MOLINE – The first televised debate between candidates for a hotly contested congressional seat didn’t last long Thursday.

Bobby Schilling and Cheri Bustos actually debated for only about 20 minutes. The rest of the half-hour event inside the WQAD News 8 studio in Moline was spent on an introduction from news anchor Jim Mertens and on closing arguments from the candidates.

In that time, the 17th District contestants answered about 10 questions on subjects ranging from the federal debt ceiling to free trade to the level of nastiness in the campaign.