Corbett, Onorato keep debate civil

They had different opinions, for sure. But nothing they said could really be called quarreling.

Each insisted the other guy had misrepresented his positions in a TV ad here or there. But no one called anyone a liar.

The candidates for Pennsylvania governor disagreed in a debate, televised live statewide Saturday night, about how the state should address funding for public education, pensions for state workers, and health-care reform.

But the most remarkable thing about the one-hour encounter in Pittsburgh was what did not happen. Amid a frenzied national election season when foes in some states have accused each other of lacking patriotism or even being fools, Republican Tom Corbett and Democrat Dan Onorato played nice.

"Very well behaved" was how moderator John Baer, of the Philadelphia Daily News, characterized the debate after it was over.

Trailing in polls 17 days before the Nov. 2 election, Onorato might have needed to shake things up. But both campaigns say the race may be tightening as it wraps up, and Onorato may have decided not to take too many risks.

In any case, there was no blood, no knockout.

Corbett, in what he said would be a surprise to the audience, agreed with Onorato that Pennsylvania needed to substantially increase its funding for prekindergarten schooling. That has been a plank in Onorato's campaign platform for a long time.

Noting his position as attorney general, the state's top law enforcement officer, Corbett said: "As somebody on the other end, who is putting people in jails, a lot of it has to do with education."

Besides increasing funding for early-childhood education, Onorato proposed to continue a program through which the state has increased its support for basic public education little by little over several years. Stopping the program, he said, would add pressure on property taxes.

Corbett said he could not commit to increasing education support, to which Onorato retorted: "Tom is going to push it down to school districts and raise property taxes."

The two men agreed that while facing billions of dollars in unfunded pension obligations, Pennsylvania could not afford to continue all benefits paid to teachers and state workers. But they disagreed on how to fix the problem.

Onorato said he would keep the sort of defined-benefit pension plans that workers have had for decades. But he said he would roll back the 25 percent hikes that he said a "greedy" legislature had given to itself and other state employees in 2001.

Corbett said full pensions would be out, at least for new employees. Workers would have defined-contribution plans similar to the 401(k) plans available to many workers in the private sector, he said.

Both candidates said court rulings appeared to make it difficult for the state to change the benefits promised to existing workers.

The subject of health care came up in the context of a lawsuit that Corbett and Republican attorneys general in some other states have filed to challenge the constitutionality of the new law enacted by Congress.

Baer pointed out a criticism Onorato had made: that while trying to undo the bill, Corbett had called it a great opportunity for Pennsylvanians on his campaign website.

Corbett responded that the bill's provisions may provide "a great opportunity, if it survives." He called it "a very interesting and very difficult constitutional issue."

Onorato protested that Corbett "couldn't have it both ways" - to seek to kill the law and extol its benefits.

Besides the candidates and moderator, there was one additional figure in the debate, who did not appear on stage: Democrat Ed Rendell, the departing governor, whose popularity has plunged amid the state's economic difficulties.

As he has done in TV commercials, Corbett sought to portray Onorato as a sort of Rendell II.

"I don't think it's what the people of Pennsylvania want," Corbett said. "I think we want new leadership and new decision-making."

Said Onorato: "This isn't about Ed Rendell. This is about me and Tom Corbett."

Carried on NBC stations across the state from WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, the debate, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, was the first of two televised encounters between the candidates in three days. The next round, also on live TV, will come from 6ABC in Philadelphia at 7 Monday night.