NEWARK - There are rare times when debates actually show where candidates stand.

Wednesday night was one of those times.

Sure, there were some sharp exchanges, but the hour-long chat hosted by NJPBS and WNYC among Jon Bramnick, Jack Ciattarelli and Bill Spadea certainly clarified things.

Spadea was the most right wing, Ciattarelli a centrist and Bramnick the most "left," at least in the context of Donald Trump's Republican Party.

Bramnick did mention "The Politics of Inclusion," a book authored in 1988 by former Governor Thomas H. Kean Sr., but that type of thinking is wholly inconsistent with the MAGA movement.

The candidates were asked about potential cuts to Medicaid and Medicare by the Trump Administration.

Bramnick said those cuts can be "devastating" to many residents.

Ciattarelli mentioned "waste," but said  needy residents must be protected.

Spadea was in the far right lane, calling for New Jersey's own version of DOGE.

This interesting split was also seen with immigration. Suppose hundreds of thousands of people here illegally are deported. Won't that hurt the economy? Ciattarelli said the hit would be "significant," but that he trusted the feds to wisely do the job. Bramnick said no one should be deported without due process, including those here illegally.

That prompted a collision with Spadea, who said  those here illegally - he called them "invaders" - don't deserve due process. Then, he presented some history, quoting Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson who in 1949 said the constitution is not a "suicide pact."

The point here was that extreme fealty to the constitution could have dangerous consequences. As a point of reference, Jackson was dissenting in a free speech case. Odd that Spadea, a one-time TV and radio show host, would find solace in a justice opposing freedom of speech.

Was there an overall theme?

Yes.

More than once, Bramnick stressed the need for Republicans to show a heart and compassion.

"If the Republican Party does not show empathy, we're going to get beat," he said, adding that precisely because of that position, Democrats fear his candidacy the most.

Ciattarelli and Spadea, who are the top two in the polls, amusingly, traded barbs.

When Spadea more than once said he was an "outsider," Ciattarelli responded that was true simply because Spadea has never won an election.

What happens on June 11?

Will the losers back the winner?

Ciattarelli and Bramnick quickly said "yes."

But not Spadea. He said:

"It's a better question for Jack, because he did not want my support, nor President Trump's support, in 2021."

Ciattarelli said Spadea was lying.

Spadea returned the "compliment" and the debate ended.