Pam's Points: News for debate time and Ebola victories

Time for debate

Tonight's the night!

Though it took awhile to get incumbent Republican 3rd Congressional District Rep. Chuck Fleischmann to agree, he will step onstage tonight to debate Democratic challenger Mary Headrick.

A spokesman for the congressman has said he likely will focus on immigration, job creation and the national debt, domestically. And he'll speak on the threat of ISIS in the Middle East.

Headrick, a physician from Maynardville, Tenn., said she is looking forward to discussing "health care, tax reform, the degree of regulation for both finance and the environment and the size of government."

It's likely that Fleischmann will be better mannered than in July when he debated GOP primary challenger Weston Wamp, whom he accused of being a Democrat masquerading as a Republican because Wamp advocated negotiated compromises to overcome Washington gridlock.

At that primary debate, Fleischmann at one point repeatedly yelled at Wamp to answer a question about speaking with Democrats in the district. Wamp rebuffed him to the sound of snickers from the challenger's side of the room. "It's a little awkward, but I feel like I'm sitting across the table from an angry Republican congressman," Wamp said.

In an August race that generated nearly 92,000 votes, Fleischmann edged Wamp for the nomination by a mere 1,681 votes.

At a candidate forum in October, Fleischmann had changed his tune (and shed long-time political ally and consultant Chip Saltsman). Several times Fleischmann stressed the importance of working across the aisle and praised "great debate" in Washington.

Headrick has said that's what she expects to happen Monday, as well -- a kinder, gentler Chuck.

"I expect him to be more polite and more willing to compromise in terms of what he'll say. I don't know if that would ever materialize in his votes," she said.

The live televised debate, sponsored by the Chattanooga Times Free Press and WTCI, the local PBS affiliate, begins at 8 p.m. at the public television station's studio at 7540 Bonnyshire Drive. The debate also will be streamed live at timesfreepress.com/debate.

The event is open to the public, but seating is limited and studio spectators must be seated by 7:30 p.m.

Victory over Ebola

Two weeks after she tested positive for Ebola, Dallas nurse Nina Pham on Friday walked out of a National Institutes of Health hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, and into the White House.

Ebola-free, she was ushered into the Oval Office, where President Barack Obama hugged her -- a testament both to the nation's good health care and to the president's confidence in it. The hug sends an important message to the public that Ebola can be cured and need not strike irrational fear in us. Just a healthy respect.

Pham, 26, was infected with Ebola while treating Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died at Dallas' Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Pham was the first person to contract the virus on American soil.

The other Dallas nurse to contract the disease, Amber Vinson, is getting treatment at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital and is said to be making good progress in her treatment. She is soon to be transferred from isolation.

"Tests no longer detect virus in her blood," the CDC has said.

A doctor in New York, 33-year-old Craig Spencer who recently returned from treating patients in Guinea, was hospitalized Thursday -- the newest person to be diagnosed with the disease on U.S. soil.

Officials in New York are fighting public fears about the doctor's use of New York subways and a bowling outing before he fell ill.

We must take note of these victories and our president's confidence. We can do this. Especially where we don't panic.

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