There was a televised political debate Thursday night. All three of the candidates eligible to participate showed up. No one protested who was chosen to ask the questions. No one behaved childishly and tried to make demands as to how it was run.

If anything was wrong, the moderators rushed the candidates to keep within the time allotted and cut them off quickly as time expired.

Because we are not eligible to vote in the Democratic primary, we didn’t feel we had a dog in the fight, but we found the discussion and the back-and-forth between the candidates very interesting.

Two candidates were from Western Pennsylvania and one from Philadelphia. One was African American and two were Caucasian. One was a military veteran and two were not. All three had extensive political backgrounds.

Two were frequently answering questions from a defensive position, and the third was on the attack. All three were actually really, truly, from Pennsylvania and have lived their lives here. Each pledged allegiance to President Joe Biden (maybe the riskiest position of the night). Each argued that he was uniquely capable of winning the U.S. Senate race. One has a huge war chest of money to spend in the few weeks remaining.

No one hurt himself badly in the debate. All three were acceptably informed on the issues whether you liked their position or not. It seems the almighty dollar is going to play a big role in deciding the winner. But at least the winner of these three will be a Pennsylvanian.

Our vote in the other primary will also be even more heavily impacted by money, but there is no guarantee that winner will be an honest Pennsylvanian. What motivation there is for the candidates to want to be elected is confusing. It can’t be money because they have plenty of that. It can’t be power; they have that too.

We were glad to have the chance to watch and listen to the debate last night. And guess what? We have no idea who the moderators were. Apparently whatever the belligerent candidates who are demanding to select their own moderators and set their own rules for debating fear must be more imaginary than a character in a Disney movie. The next few weeks will be important. Let’s hope something other than just money decides both candidates for the general election.

— RV