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The fun thing about political debates is that everybody gets to be the referee. Disagreeing over the "score" is the rule, not the exception. "Apparently," the standard wisecrack goes, "you were watching a different debate."
So let me plunge foolishly into the fray and suggest that Mel Martinez, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, did slightly better than the Democrat, Betty Castor, in Monday night's debate.
Oh, hush. Slightly, I said. It was the next-closest thing to a draw. Martinez sounded slightly more reasonable on a couple of points. He also actually came up with three, count 'em, three policy disagreements with President Bush.
If that was not man-bites-dog news, it was at least mildly interesting. Until now, Martinez has been unable to think of a single thing on which he disagrees with the White House. Suddenly he is a one-man hotbed of dissidence. If he isn't careful Karl Rove might invoke the Patriot Act against him.
To be specific, Martinez said the U.S. should not have dismantled the Iraqi army so quickly, so that it might have assisted in rebuilding efforts after the war. (It sounded to me like Martinez was prepped and eager to deliver this newfound example.)
Martinez also said he disagreed with President Bush and would allow the reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada. Castor pointed out that was a flip-flop, since Martinez also supports the president's Medicare prescription drug plan - which bans reimportation. Martinez said he would cut that part out. Uh, okeydoke.
Oh, and Martinez, a trial lawyer, doesn't support Bush's proposed $250,000 cap on pain and suffering awards in lawsuits. He likes a $500,000 cap instead. Martinez had expressed this difference before, but heck, let's count it.
Castor was a touch vague here and there. The war in Iraq was based on "flawed intelligence," and she would not vote for it today. (No word on then.) On the other hand, she is glad the "evil" Saddam is gone.
She outright ducked moderator Tim Russert's question about the influence of EMILY's List, the political action committee that has backed her strongly. She said she supports parental notification for minors who are seeking abortions, but then said she would vote against Amendment 1 on the Nov. 2 ballot, which would allow for parental consent in Florida. A little Kerryesque.
Still, there were good and specific differences between the candidates. Castor disliked the Bush plan to privatize Social Security and rightly pointed out it's gonna cost a bundle. Martinez, of course, loves the idea.
Martinez is totally anti-abortion. Russert asked him whom he would prosecute for having an abortion - the doctor? The mother? Martinez dithered and said nobody. He just wants to create a "culture of life." Castor nailed him for wanting to force rape or incest victims to carry a child to term.
She supported embryonic stem cell research. He claimed to support it, while actually backing the Bush plan that limits it.
The best exchange between them came on Amendment 5, to raise the minimum wage in Florida by $1 an hour. Martinez gave the first fresh argument I have heard on this issue, saying lower-income jobs play the role in our economy of being the first rung on the ladder of climbing to success. (Didn't say I liked it, just that it was "fresh.")
Castor framed her rebuttal nicely, referring to hundreds of thousands of minimum-wage earners: "Who can deny them $40 a week more?"
Oh yeah, Sami Al-Arian also came up. In fact, moderator Tim Russert began with that controversial ex-professor, which made me groan, until I realized he was just getting it out of the way so Floridians might finally hear some other stuff too.
Bottom line: Castor needs to stick it to Martinez a little more specifically on some of the policy disagreements. She needs to deal with EMILY's List straight out and not look like she's ducking anything. Martinez should stick with the Reasonable Mel that he showed Monday night.
And for the love of Mike, they should both shut the heck up about Al-Arian, who, not to sound like an America-hating terrorist or anything here, hasn't even been convicted of anything yet.