TAMPA - U.S. Senate candidates Betty Castor and Mel Martinez clashed firmly but politely in a TV debate Monday night on topics that have gotten little attention, from privatizing Social Security to increasing the minimum wage to the war in Iraq.
But the only real sparks came from an issue they said they wanted to stop talking about: Sami Al-Arian, a former Tampa professor accused of raising money for terrorism.
They wound up spending a fourth of their time at the start of the debate talking about Al-Arian.
Martinez, a Republican, accused Democrat Castor of not being forceful enough to remove Al-Arian while she was president of the University of South Florida. But Castor said she could not fire a tenured professor.
"I am the only person who took action," she said. "No one else was there. I worked continuously."
Castor placed Al-Arian on paid administrative leave for two years, which Martinez called a "paid vacation," and then reinstated him. USF President Judy Genshaft fired Al-Arian last year, but only after he was indicted on terrorism charges.
"I thought it was a failure of leadership," Martinez said. "She didn't act. There is no freedom to plot terrorism." Castor criticized Martinez, one of nine co-chairmen of President Bush's 2000 campaign in Florida, for allowing Bush to pose for a photo with Al-Arian at the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City in March 2000.
Al-Arian also attended a meeting with other Muslim activists in the White House complex in the summer of 2001 with the president's senior political adviser, Karl Rove, and said Florida Muslims might have tipped the close presidential election to Bush.
"How could he get this kind of invitation?" Castor said. "I think that's a legitimate question to ask.
Countered Martinez: "The fact is, it has nothing to do with me or my campaign. Those are actions of others for which the Secret Service should answer."
The moderator, NBC's Tim Russert, showed negative TV ads both candidates have aired and asked them if they would stop running ads about Al-Arian and pledge to avoid negative campaigning.
Castor said she would agree if Martinez would do the same. But Martinez refused to commit on the spot, though he chided Castor for failing to air one positive ad on any topic.
"I would love for her to get to another subject," Martinez said. "I'm not going to make the strategy for my campaign here tonight under these lights."
A new pro-Martinez flier over the weekend criticizes Castor's handling of Al-Arian. The ad, paid for by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, shows hooded terrorists holding handguns. It quotes her former Democratic Senate rival, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch: "Evil was in her midst and she did nothing."
Monday's debate was crucial for both Castor, the former state education commissioner, and Martinez, the former federal housing secretary, who polls show are deadlocked two weeks before the election.
The candidates lost almost a month of campaigning when four hurricanes paralyzed Florida in six weeks at the start of the political season. It was the first statewide debate in the race.
The one-hour debate was broadcast live from WFLA-Ch. 8 in Tampa, and broadcast on Florida's NBC affiliates.
Martinez, heavily recruited by leading Republican senators to run, often stuck to President Bush's positions but offered some differences.
He said he supports Bush's actions in Iraq but said he would have kept the Iraqi military intact to help aid the American troops.
"It was the right idea to go to war," Martinez said. "We're making progress."
Castor stuck largely to positions held by Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee. She said she would not have voted for the war knowing what she knows now, and would push for more countries to share the burdens of rebuilding Iraq.
Martinez said he backs "carefully supervised" drug reimportation as a way to reduce costs for consumers; President Bush opposes drug reimportation. Castor supports allowing senior citizens to buy prescription drugs from other countries.
The candidates disagreed sharply on whether Social Security should be privatized. Castor opposes privatization, but Martinez supports it, emphasizing that he favors it only for younger workers.
"If we privatize, the only thing that will happen is that the benefits for those already on the system will have to be reduced," Castor said.
Asked Martinez: "Why would they not have an opportunity to invest in a private account that would permit them the opportunity to also receive a larger return than the 2 percent that Social Security provides?"
Martinez said he opposes efforts to raise the minimum wage. "I believe that the minimum wage increase would be illusory and frankly would not help people," Martinez said. "A buck an hour is not going to bring somebody out of poverty."
Castor said she couldn't believe Martinez opposes the increase since, as a Cuban-American immigrant, he has achieved the American dream. "Who can deny them $40 a week more?" Castor asked. "I think it's an embarrassment that we have such a low minimum wage, and I think it's time that Florida passed a minimum wage."
Castor and Martinez, given the chance to ask each other one question, focused on taxes. Martinez said he supports President Bush's tax cuts, and said they helped create 1.5-million new jobs. Castor said she opposes the Bush tax cuts and favors tax relief only for the middle class.
"We put in place a tax cut which created economic opportunity, which created growth, which put people back to work," Martinez said.
Martinez opposes expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, but Castor supports it. "I think we should do everything we can do to expand stem cell research," she said.
Martinez opposes abortion, saying: "We need to encourage a culture of life in this country."
Castor backs a woman's right to choose but supports a ban on late-term abortions, except when a mother's health or life is in danger.
"Abortion is a very personal decision," she said. "I think it should be rare, safe and legal."
Martinez supports President Bush's new travel restrictions to Cuba, even though he still has family there. Castor said the U.S. should expand the travel policies even more.
"I think the travel policy is wrong," Castor said. "Who does it hurt? It only hurts the families."
Howard Troxler: