Weiss- Giffords sparks fly at forum

But the forum, hosted by the Democratic Nucleus Club, also exposed disagreement over whether the candidates should openly criticize each other.

The five — Gabrielle Giffords, Jeff Latas, Alex Rodriguez, Francine Shacter and Patty Weiss — were asked whether they would support the Demo-crat who wins in the September primary leading up to the replacement of retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe. Candidate Bill Johnson was not invited.

All said they would, but Weiss, a former TV anchor, called the question "a veiled attempt to say we can't talk about differences between us."

"If someone has a record of saying one thing and acting the other way, I'm going to tell you about it," she said.

Weiss went on to criticize a vote Giffords made when she was in the state Senate. In 2004, she voted to kill a bill in committee that would have forced companies with 100 workers or more to reimburse the state if their employees were on the taxpayer-funded health-care system. Giffords was the one Democrat siding with Republicans.

But Giffords shot back, saying Weiss was distorting her record. She voted against the bill, she said, because it was flawed and did not have an enforcement mechanism — not because she opposed sanctions on companies that do not provide health coverage. "This bill would not have provided additional health care for one uninsured Arizonan," said Giffords.

The remark by Weiss opened her up to criticism from Giffords about Weiss' tone and campaign contributors.

"You know, Patty, you've been lecturing all week about ethics and about clean elections and special interests," Giffords said. "But we've all seen this game before. You don't have a strong record to run on so you turn around and you go negative. We don't do that here."

Giffords criticized Weiss for taking campaign money from heads of major drug and health-care companies.

"This doesn't sound like a Democrat running for Congress," Giffords said. "This sounds like a reporter for Fox News."

The heated exchange stirred up an audience that is eager for debate in the high-profile and competitive race in Congressional District 8. Democrats believe they have a change to regain the seat with Kolbe's retirement.

But there is also disagreement over whether the Democrats should criticize each other.

"If you want to send damaged goods into the general election to face the Republicans, then keep up this crap," Shacter said after the exchange.

Giffords and Weiss are seen as the front-runners in the primary race. Giffords has received endorsements from major party figures and union organizations. But Weiss has strong name recognition from her more than 30 years as a local news personality.

With minor differences, stances of all five candidates on major issues are fairly similar, leading them to focus more on experience and political will.

Latas and Rodriguez both stressed their military experience as tools to fend off Republican criticism that Democrats are weak on national security.

"There's only a few of us who can go stick our finger in Karl Rove's chest and call him the coward and call him the chicken hawk," Latas said.

Rodriguez, who grew up in Nogales without health coverage, said he would bring a realist's perspective to the border and health-care issues. "I am passionate about resolving people's problems," he said.

Shacter, a retired federal employee, joked about her age. "I think the fact that I'm not 10 years younger makes me a great candidate," she said.

Johnson was not invited, club members said, because he has not made himself available to the party. He could not be reached for comment.