity once was. I would like to see true universal broadband. There are safety and security concerns around the use of 5G.

Cao: We all want faster internet. 5G raises internet security issues due to Chinese involvement with that technology.

Question #10: What can be done about affordable higher education?

Cao: My parents taught me one thing and one thing only. They can take everything away from you except your education. We need to bring down the cost of education. We also need to push for vocational schools and not stigmatize people who have GEDs.

Wexton: Currently, we underinvest in our community and state colleges. The College Affordability Act would offer Pell grants for certification courses in technical careers. We should also be creating pathways from the high school level for careers like plumbers and electricians.

Question #11: What do you have to say about Metro Rail oversight and support?

Wexton: I worked on it since 2014. I look forward to the Silver Line II opening as soon as the 7000 series cars are cleared.

Cao: People are jumping turnstiles as a result of "defund the police." Thankfully (Mike) Chapman is a great sheriff.

Question #12: Can you mention something you admire about your opponent?

Cao: I admire Rep. Wexton’s passion for what she believes in. We both want America to thrive and be the best in the world. We just have different ways to go about it. I believe in checks and balances. She wants blank checks.

Wexton: I admire Cao’s service in the Navy. I truly do.

Closing Statements:

Wexton repeated her record of addressing victims of crime, her focus on the opioid crisis, her commitment to education and transportation, her superior rating in constituent services, and returning $15M to taxpayers.

Cao read a quote from one of Wexton’s speeches. At that time, he was returning from the fall of Kabul. He asserted that the promises Wexton made then were only to some people, and to the rest, “You’re not heard.”

My Concluding thoughts:

As I said, the response and rhetoric will be covered by local media and may or may not change some voters' minds. For me, I was more affected by how the tenor of the room had changed since 2018. In 2018 the Chamber of Commerce was synonymous mostly with small business owners who were either Republican or Republican-leaning and were steeped in the fiscal orthodoxy of smaller government and less regulation. It isn’t that these views have changed for Republicans. It’s that these (at the time) moderates and centrists in that room felt that they were at the beginning of their ascendancy under TFG.

It turned out that there was a broader base that wanted less of Barbara Comstock’s waffling and a clear signal that VA-10 wasn’t buying what TFG was selling. In that room, however, that “we” was the minority. We occupied only a handful of tables. We were shushed when we dared to get too excited with our grassroots antics or rally-like behavior in support of Wexton.

Today in 2022, decorum ruled the room, which was not overwhelmingly Republican. The read of the room was that during Rep. Wexton’s years, the economic well-being of VA-10 and the world of the Chamber of Commerce survived these unprecedented years that rocked this county, the nation, and the world. There was some return to normalcy that was not as on-fire as Capt. Cao’s brimstone assertions. His barbs and aphorisms, which probably play well at his rallies, didn’t really land at this gathering. The rash of turnstile jumpings? The whining about being called extremist? Even the opening shot about parents’ rights and LGTBQ+ went nowhere.

Anecdotally, the applause welcoming Rep. Wexton was noticeably louder than what greeted Capt. Cao. I have no idea if that is an indication of how VA-10 will vote as a whole, but I hope it’s an indication at least of where there is some sanity away from the culture wars that have ravaged my county.

It is well worth hearing Rep. Wexton’s opening statement again to remind us where we’ve been and how far we’ve come with her.

x YouTube Video

As someone who organized weekly protests outside Comstock’s offices in Loudoun, confronted Trumpers every time TFG went golfing nearby, and participated in numerous protests in DC through most of these years, I know what I’ve been through. I trust Jennifer Wexton and will vote for four more years!

Are you in Jennifer Wexton’s District or want to help out?

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