the candidates include jim bender, ovide lamontagne, jim bender, and kelly ayotte. we will ask you to welcome the candidates. [applause] our panelists for the evening are here with us. let's get to it. josh, first question. mr. binnie, first response. >> we're here to talk about the issues. the tone of this race has become an issue. a lot of people say it has been one of the nastiest primary races in recent memory in new hampshire. where do you draw the line between an honest critique -- of their critique of your opponents background and nasty campaigning? >> it is a pleasure to be here tonight. it has been my pleasure to run for the united states senate. the people of new hampshire have gotten to know me. my dad introduced me over nine months ago. folks understand that i care about the job and the economy. when i became the frontrunner in the august, we were attacked by all kinds of private organizations. i thought that was not fair. i did not like it. not for amnesty. i am a liberal. ask my kids. what i am about is talking and dealing with the economic crisis that

. >> the latest data puts him in second place, trailing ayotte and last is jim bender, another businessmanank rolling his own bid and the g.o.p. winner will face off against the democrat in november. first elected to congress in 2006. his relatively brief career in washington could come to a close if voter supports surges to republicans. a number of recent polls shows that ayotte would be host in a matchup. perhaps the first sign of a reversal of fortune who swept in 2008. in manchester, new hampshire, molly line, fox news. >> bret: more politics later as democrats answer the question, where is the beef? and straight ahead, some possible movement in the beef >> the imam leading the controversial efforts to build an islamic center near ground zero are says he's exploring all options for a solution and comes as 70% of participants in a new poll says the muslim group has the right to build there. 63% believe it is wrong to do so. senior correspondent eric shawn has the day's developments from new york. >> there could be a change in the so-called ground zero mosque. the project's leader, imam

. >> i am jim bender. i know that the freedom to innovate and less intrusive government will lead to jobs. i have put many companies back on track, and i will take those skills to washington. >> of the latest ads from the leading republican candidates for the new hampshire senate seat. what should be respect from tonight's debate? >> tonight will be important. it is the scrum of the primary. kelly ayotte came in as the front runner, was seen as an untouchable, but certainly now, things have changed. if you watch that adds, they are very new hampshire-centric. new hampshire republicans are unlike republicans in the south and west. they do not care much about social issues. they care about low taxes and government spending. the real challenge, everyone is saying to stop the spending, we need to create jobs, so what is the difference? binnie has put in at about $6 million into this race. he is trying to inject some social issues. "on in a pro-choice republican." it is interesting, we have been talking about h