HELENA -- In keeping with the prickly tone that has typified much of Montana's heated race for the U.S. Senate, Democrat Jon Tester and incumbent Republican Sen. Conrad Burns pointedly disagreed on almost everything in a debate here Thursday.

In a packed debate sponsored by the Helena Independent Record and the civic group Hometown Helena, the two agreed on just one thing: The United States shouldn't invade Iran. However, they disagreed over exactly how to deal with North Korea, the secretive nation that recently tested a nuclear bomb.

Burns said we ought to pressure China, North Korea's neighbor to the north, to get the nation to drop its nuclear ambitions. He said America could limit the amount of Chinese-made goods coming into the United States if China doesn't do so. But should talks fail, Burns hinted at the idea of nuclear strikes against North Korea.

"We've still got missiles in the ground,'' he said. "We can still deal with a country with nuclear bombs.''

Tester said the United States shouldn't leave important diplomacy to other nations.

"We need to be the lead dog,'' he said. "We need to work with our allies. I think we need to use strong diplomacy.''

But on everything else from health care to ethics, the two men locked horns.

On the Iraqi War, Burns said the United States must win at any cost, that the nation can't be seen to be weak or it will show terrorists namely Osama bin Laden that America caves in.

Tester said the war, which was waged on false pretenses, has distracted the nation from the war against terror and now creates more terrorism than it attempts to contain.

On health care, Burns said "the marketplace works pretty well, that is if you allow it to work,'' and pressed a bill he co-sponsored that will allow associations to pool together across state lines to buy health insurance cheaper. That plan has been criticized for allowing health insurance to not cover certain minimum requirements in Montana, like maternity care.

Tester said the "marketplace hasn't been working or we wouldn't have the problem that we have right now.'' He said he would entertain any solution to the health care crisis that met certain criteria, whether the solutions came from the private sector or from government.

Here's where the candidates differed on other issues:

- Taxes

Burns said he supports a series of tax cuts passed beginning in 2001, which Burns credited with spurring the American economy and helping the nation avoid a recession after 9/11.

Tester said those cuts went mostly to the wealthy and are part of the reason the "the middle class is disappearing.'' Tester said he would support extending only two parts of the cuts: a twist in the tax code that makes married couples pay more than single people and a tax credit for college tuition.

- Ethics

Tester said he would not accept meals, travel and lodging from lobbyists and he would not allow his staff to leave his Senate office to lobby, only to return again. He also said he would not hire people who had previously been lobbyists.

Burns said he supported "lobby reform'' but didn't specify what kind of reform he envisioned.

- Drilling on the Rocky Mountain Front

Burns seemed to stake out a new position on natural gas drilling on the front. Burns historically had not favored a complete ban on drilling no the front, but this summer unveiled a plan to ban all oil and gas drilling in the area. At Thursday's debate, Burns said he now favors a drilling moratorium in only two sensitive areas, but seemed to support drilling elsewhere.

Tester said he favored a complete ban on drilling in the area, saying there are other places to drill for oil and gas and other ways to generate energy.

- Playing nice

Asked if they could say a single nice thing about each other, Tester said he admired "the fact that Senator Burns has taken time out of this state for 18 long years of service in D.C. That's a sacrifice.''

Burns said that he thinks Tester is a "great guy'' and reminded Burns of deceased Minnesota Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone, an "ultra-liberal'' who was trustworthy.

Burns' comment generated some booing from the packed audience, but the 700 or so onlookers mostly stayed quiet during the hour-long debate. An earlier debate in Hamilton was marked by anti-Burns heckling.