Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, Sarah Palin's successor, appeared stumped by a question about the age of the earth Thursday, choosing not to answer a multiple choice question regarding the matter during a gubernatorial debate.

"Only God knows," Parnell responded, when asked if the earth was more accurately described as "6,000" or "six billion" years old.

Democratic candidate Ethan Berkowitz wasted no time, telling the moderator, "I'll go with six billion."

Parnell's answer did not go over without some skepticism, however. One person in the recording can be heard laughing, and another asks, "you really don't wanna answer that?"

"I really don't know," Parnell then said. "For either one of us to do it is quite speculative."

Parnell currently leads Berkowitz by about 14 points according to HuffPost Pollster's latest analysis of the contest.

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