Candidates spar over key issues on debate stage, while others refuse to confront opponents

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• Amna Nawaz:

  We are in the thick of midterm season. And with election night just a few weeks away, candidates are taking to the debate stage. But are these debates in this political climate mobilizing voters or changing minds?

  To dive into how this is all playing out, I'm joined by two longtime political consultants. Republican strategist Brett O'Donnell, he has worked on debate preparation for five presidential candidates, including George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney. And the Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter, she served as adviser and deputy campaign manager for Barack Obama.

  Welcome to you both. Thank you for being with us.

  As you both know, a number of high-stakes debates just last night, I want to go through a few exchanges and get your analysis on each of those.

  First, in Ohio, we have the senator candidates Democrat Tim Ryan and the Republican candidate, J.D. Vance, who debated last night on voters' top issue, which, as we all know, is the economy. Here's what each of them had to say.

  J.D. Vance (R), Ohio Senatorial Candidate: And I really wish Tim Ryan had stood up to his party on this vote, because it might have made the inflation crisis we have been seeing over the last few months a lot better if he hadn't done what he always does, which is vote with Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden 100 percent of the time.

  Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), Senatorial Candidate: J.D., you keep talking about Nancy Pelosi. If you want to run against Nancy Pelosi, move back to San Francisco and run against Nancy Pelosi. You're running against me.

  I put the natural gas provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. I was the one who made sure we had all of the investments in electric vehicles in the Inflation Reduction Act.

• Amna Nawaz:

  What about you, Brett? Is there something you notice in the way Vance is name-checking Pelosi and Biden? Is that part of the Republican strategy here?

• Brett O’Donnell, Republican Strategist:

  Well, absolutely.

  And I think that, while Tim Ryan tried to make the most, there isn't really a lot he can make out of it. The economy, particularly inflation, is running against Democrats. The Inflation Reduction Act, they have admitted, won't reduce inflation anytime soon, if at all.

  And so that becomes a problem for them. But, back in 2014, Barack Obama said his policies were on the ballot. And in that midterm, Republicans won nine Senate seats away from Democrats.

  And I think, while we may not win that many, I do think that, because of the economy, and because the president's and Nancy Pelosi's policies are on the ballot, whether or not Tim Ryan wants to try and separate himself from them, there — he is their representative, and he's unfortunately going to have to bear the brunt of the blame for the bad economy.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Stephanie, what would you say to that? Do you see Democrats separating themselves from Biden and the economy the closer we get to Election Day?

• Stephanie Cutter, Democratic Strategist:

  Democrats knew going into this midterm that all of the historical winds were against them. Add to that the economy.

  So — but what I do think that Democrats have been trying to do and, in some cases, very successfully, is make this a choice between two different directions. And with the insertion of the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, the ongoing insertion of Donald Trump and putting himself into this race, the raid on his Mar-a-Lago resort, all of those things have also taken away the idea that this was a referendum on Democrats.

  And it's been much more of a choice.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So, Stephanie, you mentioned the Dobbs decision there. I do want to ask you about abortion rights, because it has become an increasingly important issue for voters and more central message for Democrats.

  In Georgia last night, in the gubernatorial debate between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp, Kemp was asked specifically about a recording on which he was asked if he would go further in terms of restrictions than a six-week ban he had previously signed.

  Here's what he said in response to that and what Abrams had to say on the issue.

• Speaker:

  Can you tell us right now whether you would push for these measures or any other additional restrictions on abortion, now that the 2019 law is in effect?

• Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA):

  No, I would not.

  Stacey Abrams (D), Georgia Gubernatorial Candidate: He has weakened our privacy rights and our — and women's rights. He's denied women the access to reproductive care.

  The most dangerous thing facing Georgia is four more years of Brian Kemp.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Brett, it's fair to say Republicans across the country have been rolling back abortion rights. Women on both sides of the aisle are concerned about this.

  Should Republicans be messaging about this more strongly, more proactively than they are?

• Brett O’Donnell:

  Not only should Brian Kemp be answering his question, but Stacey Abrams should be answering the question, what abortion restrictions does she believe in?

  Most of the country doesn't believe in late-term abortions, yet that's the Democrat position. And so I think Republicans would do well to stay on offense, but also make sure that they address this within — within the boundaries of being compassionate, understanding that these are tough situations, and that — and that they're going to handle them compassionately.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Stephanie, what would you say to that?

• Stephanie Cutter:

  I would say that Republicans will have a hard time going on offense on this decision.

  And I think women across the country, families across the country know that this isn't about late-term abortion. This is about whether women can make their own decisions with their doctors about what is right for them and their families.

  And if Kemp attacks Stacey Abrams on where her restrictions were, the simple answer is this: Women should make that decision, because the — having a false choice over late-term abortion, we all know that very, very few, less than — far less than 1 percent of abortions happen after the 20-week mark. And that's usually because the baby will not survive or the mother's health is at risk.

  And who better to make that decision about what to do in those circumstances than the woman and her doctor?

• Amna Nawaz:

  I need to ask you both about another big issue that's come up again. It came up last night in the Utah debate, the Senate debate between Senator Mike Lee and independent candidate Evan McMullin.

  There is a backdrop to this. Obviously, Senator Mike Lee had early on encouraged then-President Trump to challenge the 2020 election results, after later reversing course. And all of this, we should mention, is unfolding against a very striking new poll that came out recently with registered voters from The New York Times and Siena College asking people, is American democracy under threat?

  And 71 percent say, yes, it is under threat; 21 percent say no. We should point out those numbers are virtually the same for Republicans and for Democrats.

  So, Stephanie, to you first, is that a message Democrats should be leaning into more?

• Stephanie Cutter:

  You know, I think that you do hear that on the campaign trail across the country. I think you hear it more in races like Mike Lee's, where he did encourage the president not to concede the election and participated in what ultimately became the January 6 insurrection.

  Now, Mike Lee didn't participate in that into insurrection. That's not what I'm suggesting. But let's all be clear that alleging fraud in an election where fraud doesn't exist, encouraging a president to not concede, to continue to say that he won — he still says that he won — all of that contributes to a lack of trust in our democratic institutions, a lack of trust in our democratic system, and lots of opportunity to overthrow it.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Brett, I will let you respond to that. What would you say?

• Brett O’Donnell:

  Sure.

  Well, first of all, your number in The New York Times poll shows that there's an equal number of Democrats and Republicans who view democracy under threat. And it's not just because of what happened in 2020. There's lots of other reasons why people are worried about their democracy.

  They see the Democrats acting unilaterally. They see abuses of executive power. And so I agree that there are democracy threats all around us. One of them are hypocritical Democrats who want to say that democracy is under threat, but, at the same time, won't participate in what is the cornerstone of any good democracy. That is debate.

  And, by the way, the threat to democracy is not the foremost issue on the minds of voters. Right now, a lot of folks out there are wondering how they put gas in their car or groceries on their table. They're worried about safety in their neighborhoods. They're worried about open borders.

  And so those are the things that are at the forefront of most voters this cycle.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Well, I thank both of you for setting the example today of how two smart people can show up and debate and disagree on the issues, but still be civil about it.

  My thanks to you both, Brett O'Donnell and Stephanie Cutter.

• Stephanie Cutter:

  Thank you.

• Brett O’Donnell:

  Thank you.