There's three things you need to know about tonight's debate between Joe Sestak and Pat Toomey, but only two of them are true:
- Joe Sestak is leading Pat Toomey in three of the last four polls released in the state.
- Sarah Palin endorsed Pat Toomey today.
- Pat Toomey is a San Francisco Giants fan and demanded the debate end by 8PM Eastern time so that he could watch the Giants play the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series.
Hopefully, you can sort fact from fiction in that list -- and we'll be trying to do the exact same thing, liveblogging the debate right here. As long as you can watch streaming video, you can join in the fun even if the debate isn't broadcast live in your local television market. Feeds are available here and here and here.
Last, but definitely not least, Joe Sestak needs your help to keep up his momentum and send Pat Toomey back to his job on Wall Street. Chipping in $5 or $10 today will go a long way to keeping this seat in Democratic hands, so please send some coin Sestak's way. We're within reach of our goal of 5,000 donors through ActBlue and need just a few more people to jump on board the train before setting a new target.
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Update: The debate hasn't started yet, but how about this for a proposition -- if Joe Sestak manages to work Christine O'Donnell, Sharron Angle, or Rand Paul into any of his answers, add $1 to whatever you were going to contribute for each additional name he mentions.
Update: First question to Sestak about bringing jobs to Pennsylvania. Sestak says he wants to help small businesses create jobs and slams Toomey for supporting policies that encourage corporations to outsource jobs. Toomey ignores Sestak's critique and says the reason why the economy is in trouble is the Obama administration's "overreach of government." Perhaps he'd care to explain why job losses peaked in the last month of the Bush administration? Sestak fires back that Toomey has no credibility on jobs because of the terrible track record of the Bush administration when Toomey was in Congress. Toomey says the problem is taxes are too high. But of course, Obama has cut taxes.
Update: Live feed.
Update: Stephanopoulos asks Toomey about Sarah Palin's endorsement of his campaign and whether he thinks she's qualified to be president. Toomey doesn't answer the latter question, but says he's glad to get endorsement of anyone who wants to support him. Sestak mentions O'Donnell in his answer (+$1!), saying his concern about the tea party are the extreme candidates like O'Donnell who want to fundamentally weaken America's constitutional safeguards. Toomey responds by saying Joe Sestak is an extremist (though Sestak didn't directly call Toomey an extremist) because Sestak supported policies like cap and trade and health care reform. Sestak rejects Toomey's characterization of the laws he voted for, saying the challenge that he has faced in Congress has been cleaning up the mess created by Bush and Toomey.
Update: Next question is about Social Security privatization and goes to Sestak. Sestak rejects Social Security privatization out of hand and criticizes Toomey for endorsing the concept, pointing out that under privatization, to fund current obligations, we'd have to borrow $4.9 trillion from places like China to cover benefits. Toomey pledges not to cut benefits but doesn't address the question about how to pay for privatization. Toomey also says we need "real changes" to Social Security but doesn't explain what they are. He also claims Sestak hasn't supproted legislation to protect benefits, a claim that Sestak rejects out of hand. Sestak also slams Toomey's privatization policy because it would add so much risk to the system thanks to market volatility. Toomey accuses Sestak of being a demagogue and implausibly claims that all the private investments would be handled by non-profit companies.
Update: Question is to Toomey about whether he'd support overturning Roe v. Wade. Toomey says that he would support its repeal. Sestak: "Palin. Toomey. O'Donnell. They would all like to overturn Roe v. Wade." (+$2!) Sestak says reproductive decisions should be made by women and their families -- not the government. "I think those views with O'Donnell and others are too extreme for Pennsylvania," he says. (+$3!) Toomey (again, implausibly) accuses Sestak of being the extreme one. "Well outside the mainstream," Toomey says. Toomey accusses Sestak of trying to secure Federal funding for abortions, a false claim which Sestak smacks down. Toomey accuses Sestak of being dishonest and says his votes led to an exploding debt. Sestak says Toomey supported repeal of PayGo rules which led to the explosion of debt under Bush.
Update: Question is whether people on terror watch list should be able to buy guns. Sestak says no. Toomey says law abiding citizens should be able buy weapons but doesn't directly answer the question. Next, the pair go back and forth on the question of whether there should be trials for terrorists.