WATERVILLE – U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud and his Republican challenger, Brian Hamel, faced off for the first time in a wide-ranging debate Tuesday evening that put the candidates at odds over tax cuts, the Iraq war and how best to create jobs.

“I’ve used my time in Washington to stand up for Maine people and small businesses,” Michaud, a Democrat, said during the sometimes tense hour-long debate between the 2nd Congressional District hopefuls at the Waterville Opera House.

Hamel, a business executive from Aroostook County, used the forum to challenge Michaud’s record, particularly his votes against the Bush administration’s tax cuts, which Hamel said helped spur the economy.

“We have a job crisis in the state of Maine,” Hamel told the crowd of about 150 people. “It’s not a blue-collar crisis. It’s not a white-collar crisis. It’s an all-collar crisis.”

Michaud defended his votes against Bush’s blanket tax cuts, saying he instead favored those targeted to low- and middle-income citizens. Several times, Michaud accused Hamel of trying to mislead voters, in one case calling him an opponent of tax relief.

The candidates also parted ways on the Iraq war, with Michaud explaining his opposition to Bush’s handling of the war and his decision to vote against the $87 billion supplemental budget that funded operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We have to change the course,” Michaud said, adding that he opposed the spending package because it offered no exit strategy from the war and no funding for veterans.

Hamel pounced on Michaud’s vote and his opposition to the war.

“The biggest weapon of mass destruction is behind bars now,” Hamel said, defending the Bush administration’s decision to go to war. “The world is safer without Saddam Hussein in power.”

Hamel said he would have voted for the added funding and, like Michaud, accused his opponent of “playing politics” with the issue.

The two also sparred over the recently implemented Medicare prescription drug law. Michaud said he voted against the “sham” bill, which provided little relief to seniors.

Hamel said that while the bill was not perfect, it was a worthy first step in lowering drug prices.

The debate was sponsored by the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal. The papers’ executive editor, David Offer, moderated the forum, which at times featured questions provided by readers.

Tuesday’s debate marked the entry of this central Maine city to the 2nd District, where, until redistricting, voters were accustomed to voting for – or against – four-term Rep. Tom Allen, a Democrat from the southerly 1st District.

In that regard, Waterville and its 8,228 registered voters are unexplored political territory for both Hamel and Michaud, the latter of whom set up his campaign headquarters here.

But if history is any indication, the heavily Franco-American city, where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2 to 1, would tend to favor Michaud, analysts say.

Going into the campaign’s final three weeks, polls show Michaud with a wide lead over Hamel, who took leave from his job as head of the Loring Development Authority in Limestone to run for the seat, his first political quest.

Hamel has received some help – although no money as of yet – from the National Republican Congressional Committee, which had targeted the freshman Michaud as vulnerable based on his 2002 bid for the open seat, which he won by less than 5 percent of the vote.

Hamel had challenged Michaud to debate 11 times, once for every county in the district. Michaud, citing his congressional schedule, agreed to four debates.

On Friday, the two as well as a third candidate, Carl Cooley, running as a member of the Socialist Equality Party, will meet in a Maine Public Broadcasting debate to air that evening. A debate also is planned for Oct. 18 at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

The final debate, hosted by WLBZ-TV 2 in Bangor, will be taped Oct. 22 and air that night.