The rules for Friday's televised debate between Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and his challenger in November's midterm election, Bob Casey, were very clear. The two candidates, however, were bent on breaking them.
Ignoring moderator Ken Rice's pleas to conform to the allocated response times, Santorum and Casey repeatedly talked over one another, pointing their fingers in each other's faces as they sparred in Pittsburgh.
Standing side by side at podiums only inches apart, the two candidates exchanged heated words over issues such as the Iraq war and social security, but they spent much of their 60 minutes of debate time on character attacks.
"Look in the camera, Mr. Casey, and tell the people how much time you spend doing your job," said Santorum, referring his Democratic opponent's current position as Pennsylvania treasurer.
"Don't be a desperate campaigner," Casey replied.
The candidates each had an opportunity to respond to a negative campaign advertisement endorsed by his opponent. Casey said Santorum's attack on his campaign contributors was "not only unfair but full of untruths," and added that one of the men whom Santorum had attacked was dead and that another had actually contributed to Santorum's own campaign.
Santorum, a Republican, said that Casey's ad misrepresented the truth about his history of refusing to increase the minimum wage, which he said he did on several occasions in order to protect small businesses.
Penn students watching the debate declared victory on both sides.
The debate "cemented the belief that Bob Casey has little to no knowledge of any of the issues, and that he refuses to take a position on any of the topics," said Wharton junior Michael Shiely, chairman of Penn College Republicans. "Santorum put forth a broad agenda of what he would like to see accomplished in his possible upcoming term. He gave specifics on the issues and discussed his accomplishments in his 12 years in the Senate. Bob Casey, on the other hand, only described problems without offering any solutions."
"Casey clearly won the debate while Santorum just continues to show that he is out of touch with the views of Pennsylvania," said College junior Nathan Hake, president of the Penn Democrats.
"Bob Casey did a good job highlighting the significant differences that exist between him and Sen. Santorum, who votes with George Bush 98 percent of the time," Hake added.
A survey by the Morning Call of Allentown, Pa., and Muhlenberg College, conducted Oct. 3 through 8, showed Casey ahead of Santorum by a margin of five percentage points, 46 percent to 41 percent.
This was the second of four scheduled debates between Santorum and Casey. Their first debate aired on NBC's Meet the Press Sept. 3. The candidates will meet again tonight at 7 at the National Constitution Center in Old City.
