Debate for the state

FRANKLIN, Ind. -- Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels and Libertarian candidate Kenn Gividen offered their respective plans for the state and exchanged mild criticism in a debate Tuesday night. \nThe three candidates vying for control of the Indiana governor's mansion appeared for the first time together in a 90-minute debate at Franklin College.\nThere was tension between Kernan and Daniels, the frontrunners locked in what many believe will be a tight race up to Election Day. Gividen, with a nearly lost gravelly voice, used the debate as an outreach platform for his campaign, which has been largely ignored in the contentious match between Kernan and Daniels.\nEach candidate was allowed a 2-minute response and 1-minute rebuttal for each question; however, although the format was generally tight, the candidates were able to drift further from a specific question and into generalities with each round of answering and rebutting.\nFor example, a question about affordable health care and housing for Hoosier minorities easily turned into a debate about whether Indiana should encourage the importation of pharmaceutical drugs from Canada. \nBoth Kernan and Daniels said the debate was productive from their vantage points. Daniels declined to comment on his own performance, saying he preferred to leave the judging to others; Kernan said he felt good following the debate and that the forum allowed the demonstration of the differences between the candidates on what he described as "complex issues" with different viewpoints on those issues.\nOne of those issues was the contentious I-69 proposal to extend the interstate from Indianapolis to Evansville. Both Kernan and Daniels support the proposal, but the candidates disagreed sharply on how to pay for it.\nKernan, who assumed office after Gov. Frank O'Bannon died of a stroke in September 2003, said he continues to support the final route O'Bannon signed off on and mocked Daniels' idea of creating a toll road to fund the project. \n"There should not be a toll road," Kernan said. "(Indiana) has one toll road, and that's one too many."\nDaniels said he became an advocate of the extension for a number of reasons.\n"I'm only for it because I concluded it would be in the interest of the whole state," he said. "There could be more jobs if we had this continuous thoroughfare, and I do believe I-69 is that kind of asset, and I support its construction."\nDaniels said, "only to an administration that hasn't had a new idea" does the toll road idea seem radical.\n"Somebody better be thinking about it," Daniels added. "We don't have the money to do this otherwise."\nGividen, who reiterated his support for the abolition of the Indiana state property tax that he calls "inherently evil" and "immoral," said he opposes the new I-69 terrain, which he said will divert necessary funds from other programs within the state.\n"The City Council in Bloomington voted not to approve this route," Gividen said. "The people of southern Indiana simply don't want it. Why are we forcing this on them?"\nCollege education in the state was not addressed during the debate, but all three candidates answered question regarding affordability at the state's institutions during three respective press conferences following the debate.\nGividen said the issue of college affordability is a conflict between idealism and realism.\n"Ideally government should not be funding higher education," Gividen said. "But that's not the case." \nGividen cited the state university system in Wisconsin, which he said successfully cut $250 million from their higher education budget with few problems. He said he would aim for a similar plan in Indiana.\n"We should cut back state funding drastically and let the private sector do its business," Gividen said.\nDaniels emphasized the importance of allowing parents and students to have more money in their pockets as part of the solution to making college more affordable, as well as some internal reform.\n"We are long overdue for a review of how our large public institutions spend their money," Daniels said. \nThe Republican challenger told a story about a college student who said to him that Indiana does not have a system of universities but rather a collection of institutions.\nThis is part of the problem, Daniels said, and the universities should gear toward greater efficiency and effectiveness, which he said are needed for good higher education performance. \nEarlier this year, Kernan asked state university presidents to cap tuition increases at 4 percent or less. He defended his decision at the press conference, saying it is an important first step in making college more affordable and is not only needed for this year but for the 2005-2006 school year, as well.\n"The cost of college is putting a squeeze particularly on the middle class," Kernan said. The governor added that controlling the rising costs of college is important so that people have the ability to access "Indiana's world-class institutions."\nIn addition to his request that universities cap their tuition increases, Kernan said he has also appointed a college affordability task force to look at the cost of tuition.\nThe debate was closed to the public, but supporters, including the IU College Republicans, gathered outside the building to support their respective candidates.\n-- Contact senior writer Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu.