Seth Moulton and Joseph Schneider talk the vote

Wednesday night, at Endicott College, current U.S. Representative Seth Moulton (D) and candidate Joseph Schneider (R) met through Talk the Vote by WBZ, and was moderated by Dan Rea.

The debate was described to be a “back porch” civil discourse about politics, as Moulton called for more unity among the opposing parties in his opening statements, as well as talking about the importance of family.

“This country is at a time in our political history where there is not a lot of political discourse… There are deep divisions in our country,” said Moulton. “That is not the country I want for my daughter.”

Joe Schneider, Harvard Business School graduate who escaped communism in Romania, carried his opening statements reciting his résumé, his proudest achievement being the hundreds of jobs he has created, and also discussing his family.

Both Schneider and Moulton are American war veterans, which became an important topic of the discussion on from both candidates.

“I am supporting an amazing group of candidates, all veterans, who are running in key swing districts this year, all across the country,” said Moulton. “They are all first time candidates, they are all running to make a difference, all running against people who represent the political establishment.”

When asked about the hot-button issue of immigration, and the caravan, and what they would do if President Trump called and asked for their advice, they had opposing viewpoints.

Congressman Moulton believes we should all be supportive of secure borders, while all being supportive of legal immigration. Moulton said that he believes that Trump and many republicans in Washington have failed.

“The system is broken and we need bipartisan solutions,” said Moulton.

“If they come to our border they should be processed like other immigrants who come to our border,” said Moulton. “If there are people legitimately seeking asylum then we should allow them to come.”

Schneider, when asked the same question, believed that the fault does not fall on the current republicans in power. Schneider also believes in physical borders to help immigration.

“There have been attempts to reach a bipartisan solution, but we haven’t had one because the democrats position is to resist,” said Schneider. “No matter what republicans will put on the table democrats will resist.”

Schneider had also claimed later in the discussion that Moulton is partisan because he voted 99.99% of the time with the democratic majority according to CSPAN.

Moulton was quick to reply: “That is just not true,” said Moulton. “There are 435 members of the House of Representatives, and last I checked I was the 34th most bipartisan member of the house.”

Towards the end of the debate, Schneider claimed that he benefited from “dark money” to fund his campaign. 

“Dark money is the bain of our problems,” said Schneider. “But you are knee deep, neck deep, over your head in dark money.”

Schneider also claimed that Moulton had refused to face him.

“Seth moulton has refused any other debates. This is the only occasion he has accepted,” said Schneider. “He is politically scared. He was courageous in combat but politically scared.”

Throughout the debate, Moulton had mentioned that he was proud of the works both him and his colleagues had done in Gloucester. When pressed further, Moulton discussed the COD Project.

“I am most proud of the COD project,” said Moulton. “We brought together a task force to create a more sustainable fishing industry. Which I think is something everyone can agree on.”