HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger David McCormick disagreed on clean energy policy, gun laws and abortion rights in a fast-moving debate Tuesday night, as they accused each other of lying and shared a stage for the last time before the election.
The 60-minute debate was their second in two weeks as voting by mail ramps up in Pennsylvania and tens of millions of dollars pour into the swing state race every week. Control of the Senate is on the line, and the race is on track to be the nation's second most expensive in this year's election.
They continued the themes from their combative first debate: McCormick accusing Casey of being a weak, do-nothing, out-of-touch career politician and Casey accusing McCormick of being a wealthy, carpetbagging, ex-hedge fund CEO who got rich at the expense of Americans.
''If he's going to talk about his record versus my record, his record is as a hedge fund CEO investing in China and our adversaries,'' Casey said at the studio of WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. ''That's his record. Mine is bipartisan work in the Senate.''
McCormick at one point shot back that he wouldn't take any ''preaching'' from Casey, saying he went into Iraq with the Army in the Gulf War ''in the first wave when it looked like there would be tens of thousands of casualties.''
McCormick also accused Casey of telling ''lies which are completely unworthy of you and your family and your service.''
Casey replied, ''This isn't a race about his service or what we were doing at that age in our life. It's about my work in the U.S. Senate and his work as a hedge fund CEO.''
In a question about U.S. support for Israel amid a widening war in the Middle East, the candidates actually agreed, saying the U.S. must continue its support of Israel and that Israel — not the U.S. — is in the best position to decide how to confront its adversaries, such as Iran.