possibly a cut in aids funding if, he says, republicans outwin the democrats. we'll have a full report on the continued campaigning across the country throughout the evening here in the newsroom. meantime, right now i want to take you to the replay of the delaware debates, moderated by wolf blitzer right now. good evening. i'm wolf blitzer. thank you so much for joining us for what is certain to be one of the most widely watched events of this, the 2010 midterm election season. >> let's introduce the candidates. joining us for this debate this season, democrat chris coons, welcome. and republican christine o'donnell. welcome. >> thank you.

>> we want to thank the american cancer society cancer action network for their support making this debate possible. >> let's go through some of the rules so the ground rules for this 90-minute debate. it's divided into two parts following a two-minute opening statement from each candidate. nancy and i will pose questions. responses to that initial question limited to two minutes with a one-minute rebuttal from the other candidate. and then there will be an opportunity for all of us to get into a discussion and followup. that's the first hour of this debate. that will be followed by a 30-minute segment during which we turn to the students here at the university of delaware. they have questions. responses to their questions will be limited to one minute, each candidate will also have two minutes at the end for a closing statement. our live audience here in mitchell hall understands, we

hope, that there will be no applause during tonight's debate. we want everyone to be quiet and listen and learn from these two candidates. a coin toss determined earlier the order for this evening. we begin with two-minute opening statements from each of the candidates and we begin with chris coons. >> thank you, to our moderators, and to our hosts. there's a great deal at stake in this election. for our state, for our families and our country. all of us, regardless of our political leanings recognize that washington is broken. as i traveled up and down the state the last nine months listening to voters talk about the issues facing them, i've heard again and again their frustration, with washington and with elected officials who are putting narrow partisan agendas ahead of the good of our country and doing little to help millions of americans out of work or on the verge of losing homes or anxious about their

futures. the gridlock in washington has real implications for us here in delaware. these aren't just numbers, in delaware these are our neighbors and we can't stand by and watch washington ignore us or them any longer. in this election, delaware's voters face a clear and important choice. between on the one hand my opponent, a candidate who wants to take our state and country back to the failed economic policies of the past. who values partisan bickering over compromise and solutions and who i believe has extreme positions that threaten vital education programs and abandon our commitment to our veterans and on the other hand, a candidate with a proven track record of balancing budgets, finding bipartisan solutions, working with delaware's businesses, large and small, helping to create jobs and spur growth. over the next 90 minutes, i look forward the chance to share my ideas and values, delaware

values i learned growing up, working here in delaware and leading delaware's second largest government. i take seriously the idea this is a campaign -- this campaign is a job interview, and tonight's can be is about giving delaware's voters an insight into which candidate has the experience, the values and the ideas to best represent them and do the hard work of fixing what's broken in washington. thank you. >> thank you to our hosts and everyone being here tonight. i'm running because i'm concerned about the direction of our country. the america we knew and grew up with is being threatened. in just three years, we will be paying $1 billion a day on the interest alone on our national debt. the common sense men and women in this room and across delaware know this is not sustainable, yet my opponent wants to go to washington and rubber stamp the failed spending bills that are coming from -- that have cost us

2.5 million jobs. uncle sam needs to be cut off with. your vote and support, i want to go to washington to create jobs based on private business, not your tax dollars. i want to fight to have our nation become debt free. i want to stop the tax hikes that are coming in january. i want to reach sustainable energy independence, support the military, and strengthen the security of our homeland. i want to fight to safeguard social security, improve education, and protect our constitutional liberties. in an election year when so much is at stake, just about every candidate says this, yet what distinguishes one candidate from another are the proposed solutions to reach these goals. i very much look forward to getting down to brass tacks with all of you over the next 90 minutes, because i believe there is a clear choice in this election. a vote for my opponent will cost the average delaware family 10,000 dollars instantly between the january tax hikes and his vote for cap and trade.

most of us can't afford that. if you think that government is too small and that you're taxed too little, if you've ever questioned whether america is a beacon of freedom and justice, he's your guy. but if you want a senator that will put your interests ahead of the special interests and make the tough decisions needed to reign in an out of control washington, then i humbly ask for your vote. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, including celebrex, may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure

or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor about your medical history and find an arthritis treatment that works for you. ask your doctor about celebrex. and, go to celebrex.com to learn more about how you can move toward relief. celebrex. for a body in motion. we're now getting into our question portion of the evening. i' begin with you, mr. coons.

creating jobs clearly has to be a priority. most felt that the democrats would be able to fix the failing economy in the last election. unemployment is at 9.6%. almost three quarters of americans in the most recent cnn opinion research corporation poll said that the economy is still in a recession. so why should the voters of delaware trust a democrat this time around? >> nancy, thanks for your question. i think the voters of delaware should trust this combination because of my experience working in the private sector and working with the sector. hands-on work helping delaware companies to expand and grow jobs and concrete and engaged work, working with our business round table, the committee of 100, lots of groups who represent businesses large and small, to grow the economy. i've also presented as a candidate for the senate, concrete and real ideas.

they're on my website, but i look forward to the chance to go over them tonight. i would advocate for a research and development tax credit that's combined with a new manufacturing tax credit. that add slow kates for companies that invent things here and make them here, getting an extra incentive. i also think we need to change the crazy tax policy in washington that gives an incentive to american companies to shut down operations here and ship jobs overseas. there's other things i proposed, expanding the home office tax credit, expanding a tax credit that employees folks within the first couple of years. make sure we're not letting our trading partners take advantage of us in trade deals, doing more in investment and innovation. at the end of the day, i think delaware has a long tradition of inventing and manufacturing world class products. the best way to get out of this recession is through growth. the best way to growth is taking advantage of the skills and

resources of a world class university like this one where we're having this debate this evening and tying that to a more qualified workforce to be once again the leader in the world in creating high quality, high value manufacturing jobs. those are some of the ideas i look forward to discussing this evening. >> you have one minute for a rebuttal. >> first of all, we have to keep in my mind my opponent has a history of promising not to raise taxes on the campaign trail and breaking those promises. unemployment almost doubled under his watch. when it comes to the policies that he has state on the campaign trail, he will continue to rubber stamp the spending policies coming from washington. we were promised that the stimulus bill would create jobs. but instead it cost us 2.6 million jobs. we were promised that it would keep unemployment at 8%, but instead it's at 9.7%. the democrats are bragging that

unemployment has devleveled out but more people than ever are on food stamps and our welfare spending is higher than ever. this is not the right move. this is not a move towards real economic recovery. this is a move towards creating a culture of dependency. >> that's the time, sorry. >> what specifically, ms. o'donnell, would you do speci c specifically to create jobs? >> the best thing the government can do to get our economy back on recovery is get out of the way of the small business owner and entrepreneur. the way you do that is make sure these tax hikes don't come in january. roll back some of the regulation that's forced them to close their doors. a couple things i'm proposing, a two-year tax holiday on capital

gains, to eliminate the death tax permanently. that will also create 1.5 million new jobs. >> we are in a discussion portion, so you can interject here as well as we continue to discuss that point. >> i'm not sure i understand what she means when she says this is simply creating a culture of dependency and her objective is to end all the red tape. she denouns the obama administration, says it's done nothing to promote job growth when just a few weeks ago, a new bill that would provide loan capacity, $30 billion worth of new lending capability, t.a.r.p. funds that have been repaid and repurposed, real steps are being taken. i frankly can't imagine where she found the numbers that unemployment doubled in just the past year under my watch. i suspect we're going to need to keep a close eye on the numbers that fly back and forth.

>> department of labor statistics and we'll have them on my website tomorrow. he said we're not create agriculture of dependency. how would you explain what is happening when unemployment has leveled off and more people are on food stamps? what do we want people in delaware to receive, food stamps or paychecks? i say paychecks! >> obviously paychecks. we would like to have americans able to receive the benefits they need to get through incredibly difficult times. but to denounce people as being dependent because they're applying for and receiving -- >> chris, that's not fair. that's not fair of you to say that. that's not fair of you to say that, because that's not at all what i'm doing. i'm not the person who would cut the tax benefits for disabled and low-income senior citizens as you did as county executive. but what i'm proposing is to give these tax -- to make sure that the tax cuts for all people in delaware do not expire this

january. you have said that you will stop the tax cuts for the so-called rich. what you fail to realize is the so-called rich are the small business owner, the pizza shop owner who makes $300,000 before they pay their four employees, before they feed their own families. this is going to cost -- >> we're going to try and have a conversation rather than just a diatribe, if we can. it would be help to have an exchange of ideas and let each of us take turns. so thank you for mod rating, wolf. it's important to look at some of the things she's thrown out on her website. most of them are untrue, some are flat out lies, some are just factually untrue. so i'm not going to stop every single time there's something i disagree with. but much of what you put out is incorrect. and if we simply sit here this evening and say that's not true, we're not going to make much progress. >> do you support keeping the

bush tax cuts for all americans or only for those making under $250,000 a year? >> i support extending the bush tax cuts for the majority of americans. the value i will apply as deciding how much to extend whether it's a million or 2 million or 5 million, we have a tough choice to make. every extension that's given is going to cost and increase the deficit and adds to the debt. here's the primary value i would apply in deciding whether to extend all of the bush tax cuts and for how long. we should do those tax cuts that have the best chance of getting our economy going again. >> we're out of time for this discussion. >> you're going to have an opportunity to get back into this discussion, because this is issue number one, jobs, jobs, jobs.

i want to get into the deficit right now. you've made the point that the national debt is exploding. the budget deaf set is exploding right now. i want some specific meaningful cuts. if you're elected a senator from delaware, what would you cut in the federal budget and don't just say waste, fraud and abuse, because everybody says that. what would you cut specifically? >> that's a great question, because first of all, we've got to tackle the deficit and the debt. our deficit is almost becoming equal to our national gdp. when your deficit, a country's deficit equals your gdp, that's when your currency collapses, your market collapses. >> so what would you cut? >> first of all, cancel the unspent stimulus bill. second of all, put a freeze on

nondiscretionary spending, put a hiring freeze on nonsecurity personnel. and when we're talking about government spending, we've got to talk about waste, fraud and abuse. a recent report came out and sid that we spend over $1 billion in medicaid waste, fraud and abuse. we're talking about pharmacies billing for prescriptions to dead people. we're talking about home health care companies billing for patients who were in the hospital. senator coburn put out a report called "schoolhouse pork" that disclosed millions of dollars that were supposed to go to education funding that instead went to special favors. special favors are something that my opponent knows very much about, because he created 12 contingency funds so that he could pay out favors to special

interest groups. the courts forced him to close 11 of them, but of the one that remained open, he paid $53,000 in a men's fashion show. he paid another more than $50,000 to appease liberal special interest groups. at a time when he brags about balancing the budget by raising our taxes, cutting policemen's pay, this is how he chooses to spend our tax dollars. we've got to ask, do we want to send him to washington, d.c.? i would say no. he's a career politician, who has proven he knows how to play the you scratch my back, i'll scratch your back game. >> you have a minute to respond. >> that may not be enough. let me get back to the focus of the question, what would you do to tackle the deficit and debt. we have some large challenges in front of us, the overwhelming majority federal spending is made up by defense, medicare, medicaid, social security and

interest on the net. i would support a freeze on nondefense discretion made spending for three years, which would achieve significant reductions. also a series of reductions i would support, some in agriculture price supports, some in federal office space or hiring, and several in defense programs. defense acquisition that the defense no longer need, the c-17, for example. there's a variety of programs we could do away with as we invest in making our military more flexible and responsive to the real threats and other things that have shown real capacity to save. >> let's open the discussion on correcting some of the financial issues here by talking about some of your own personal financial problems. most people know about it by now, including an irs lien from 2005 for about $12,000.

there was the 2008 mortgage defau default. the question is, how can voters rely upon your thoughts on how to manage the deficit if you're having such personal financial issues of your own? >> first of all, that irs tax lien, the irs admitted that it was a computer error and my opponent should not be bringing that up, because as i've gone up and down the campaign trail, i discovered there are thousands of people in delaware who are -- who have faced the same thing. an irs mistake has cost them greatly, which is why we need to reform the irs, not put them in control of the health care. second of all, education. i don't have a trust fund. i didn't come from a privileged background as my opponent did. >> let's stick to the issue of paying bills. >> i paid for my own college education. i have a graduate fellowship in constitutional government.

i know how hard it is to earn and keep a dollar, and one of the reasons why the delawareans should be able to trust me is because i worked for nonprofit groups that were the first to have been hurt. when i fell upon difficult times, i made the sacrifices needed to set things right. i sold my house and i sold a lot of my possessions in order to pay off my personal debts and to get in a stronger position. i have worked hard to get to the position that i am. so i can relate to the thousands of delaware families that are suffering right now, and i'm stronger for it. i made it through to the other side, and that's why leadership doesn't count in whether or not you fall, it counts on whether or not you've gotten up and that's what i've done. >> we're in the discussion portion, so if you have anything you want to address or things that have been said on this topic thus far, go for it. >> nancy, i frankly think that we need to focus in this debate

this evening and in the campaign not on personal financial difficulties or back ground issues but on the issues in front of us, the things that the people of delaware are concerned about, how do we get delaware back to work, tackling the deficit and debt. there's been lots of discussion that i think are distractions from the core issues. >> you're just jealous you weren't on "saturday night live." >> i'm dying to see who's going to play me, christine. >> let's have a serious note, let's get through some of the accusations she made and give you a chance to respond. >> on the idea that i was the one responsible for and being sued for creating -- she's confusing me -- >> you raised property taxes, according to reports, three times, 25% hike in the last fiscal year. you proposed new taxes on hotels, paramedic services, even

911 calls from cell phones. is that true? >> no. it's not true that we proposed a tax on calls to the 911 center. >> it's not true? >> it's difficult, it's complicated. >> explain your record on taxes. did you increase taxes as the county executive? >> wolf, let me walk you through it. one of the attacks she's made repeatedly is i've driven the county to the edge of bankruptcy. nothing could be further from the truth. today, the county has a surplus. when i became executive in 2005, it had a deficit. i have worked hard over six years to defend a very significant reserve, which has made it possible for us to continue to have a aaa bond rating. out of 3,000 counties in america, roughly 30 have a aaa bond rating. >> quick response and we'll move on. >> you've been criticized for saying that you brought the

county to a aaa bond rating. you inherited that good rating. and how would you justify cutting the tax exemption for low-income seniors and disabled seniors, cutting our police pay when you spent so much money on appeasing special interest groups? you can't justify that. that is a career politician. that is cronyism. we don't need anymore of that. >> we got to move quickly. but do you want to respond to that? >> there's a lot to respond to. >> do it in 30 seconds. >> i'm proud of my record as new castle county executive. the hard choices that had to be made to clean up the government. every time you get a bond rating, you earn the bond rating. she's not familiar how it works. it was because of the policies of my administration that we had reearned a aaa bond rating from all three agencies.

on our car insurance. great! at progressive, you can compare rates side by side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. wow! that is huge! [ disco playing ] and this is to remind you that you could save hundreds! yeah, that'll certainly stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

you must really care about him. what? you gave him fiber. this tastes way too good to be fiber. they're delicious crunchy clusters with sweet honey and half a day's worth of fiber. you care about my fiber? not really. [ male announcer ] fiber one.

let's move on to the next series of questions on national security, foreign policy right now. 100,000 american men and women are serving in the military in afghanistan right now. the president of afghanistan, hamid karzai, has now acknowledged he's in direct talks with the taliban leadership, wants to create what he calls a peace council. here's the question and it goes to mr. coons. would you support a negotiated settlement in afghanistan that includes taliban representation, would that be acceptable to you, a deal between hamid karzai and the taliban? >> wolf, i'm concerned about the security of our troops in the field and about honoring the service and the sacrifice of our veterans. the war in afghanistan is the war of the two that we've been engaged in, iraq and afghanistan, that i think was justified by a direct attack on the united states. the taliban, who were offering

harbor to al qaeda, who were authors of the 9/11 attack. in our 10th year now on the ground in afghanistan, we have to look hard at whether we're continuing to contribute to america's security by having 100,000 troops on the ground. i would support a negotiation that allowed us to leave security and intelligence assets in place and allowed us the opportunity to reengage if al qaeda should emerge. we've spent $1.3 trillion in iraq and afghanistan. it has significantly contributed to our debt. we have lost more than 5,000 american servicemen and women and i've got folks who i am personally close to who are now deployed for they are third and fourth tour. we have asked a lot of our men and women, but the mission has exceeded the scope that we could expect of them. i am far more concerned about the threats to our security, posed by an unstable pakistan,

iran, and posed by an unless war in a country where we're trying to build a nation. >> one minute to respond. >> i would ask him if he's serious, why have you said you support this random time withdrawal? we have to support our men and women who are risking their lives, many of them have already given their lives over there, a random withdrawal that he said he supports will embolden the terrorists to come after us even more, saying i've chased away the superpower. when we withdraw from iraq, we need to make sure that there are benchmarks in place. those benchmarks are making sure there's a government that -- a representative government that serves the need of the people and that can defend themselves. when we reached these benchmarks, that's when we withdraw. >> you want to respond to that? >> she said withdraw from iraq, i suspect -- >> no, from afghanistan. did i say iraq?

i meant afghanistan. >> if we're talking about afghanistan, frankly i come from a family of veterans. i come from a family that has dedicated a lot to the service of our nation, and i wear a flag pin every day to remind me of the young man who grew up next door to man killed in iraq in december of 2005. i never take lightly the enormous sacrifices that our servicemen and women have made and we ask them to continue making. i don't know how long is too long, but ten years strikes me as awfully long. i question whether your standard, whether your principles give us any hope of winding up this war on any reasonable timeline. frankly, the government of hamid karzai has proven itself to be corrupt and frankly ineffective at establishing control over the whole country. we are doing our best. we have dedicated trillions, hundreds of billions of dollars to this conflict and i'm deeply concerned it's a conflict without a reasonable end in sight. there are times in history -- >> saying that -- >> the best way to honor their

sacrifice is to come up with a plan to wind down the conflict. >> and that plan should be based on those benchmarks where we have had success. you're saying shallow rhetoric when you say your top priority is the concern for the safety of us on the homeland if you seriously support this random time withdrawal. because, again, all we're going to do is embolden the terrorists to think they have more power than they do. i would ask you, a couple of times, whether it's the tax cuts or even here in this kind of -- you've gone back and forth, but do you support the president or don't you support the president? with the tax cuts you say you don't. >> ms. o'donnell, let's stay focused on the issue, which is afghanistan. >> you're jumping around. >> no, we're staying focused on afghanistan. the core issue is what reasonable prospect do you have for these benchmarks to ever

result in a withdrawal? in iraq, there was a modern nation, there was a central government, there was infrastructure in place. in afghanistan, there hasn't been a nation in decades. and so despite our ten years of incredible effort, we are not succeeding in building a nation. as you put it, if the benchmark is self-governance, stability, security, we had a decent shot at that in iraq. >> when we were fighting the soviets over there in afghanistan in the '80s and '90s, we did not finish the job. so now we have a responsibility to finish the job. if you're going to make these politically correct statements that it's costing us too much -- >> let's ask yes or no answer, is this nation more secure than it was under president bush? yes or no? >> yes. >> no. ♪ you're the one

♪ who's born to care this life was protected... ♪ seems you've always been right there ♪ this life was saved... ♪ soothing sadness ♪ healing pain and this life was made easier... ♪ making smiles appear again because of this life. nursing. at johnson & johnson, we salute all those who choose the life... that makes a difference. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference [ evan ] ah it's cool. ah... ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah! ah! whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what is that? how come my dap wasn't like that? huh? it's just an "us" thing. yeah, it's a little something we do. who else is in this so-called "us"?

man, i don't know. there's a lot of us. [ chuckles ] ask your friends what it's like to be part of a group that's 40 million strong. state farm insures more drivers than geico and progressive combined. it's no surprise, with so many ways to save and discounts of up to 40%. so call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online.

we'll move on to the next topic and this question. >> can i say why? >> we do need to move on. >> i know that we've said that the statements out in the national media, the "saturday night live" skits are distractions, i appreciate that. but to the voter in delaware, sit the message that they are receiving. so we would be remiss if we did not address this issue. so the comments that you've made in the past, which are in your own words because they're on the videotape have become the fodder

for the late night tv shows. you even released an ad that opened up by saying "i am not a witch." what do you say to voters who want the change but are uncomfortable by these remarks? >> this election cycle should not be about comments i made on a comedy show 15 years ago. this should be about what is important to the people of delaware, how we're going to get real jobs back to delaware, how we're going to get our economy back on track, how we're going to protect our senior citizens and safeguard our social security. these are the issues the people of delaware are concerned about. wolf, you can attest, i have not welcomed this media attention. you've been asking for an interview for a long time. my priority has been getting back to the delaware voters, going to as many community forums as possible so that we can counter these things.

my opponent has said that the statements that we made in our 20s should be off the table, and after he made that statement, days later he started running ads in his own campaign materials he's going back on his word using those statements to misrepresent my character. so, again, i thank you for the opportunity for the delaware voters to get to know who i am and what i'm all about, because what i can assure them is while i made statements, my faith has matured over the years, but regardless of my personal faith, when i go down to washington, d.c., it is the constitution that i will defend, and it is by the constitution that i will make all of my decisions. and that will be the standard bearer for every piece of legislation i will vote on. >> you have a one minute rebuttal. >> i was surprised to see in the newspaper in an interview a profile of both of us.

her statement that she would not have her faith be a central driver of her decisions if elected. i'm interested if we can explore further your suggestion that the constitution would be your guide. because i'm interested in hearing whether it's the constitution as passed by the founders, the constitution of 1920, the constitution of 1975, the constitution of today. to me, protecting a woman's right to choose, protecting reproductive freedom and making sure we've got on the record her views on things like prayer, abortion, evolution, is important. these aren't just random statements on some late-night tv show. these are relevant to her service to the united states senate. i'm someone who stands firmly behind the constitution as it stands today. i respect the decided cases, the case law that governs the united states. >> let's go to the issue of faith and politics. you were a student pastor at yale and said in an interview i don't understand you thought you would either end up a preacher, a professor or a politician.

you've been a guest speaker at some of the churches here in our community, baptist churches, presbyterian churches to name a few. how much of an influence does this faith in your life have on your politics? >> faith is a central part of how my wife and i are raising our three children, why we decide to do the community service and the outreach that we do. but ours is a faith that we think is a general motivation towards public service, trying to create a community that's more tolerant and just and the forgiveness, healing and reconciliation that we think is the central message of our faith. but as someone who has been elected ten years, i've learned to reach a balance, where my private faith, the aspects of my faith that are religious doctrine don't influence the decisions i've made for the public. >> let's give you a chance to respond, because in a television appearance back in 1998, on bill maher's show, you said evolution

is a myth. do you believe evolution is a myth? >> i believe that the local -- i was talking about what a local school taught, and that should be taught -- that should be decided on the local community. please let me respond -- >> answer the question, do you believe evolution is a myth? >> local schools should make that decision. i made that remark based on -- >> what do you believe? >> what i believe is irrelevant. >> why is it irrelevant? voters want to know. >> what i will support in washington, d.c. is the ability for the local school system to decide what is taught in their classrooms. and what i was talking about on that show was a classroom that was not allowed to teach creationism as an equal theory as evolution. that is against the constitutional rights and that is an overreaching arm of the government. but please allow me at least the full minute to respond to what he said, because he said these statements that we made should

be taken into consideration, when casting your vote. so then i would be remiss not to bring up the fact that my opponent has recently said that it was studying under a marxist professor that made him become a democrat. so when you look at his position on things like raising taxes, which is one of the tenants of marxism, not eliminating the death tax, i would argue that there are more people who support my catholic faith than his marxist beliefs. >> we're going to clarify that. >> a lot of people remember, because they've learned in the last few weeks, you did once describe yourself in college as a bearded marxist. >> great question, women. i hope folk also read the arm. it's an article that i wrote as a senior the day of our commencement speech. and the title and the content of that clearly makes it obvious that it was a joke. there was a group of folks who i had shared a room with, my

roommates who were in the young republican club and thought when i returned from kenya and registered as a democrat that doing so was proof i had gone all the way over to the far left end. so they jokingly called my a bearded marxist. if you read the article, it's clear on the face of it, it was a joke. despite that, my opponent and lots of folks on the right wing have spun this. i am not now nor have i ever been anything but a clean shaven capitalist. >> well, i would stand to disagree, because first of all, if you're saying what i said on a comedy show is relevant to this election, then absolutely, forget the bearded marxist comment, you said you learned your beliefs from a marxist

professor. you said that on msnbc. [ j. weissman ] it was 1975. my professor at berkeley asked me if i wanted to change the world. i said "sure." "well, let's grow some algae." and that's what started it. exxonmobil and synthetic genomics have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains of algae. algae are amazing little critters. they secrete oil, which we could turn into biofuels. they also absorb co2. we're hoping to supplement the fuels that we use in our vehicles, and to do this at a large enough scale to someday help meet the world's energy demands. and to do this at a large enough scale hi, may i help you? yes, we're looking to save on car insurance, even if that means we have to shop all day, right, honey? yep, all day. good thing you're starting here. we compare your progressive direct rate to other top companies',

so you can save money! look! we saved a lot! and quick, too. and no more holding her purse! it's a european shoulder bag. it was a gift. mm-hmm. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today. (voice 2) how bad is it? (voice 1) traffic's off the chart... (voice 2) they're pinging more targets... (voice 3) isolate... prevent damage... (voice 2) got 'em. (voice 3) great exercise guys. let's run it again.

this is the issue of education in our country. and in many public school districts across america, as they're trying to get an accountability in the classroom, it is very difficult to dismiss an underperforming teacher because of the stringent contracts that have been negotiated with the individual school districts and teacher unions. so do you feel that teacher unions are too powerful? >> nancy, one of the things that i've complimented, both the teachers and the governor, is their remarkable progress. one of the best parts of the obama-biden's progress on education. i like the process and the outcome. they set a very high bar, they offered a federal pot of money that was available for those states that were willing to make significant changes. in delaware and tennessee, two states made that progress. delaware's teacher's union came to the table and made significant changes.

things that a lot of folks predicted they couldn't do, to embrace charters and make them more powerful. to make it possible for schools that are underperforming to be shut down or restructured. i think our teachers deserve our support and they have a long tradition of contributing significantly, not just to educating our children, but to building a stronger and better community. my own mother and grandmother were school teachers, and i respect the hard work they do. earlier today, i was at a school in new castle. the work that our teachers do, the work that's done in early education from head start to full-day kindergarten, the work that's done here and other public universities around the state and country is critical to laying the ground work for our future. i have no problem with recognizing the folks who do the hard work, the teachers and the professionals are entitled to a good standard of living, are entitle to live a life where

they have health care, a pension and job security. i do think there are issues we have to tackle and i think race to the top made significant progress in making sure our schools are performing as best they can. >> you have a minute. >> if you notice, he didn't answer the question as to whether he thought the teachers unions are too powerful and it's probably because they endorsed him. what we need to do in delaware where we spend so much money on education, it goes to the six figure salaries of our bureaucrats, not to the teachers. it's appalling where we spend so much federal and state dollars on education, good teachers who want to get extra materials, have to do so out of their pocket. i met many teachers, i've talked to them about their concerns with race from the top and whether they're a democrat or republican, a lot of them express that we are not spending our education dollars appropriately. we are not helping the classroom, and what's going to happen when this race to the top

funding dries up is there we have a broken system, especially in wilmington. we have an extremely high dropout rate. throwing more money on a broken system is not going to work. what we need to do is sit down and have conversations with the teachers, not the unions, about what they need us to do to help them. >> over the years, a number of conservatives have proposed eliminating the department of education in washington. do you support that? >> i don't think that we need to go to that drastic of a step, but senator coburn released a report that shows where millions of dollars have been abused. we also have to make sure the money we are putting into education does go to the classroom and make them more effective. that's something that we're ignoring every time there's a problem, we just throw more money on it to appease the special interest groups. we're not getting to the root of the problem and that's what we need to do, which means talking

to the teachers and not only that, putting the power back to the parents over where they send their children to school. >> in a recent survey of 30 strlized countries, if united states ranked 25th in math, 21st in science, finland was first in math. south korea was first in science. specifically what would you do to make the united states number one once again in math and science? >> great question. and as someone who spent 20 years working with a nonprofit foundation, the i have a stream foundation that raises money and helps provide scholarships for students, for teachers and for college education. i've been hands-on and engaged with some of the toughest schools in america and some teachers who are significantly undersupported by their districts. i think there's a significant role for the federal government in providing financial support

and encouragement. scholarships for those teachers in science and technology and math. we need a new generation of teachers who are fully prepared and qualified to engage their students in a classroom, to use the latest teaching tools and media, to teach to the standards that no child left behind established and need to be made more flexible and responsive and we need to use collaborative learning techniques. >> i'll give you a very quick chance to respond. what would you do specifically to make the united states number one? >> again, what i would say to improve our education, we have to empower the teachers to do what they need to do to be more effective. they're the ones on the first line of defense, they have the most influence over our students. but we also have to empower the parents. so i support charter schools and i support student vouchers or school vouchers so that it gives parents, regardless of income,

regardless of status, an opportunity for their students to have a shot at a great education. [ male announcer ] "dear focus... "be careful out there. "as you know, we have more standard safety features "than you. "10 airbags... daytime running lamps... "onstar automatic crash response. "in case ya didn't see it, that's probably why "msn autos called the cruze "the class of its class right now. that seems pretty clear, doesn't it?" the all-new chevrolet cruze. starting under $17,000. get used to more. ♪

[ male announcer ] nature is unique... ...authentic... ...pure... and also delicious. ♪ like nature valley. granola bars made with crunchy oats and pure honey. because natural is not only good, it also tastes good. nature valley -- 100% natural. 100% delicious.

we need directions to go to... pearblossom highway? it's just outside of lancaster. sure, i can download directions for you now. we got it. thank you very much! check it out. i can like, see everything that's going on with the car. here's the gas level. i can check on the oil. i can unlock it from anywhere. i've received a signal there was a crash. some guy just cut me off. i'll get an ambulance to you right away. safely connecting you in ways you never thought possible. onstar. live on. let's switch gears and talk about health care, which is such an important issue to millions and millions of americans right now. under the new health care law that was recently