KUTZTOWN, Pa. — The health care vote went straight down party lines. No Republicans voted for the bill, and only a few Democrats voted against it.

Monday night, two Democratic Congressional hopefuls hashed out their differences for supporters.

Manan Trivedi and Doug Pike debated at Kutztown University.

The two candidates sounded off about the historic health care vote. They agreed change was needed, but they said if it were up to them, they would have gone further.

Congressman Jim Gerlach represents this 6th Congressional District, which includes parts of Berks, Montgomery, and Chester counties.

He said his no vote represented the views of his constituents of the 6th district. The two Democrats vying for his seat obviously disagree.

Health care reform is about to become law. And these two men said they support it.

Pike and Trivedi said what’s missing from the health care bill is a public option insurance plan run by the government to increase competition among insurance companies and reduce cost.

That’s what they want to see, but Congressman Gerlach would say that goes too far and so does this bill.

And while no one in this audience is a Republican, they admitted their neighbors might be concerned about what just passed the house.

These candidates — a journalist and a doctor — said they want everyone in District 6 to look closely at what they would have voted yes for. And they want to turn this red district blue.

Pike and Trivedi saw eye to eye on many of the issues but disagree on the war on Afghanistan. Pike said he supports Obama’s plan for the war. Trivedi said he would like to see a surge in civilian help not troops.

Tags: Doug Pike, Doug Pike for congress, health care, Jim Gerlach, Manan Trivedi, Manan Trivedi for congress

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 10:19 am and is filed under Front Page Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.