Photo by Caleb Revill / MTSU Sidelines Archive
U.S. Senate candidates Phil Bredesen and Marsha Blackburn debated for the second and final time before the Nov. 6 election in the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy on the University of Tennessee’s campus in Knoxville Wednesday.
Since the first Tennessee Senate debate on Sept. 25 in Lebanon, Tennessee, Blackburn, a Republican, holds an 8-point lead over Bredesen, a Democrat, according to a recent CBS poll. [1]
Many news outlets noted the instinct of the two candidates to verbally attack each other on stage in the first clash, and this trend continued on Wednesday with another fiery debate. [2]
The debate began with several questions to Blackburn and Bredesen regarding the recent and controversial confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Bredesen was also the subject of controversy recently as he made a statement last week in support of the confirmation of Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault. Blackburn supported Kavanaugh as well, but this came as no surprise. [3]
“I watched it very closely, and I just came to the conclusion that, all things being equal, I did not think those allegations rose to the level of disqualification from the Supreme Court,” Bredesen said.
Bredesen noted in a later question that he doesn’t consider someone not coming forward at the time of their assault as “an issue at all.”
“Tennesseans wanted to see Judge Kavanaugh confirmed,” Blackburn said in her response.
Blackburn went on to say that if Hillary Clinton had become president, Kavanaugh would not have been confirmed. She then stated that Bredesen “took his time” with his support of Kavanaugh and suggested that the reason for
