GOP gov hopefuls meet to debate, bash Obama

President Obama's former colleagues in the Illinois state Senate used him as a punching bag Thursday in the first debate among all seven Republicans running for governor.

"Just as I worked to defeat Obamamcare when he was a state senator in Illinois, we will defeat it, hopefully, at the federal level," said state Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington).

"But if we fail to do that, I will impose the [states' rights] 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, and tell the federal government they have no right to take our tax dollars and redirect them to provide a national health care program ... It's time someone slapped the hand of the federal government and said 'enough is enough.'"

All seven candidates, to varying degrees, competed to be the most conservatove, the biggest "outsider," the most opposed to tax hikes, and the most opposed to increased government spending on health care.

"If I wanted to be part of socialized medicine, I'd move to Europe," said state Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale). "I fought the current president of the United States when he was a state senator and called him on the cards on socialized medicine in Springfield and helped stop his $4 billion Universal Health Care boondoggle that he wanted to thrust on the taxpayers of Illinois. So as governor, I'll be damned if I'm going to let a socialistic Washington shove a new mandate down the taxpayers' throats of Illinois, especially with health care."

Sponsored by the state Republican Party, the debate was the first to include former Attorney General Jim Ryan and former state Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna, who also took a shot at the Obama administration over health care:

"Let's tell the story to the country of what's happened here in Illinois: The Illinois Democrats have had unparalleled control of this state since 2002 and they've brought us to the brink of bankruptcy. That's what we see currently in Washington as Illinois Democrats have gone to Washington," McKenna said.

Six of the seven candidates said that as governor, they would "opt out" of any new federal government-funded health care plan. Ryan said he'd want to see it first.

Asked what the state could do to prevent disasters such as Thursday's mass shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, most of the candidates talked about better communication with the National Guard and the state's other law enforcement entities. Brady said a law allowing Illinois residents to carry concealed guns "would help to respond to incidents like this as well as the tragic incident that occurred on Northern Illinois University's campus."

Thursday's debate focused on cerebral policy issues with only a minimum of side-shots. The least-known candidates, businessmen Adam Andrzejewski and commentator Dan Proft, shot verbal darts at the long-time elected officials such as Dillard and Brady, who they said were too much a part of Springfield.

DuPage County Chairman Bob Schillerstrom also stressed his "outsider" credentials.