As many of you know, I debated Democrat incumbent Christopher Donelan last night for the Massachusetts 2nd Franklin District house seat. Now while being biased, I think I did okay as did others who approached me afterward and emailed later…

Bob ~ You landed powerful punches in tonight’s debate, and, overall, captured imaginations in the electorate, I think. And, afterward, you were the one to whom audience members flocked. Seems you just won yourself a number of the incumbent’s votes!

However, some of the local media didn’t see it that way.

”If all is so rosy, there wouldn’t be a lot of complaining,” said Parks, who said he planned to vote for Ballot Question 1 to eliminate the income tax ”to send a message,” in response to stories he hears about government waste. ”It’s purely a message vote,” said Parks, who didn’t name a specific example of waste or corruption that he wants to eliminate.”

Donelan, a 43-year-old former Orange police officer and Franklin County probation officer, responded, ”It’s a dangerous message to send.” He said that forcing a 70-percent cut in the state budget would be ”a catastrophe,” and would threaten essential services.

Parks said that he would favor a moratorium on all new legislation and that he would turn to charitable organizations he believes would help raise money for new school buildings in the six-town legislative district, and that he would “think outside the box” in finding solutions to problems like the lack of public transportation, seeking investors who might want to start their own bus company.

The only tension arose after Parks claimed that as a legislator, he criticized Donelan for doing little to help Orange residents whose homes had flooded for no apparent reason several years go. Donelan recounted meeting with Patridgeville Road residents, together with state and federal officials, and said, ”To say I did nothing is absolutely false.”

I will be heading over to the television station this morning to get a copy of the DVD so I can post the debate online and you can make up your own minds as to who won.

Photos courtesy of Mike Phillips