Maybe the Democratic debates should come with an R rating.

Things turned violent in a Montgomery County home during a televised debate between candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

It ended with Obama supporter Sean Shurelds being taken to Hahnemann Hospital with stab wounds that were allegedly inflicted by his brother-in-law, Clinton backer Jose Ortiz.

"Mr. Shurelds was complaining that Clinton was trashing Obama," said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. "Ortiz said that Barack was not a realist."

Ferman said that, last Thursday, Shurelds started choking Ortiz from behind in a Collegeville home during the debate, which was being held in Texas. At some point, she said, Ortiz grabbed a kitchen knife and plunged it into Shurelds' stomach.

When Upper Providence police arrived, they found Shurelds bleeding heavily from the stab wounds, she said. He was admitted to Hahnemann University Hospital in critical condition, but has since been upgraded to stable condition, according to Ferman. Hospital officials did not return calls.

Ortiz, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Saturday, was being held in Montgomery County prison on $20,000 bail.

"I certainly understand that politics - and this race, in particular - has generated a lot of passion," said Ferman, "but this is one of the most unusual expressions of political passion I have ever seen."