DebateScoop.org: Live Blog - Talent vs. McCaskill

Live Blog - Talent vs. McCaskill - Meet the Press

By Tim ODonnell 10/08/2006 08:51:54 AM EST

Live blog of Talent-McCaskill "Meet the Press" debate is starting soon.

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Tags: MO-Sen, Jim Talent, Claire McCaskill, Meet the Press, live blogging

< Bits and Pieces | Talent vs. McCaskill Debate Roundup >

Live Blog - Talent vs. McCaskill - Meet the Press | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 hidden)

Top issues (none / 0)

Russert's opening pitch - Foley first, Iraq second.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 08:54:20 AM EST

How badly has the GOP been hurt by Foley? (none / 0)

Talent: I have a 16 year old.

Russert: Shows timea and Newsweek - speilling the "end" of the "conservative revolution."

Why is this a subject for "debate?"

Nice job by Talent of capitalizing on this and using it to make his opening speech.

Russert tries to bring him back: Resignations? Results before the election?

Talent: Zero tolerance policy. Yes if before.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 08:57:34 AM EST

On to Iraq (none / 0)

Russert: Is the best way to protect the American people to wait until we are attacked (echoing Bush)?

Talent: charges McCaskill supports Hamden decision (interesting spin). Her positions are "positions of weakness."

McCaskill - I've prosecuted therefore I understand intelligence.

Russert: Do you think criminal investigations will win the war?

McCaskill: Makes an argument for surveillance and soft power.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:03:34 AM EST

Both candidates are impressive - 10 minutes in (none / 0)

Talent and McCaskill are both on offense and are speaking quickly and efficiently. They are advancing their respective positions and providing examples, stories, and testimony to support their claims.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:06:18 AM EST

Timetable? (none / 0)

Talent: Till the mission is done. But, when Russert follows up - Talent says it won't take 4 to 5 years. Russert asks to do what? Talent says to train up the army. When pressed again, he says: "I'm not going to tie myself to a timetable."

Talent is showing signs of whithering here - Russert's questions are flustering him.

Russert: What does redeployment over 2 years mean?

McCaskill: She doesn't answer the question. She says "listen to the military." He tries again. She ducks the question again.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:11:24 AM EST

Its about politics... (none / 0)

McCaskill continues to avoid the question - comes back to intelligence and her support of it.

Russert: How would you have voted?

McCaskill: I wont second guess then... but knowing what we know now...

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:13:53 AM EST

History! (none / 0)

Both candidates are mobilizing history to support their respective positions. McCaskill - Truman and Talent - Eisenhower.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:14:33 AM EST

: McCaskill gets a point (none / 0)

She comes back to Talent's Eisenhower pitch and says "Eisenhower" had a plan. +1 for answering the historical warrant.
by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:16:26 AM EST

[ Parent ]

Everyone saddled with Bush policy (none / 0)

What these debates demonstrate - week after week - is that no one has a solution to Iraq. Neither the Democrats or Republicans have anything like a coherent, reasonable sounding policy about where we go from here. It just proves how much trouble we're really in over there. Can't leave, but can't accomplish anything.

Steve Mancuso

by SPMinOHIO on 10/08/2006 09:14:35 AM EST

Domestic Issues - stem cells (none / 0)

Stem cell research: Russert's on to it - quoting at length from the Kansas City Star re: Talent's "flip flopping."

Why are you opposed to embyonic stem cell research?

Talent: "I'm opposed to an unqualified right to clone." Runs the alternatives are enough argument.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:19:59 AM EST

Science is "speculative" (none / 0)

So says Talent.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:22:01 AM EST

[ Parent ]

McCaskill's faith (none / 0)

...says to "cure the sick." Nice spin - hadn't heard that take before.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:22:52 AM EST

[ Parent ]

: '...heal the sick' (none / 0)

McCaskill did have an interesting way of stating her position on stem cell research, and she was very affective in shutting down Talent's attempts in questioning her position on the related issues. He wound up looking quite incompetent on the subject when McCaskill continuely negated his claims against her.
by taylla3 on 10/18/2006 06:36:24 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Partial birth abortion (none / 0)

McCaskill takes that off the table.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:24:31 AM EST

[ Parent ]

: McCaskill scores on abortion issue (none / 0)

Talent doesn't seem able to defend his own position - life begins at conception, so any taking of such a life is wrong, but yet he has always supported exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother.
He also attempts to characterize McCaskill's positions, but barely gets a word in on them before she shoots the characterization down, and shifts focus to prevention of abortions and that voters should want a candidate with clear positions on the issue.
Adrienne F. Brovero Debate Coach University of Mary Washington
by Adri on 10/08/2006 09:30:03 AM EST

[ Parent ]

Race and Bush (none / 0)

Re: Katrina:

She's been quoted as saying: "George Bush let people die on roof tops because they were poor and they were black."

Is this a softball or a hardball pitch to her from Russert? Could go either way.

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:26:50 AM EST

Talent and Bush (none / 0)

Talent treads carefully here.

Nice line: I've been around for a while longer than Bush (he was doing baseball...).

by Tim ODonnell on 10/08/2006 09:28:21 AM EST

: Ethanol, Biodiesel, and the Combat Meth law (none / 1)

On the heels of the Bush linkage questions, when given 10 seconds to explain why people should vote for him, Talent reiterated (from the beginning of the debate) that he has worked for Missouri, specifically in the form of ethanol and biodiesel and the "Combat Meth" law.
A recent poll in Missouri said voters were most concerned about health care and Iraq.
Now, while anti-meth laws and alternative fuels are probably also important to voters, are these what he should be focusing on in his closing, as his rationale for why he should win, when voters seem most concerned about health care and Iraq?
Adrienne F. Brovero Debate Coach University of Mary Washington
by Adri on 10/08/2006 09:51:15 AM EST

[ Parent ]