Rand Paul Jack Conway Kentucky Senate Debate Fox News Sunday VIDEO TEXT TRANSCRIPT

Rand Paul Jack Conway Kentucky Senate Debate Fox News Sunday VIDEO TEXT TRANSCRIPT

The following is a rush transcript of the October 3, 2010, edition of "Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace." This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

CHRIS WALLACE, ANCHOR: I'm Chris Wallace, reporting from Louisville, Kentucky, and this is "Fox News Sunday." The Kentucky Senate showdown -- with 30 days till the election, it's one of the nation's most closely watched races. Republican Rand Paul, one of the original tea party candidates, who opposes government intervention in the private sector, and Democrat Jack Conway, the state's attorney general, who supports much of the Obama agenda -- Paul and Conway, in their only national debate, on "Fox News Sunday."

Then, a key player leaves the White House. We'll ask our Sunday panel what Rahm Emanuel's departure means for the midterms and a president seeking reelection.

And as Mr. Obama tries to whip up the Democratic base and Congress leaves town with plenty of unfinished business, we go "On the Trail," all right now on "Fox News Sunday."

And hello again from Fox News, today on the road in Louisville, Kentucky, the home of the most famous horse race in the world, the iconic Louisville slugger baseball bats, and now one of the hottest Senate races in November.

We are in the studios of WDRB TV, our Fox affiliate here in Louisville, and we're joined by the two contenders for the Kentucky Senate seat, Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Rand Paul.

And, gentlemen, welcome to "Fox News Sunday."

JACK CONWAY, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR KENTUCKY SENATE SEAT: It's good to be with you.

WALLACE: I'd like to ask each of you to take a minute to lay out what you think is at stake in this race. What is the choice for Kentucky voters?

Dr. Paul, why don't you start?

RAND PAUL, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR KENTUCKY SENATE SEAT: Well, I think I'm very concerned about the debt that we're piling on -- I think mountains and mountains of debt.

I'm concerned about President Obama adding trillions of dollars of entitlement programs.

I'm concerned about the president adding or allowing the largest tax hike in our history.

And I'm concerned about President Obama foisting cap and trade on Kentucky which will be a disaster for our coal jobs.

I think this election really is about the president's agenda. Do you support the president's agenda or do you not support it? I think his agenda's wrong for America. I will stand up against President Obama's agenda. And I think that's what people in Kentucky want.

WALLACE: Attorney General Conway, same question. What's at stake in this race? What's the choice for Kentucky voters?

CONWAY: Well, Chris, welcome to Kentucky. First of all, it's a real clear choice. I think we need to put the people of Kentucky first.

The special interests in Washington have enough people standing up for them. As attorney general, I have stood up for the people of Kentucky. I've taken on pharmaceutical companies when they have lied to our Medicaid program. I have taken on oil companies that have gouged us. I have taken on anyone that would do wrong by the people of Kentucky.

And there's a real clear choice in this race. There's a real clear choice between someone who has taken on the drug issue and someone who says that drugs aren't a pressing issue in Kentucky, someone who stands up to criminals and someone who says that nonviolent behavior shouldn't be a crime, someone who supports the rights of the disabled and someone who has said that he's against the Americans With Disabilities Act, between someone who's going to stand up and protect Medicare and someone who says in Medicare we need a $2,000 deductible. I mean, that's a really clear choice.

WALLACE: Attorney General Conway, you have even gone further than that. On the campaign trail you have called Dr. Paul "crazy." Your campaign ads call him "out of touch." Why?

CONWAY: I just think he's out of touch with the values of mainstream Kentuckians. You know, as Democrats, we need to talk about our values a little more. I think we value inclusivity.

We have 12,000 new disabled vets since 9/11 here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. And I don't think it's appropriate to stand up and say that you're against the Americans With Disabilities Act in that environment.

I'm not saying Dr. Paul is crazy. I think some of his ideas are out of the mainstream and they're out of touch with the values of normal Kentuckians.

WALLACE: Dr. Paul, quite frankly, you say very little about Attorney General Conway on the campaign trail. You say nothing about him in your ads. Now's your chance, sir.

PAUL: We're waiting for him to catch up a little bit in the polls and then we may refer to him more. But really, he has to -- what he needs to do is he needs to either defend his president or run away. So far he's running away from President Obama and the agenda.

He supports "Obamacare." He supported repealing the tax cuts before he was against it, before he was before it again. Cap and trade, he's been on both sides of the issue. Kentuckians are not going to tolerate someone who's ambivalent on cap and trade. Cap and trade will be a disaster to our economy.

And these are the issues of the day, and these are the things that people want to talk about. People are concerned about jobs and the economy. And if we pass cap and trade, it will be a disaster to Kentucky's economy and to Kentucky jobs.

WALLACE: Let's talk -- and you kind of led in the direction that I wanted to head in this debate. Let's talk about jobs and the economy, which I think we would all agree are the key issues for voters here and across the country.

Unemployment in Kentucky is now 10 percent. In fact, it has been below that figure of 10 percent only one month in the last year and a half.

Attorney General Conway, you say -- and this picks up on what Dr. Paul was saying -- that you would have voted for the stimulus, you would have voted for TARP's $700 billion for Wall Street. And you would have voted for Obama's health care reform.

So if you had been in the Senate the last two years, you would have supported most of President Obama's agenda.

CONWAY: Some of President Obama's agenda. Listen, these are all hypotheticals. I've been attorney general of the Commonwealth of Kentucky the last two years.

The stimulus, a third of it went to tax cuts. No one talks about it. A third of it went to keeping the jobs of police and firefighters. And a third supposedly went to shovel-ready projects where the administration hasn't done that great a job.

Actually, I wouldn't have voted for the bailouts. The bailouts are -- there weren't enough accountability in them. You know? There were not enough accountability in them. We had people getting bonuses after getting the bailouts.

And on health care, look, we've got 654,000 Kentuckians getting health care for the first time as a result of this bill. I have a friend who's had a kidney transplant -- tells me how hard it is to get coverage with a preexisting condition. I'd like to fix health care. I'd like to make it more responsible going forward by allowing Medicare to engage in bulk purchasing.

WALLACE: You actually take me in the direction of the question I wanted to ask Dr. Paul. And incidentally, this is a free-flowing...

CONWAY: Sure.

WALLACE: ... debate. Feel free to talk to each other if you would like to.

Dr. Paul, you say you would have voted against the stimulus. Kentucky has received $2.9 billion, almost $3 billion, in stimulus funds. And according to records, to the government, 17,000 jobs were saved or created. What are you saying to those people? Fend for yourselves?

What I'm not for -- what I'm not for -- is the $2,000 deductible and taking our health care system back to a pre-World War II system, which is what Rand Paul's on the record as having said. So I'd like to fix health care. He wants to repeal it. And I think that's a stark difference. Kentucky Senate Showdown on 'FNS' | Fox News Sunday FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT

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