KIRK ADMITS TRYING MARIJUANA, OPPONENT CORNYN DODGES QUESTION

Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Ron Kirk admitted in a debate Wednesday night
that he tried marijuana when he was younger. Republican John Cornyn refused
to answer the question.

DALLAS (AP) - Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Ron Kirk admitted in a debate
Wednesday night that he tried marijuana when he was younger. Republican John
Cornyn refused to answer the question.

"I tried marijuana when I was in college but didn't like it," Kirk said,
responding to a panelist's inquiry.

Cornyn skirted the topic and opted for privacy, saying, "It tends to
distract more than contribute to the discussion of issues."

Kirk then joked to Cornyn: "I wish I'd have let you answer first."

The two squabbled over everything from Social Security to affirmative action
and prescription drug benefits during what will likely be their last live TV
debate before the Nov. 5 election.

Even with Election Day drawing near, and polls showing both candidates
within striking distance of the post being vacated by Republican Phil Gramm,
Wednesday night's debate remained a polite and reserved exchange.

On affirmative action, Cornyn said that he ultimately believes it is unfair
to use race as a factor in admissions policies.

"Affirmative action was never meant to be a permanent solution. It was meant
to be a transition," Cornyn said. "I believe what we need is a national
standard, one that is fair to everyone. And I believe that should be a
colorblind standard, and one that applies to people across the board based
on their academic circumstances."

Kirk said he believed the state had suffered since the so-called Hopwood
case effectively ended race-based policies in Texas.

"The state of Texas has exported too much of its talent for too many years.
We need to be investing and creating opportunities to educate every child,"
Kirk said. "I think it's absurd to say that of all the criteria colleges and
universities look at, that they can't even take into account ethnicity."

Kirk criticized Conrnyn for not disclosing the names of corporations that
contributed to the Republican Attorney General's Association, which Cornyn
helped found.

"There is no way the public can know where the money that comes from that
pool comes from," Kirk said.

Cornyn said his political campaign never received a penny from the group.

"And all of the contributions were duly reported in accordance with the law
on a monthly bases," Cornyn said. "My conduct as attorney general has never
been influenced by anybody who has contributed to me."

RAGA sends its contributions to the Republican National Committee, where
they are mixed with contributions to other Republican groups. The
contributions are reported to the Federal Election Commission each month,
but there is no way to determine which contributions where made to which
groups.

"The sad reality when many other attorney generals around the country were
suing Aetna and Microsoft or other big companies for consumber fraud, our
attorney general was asleep at the switch and the consumers of Texas didn't
have legal counsel," Kirk said.

Asked about prescription drugs, Kirk said he supports passing generic drug
legislation before either of the Republican or Democratic plans in Congress
to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare.

"Let's do something that will reduce the cost of prescription drugs for all
Americans and then get started on a measured plan to add a real prescription
drug benefit program to Medicare for our seniors," Kirk said.

Cornyn, who has embraced the Republican plan, criticized Kirk for not having
his own plan for drugs and for stabilizing Social Security.

"Mr. Kirk talks about ending the blame game and finding common ground but
it's hard to do that if you don't have a plan," Cornyn said. "Mr. Kirk is
really just trying to scare our senior citizens and I think that's not
leadership. That's shameful actually."

Asked about an anticipated $1.7 trillion shortfall in Social Security,
Cornyn said workers should be allowed to invest their benefits in a private
fund such as an Individual Retirement Account.

"We should never, ever cut benefits for current retirees. And younger
workers should be given the opportunity to invest a portion of their
benefits in something like an IRA to get a better rate of return," Cornyn
said. "Unless we have better investment for Social Security, we're going to
get a train wreck."

Kirk, who sharply disagrees with letting Americans invest part of Social
Security trust fund in the stock market, said lawmakers could help preserve
the fund by leaving it alone.

"The way to extend the life of Social Security by 20 years is to stop
borrowing from it," Kirk said. "The greatest threat right now is that
Congress keeps borrowing. The second thing we need to do is to pay down the
debt."

Kirk, the first black mayor of Dallas, a former lobbyist and secretary of
state, has built his campaign on his charming personality and his reputation
for smoothing over racial and political tensions at Dallas City Hall.

Cornyn, the white-haired Texas attorney general and former Texas Supreme
Court justice, has clung tightly to President Bush's coattails and presented
himself as the more experienced candidate.

The candidates have clashed over who would be the most effective lawmaker in
an intensely partisan Senate, which Democrats now control by one vote.
Cornyn claims Kirk would join with liberal Democrats against the president.
Kirk says he's the only candidate with experience working in a bipartisan
environment, and a demonstrated ability to reach across the political aisle.

Wednesday's debate, sponsored in part by The Dallas Morning News, Texas
Monthly, and TV stations KERA, WFAA and TXCN, was scheduled to air live in
most major media markets in Texas. Stations in cities such as Amarillo,
Beaumont, Bryan, Corpus Christi, Killeen, Lubbock, Odessa and Waco were also
planning to carry it live.

The two were to debate again Thursday night in Brownsville.