State Representative Gene DeRossett (R-Manchester) discussed issues ranging from foreign policy to the economy, in the first debate between all Republican Candidates running for the congressional Seventh District.

Besides DeRossett there were four other candidates present for the Nov. 13 event, which was held at Hillsdale College. Those candidates included Clark Bisbee, Paul DeWeese, Brad Smith and Tim Walberg.

Peter Wills, media relations for DeRossett, said it was a great opportunity for the local state representative to spread his message while on the campaign trail.

"There were more than 200 people there," Wills said. "The event was primarily made up of students from the school and there were some citizens from the area."

The public debate was organized by the on-campus group Hillsdale College Republicans. Questions for each of the candidates were contributed by the audience at the beginning of the event.

"The debate here in Hillsdale proved to be a valuable experience for the public," said Theodore Striegnitz, who is the media communications director for the Republican group.

"It allowed the citizens of the district to see for the first time, each of the Republican candidates take a stand on a variety of issues in person."

People on both side of the podium saw the debate as a great opportunity to get the issues in the public eye, and DeRossett was no exception.

"It was a good experience to be out there with all the other candidates," DeRossett said. "I am very encouraged with all the students wanting to get involved and participate."

DeRossett said that while most of the topics revolved around national news and congressional issues, there were a lot of people in the audience concerned with loss of manufacturing jobs and local economy.

He said that one of the hardest hit industries has been tool and die.

"In the debate, we talked about how best we can keep these jobs around," DeRossett said.

"We discussed how we can be more proactive rather than reactive when it comes to our local economic development. Michigan has lost more manufacturing jobs than any other state and we are always one of the last states to come out of a recession."

As a solution, DeRossett said that re-training for jobs will be very important. He said that with the rapidly emerging technology and a changing economy, companies need to look at re-training before local jobs are relocated to other parts of the world.

Wills said that the upcoming congressional race will be focused around traditional Republican issues, like spurring economic growth, and the difference in views between the candidates on those issues.

"The staple Republican issues will make the difference in this race. In the end, that is really what is going to define this race," Wills said.

Despite audience concerns about the loss of local jobs, DeRossett remained positive about recent economic growth.

He said, "I think that when this is all said and done, we are going to be in a much better position economically. From what I can find at the federal level, investor confidence is going way up, unemployment is starting to go down and if it keeps up like this it will be the fastest and most rapid growth we have seen in the last 20 years."

DeRossett added that he is very positive about where the economy is heading right now.

After the candidates faced questions about creating and jobs and spurring the economy, debate issues strayed to national concerns.

"We talked about what was going on today," DeRossett said.

"They asked questions about our military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, which I would have supported. I think the president is doing a great job with his leadership and I would have also supported the spending package for military operations.

"Most of that money would have been spent on military anyway."

When it came to the issue of terrorism and national defense, DeRossett also agreed with current policies of the Bush administration. He said that we are much better off taking the fight to the terrorists then letting them bring the fight here.

"We cannot fail to follow through in Iraq," DeRossett said.

Even more recent than Iraq and Afghanistan, the president’s prescription drug plan was also discussed at length during the public debate. This is one of the major issues for DeRossett, who said that something has to be done about the high prices senior citizens are paying for prescription drugs.

DeRossett said, "The other candidates did not believe that we can afford the new plan for drug benefits. I was the only one who said that we can afford it and I believe that we can afford it because the cost of medication for seniors is something that we have to address."

DeRossett also talked about fiscal waste at the federal level. In order to promote programs like prescription drugs for seniors, DeRossett said there will have to be better financial accountability.

"I think that we can afford things like the drug benefits program but we need to go back and look at areas in the government where there is a lot of waste," DeRossett said.

He provided examples of where federal agencies like Housing and Urban Development had millions of dollars unaccounted for. DeRossett contended that accounting for things like office equipment and getting rid of duplicate services will help to make our economy mean and lean.

Wills said the format for the debate was very structured and while DeRossett prefers more interaction between candidates, he fares well in both types of settings.

"He (DeRossett) enjoys having more of a free-flowing atmosphere and to be able and engage in a structure that is a little bit off the beaten path," Wills said.

The Hillsdale debate was one of several meetings DeRossett has recently participated in for his ongoing campaign for the Seventh District.

Michigan’s Seventh Congressional District includes the south-central counties of Hillsdale, Branch, Lenawee and Jackson.

For more information on Gene DeRossett’s campaign visit www.genederossett.com or call (517) 281-2631

For more information on the Hillsdale College Republicans visit www.hillsdalegop.com.