Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck and former Colorado Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton also squared off on YourShow. The candidates sparred on a wide range of high-profile topics.
Buck and Norton discussed Buck’s “heels” comment, tax cuts, a balanced-budget amendment, social security, energy independence, the war in Afghanistan, illegal immigration and Arizona’s SB 1070, President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, and finally candidate integrity and “believability.”
Despite Buck’s verbal gaffes, the most recent poll by Survey USA continues to show Buck with a strong lead against Norton with just eight days remaining until ballots are counted. In hypothetical head-to-head matchups against the potential Democratic opponents, Sen. Michael Bennet and Andrew Romanoff, Rasmussen Reports shows both GOP candidates with modest leads against both Democrats. Survey USA points to a much closer general election contest, with all four possible election permutations within the margin of error, echoing the “toss up” designation that has characterized the race since late 2009. Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight.com ranks Survey USA as the third-most reliable polling outfit in the nation.
Here’s the debate, in three parts: