By Shannon McCaffrey
Associated Press Writer
PERRY - A rowdy crowd of 300 cheered, jeered and often drowned out the candidates in the first U.S. Senate debate of the general election at the Georgia fairgrounds Thursday night.
The roiling economy grabbed center stage and never left as Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss defended his vote for the $700 billion financial bailout bill. Chambliss likened the current turmoil in the markets to the catastrophic terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
"Today, folks, we are suffering the 9/11 of our domestic economy," Chambliss said.
For Democratic challenger Jim Martin, who's come out against the rescue package, Chambliss had a blunt message: "sticking your head in the sand is not the answer."
"Gosh knows if we had done nothing what would have happened to our credit markets and our stock markets," the Republican from Moultrie said.
Martin wasted no opportunity to link Chambliss to President Bush, who is plagued with dismal approval ratings.
"From my perspective, the people sticking their heads in the sand were Saxby Chambliss and George Bush," Martin fired back. Martin said the bailout plan lacks adequate safeguards and help for homeowners.
Chambliss had a bullseye on his back all night.
Libertarian Allen Buckley blasted him on the bailout bill, which he labeled a "fiscally irresponsible" measure that puts taxpayers on the hook for the mistakes of high-paid money managers.
"The problem is government got involved," Buckley said.
Thursday's debate took place in front of a highly partisan crowd in the GOP stronghold of middle Georgia.
Chambliss supporters waved "Saxby" signs and offered up a sustained "boos" when Martin mentioned Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
"Bomb Obama," one woman hollered.
Martin backers, most of them bused in from Atlanta, heckled Chambliss with catcalls of "send Saxby Home" and "tell the truth."
Outside the cavernous arena, fairgoers munched on funnel cake and pork butt on a stick.
The Senate faceoff came on a day of gloomy news on Wall Street as the Dow Jones industrial plunged below the 9,000 level for the first time in five years.
"Things are tough," Martin said. He blamed Chambliss for being in lockstep with the GOP culture of deregulation that has let financial companies run amok.
"There's been eight years of an attitude in Washington that business knows best and government ought to stay out of the way ... and just see what happened," Martin said.
Chambliss blamed loose lending restrictions that originated in the Democratic Clinton administration, which allowed those with spotty credit to secure risky mortgages.
"There was one common denominator: subprime loans," Chambliss said.
Chambliss is seeking a second term in the U.S. Senate. He ousted Democratic incumbent Max Cleland in 2002. The tough tone of that race has made Chambliss, of Moultrie, a favorite punching bag for Democrats.
Martin, a former state lawmaker and state human resources commissioner from Atlanta, faces an uphill battle in reliably GOP Georgia in his bid to oust Chambliss. Martin is hoping anger over the floundering economy will help him pull off an upset.
Buckley, an accountant and lawyer from Smyrna said he is the only candidate who has the financial knowhow to take on the complicated economic issues.
The trio are set to face off in five more debates in the four weeks left until election day Nov. 4.
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