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Obama, billionaires the targets at Pryor-Cotton debate in Fayetteville

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U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, and who face each other in the U.S. Senate race had nothing significant new to provide Arkansas voters who may yet be undecided on a race that some national pundits say could be critical to which party controls the U.S. Senate.

However, the likely line of the night was related to a definition the definition of a middle class Arkansan. More on that later in the story.

The first and only live televised debate took place at the University of Arkansas’ Global Campus in Fayetteville in front of more than 300 “invited guests” and hosted by the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. Agreed upon topics were education, economic development

Pryor was able to use almost each response and rebuttal to tag Cotton as a tool for “out-of-state billionaires.” Pryor said the billionaires “have bought” a candidate who will cut important social programs like Medicare, Social Security and Food Stamps in order to deliver tax cuts to the billionaires.

“I listen to you and he listens to the billionaires,” Pryor said of Cotton.

Likewise, Cotton used almost each response and rebuttal to tag Pryor as being in lockstep with President Barack Obama, often beginning an answer with “Mark Pryor and Barack Obama … .” Cotton, who announced during the debate that he and his new wife are expecting a baby, said the policies of President Obama are on the Arkansas ballot.

“A vote for Mark Pryor is a vote for Barack Obama,” Cotton said, adding that Pryor is a “rubber stamp for Barack Obama’s weakness” in foreign affairs.

To be fair, the fight is drawn along national lines, with the Pryor-Cotton matchup one of eight U.S. Senate races closely watched in the top political offices in Washington, D.C.

The Pryor-Cotton match was close through the summer in various polls, but in recent weeks the polling indicates a shift favorable to Cotton. Real Clear Politics noted Oct. 7 that “Mark Pryor enters the home stretch clearly behind Rep. Tom Cotton.” A September 29 note from Real Clear Politics suggested that Pryor “is in deep trouble.”

“Two months before the election, Pryor still seems to be stuck at 43 percent. There's still plenty of room for him to win this race, but he remains the most vulnerable incumbent,” noted Real Clear Politics.

Erik Dorey, deputy campaign manager for the Pryor campaign, did not dispute the race was close, but said Pryor is working each day to connect with voters.

“It us anyone’s game at this point. … When Mark gets out around the state and talks to Arkansans, the reaction is universally heartwarming,” Dorey said, adding that “Arkansans aren’t entirely as clueless as Tom Cotton thinks they are.”

As to the issues, support and solvency for social programs, jobs and healthcare were the dominant topics.

Responding to a questions about how to “define” the middle class, Pryor said he wants to grow the economy by growing the middle class, but Cotton believes he can build up the economy by supporting billionaires.

Cotton responded by saying Obamacare and other regulatory policies supported by Obama and Pryor have hurt the middle class and small businesses.

“The way we stop it (loss of jobs in Arkansas) is to get government out of the private sector,” Cotton said.

After being reminded by debate moderator Roby Brock that the question was about providing a definition of the middle class, Pryor said a middle class income is around $200,000. That amount, which is considerably more than the eventually median income of just over $40,000, would later blow up social media.

The City Wire will update this story later tonight.

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