“I was in my twenties and very excited and passionate about my newfound faith. But I can assure you, my faith has matured and when I go to Washington, D.C. it’ll be the Constitution on which I base all of my decisions, not my personal beliefs,” she explained Thursday to cheers.

Coons, who has been careful not to go near any of the controversial aspects of O’Donnell’s record, appeared to agree that her commentary on sex should be off-limits.

“It’s my hope that in the general election campaign, my opponent and I can focus on our policy proposals, on the constructive ideas that we’ve got . . . I don’t think [voters] are particularly interested in statements that either of us made 20 or 30 years ago,” he said in a line that also won applause, including O’Donnell’s…

In one of the more surprising moments of the evening, the anti-abortion O’Donnell said she would support a woman’s right to choose if her life was at risk — an exception that has not been made by many of her Tea Party counterparts.