O'Donnell, Coons spar in Delaware debate

NEWARK, Del., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The "clean-shaven capitalist" Democrat and the one-time dabbler in witchcraft Republican vying for Delaware's Senate seat traded barbs Wednesday in debate.

Chris Coons and Christine O'Donnell sparred for 90 minutes at the University of Delaware. O'Donnell's prominence as the Tea Party favorite who upset former Gov. Mike Castle in the Republican primary attracted national and even international coverage to the debate moderated by Wolf Blitzer.

The seat is the one Joe Biden vacated when he became vice president.

O'Donnell, whose first television commercial began "I am not a witch," is running about 20 percentage points behind Coons in a recent CNN poll.

Referring to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's description of Coons as his "pet," O'Donnell said he would simply follow the Obama administration line if elected to the Senate, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Coons, a lawyer and New Castle County executive, criticized O'Donnell's lack of experience at anything except working for conservative organizations.

"Ms. O'Donnell has experience running for office but not really running anything," he said. "I'm not anyone's pet. I'm going to be a bulldog for Delaware."

O'Donnell also tried to depict Coons as an ultra-leftist, going back to his student days when he once called himself a "bearded Marxist."

"I am not now nor have I ever been anything but a clean-shaven capitalist," Coons responded, reminding viewers he had once jokingly used the term in a college newspaper article.