Candidates face off in democratic senate debate 2012

(WTNH) -- The democratic candidates vying for the U.S. Senate took the stage at the Garde Arts Center in New London Monday evening leading up to the primary on August the 14th.

Front and center in the debate between Congressman Chris Murphy and challenger, former Secretary of State, Susan Bysiewicz were the topics of the middle class and taxes.

Bysiewicz, until recently refused to pull a TV ad that contained some errors. In it she said Fifth District Congressman Murphy collected the largest amount of donations of any Democrat from hedge fund donors and also incorrectly characterized a number of donors as Wall Street firms.

"On this ad that Susan Bysiewicz is running today, her own campaign admits that it's false and it is maybe the most astonishing that I've seen in my relatively short time in politics since she refuses to take it down off the air," said Murphy.

"I would just say that I absolutely stand by that ad, the premise of which is that you've become Nancy Johnson because you criticized Nancy Johnson in 2006 for taking lots of corporate special interest money in her case drug companies, in your case Wall Street," Bysiewicz said, "and you don't dispute that you've taken more Wall Street money than any other democratic congressman, and I absolutely stand by the ad, the only dispute that we have is does it really matter whether you're number four in terms of hedge fund money or number one, personally I don't think so."

Both candidates did agree on some things: that taxes shouldn't be raised on the middle class, that President Obama should get troops out of Afghanistan now and not spend any more money there or cost any more Americans lives, and that elections should be about the people and not how much money a candidate can raise to buy an election, obviously a clear shot at Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Linda McMahon, which one of them could face in the general election.