Cravaack, Nolan clash in next-to-last debate of contentious campaign

Congressman Chip Cravaack and Democratic challenger Rick Nolan spent part of their debate in Cambridge looking back at some of the biggest issues to hit Washington in recent years — the federal stimulus, the health care overhaul, the national debt limit — and did not find much to agree on.

When it came to describing themselves, there was similar divergence. Cravaack characterized himself as a lunch-pail, pro-union Republican, prompting Nolan to call him a company man rather than a working man. Cravaack, in turn, accused his rival of siding with Twin Cities environmentalists over northern Minnesota mining companies.

Polls show the race between Nolan and Cravaack is neck-and-neck and the contest has attracted millions of dollars from outside the state.

Here is Tuesday’s debate in its entirety:

And an earlier debate in Duluth

A sampling of what the campaigns and their supporters were highlighting on Twitter post-debate

FACT CHECK: Former Congressman Rick Nolan Still Clinging to Desperate Medicare Attacks at Cambridge Debate – bit.ly/QQ0t1Y #debatemn

— Chip Cravaack (@chipcravaack) October 16, 2012

Laughable that Cravaack says he supports jobs here yet has voted time after time to ship jobs overseas.Rick Nolan will create jobs in MN. — Ken Martin (@kenmartin73) October 16, 2012

Cravaack is trashing stimulus as a failure. He should walk into the Virginia courthouse & tell dozens of construction workers that. #jobs — Carly Melin (@carlymelin) October 16, 2012

.@ricknolan2012 was given an F rating by the NRA, @chipcravaack received NRA endorsement and an ‘A’ rating. mncd8 #debateMN

— Erik L (@ErikLeist) October 16, 2012