Kevin Zeese, Ben Cardin and Michael Steele participate in final debate. An excerpt from the Associate Press:

Steele jumps on opponent's mistaken Patriot Act statement during debate

"The party does what it does," Steele said. "To the extent that voters seem concerned about it ... the state party needs to address that."

The instructions distributed by the state GOP advise poll watchers that their most important duty "is to challenge people who present themselves to vote but who are not authorized to vote."

"That's voter suppression," Cardin said during a debate before a predominantly black audience at a Prince George's County church.

But John Kane, chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, said the duty of poll watchers will be to ensure that people are not allowed to vote if they are not registered, not to challenge legally qualified voters.

Steele's campaign jumped on a Cardin statement -- responding to criticism of his votes for The Patriot Act -- that he was not in Congress when the law was passed. Steele Campaign Manager Michael Leavitt said the response showed that the Democratic candidate knows his campaign is spiraling downward and he is cracking under the pressure.

Oren Shur, Cardin's spokesman, said it was a simple mistake. Cardin was referring to an earlier security law that was updated by the Patriot Act.

Steele, Cardin and third-party candidate Kevin Zeese engaged in a generally sober, low-key debate, responding to questions about education, the death penalty, U.S. Supreme Court appointments and the minimum wage, while avoiding personal attacks on each other.

Zeese, a member of the Green Party, and Steele opposed capital punishment, while Cardin said it "should be only for the worst of the worst." Steele chided Cardin for voting against a proposal that the lieutenant governor said would make it easier for people who have been convicted to use DNA evidence to prove their innocence.

Cardin, in turn, questioned why Steele did not make public the results of his lengthy inquiry into whether capital punishment is being imposed in a discriminatory manner in Maryland. Steele gave a report to Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., but it has not been released publicly.

Cardin and Zeese criticized President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. Instead of spending billions of dollars on the war, "we could have spent it here on our children," Cardin said.

The three candidates agreed on one issue -- that the 2006 election is about change. But each portrayed himself, not his opponents, as an agent of change. Zeese said Steele and Cardin are both beholden to corporate America, which finances their campaigns. "That's why they're not going to bring about change," he said.