FORT COLLINS-- Betsy Markey and Marilyn Musgrave agreed on renewable energy and little else during their first 4th Congressional District debate together Thursday night.

Musgrave focused on railing against the $700 billion economic bailout and touted her bipartisanship while renewing her attacks on Markey's business dealings.

Markey, meanwhile, sought to introduce herself to voters and push the idea of change in government. 

Musgrave, waving a copy of Markey's personal financial disclosure filings, renewed the charge that Markey violated U.S. Senate ethics rules by continuing to own a information technology business that received government contracts while Markey worked as a staffer for U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Denver).

Asked by moderator Adam Schrager of 9News if she felt Markey was corrupt, Musgrave answered: "I feel that she has made contradictory statements, and we need to get to the bottom of that."

Markey said she "resent(ed) the fact there's an implication that I did something wrong when I worked for Senator Salazar." 

"The allegations are clearly false," Markey responded. "Never once did we get preferential treatment as a woman-owned business."

Markey said, in turn, that while Musgrave wasn't corrupt, she "has taken $100,000 from Wall Street firms and has taken over $160,000 from oil and gas companies."

Musgrave shot back: "That Wall Street money that Betsy is saying I've taken is from community banks, independent banks, and credit unions. You know what folks, that's a different kind of cat than Wall Street."

Asked if she regretted anything, Markey looked at her sister in the audience and offered a story of when she was little. 

"My dad said, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' And I thought, you know, I just want to be a nothing like mom. And I really regret that."

"My mother looked at me, (and) she said, ‘I am a teacher, a nurse, a doctor, a cook, a chauffeur, a judge and a jury,'" Markey said. "And she was right - she was all of those things and much, much more. I think what I tried to say - what I meant to say - and I wish that I could tell her now, is that I wanted to be a good mother like her, because your first responsibility is to your family. And that's the way I've lived my life."

Asked what she regretted, Musgrave said she was "reluctant to fight back" during the campaign but was forced to after attacks were launched at her.

Musgrave spent a significant amount of time criticizing the $700 billion economic bailout passed by Congress last week, and said she wants "to go back to Congress and be an independent voice."

"I've stood up to my president and I stood up to my party," she said.

Both candidates kept coming back to promoting renewable energy, both to help the environment and build the local economy.

But they disagreed on a number of other issues. Musgrave said she would be willing to work to bring a nuclear power to the district, while Markey said she would not. Musgrave indicated support of Amendment 46, which would ban affirmative-action policies in Colorado; Markey said she opposed the initiative.

Asked afterwards what she wanted to accomplish with the debate, Markey manager Anne Caprara said she "wanted people to meet Betsy Markey."

"To know Betsy is to like Betsy, and all I needed out of this evening tonight was for people to get to know. And I think they were able to do that."

Musgrave manager Jason Thielman said the debate allowed voters "an opportunity to see Marilyn Musgrave's heart, see the difference between Marilyn and Betsy on the issues, and how we're going to move our economy forward and make a difference for the people of the 4th Congressional District."

"I think for the first time, people got to see the heart of Marilyn Musgrave, got to see someone who understands what it's like to have to struggle, to build herself up, and can identify with people who are suffering right now," Thielman said. "And that's a picture I think that people have never been able to see because of Betsy Markey's allies and the other outrageous liberal surrogates that have spent nearly $10 million dollars slandering her."

The independent environmental group Defenders of Wildlife, among other groups, has been pummeling Musgrave in radio and TV ads throughout the summer.

Markey and Musgrave will face off in two more debates: Oct. 13 in Fort Morgan and Oct. 21 in Windsor.