John Neely Kennedy in The Associated Press

On Budget & Economy: Be concerned about economy, but not scared

Landrieu, meanwhile, continued to push herself as a centrist senator who works across party lines and has brought home billions of dollars in aid to Louisiana during her 12 years in Congress, particularly since the blows of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. “Send me back to continue to fight for you, to deliver for you,” she said.

On Corporations: Disallow bank getting so big that its failure wrecks economy

On Environment: Wetlands will wash away before 2017 coastal protection

Landrieu said she was proud of expanding oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, with a large portion of the royalties going to help coastal protection efforts.

Kennedy responded by saying the state’s entire congressional delegation worked to pass the bill & much of the billions of dollars in royalties wouldn’t start flowing until 2017, after thousands more acres of wetlands had washed away

On Government Reform: No pay-for-play; campaign contributions notwithstanding

Landrieu suggested that was an impropriety since Kennedy can decide what projects appear on commission agendas each month. “There’s a lot of talk around Louisiana about how you get on the agenda,” Landrieu said.

Kennedy denied any pay-for-play suggestions, and he said he was glad to compare his record to Landrieu’s campaign contributions, which he said include $300,000 from Wall Street firms and more than $200,000 from executives with collapsed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “Sen. Landrieu criticizing my fundraising is a little bit like being called vain by Donald Trump,” Kennedy said.

On Principles & Values: Ran for US Senate in 2004 as Democrat; & endorsed John Kerry

While Kennedy shifted his rhetoric, Landrieu largely continued hers--calling Kennedy “confused” because he switched parties last year after running for the U.S. Senate in 2004 as a liberal Democrat who endorsed John Kerry for president.

Kennedy’s received significant fundraising and campaign help from the national GOP, but some of that assistance appeared to be drying up Wednesday with reports that the National Republican Senatorial Committee will pull its ads next week and focus attention on embattled incumbents in other states.

On Tax Reform: Cut taxes & stop deficit-spending, to fight economic crisis

The state treasurer didn’t mention Landrieu’s endorsement for Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, an endorsement Kennedy has used to describe Landrieu as a “tax-and-spend liberal.”