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EAST SYRACUSE - It took until the waning days of the campaign, but the three candidates seeking to fill the vacant 23rd Congressional District seat finally sat down together to debate the issues.

Democrat-Working Families Party candidate Bill Owens, Republican-Independence Party candidate Dede Scozzafava and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman met in a three-way forum for the first time in the campaign Thursday afternoon in the studios of WSYR-TV. Several previous attempts to bring the three together to discuss the concerns of district residents had fallen apart, with Owens, Hoffman or both citing scheduling conflicts.

The lack of opportunities for voters to compare the three candidates side by side was the subject of the first question asked by moderator Dan Cummings, WSYR's morning news anchor. Owens and Hoffman, who both said they recognized the importance of debates, repeated their contentions that other commitments had prevented them from attending earlier forums. Scozzafava, who was the most aggressive of the three throughout the event, said she had accepted all the debate invitations extended to her and criticized her opponents, who she said "prefer to duck behind 30-second commercial ads."

Scozzafava also accused Owens and Hoffman of using those ads to mislead voters about her record in the state Assembly.

"I have two opponents here who want to distort my record," she said, accusing both men of not being truthful when they claim she voted repeatedly to increase taxes. Many of those votes were for so-called "home rule" legislation, in which a local government requested an extension of a previously granted increase in local sales taxes. Without the legislation, the sales tax rate would have decreased, but "8 percent to 8 percent isn't a tax increase," she said.

Scozzafava also blasted Hoffman after the Lake Placid accountant was unable to respond to a question about plans to control the water level in Lake Ontario because he was unfamiliar with the issue. Anyone who wants to represent the voters in the sprawling congressional district needs to be familiar with the individual concerns of each part of that district, she said.

Hoffman and Owens took their own shots at Scozzafava and each other. Hoffman, repeating a theme of his campaign, said a vote for either Owens or Scozzafava would be a vote to continue the liberal agenda of Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi - an agenda he said is not reflective of the values of the voters of the 23rd Congressional District.

"If I was not in this race, there wouldn't be much of a choice," he said.

For his part, Owens said the tax policies of Hoffman and Scozzafava - both of whom support continuation of the tax cuts for the wealthy enacted under President George W. Bush - would mean a continuation of the "failed Bush economic policies" that led to the current recession.

All three candidates said the huge influx of money into the race from sources outside the congressional district would have no effect on the stands they would take in Washington. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and conservative political action committee the Club For Growth have each poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the 23rd, mostly for television advertising, but the candidates all said they would not be beholden to the groups that supported their election bids.

"I have acted independently for the vast majority of my life," Owens said.

Hoffman argued that a victory by him Tuesday would show that the conservative values promoted by the Club For Growth are the values held by the majority of residents in the district.

"All I have to do is maintain my conservative Ronald Reagan Republican values and ideals," he said.

Scozzafava, who has been condemned by some Republicans for not representing the party ideals, said she would vote the way her constituents, not the party organization, wants.

"The most important voices have come from those who live in the district," she said. "My loyalty has always been to the people I represent."

The debate broke little new ground on the major issues facing residents of the 11-county congressional district, with each candidate repeating comments on tax policy, federal spending, health care reform and the war in Afghanistan they have made in previous public appearances.

Tax policy: Hoffman and Scozzafava favor maintaining the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and would eliminate the estate tax. Owens wants to see the tax cuts eliminated and favors a revised estate tax that would affect only estates worth more than $5 million.

Federal spending and the stimulus program: Owens called the stimulus legislation "appropriate" but said he had some concerns with the way the money was being spent. Scozzafava said she had hoped more of the stimulus money would go to one-time infrastructure projects rather than the state operations it is being used to fund. Hoffman said the stimulus money was not doing what it was supposed to do - quickly create long-term jobs. He wants to re-examine and possibly retract the stimulus money that has not yet been spent.

Earmarks: All three candidates said the method of allocating funds for individual projects should be more transparent. Hoffman repeated his earlier claims that he would not accept earmarks, saying the money should be allocated through regular spending bills discussed on the House floor. Owens said rejecting earmarks would be "irresponsible," and Scozzafava said she was concerned that using the regular spending procedures to obtain money for district-specific projects could be problematic.

Health care: Scozzafava said she was concerned about the effect mandated health care coverage would have on businesses and that not enough was being done to contain costs. She opposes the public option. Hoffman said Congress needs to look at other ways to make health care more affordable, including tort reform, the elimination of waste and fraud in the Medicaid program, and allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines. He, too, opposes the public option. Owens called the public option that congressional Democrats unveiled Thursday "reasonable" but said he has other concerns with that proposal, including the regulations on how small a business must be to be exempt from the requirement that it offer health coverage to its employees.

Afghanistan: Owens, a former Air Force captain, said he was not privy to all the information needed to make a recommendation to the president on troop strength, but that any decision must take into account the safety of the troops and national security and "needs to right by the Afghan people." Hoffman and Scozzafava both said they supported the recommendation by Gen. Stanley McChrystal to dramatically increase U.S. troop strength.

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On the border: Only Owens says regs work well

By E.J. CONZOLA II, Central New York Press Service

EAST SYRACUSE - Maintaining security along the Canadian border is necessary, but some changes may be needed to make the border crossing easier, the three candidates for the 23rd Congressional District agreed Thursday.

Democrat-Working Families Party candidate Bill Owens, Republican-Independence Party candidate Dede Scozzafava and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman all said the federal government needs to re-examine regulations governing cross-border travel that were established in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The restrictions seem to be more onerous than necessary to maintain security and are particularly damaging to the economy of the sprawling congressional district, which stretches along the U.S.-Canada border from Vermont to Lake Ontario.

"Our neighbors to the north are our friends," Scozzafava, the former mayor of Gouverneur, said during a debate with her two opponents Thursday afternoon. Security is necessary to protect the country, but current measures are hurting businesses that rely on customers crossing the border - particularly those related to the tourism industry, she said.

The requirement that most people who want to cross the border must produce a passport is disappointing because it negatively affects business, especially tourism. Hoffman agreed. Given the current economic conditions in this country, the government must be especially aware of those economic considerations, he said.

Owens said the issue of securing the northern border requires "a continually evolving conversation" to balance the need for security with economic necessities. Unlike his opponents, Owens, who was stationed at Plattsburgh Air Force Base while in the service, said he thinks most people who cross the border are encountering few difficulties because they have been educated about the documents they will be required to produce. Most of those who cross the border have been very cooperative with the regulations, he said.