The attacks continue in the only debate between McSally and Sinema in the US Senate race | Local news

Much of the campaign against Sinema was centered on his identity more than a decade ago, including his opposition to the war in the Middle East. McSally hopes to convince voters that Sinema, since her election to Congress in 2012, is not the moderate she proclaims.

After the debate, Sinema dismissed the issues from what she had said years ago.

"Martha chose to run a campaign based on smears, attacks and her choice," she said. Sinema said that what happened in the past belongs to history.

"Over time, I think that makes sense for people who are willing to learn and grow," she said.

Sinema was not the only one on the defensive as a congressional women's couple, in a near-heat of death to replace retired US Senator Flake, each seeking to score with perhaps 10% of voters from Arizona who say they are undecided. The debate on KAET was their only face-to-face debate of the campaign.

Sinema accused McSally of being an "apologist" for everything the GOP – and President Trump in particular – wants. McSally was asked about his open support for Trump this year, as opposed to his refusal to support it two years ago.

"Nothing has changed," said McSally.

McSally, elected for the first time to represent CD2 in southern Arizona in 2014, said she focused on representing her district.

"But he's in power," she says. She stated that this meant that she had to work with him, as she had done to preserve the A-10 attack aircraft that the Obama administration had been trying to suppress .

She was a little less direct when asked if she was proud of Trump's leadership.

"I am proud to work with him to provide more opportunities and to keep our country safe," McSally said.

She made it clear that she was largely supportive of what the president had done.

"He's a disruptor," said Trump's McSally. "He went to D.C. to get things moving, and he does it."

It is this attitude, she said, that has led her to make great strides, such as trying to remove nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula and update the old trade policies.

But Sinema said the flip side was a trade war.

"It's devastating for Arizona businesses and our farming community," Sinema said.

The effects are felt by everyone, she says. Sinema cited increasing tariffs on aluminum, which will make cans more expensive.

"This is something we can all agree on: beer should not be more expensive," she said.

McSally defended her vote in favor of the abolition of the Affordable Care Act, even though she conceded that the law had made insurance available to some people who did not want it. had none before.

"We can not go back to where we were before," she said. But McSally said the program, known as Obamacare, just did not work as expected and that it was financially unaffordable.

However, this still leaves the burning question of what would happen to those who are now enrolled if the plan was abandoned.

Although the program has proved controversial, a key provision has been widely supported: an obligation for insurance companies to provide coverage, whether or not people have pre-existing medical conditions. Sinema said the GOP's efforts to repeal the law would have left these people uninsured again.

McSally stated that while she wanted to remove the Affordable Care Act, she was supportive of such a requirement. The problem, she said, is that "Obamacare was the wrong approach".

Sinema, however, said the alternatives proposed by McSally and the Republicans would bring the country back "to the days when people could not afford health insurance."

"The solutions Martha voted to make the system worse and hurt Arizona," Sinema said.

The issue of abortion highlighted one of the clear differences between the candidates.

Sinema said the problem should be strictly between a woman, her family and her doctor. McSally's is defined as "pro-life".

But McSally avoided the question of whether she wanted the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade's landmark ruling in 1973, which legalized women's right to terminate their pregnancies.

"I would support the appointment of judges who independently review the Constitution and the laws we enact," McSally said.

McSally also endorsed Trump's decision to appoint Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and the Senate vote to confirm it.

"He is highly qualified and he has shown, I think, what we need to look at among judges and judges, that they will not be activists but that they will interpret the Constitution and the laws that we adopt. in Congress, she says.

Sinema was less direct in his response, calling the confirmation hearings "circus" to which both political parties participated. She said she was concerned about Kavanaugh's partisan testimony and that he appeared to have lied under oath. She finally said she would have voted against the confirmation.

McSally, whose congressional district includes much of the international border, said Sinema, whose district covers part of Phoenix and Tempe, does not understand the issue of security. McSally stated that it was not just illegal immigration, but also drug and drug trafficking.

Sinema said it is in favor of a $ 1.5 billion credit for border security, including for the construction of the Trump Border Wall.

"I agree with a physical barrier as part of a total solution," she said. But Sinema added that this also requires more than an "18th century solution to a 21st century problem".