{"id":2347833,"date":"2024-10-01T00:36:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T04:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/five-takeaways-from-second-debate-between-tester-and-sheehy-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-10-01T00:37:54","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T04:37:54","slug":"five-takeaways-from-second-debate-between-tester-and-sheehy-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/five-takeaways-from-second-debate-between-tester-and-sheehy-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Five takeaways from second debate between Tester and Sheehy &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffive-takeaways-from-second-debate-between-tester-and-sheehy-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2347833&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During the \u200dsecond Montana \u2064Senate debate \u2064between Senator Jon Tester and challenger Tim Sheehy, a variety of \u2063contentious topics were discussed, reflecting the polarized nature of the upcoming election. Sheehy criticized the Biden-Harris administration, \u200clinking \u200bthe chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan \u2064to global instability, including current conflicts in Israel\u200d and Ukraine. He also addressed his prior insensitive remarks about Native Americans, acknowledging\u200c their insensitivity but stopping short of a direct\u2064 apology, which Tester called for, emphasizing the importance of\u2063 respect for Native American communities.<\/p>\n<p>The debate\u2063 highlighted stark contrasts between\u200d the candidates on several issues, including federal government roles \u2063in healthcare and\u2063 abortion rights. Tester advocated for \u200da Montana ballot initiative\u200b to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, while Sheehy expressed \u2063conditional support\u2062 for it, emphasizing the need to protect the unborn. Sheehy also blamed Tester and the Democrats for the \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bodies-of-two-migrants-including-3-year-old-boy-found-in-rio-grande-amid-border-surge\/\" title=\"Two migrants, including a 3-year-old boy, discovered dead in Rio Grande during border surge.\">current immigration\u2064 crisis<\/a>, while Tester distanced himself from Biden&#8217;s policies, admitting they&#8217;ve not\u2063 been effective.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Tester sought \u200cto portray Sheehy as an outsider to Montana, \u2062a \u200dstrategy he has used successfully in the past. Sheehy\u2019s military background\u200c played a role \u2063in their\u200d discussions, particularly concerning foreign policy \u200dand \u200cnational security. the debate underscored the candidates&#8217; differing approaches and priorities as they head into the election.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Five takeaways from second Montana Senate debate&nbsp;between Tester and Sheehy<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1773162\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jon-tester\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)\">Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)<\/a> faced off against GOP challenger <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3145647\/tim-sheehy-jon-tester-montana-race-change\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Tim Sheehy\">Tim Sheehy<\/a> on Monday night in what could be the final debate this cycle in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/montana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Montana\">Montana<\/a> Senate race.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The debate, at times tense, comes as Tester is the last remaining Democrat to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-brief-history-of-the-roman-empire-part-2-the-public-thing\/\" title=\"A Brief History Of The Roman Empire, Part 2: The Public Thing\">hold high office<\/a> in Montana. The Senate race is likely to determine the balance of power in the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\" upper chamber\"> upper chamber<\/a> as Republicans only need to pick up two seats to take the Senate majority. <\/p>\n<p>An average of polls <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/polls\/senate\/2024\/montana\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>shows <\/a>Sheehy has a seven-point lead over Tester in a state where Trump won by 17 percentage points. <\/p>\n<p>Here are the takeaways from the latest debate between the two candidates ahead of election day.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Candidates debate over role of federal government&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<p>Tester and Sheehy debated over the role the federal government should play in the housing crisis, veterans affairs and healthcare &ndash; however the most clear divide between the candidates came on the issue of abortion and whether there should be a single national abortion law in the country.<\/p>\n<p>Tester attempted to tie his campaign to a November ballot initiative in the state that would enshrine abortion rights in Montana&rsquo;s constitution after Roe vs. Wade.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Sen. Jon Tester prepares to debate GOP challenger Tim Sheehy on campus at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Ben Allan Smith\/The Missoulian via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;I want to see Roe reinstated. And I think this initiative, this ballot initiative that&rsquo;s going to be on the ballot, will do exactly that. It will enshrine it into the constitution so that women can make their own health care decisions,&rdquo; Tester said. &ldquo;My opponent, on the other hand, feels exactly the opposite. He feels he&rsquo;s more entitled to make that decision than the women are.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sheehy said he would support the ballot initiative if Montana voters decide to put it in place and said he supports &ldquo;exceptions.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If this particular initiative should pass, it&rsquo;s the law of the land and certainly I&rsquo;ll respect it. But, the reality is, at some point we have to protect the life of the child, he could be the next Albert Einstein, the next Michael Jordan, the next Jon Tester for all we know,&rdquo; Sheehy said.<\/p>\n<p>Sheehy went on to claim that Tester&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/senate-bill\/701\">support for a bill<\/a> that would protect abortion access means that he supports &ldquo;abortion up to and including in a moment of birth.&rdquo; Sheehy&rsquo;s claim is not supported within that legislation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That born alive statement that Tim Sheehy just made was total bunk &ndash; it&rsquo;s a lie, doesn&rsquo;t happen, those lives are already protected. You know it, Tim. You&rsquo;re just saying it to try to politicize this issue more than it already is,&rdquo; Tester said, mentioning a recent case of a woman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/georgia-abortion-ban-amber-thurman-death\">who died in Georgia <\/a>after receiving delayed emergency medical care.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The border<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Sheehy repeatedly blamed Tester and the Biden administration for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/romney-cotton-to-propose-10-minimum-wage-with-mandatory-e-verify\/\" title=\"Romney, Cotton To Propose  Minimum Wage With Mandatory E-Verify\">increased illegal immigration<\/a> at the southern border, citing the border crisis for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republican-leaders-push-bill-to-import-nurses-not-train-americans\/\" title=\"Republican Leaders Push Bill to Import Nurses, Not Train Americans\">higher housing costs<\/a>, increased consumer prices and more.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Senate Democrats and White House Democrats created this border crisis, we had a secure border four years ago, Donald Trump handed a sealed border to the Biden Harris Administration,&rdquo; Sheehy said. &ldquo;Kamala Harris, the border czar, with support from her friends on the hill like Senator Tester and Chuck Schumer opened the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kamala-harris-trip-to-south-america-suffers-early-missteps\/\" title=\"Kamala Harris\u2019 Trip To South America Suffers Early Missteps\">border wide open<\/a> for three years.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>However, Tester sought to distance himself from the Biden administration&rsquo;s immigration policies, saying &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be the first to tell you President Biden has not done a good job on the southern border.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He went on to mention the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.appropriations.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/emergency_national_security_supplemental_bill_text.pdf\">bipartisan compromise bill <\/a>that Sens. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/james-lankford\">James Lankford (R-OK)<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kyrsten-sinema\">Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ)<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chris-murphy\/\">Chris Murphy (D-CT)<\/a> and officials from the White House put together in February, but ultimately <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2843032\/bipartisan-border-ukraine-deal-fails-senate\/\">died due to lack of Republican support after pressure<\/a> from Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We had a solution &ndash; it was there, it could still be passed,&rdquo; Tester said. &ldquo;It could have been passed six or eight months ago, but the bottom line is, Tim, before it was even released to read, said &lsquo;nope, not going to support that&rsquo; because his party bosses told him that&rsquo;s what he needed to do.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tester distances himself from Democrats on Israel<\/h2>\n<p>As divisions over the Israel-Hamas war continue to fracture the Democratic party, Tester sought to distance himself from calls for a ceasefire and the hard left flank of his party, stating during the debate that Israel should be able to protect itself.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They were attacked on October 7, coming right up for no reason whatsoever, and so they&rsquo;re responding,&rdquo; Tester said. &ldquo;Do I agree with everything Bibi Netanyahu has done? Absolutely not. But, the truth is, Israel has to be able to protect themselves while the United States looks and helps the world look for a political solution for both of those conflicts.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sheehy underscored his military background and blamed the Biden-Harris administration, claiming the disastrous pull out of Afghanistan caused other conflicts in the world.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That set off a domino chain of weakness that led us to the path of chaos we are on today, from Israel to Ukraine to the Indo Pacific, where we&rsquo;re seeing China make moves that were unthinkable just 20 years ago,&rdquo; Sheehy said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sheehy takes accountability for derogatory comments about Native Americans, but dodges apologizing<\/h2>\n<p>Sheehy took accountability for comments he made last year that were published by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.charkoosta.com\/news\/senate-candidate-tim-sheehy-makes-questionable-racially-tinged-remarks-about-crow-reservation\/article_afc75344-6725-11ef-9065-afb44493d9ff.html\">Char-Koosta News<\/a>, the official publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation in late August in which he said Native Americans were &ldquo;drunk at 8 a.m.&rdquo; and throwing beer cans at him on the Crow Reservation.<\/p>\n<p>Tester urged Sheehy to apologize during the debate when answering a question about improving Native American life expectancy in Montana.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That gathering was in a back room of about &ndash; I don&rsquo;t know five dozen people there, but the reality is yeah, it was insensitive,&rdquo; Sheehy said. &ldquo;I come from the military, as many of our tribal members do, you know we make insensitive jokes and probably off color sometimes and you know, I&rsquo;m an adult. I&rsquo;ll take accountability for that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tim Sheehy prepares to debate U.S. Sen. Jon Tester on campus at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Ben Allan Smith\/The Missoulian via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Tester went on to slam Sheehy who has publicly clarified his comments, but has not offered a public apology.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Tim, the statement you made degrades Native Americans across this country. And you can say, &lsquo;look I&rsquo;ll take responsibility&rsquo;, but you know apologies matter and how you treat people matter,&rdquo; Tester said. &ldquo;If you treat them with disrespect, other people will disrespect them, so like I said to begin with, you&rsquo;re a big guy, just apologize.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tester attempts to paint Sheehy as an outsider<\/h2>\n<p>Tester has continued to draw attention to Sheehy&rsquo;s status as an outsider to the state of Montana.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In some of his previous races, he&rsquo;s been successful in depicting opponents as not true Montanans. In 2018, his campaign tried to brand the Baltimore-accented Rosendale as an outsider, slamming his Maryland roots and calling him &ldquo;Maryland Matt.&rdquo; In 2012, he highlighted GOP opponent, then-Rep. Denny Rehberg&rsquo;s lobbyist ties and a 2010 lawsuit he pursued against the Billings Fire Department for the way it handled a wildfire on his land, casting the lawsuit as a slight to firefighters.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The decision here is stark, you&rsquo;ve got the opportunity to vote for a guy who&rsquo;s come to a state a few years back, bought himself a 37,000 acre ranch, which we didn&rsquo;t even get into, and locked everybody off it &ndash; and is changing 12,500 bucks to go hunting on,&rdquo; Tester said in his closing statement, describing Sheehy. &ldquo;Or you&rsquo;ve got someone like me, someone who has been raised within 100 miles of where I was born.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sheehy, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and a wealthy businessman, defended his dedication to the state.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The truth is I wasn&rsquo;t lucky enough to be born in Montana, I would have loved to have been, I couldn&rsquo;t control where my mother&rsquo;s womb was when I crawled out of it, I can&rsquo;t control where the military sent me for a decade,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We put down roots here and we started a company, created hundreds of jobs to invest in the betterment of our community.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1773162\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1773162\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key points from the second Montana Senate debate between Tester and Sheehy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2347835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Montana-Debate-Senate-2024-scaled-1024x732.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[3896,40210,10191,4941],"class_list":["post-2347833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-debate","tag-sheehy","tag-takeaways","tag-tester"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Montana-Debate-Senate-2024-scaled-1024x732.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2347833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2347833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2347833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2347835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2347833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2347833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2347833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}