2008 Woodie Awards
Senate hopefuls clash in debate
By: James Chilton
Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: News
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Iraq, North Korea and ethanol were among several issues addressed by U.S. Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO) and his Democratic rival, state auditor Claire McCaskill in a televised debate in St. Louis Oct. 11.
A four-person panel lobbed an hour's worth of questions to the candidates in front of a packed crowd of over 500 at Clayton High School's auditorium in St. Louis County. The debate was televised by local station KSDK Channel 5 and broadcast by radio station KWMU 90.7.
Sen. Talent positioned himself as a senator who has made a difference by sponsoring high-visibility bi-partisan legislation McCaskill opposed. This legislation included the Combat Meth Act of 2006, the 2006 Medicare prescription drug bill, a law requiring new standards for renewable fuels and a a provision to stop predatory lenders from targeting American servicemen.
Talent portrayed McCaskill as taking positions of consistent weakness on national security, the War in Iraq and the United States' current dealings with North Korea. He also criticized the state auditor's support of habeas corpus rights for terror suspects in U.S. custody.
McCaskill responded, saying strength comes from a willingness to ask questions. She accused Talent of asking no questions of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the early stages of the Iraq war as no evidence of weapons of mass destruction were found. She criticized Talent for saying he'd agree to go to war even if he knew Iraq had no WMDs. She said the invasion has created more terrorism than it has prevented.
"Iraq is a mess, it is a failed policy," she said. "We're never going to build democracy from the barrel of a gun."
Talent said the mission was not to find WMDs, but to depose Saddam Hussein and remove the threat he represented by replacing him with a multiethnic democracy. He said the United States must support Iraq for it to move past the postwar period of sectarian violence.
McCaskill contended that President Bush's 2003 Axis of Evil speech has cost the United States diplomatically in Iraq and North Korea. Talent said he United States must not attempt negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, stating that talking to him in the 1990s is what led to the present situation.
A four-person panel lobbed an hour's worth of questions to the candidates in front of a packed crowd of over 500 at Clayton High School's auditorium in St. Louis County. The debate was televised by local station KSDK Channel 5 and broadcast by radio station KWMU 90.7.
Sen. Talent positioned himself as a senator who has made a difference by sponsoring high-visibility bi-partisan legislation McCaskill opposed. This legislation included the Combat Meth Act of 2006, the 2006 Medicare prescription drug bill, a law requiring new standards for renewable fuels and a a provision to stop predatory lenders from targeting American servicemen.
Talent portrayed McCaskill as taking positions of consistent weakness on national security, the War in Iraq and the United States' current dealings with North Korea. He also criticized the state auditor's support of habeas corpus rights for terror suspects in U.S. custody.
McCaskill responded, saying strength comes from a willingness to ask questions. She accused Talent of asking no questions of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the early stages of the Iraq war as no evidence of weapons of mass destruction were found. She criticized Talent for saying he'd agree to go to war even if he knew Iraq had no WMDs. She said the invasion has created more terrorism than it has prevented.
"Iraq is a mess, it is a failed policy," she said. "We're never going to build democracy from the barrel of a gun."
Talent said the mission was not to find WMDs, but to depose Saddam Hussein and remove the threat he represented by replacing him with a multiethnic democracy. He said the United States must support Iraq for it to move past the postwar period of sectarian violence.
McCaskill contended that President Bush's 2003 Axis of Evil speech has cost the United States diplomatically in Iraq and North Korea. Talent said he United States must not attempt negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, stating that talking to him in the 1990s is what led to the present situation.
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