THERE'S NO DEBATING IT, IT WAS A NIGHT OF FUN

UNIVERSITY PARK - Ed Rendell probably summed it up best when he said the
four gubernatorial candidates participating in Thursday's debate "had a
little bit of fun - and Ken's been responsible for most of it."

The Democratic nominee, in his closing statement, referenced the amount of
applause, cheers and overall laughter the Libertarian Ken Krawchuk garnered
from the crowd of more than 1,000 people with his colorful remarks -
statements claiming that women who carry firearms are less likely to be
sexually assaulted than those who don't.

"It's obvious a handgun is a girl's best friend," Krawchuk said.

Krawchuk also said that if elected, his first job would be to eliminate
parole for all violent offenders and to release all the "pot-smoking
Grateful Dead fans." Krawchuk champions the legalization of marijuana and
believes marijuana users shouldn't be in jail.

In fact, although he has yet to surpass more than 1 percent in any of the
independent polls conducted to date and most political pundits give both
third-party candidates virtually no shot at winning the November election,
Krawchuk is confident that as part of the state's third largest political
party, if just one in eight voters pick him, he'll not only win, but win big.

"If just the pot smokers alone remember to vote for me, it'll be a
landslide," he said. But Krawchuk's remarks weren't limited to drugs and
weaponry.

During Thursday's forum on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University,
the four gubernatorial candidates answered a series of questions posed by
college students from throughout the state.

The debate format allowed each candidate 60 seconds to respond to a
question. Each candidate was also given two time-out cards to use if they
wanted to respond to an opponent's statement.

Although no time-outs were used, it appeared Republican Mike Fisher was
close to throwing up the red card when Krawchuk blasted Fisher as state
attorney general for taking legal action to stop the sale of Hershey Foods.

Most of the Libertarian Party candidate's answers were centered on the
party's belief in less government interference in people's lives.

"I'm not going to take the attitude of these individuals," Krawchuk would
respond to most questions, pointing at his three opponents. "I'm going to
ask (people) to decide for themselves ... by ending the government monopoly."

So when a student asked if the candidates were in favor of increasing
tuition abatement programs, Krawchuk said he doesn't believe in a
government handout. Adding that taxes are already high enough without
having to "reach further into someone else's pockets" to pay for college
for the state's thousands of students.

"We can't have everything that we want," he continued. "I'd love to have a
yacht, but here I am ... yachtless."