Looking ahead to tonight's debate

NEW LONDON, Conn. (WTNH) -- The third of four scheduled debates between the two candidates for the U.S. Senate seat square off in New London tonight.

For most people, the campaign of former WWE/CEO Linda McMahon and 5th District Congressman Chris Murphy has been a weeks-long blur of attack ads on TV.

One McMahon tv ad says, "Chris Murphy is taken to court for not paying rent, then taken to court for not paying his mortgage."

A Murphy tv ad hits McMahon about contraception: "As Senator, McMahon would support a Republican proposal that would allow my employer to deny me coverage for contraception."

McMahon's ad also says, "The bank that gave Murphy the loan was also giving him campaign contributions."

An ad purchased by the Democratic Senatorial Committee supporting Murphy targets McMahon and taxes: "Her tax plan hurts middle class families like you and you, while cutting taxes for millionaires like herself."

Many of the charges and counter charges in the TV ads have come up in the previous two televised debates and are likely to again tonight.

Like President Obama, Murphy favors only extending the Bush tax cuts for those making under 250 thousand dollars a year.

"We know the tax cuts for the rich don't work because we tried it during the Bush administration. If tax cuts for the rich worked, then we wouldn't be in the situation we're in today," Murphy said.

McMahon favors extending all the Bush tax cuts and proposes a further tax cut for the middle class.

"If your proposal of allowing all of the Bush tax cuts to go forward except those on the upper income, we would lose 700-thousand jobs. I don't think that's a plan to create jobs," McMahon said.

The debate begins at 7 on MYTV9 by WTNH-TV and will run a full hour without interruption.