Campaigns predict clear differences in Iowa’s 2nd District debate Aug. 28

CEDAR RAPIDS - When U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack and his Republican challenger Mariannette Miller-Meeks finish debating Thursday night voters should be able to tell them apart.

'This is an opportunity for Iowans to see the real differences between the two candidates,” Loebsack campaign manager Jennie Johnson said about the 2nd District debate.

'Iowans will have the opportunity to see the clear contrast between the two,” Miller-Meeks campaign manager Matt Sauvage said.

Miller-Meeks and Loebsack will face off in an hourlong Iowa Press Debate that begins at 7 p.m. in front of a live audience at City High School in Iowa City. The debate will air live on Iowa Public Television's primary high-definition channel and be streamed online at www.iptv.org.

It's the first debate of this cycle between Loebsack and Miller-Meeks. However, they've debated several times when they faced each other in 2008 and 2010.

The difference this time, Sauvage said, is that many of Miller-Meeks' warnings about the Affordable Care Act are now coming true. Iowans are beginning to see higher health insurance premiums and limits on where they can access health care, he said.

He thinks debate viewers will see Miller-Meeks, a physician and 24-year Army veteran, as someone they can trust on health care issues, including the changes needed at VA hospitals.

'People will see a clear alternative to what we have now,” he said.

Miller-Meeks certainly would be an alternative to Loebsack's 'work on a bipartisan basis to move Iowa forward,” Johnson countered.

'Miller-Meeks wants to privatize Social Security while Dave Loebsack is fighting to protect it,” Johnson said. 'Miller-Meeks wants to continue the tax loopholes that allow jobs to be shipped overseas while Dave Loebsack has a record of working to create jobs here at home.

'It will be clear that Dr. Miller-Meeks will just be another vote for the radical tea party,” she said.

Loebsack and Miller-Meeks will debate again Oct. 11 in the Quad Cities. That debate is sponsored by the Quad City Times and KWQC-TV.