Akin's "Legitimate Rape"Akin took his "legitimate rape" questions and completely turned the discussion around to something different, and I was all "whtf is he doing?" until I realized that he was SUPPOSED to point out more important topics if he believed they were more imperative than his comments, lol. McCaskill then somehow turned from talking about how important his statements were,... by talking about other things. And finally Dine turned the conversation to his own honest policies. So I guess the end result is that Akin's remarks really
were just a slip, like no big deal, and the most everyone could do was simply buff up their other stances by pointing out how trivial they believed it, and perhaps the matter of abortion itself in this election, was.
Postal ServiceDine's in support of raising taxes on stamps to cover costs of improving the USPS. Lolwut? I thought he was the Libertarian here. X-D
"The Postal Service is Constitutional. Government's supposed to be doing that." That first statement really threw me for a loop. The rest of Akin's answer to the Postal Service question I totally expected, playing on the heartstrings of the elderly, attempting to (I guess) harken back to "good ol' days" when everyone knew everybody and all that nostalgic fuzziness. Also when the Postal Service probably wasn't terrible, lol. His solution sounds good
on principle at least. Taxes seem like a different issue altogether, but applying free market forces in the way he recommends made me nod.
I think McCaskill shot herself in the foot on this one. Eventually letting the private sector handle mail (as it already does many packages via UPS, FedEx, and the like) leads me to believe it would
lower prices instead. She too says it's in the Constitution. I'mma have to look this up now; I haven't thought about this issue all that much.... Her statement about USPS being comprehensive and comparably efficient to the rest of the world is accurate, I believe. It IS good,
darned good, relatively speaking. But it could still be vastly improved in my opinion.
MedicareI know very little about this whole topic, especially when it comes to "Obamacare." The libertarian in me says it's dumb because it looks like more government control, especially over our health, and the very, very high probability of a (or multiple) tax increase(s). But I have to ultimately shrug at it all 'cause it's not my area of expertise.
Needless to say, the three replied in the way I expected. First time I've heard a Dem espouse any bit of capitalism though, lol.
"Wild Card"I
really wish I could believe McCaskill here. It's as if she wanted to throw her hands up and say, "Hey, Missouri, this is what your people said. I'm just followin' orders." In that respect, that's great for her, because she's listening to the people. But since I already disagree with a fair number of the policies she said Missourians wanted, then I have the citizens to get mad at. Of course, if she's being disingenuous here.... Then that's obviously even worse.
I noticed that most of Dine's statements are almost verbatim from his own website. Not that that's a bad thing against him, but it again testifies to his inability to speak well in front of the camera.
No comment on Akin's point; I just lost interest was all.
Foreign PolicyDine said what I thought he'd say. Akin took an intriguing turn on it, going to Poland and the Czech first, then got predicatble with Egypt and the Middle East. Aaaaaaand Claire. Ooooohhhh Claire. m-D I find it interesting that Akin has two kids who've been over there; kinda throws a twist on the "millionaire's son" stigma, if you ask me, 'cause he actually CAN claim that his children are fighting this war.
Dealing with the Deficit/BudgetCongress poked the Senate, and the Senate poked Congress. And then Dine poked both of them, hahaha!
Obesityo_o
I was puzzled by this one. McCaskill took a center-right approach by suggesting the government "back off," and then Dine says the government should "set the best example" out of all of us. And then Akin, while he still agreed with Claire that the people should choose for themselves, got all "soft-spoken" 'n' junk and tried waxing eloquence on "The American Dream" and "Try, Try Again." Seriously, where in the world did that come from, Todd?! Just... this whole segment made me scratch my head. X-D
Closing RemarksOn Akin: Jefferson believed in a "Creator?" Really?... Will give credit to Todd on at least one thing: he did not attack his opponent(s) in either his opening or closing statements. Personally, I'm glad he didn't use his time to bash Claire, but instead to end on a positive note.
On McCaskill: "We have a choice, not just between two candidates..." Dine is RIGHT, FREAKING, THERE standing NEXT to you, Claire! Seriously! Too soon! m-D
On Dine: He didn't speak well, but he stole the whole show with that last joke.
