Candidates in New Jersey Senate Race Stick Close to Script MONTCLAIR, N.J. - At the opening of the debate between the candidates for United States Senate here on Thursday night, the moderator noted that their campaigns had slid into the familiar broad themes of Republican versus Democrat: he cares only about the wealthy; he is a tax-and-spender. The moderator pressed them for specifics: What is one thing that makes your opponent less qualified than you? Mel Evans/Associated Press Robert Menendez, the Democratic incumbent, has tried to present himself as a champion of the middle class. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press Joe Kyrillos, the Republican challenger, has appealed broadly to voter frustration with Washington. The Democratic incumbent, Senator Robert Menendez, responded that his Republican opponent, State Senator Joe Kyrillos, supported tax cuts for the wealthy. Mr. Kyrillos blamed Democrats in Congress for 43 straight months of unemployment above 8 percent. The two men have clung to generic partisan outlines throughout the campaign, with few specifics or exchanges to remind voters that the race is not taking place in Any State, U.S.A. Mr. Menendez, running for his second full term, is ahead in polls and is hoping to stay there by capitalizing on President Obama's popularity in New Jersey. Mr. Kyrillos, a close friend of Gov. Chris Christie, is hoping to recreate the governor's electoral success in 2009. But he is running in a state that has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972. Mr. Kyrillos's campaign has appealed broadly to voter frustration with Washington. "If you think things are just fine, that things are O.K. here in New Jersey and across the land, well, then you'll choose my opponent again," he said at the hourlong debate at Montclair State University, which was televised live. "But if you think that unemployment doubling under his watch, the deficit quadrupling, our national debt doubling is unacceptable," he added, "then you're going to make a change." National unemployment figures reported on Friday showed the rate dropping below 8 percent, to 7.8. Echoing Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, Mr. Kyrillos added: "I believe in America. I believe we can do better. Mr. Menendez, 58, has sought to present himself as the champion of the middle class, and to lump his opponent with the extreme wing of the Republican Party, arguing that he cannot simultaneously cut the deficit and cut taxes, as Mr. Kyrillos has proposed. Mr. Menendez borrowed from Mr. Obama, who borrowed from former President Bill Clinton: "That arithmetic doesn't work." He accused Mr. Kyrillos of supporting the "Paul Ryan budget," which would privatize parts of Social Security and offer Medicare vouchers. Mr. Kyrillos rejected the association, saying, "We're going to have a Joe Kyrillos budget." Both men speak often about their immigrant parents, and both have long histories in state party politics. Mr. Menendez comes out of the rough and tumble of Hudson County, which is overwhelmingly Democratic. He was elected mayor of Union City at 32, and later to the State Assembly, State Senate and Congress, before being appointed in 2006 to his seat by Jon S. Corzine, his predecessor, who had been elected governor. He helped his party narrowly hold on to its Senate majority against the Republican headwinds of 2010. Mr. Kyrillos, 52, comes from well-to-do Monmouth County, which has leaned Republican and includes well-off suburbs. He served four years in the Assembly before winning his Senate seat in 1992, and served as chairman of the state's Republican Party from 2001 to 2004. Mr. Christie introduced Mr. Kyrillos to the woman he would marry. He has been a loyal soldier for the governor, supporting a property-tax cap and initiatives to reverse the effects of a court ruling that requires the state to help equalize spending between rich and poor school districts. In a Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind poll early last month, Mr. Menendez was ahead, 50 percent to 36 percent, among registered and likely voters. He had $10.2 million when the campaigns last reported their totals in July. Mr. Kyrillos had $3.1 million. But Mr. Menendez faced a tough race in 2006, and is known for running as though he were 10 points behind. His campaign has accused Mr. Kyrillos of changing his position on abortion rights - he says he supports them but marked "pro life" on a questionnaire last year - and wanting to overturn popular portions of the Affordable Care Act. The campaign has pressed for women's votes, noting that Mr. Kyrillos declined to vote on a resolution supporting an equal-pay act. Mr. Kyrillos, more velveteen and affable, does not come off as an extremist. He said that he was unfamiliar with the questionnaire, but that he supported parental notifications and waiting periods for abortions - positions, he said, most voters also support. At the debate on Thursday, Mr. Kyrillos declined to answer when asked if he would support a Supreme Court nominee who would most likely vote to overturn the law barring federal recognition of same-sex marriage. He said only that he would give a fair hearing to a president's nominees. He has struggled against low name recognition. In an August poll by the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers, 24 percent of Republican voters did not know him. That poll was done before he began running television advertisements. And his campaign said it expected Mr. Christie to participate in several events for him in the month before Election Day.