Chris Coons opening statement
Wolf Blitzer of CNN and co-moderator Nancy Karibjanian, anchor of WHYY-TV's nightly news and information program, welcome the candidates to the University of Delaware. The first hour will be a Q & A. The second part will involve questions from students. Blitzer asks for no applause during the debate. A coin toss determined the order of evening.
Two-minute opening statements will be made in the much-anticipated first and only debate to fill Vice President Joe Biden's longtime Senate seat.
"There is a great deal at stake in this election," says Coons, reading from a written statement. He decries the partisan gridlock in Washington. Christine O'Donnell wants to go backward, he says, and has "extreme positions."
Coons says he knows how to work with colleagues to spur job growth.
"I take seriously the idea that this campaign is a job interview," said Coons, and the debate is the best way for voters to take his measure.
Chris Coons on jobs
Co-moderator Nancy Karibjanian asks about unemployment and says most Americans say the economy is still in a recession, so why should the voters of Delaware trust a Democrat.
Coons: "Because of my combination of experience, working in the private sectior and the public sector." Coons has worked with the Chamber of Commerce and "lots of groups that represent businesses large and small." He wants a research-and-development tax credit and a new manufacturing tax credit.
Coons wants to change the "crazy tax policy of Washington" that encourages moving jobs overseas. "Doing more in investment and innovation." The way out of the recession is "growth."
Christine O'Donnell's opening statement
Christine O'Donnell, in her opening statement, said she is worried about the national debt and that Chris Coons supports increasing governent pending.
She said that a vote for Coons would cost each Delaware resident $10,000 through taxes and other costs.
"Uncle Sam needs to be cut off," she said.
O'Donnell also said that job creation is a prime interest. She pledged to strengthen and improve education and to protect constitutional liberties. She added that if voters think government is too small, then Coons is "your guy."
Culture of dependency
Christine O'Donnell talks about her plan to increase jobs. We need, she said, "to get out of the way of the small business owners and small entrepreneurs. ... Roll back the regulations that have forced them to close their doors. She says permanently eliminating the "death tax" will create 5 million new jobs.
O"Donnell challenges that "we are not creating a culture of dependency. ... What do we want Delwareans to be receiving, food stamps or paychecks?"
Coons: "To simply denounce people as being dependent because they are applying for food stamps ... is plainly slandering people because of difficult times."
O'Donnell charges Coons of wanting to stop tax cuts for "the so-called rich." But those people are small business owners, she said.
Coons interrupts: "We are going to have a conversation rather than a diatribe."
Government spending
The candidates were asked how to cut the budget -– and told to mention fraud, waste and abuse.
Christine O'Donnell said she would cancel unspent money in the economic stimulus bill. She would also recommend a freeze on hiring non-security personnel.
O'Donnell then brought up the subjects that Wolf Blitzer suggested the candiates leave alone –- fraud, waste and abuse. She said the government needed to crack down on all three.
O'Donnell personal finance problems
Co-moderator Nancy Karibjanian asks Christine O'Donnell about her well-chronicled financial problems with her income taxes and mortgage. How can voters rely on you to managed the deficit? she is asked.
O' Donnell responded: "The IRS admitted that was a computer problem. Thousands of Delawareans have experiened the same thing -- an IRS mistake, which is why we need to reform the IRS. ... I don't have a trust fund. I don't come from a privileged background like my opponent. I know how hard it is to earn and keep a dollar."
Voters, she added, should trust her because she has worked for nonprofits and made sacrifices needed to pay off her personal debt. She sold her house and possessions to get out of debt. "I have worked hard to get where I am. ... I am stronger now. I made it through to the other side. Leadership is not about whether you fall, it's about whether you get up. And I have."
Saturday Night Live
Chris Coons alluded to some of Christine O'Donnell's controversial statements -– comments on masturbation, sex education and witchcraft that have prompted commentaries and parodies.
Without describing these issues in detail, he said that they have been distracting voters from more pressing and important topics in the campaign. Coons said he wanted to focus on hard issues.
This prompted a mention of a much-viewed parody of O'Donnell's "I'm not a witch" campaign ad. The parody appeared on "Saturday Night Live."
