The Arlen Specter-Joe Sestak debate Saturday (May 1) got mean quick. No one actually yelled
Liar, liar, pants on fire! but they came close, with the two Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate trading charge and counter-charge. You can find details
here. What's missing from the print accounts is how they came across on TV: 80-year-old curmudgeon vs. an overmatched opponent who looked like he was over-coached on being sincere. Specter was an older and slower version of the Specter everyone knows. The guy was a prosecutor who enjoys going for the jugular. The unknown guy, Sestak, spoke in a consistent tone of eerie calmness, as if saying "Hey, I'm a nice guy and I want to be your friend." It was an odd performance.
