Senator Talent took an aggressive tone during his debate with Claire McCaskill in Springfield. Talent, a Republican, criticized McCaskill during his opening statement for not paying property taxes for three years on property she owned in Jackson County, for what he termed a lackluster performance as Jackson County prosecutor, noting that a person in the office was accused of abusing meth. Talent also renewed criticism of McCaskill for not fully disclosing the sources of her husband’s income. McCaskill responded by saying that Talent took a lot of time attacking her, because he doesn’t have issues to talk about. McCaskill said she wouldn’t spend the time to attack Talent or even attempt to correct what she perceives as mischaracterizations of her record. Talent, though, made no apologies for his aggressiveness, which he displayed throughout the debate sponsored by KYTV, Ozarks Public Television, KSMU and the Springfield News-Leader. He returned to the theme in his close, stating that her record as an auditor and as a prosecutor is relevant, because she’s running on it. Talent says McCaskill’s record is questionable in many respects.
McCaskill defended her record during her close. She stated the property taxes weren’t paid during a period when her brother lived in a condominium her family owned. McCaskill said she paid the taxes as soon as it was brought to her attention. She insisted that she called for the special investigation into her office when she discovered that someone had been abusing meth in her office and she said that the special investigation cleared the office of any wrongdoing. McCaskill also said that crime went down in Kansas City during her tenure as Jackson County prosecutor.
The debate was held in the studios of KYTV. The two meet for one more debate, on Wednesday, in Kansas City.
Related web sites:
Talent for Senate
McCaskill for Senate