Jon Runyan, the former pro football player and now Republican candidate for the House against freshman Rep. John Adler (D-NJ), had a fun exchange at a debate Tuesday night. He says members of Congress should read all the bills they pass; he wants to fully repeal the health care reform bill; and, it turns out, he hasn’t read the health care bill.
Adler shot this at his Republican opponent: “Respectfully Jon, I’m not sure you’ve ever read one bill in Congress ever, not one.”
“Well I’m not in Congress,” Runyan responded.
Runyan went on to explain further: “I’ve read several bills. If you’re gonna pass a piece of legislation, you should be able to walk out on the street and hand it to the first person you see. They should be able to read and understand that.”
At another recent debate, Runyan was asked to name a recent Supreme Court decision with which he disagreed. Runyan then named the 1857 Dred Scott decision — which is hardly recent, but is sometimes used as a dog-whistle message by conservatives to signal opposition to Roe v. Wade.
The TPM Poll Average gives Adler 38.8%, Runyan 37.3%, and Tea Party candidate Peter DeStefano 4.7%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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