PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey tried to paint his Republican challenger Tom Smith as someone who would deepen partisanship in Congress, while Smith contended he knows better than Casey how to improve the economy, as the two candidates largely stuck to rehearsed scripts in their first and only debate Friday. The cordial, hour-long debate broke little ground from the candidates' stump speeches, and a panel of questioners from WPVI-TV in Philadelphia tried several times to repeat questions in an effort to get the candidates to give direct answers. Casey, a key ally of labor unions, positioned himself as someone willing to work for compromise between Republicans and Democrats on the big issues, a compromise he says would be stalled by ideologically-driven tea party adherents like Smith. Smith, a tea party favorite who made a fortune in coal mining and runs a family farm, used a question about whether he would push to break up the nation's big investment banks to tout himself as a self-funded "citizen candidate" who is not beholden to special interests and ran against the Republican Party in the primary and won. Asked whether they would eliminate aid for school lunches or federal food safety inspectors, Casey said no.
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