BY KELLEY BOUCHARD

Portland Press Herald

Fixing the flailing economy was the hot topic in Tuesday's televised debate between the candidates in Maine's 1st Congressional District race.

Democrat Chellie Pingree and Republican Charlie Summers also sparred about health care, energy policy, campaign finance reform and the war in Iraq at an hourlong forum sponsored by the Portland Press Herald, WMTW-TV (Channel 8), and the Kennebec Journal and the Morning Sentinel.

The candidates fielded questions posed by a panel of journalists, submitted via the Internet or offered by the audience in the Hannaford Lecture Hall at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.

Both candidates criticized the recent $700 billion Wall Street bailout and $150 billion in earmarks that were attached to encourage congressional support. But they offered conflicting, sometimes heated arguments for what should be done next.

Pingree bristled when Summers said he would support suspending capital gains taxes for two years to help boost the economy. "Most people aren't making capital gains," Pingree challenged, saying only wealthy people would benefit from that $200 billion tax cut.

Summers disagreed. "We need to do things to free people up to spend the money they've earned," he said.

Pingree and Summers are running for the seat now held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, who is challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in the Nov. 4 election. Both candidates are courting undecided voters. Recent polls show Pingree in the lead, but one survey found that about 25 percent of respondents were undecided.

Pingree, 53, is a business owner and former state senator who lives on the Penobscot Bay island of North Haven. During her time in the Maine Legislature, she led the effort to establish Maine Rx, a law to reduce prescription drug prices.

Summers, 48, is an Iraq war veteran and former state senator who lives in Scarborough and previously worked for U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe. His campaign has centered on working 30 different jobs as a way to connect with voters across Maine.

Summers called the bailout earmarks "bribes" and said Congress was wrong to pass incomplete legislation for such a large expenditure. He said he would introduce a bill that would limit the annual salary of every chief executive officer whose company gets bailed out to $1.

Pingree said Congress acted like "little kids" when it attached earmarks to the bailout bill that granted tax breaks for racetrack builders, rum distillers and wooden-arrow makers. She said she would work to get rid of earmarks, but she would make sure Maine gets its fair share of federal funding in the meantime.

To move the economy forward, Pingree said she would support extending unemployment benefits, increasing fuel assistance, spending more on roads and bridges, and overhauling federal energy policy to reduce dependence on oil. "We still have a long way to go," she said.

Summers said he would work to protect jobs, keep spending, taxes and government regulation down, and reduce federal subsidies for various industries. "You have to stand up for the taxpayer," he said.

Asked whether health care is a right or a privilege, Summers said citizens have a right to health care that's accessible and affordable, "but government-run health care is the wrong way to go." Summers said he would submit legislation to make health costs tax deductible and allow Mainers to buy health insurance outside the state, thereby increasing competition and reducing costs.

Pingree said she believes health care is a basic right and she would fight for universal health care or a combined private-public program that ensures everyone is covered. On federal energy policy, Pingree said Maine could become a leader in developing new technology and jobs related to solar, wind, tidal and wood alternatives to buying foreign oil.

Summers said the United States should develop a comprehensive energy plan that explores new opportunities to drill for oil here and pursues alternatives to buying oil abroad.

Summers challenged Pingree's promise to work for publicly financed elections. He said efforts to control campaign contributions lead candidates to find other loopholes.

Summers referred to contributions that Pingree received through hedge-fund manager S. Donald Sussman, whom she has been dating for several months. Campaign finance reports for January through Oct. 15 show Pingree has raised $2 million and spent $1.9 million, while Summers has raised $576,000 and spent $484,000.

Pingree, who received more than $57,000 through Sussman and his colleagues at Paloma Partners, defended all donations to her campaign, large and small, and said she would never sell her vote. "There's never a quid pro quo," she said.

Asked whether the Iraq war has been worth the human and economic cost, Summers said steps must be taken to make sure American lives haven't been lost in vein. He said U.S. troops should begin withdrawing from Iraq in April, followed by increased diplomatic efforts and a "peace surge" to help Iraqis rebuild their country.

Pingree said she believes the Bush administration and Congress had insufficient information and made the wrong decision to go to war. She said the United States must begin a new era of diplomacy in which "working to avoid war is the most important thing we can do."