2012 WA Senate Debates: on War & Peace


Maria Cantwell: Leave Afghanistan in 2014 as planned

Baumgartner, who has worked as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan, said he wants to "end the war in Afghanistan now" and use the savings to help with domestic finances. "We have a foreign policy disaster now in the Middle East," he said. "Sen. Cantwell has been consistently in support of poorly planned wars."

Cantwell countered that she supports Pres. Obama's plans to withdraw troops in 2014, and she said Pres. Bush deserved blame for not fully funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source: The Seattle Times on 2012 WA Senate debate Oct 12, 2012

Michael Baumgartner: Leave Afghanistan now & use funds domestically

Baumgartner, who has worked as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan, said he wants to "end the war in Afghanistan now" and use the savings to help with domestic finances. "We have a foreign policy disaster now in the Middle East," he said. "Sen. Cantwell has been consistently in support of poorly planned wars."

Cantwell countered that she supports Pres. Obama's plans to withdraw troops in 2014, and she said Pres. Bush deserved blame for not fully funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source: The Seattle Times on 2012 WA Senate debate Oct 12, 2012

Michael Baumgartner: We're wasting resources on democracy-building in Afghanistan

Baumgartner's experience in war zones has also molded his understanding of foreign policy. Unlike many Republicans, he believes the US is wasting its resources on democracy-building in Afghanistan. A more targeted military approach would have worked better and saved trillions of dollars, he said. "Government doesn't come in a box," he said. "It comes through legitimate local growth."

Foreign policy isn't typically the building block of a statewide campaign. Baumgartner acknowledged that most voters care more about domestic issues, especially the economy. That hasn't deterred him. "In my view, people don't care enough about the war," he said. "My interest in foreign policy is above the average voter's interest. That doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about it."

[In his campaign], he draws on the lessons of the war zone. "When we were in Iraq & Afghanistan, you didn't sit around thinking about all the things you couldn't do," Baumgartner said. "You thought about the things you could get done."

Source: Seattle Times on 2012 WA Senate debate Sep 15, 2012

  • The above quotations are from 2012 Washington Senate Debate.
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  • Click here for more quotes by Michael Baumgartner on War & Peace.
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Candidates and political leaders on War & Peace:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 05, 2018