North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (D) may have just found out that all silence is not golden. In a debate with former state Sen. Cal Cunningham, her opponent in the Democratic Senate primary runoff on June 22, Marshall was asked by moderators if she would ever support an increase in the federal income tax — yes or no. For eight long seconds, Marshall said nothing. (Finally she said it would depend on the proposal, and reiterated her support for letting President Bush’s tax cuts on the wealthy expire.)
Cunningham’s team says that eight seconds of silence is all the Republicans will need to destroy Marshall in the fall. They’re hoping the moment will come to define a runoff campaign that even Democrats involved admit few in North Carolina are paying much attention to less than two weeks before the final vote.
Marshall’s campaign dismisses the attack. They blame the moderators for posing what they call a ridiculous question — “there are no yes or no questions in this game,” campaign spokesperson Thomas Mills told me — and said that it was Cunningham who actually proved himself to have electability problems in the segment, not Marshall.
Check out the moment from the debate, in a video clipped by the Cunningham campaign, here:
(Click here to watch the whole debate. The question on taxes comes at around the 19.25 mark.)
Asked why it took Marshall so long to come up with a response, Mills said she was surprised by the very idea of the query “because it wasn’t a yes or no question.”
It should be noted that when it came time for Cunningham to answer the yes-or-no question about taxes in the debate — which came as part of one of those insufferable “lightning rounds” that are found in so many televised forums — he took his time getting to the final answer as well. Cunningham spoke about his plan to offer middle class tax credits before being pressed by moderators to give a yes or not answer.
“There is not a current proposal…” he began, before getting cut off by moderators and asked for his one-word response. “That is a no,” he said.
His campaign clarified today: “Cal said last night he is against an increase in the federal income tax” spokesperson Jared Leopold said.
Mills says that the notion that Cunningham’s response might protect him from GOP attacks on Taxes in the fall is ridiculous.
“Republicans are always going to say that Democrats are tax and spend liberals,” he said. “The American people are not buying that line anymore.”
Mills said that by claiming a blanket opposition to opposing the federal income tax, Cunningham has left himself to attacks from voters who want to see equality returned to the federal tax code.
“That means he would leave the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest in place,” Mills said. “You can’t have it both ways.”
