Chris Coons and Christine O'Donnell Debate in Delaware

BY Sean Alfano
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Christine O'Donnell's first debate with her opponent was no cup of tea.

The GOP nominee for Delaware's Senate seat and Tea Party darling went on the attack Wednesday night against her Democratic opponent, Chris Coons, but found herself mostly on the defensive.

O'Donnell's past comments on the show "Politically Incorrect" about dabbling in witchcraft and her views on evolution and masturbation have been fodder for late-night TV.

With most polls showing her trailing Coons by double digits, O'Donnell could have used some magic to close the gap.

[Read more about the 2010 election.]

Instead, she may consider flying away on a broom after her performance.

Asked three times by CNN's Wolf Blitzer, the debate moderator, if she thought evolution was a myth, O'Donnell said, "What I believe is irrelevant."

When the subject turned to her recent ad where she declares, "I'm not a witch," O'Donnell replied: "This election cycle should not be about comments I made on a comedy show over a decade and a half ago."

O'Donnell, however, blasted Coons for a college paper he wrote where he describes himself as a "bearded Marxist," saying the comment should "send chills up the spine of every Delaware voter."

Coons said the term was meant to be a humorous jab at Republican classmates who thought he had strayed to the far left after returning from a trip to Kenya and registering as a Democrat.

[Check out a roundup of political cartoons on the 2010 campaigns.]

"I am not now, nor have I ever been, anything but a clean-shaven capitalist," Coons, the New Castle County Executive said.

Arguably the toughest moment for O'Donnell came when she was asked to outline what programs she would cut to slash government spending and reduce the national deficit, two major themes of the Tea Party platform.

Before she responded, Blitzer told her she could not simply say cut waste, fraud and abuse because "everybody says that."

She said that she would cancel the rest of Obama's stimulus bill and put a partial freeze on government hiring, followed by, "of course, when we're talking about cutting government spending, we've got to talk about waste, fraud and abuse."

O'Donnell's stunning primary win over Rep. Mike Castle, who was also a former governor of Delaware, was viewed as a huge victory for the Tea Party, but bad news for the GOP's hopes of retaking the Senate because of her past remarks and lack of political experience.

The debate was held at the University of Delaware.

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