Cellucci: "We know where you stand on taxes."
Both candidates continued firing witty barbslater on in the debate.
"You want to run against Michael Dukakis andI'm not Michael Dukakis. And Paul, as we all know,you're not Bill Weld," said Harshbarger in a quipreminiscent of Lloyd Bentsen's 1988vice-presidential debate with J. Danforth Quayle.
Harping on the theme of taxes, Cellucci alsopressed Harshbarger as to why he would not sign a"no new tax" pledge.
"Do you remember the last time we had agovernor who did not support the no new taxespledge?" he asked, eliciting cheers from theCellucci supporters.
In the only question of the night dealing witha candidate's private life, a citizen inquiredabout Cellucci's personal debt of $750,000.
"How can you manage Massachusetts when you areso far in debt with your own affairs?" she asked.
Cellucci replied that he lost some money whenhe gave up his law practice and that he had to paycollege tuition for his children.
Despite the bickering between the candidates,the media panel forced the candidates to take astance on some of the major issues.
Harshbarger was asked whether he would sign adeath penalty law if passed in light of suchcrimes as the Jeffrey Curley murder.
He maintained that he would not support thedeath penalty, although he insisted that he wasstill tough on crime.
Asked about his tough primary battle withJoseph D. Malone '78, Cellucci described it as afamily feud. "Sometimes you have a battle withyour brother."
Harshbarger disagreed.
"This is classic politics as usual," he said."I asked Paul that we have no negative ads. He didnot agree."
The candidates did concur, however, when askedwhether President Clinton should be impeached.
"It's up to Congress to decide," declaredHarshbarger; Cellucci agreed, saying, "Let theprocess play out."