Wednesday, October 25, 2006

CHAMPION VS. HARPOOL

The Great Debate comes Thursday -- or so goes the hype from Glendale High School, where Norma Champion and Doug Harpool are scheduled to meet in what's being billed as a "debate" between the candidates for Springfield's seat in the Missouri Senate.

As KY3's Dave Catanese reports in his Political Notebook, Champion says she won't "debate" Harpool, but will appear at forums where he's also been invited.

Champion also admits to Catanese that she knows she's fudging facts in her "positive" television ad:
A current Champion ad notes she helped bring $3.9 million dollars in new money to Springfield Public Schools. But in our interview, Champion said she believed the number was actually $2.9 million.
But we digress. Thursday's event at Glendale will be very scripted. Our sources say Champion asked for, and received, the questions in advance, apparently so she could bone up on any answers and not suffer an embarrassing moment like she did Monday at the League of Women Voters forum, when she whiffed her response to a question about a child kidnapping bill (she was the only senator to vote against the measure in May 2004).

Maybe this explains why Champion agreed to Thursday's "debate." She's walking in with the questions in her pocket.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope the kids see through this sham. Maybe one of them will ask her if she got the questions in advance.

Anonymous said...

I'll give my daughter a heads up-she's in that Sons and Daughters of Liberty organization.

I assume Harpool is aware of this rumor?

Anonymous said...

Speaking of questions... none of the candidates at the LWV forum answered this one worth a damn:

"How would you solve a problem without increasing the size, scope, or cost of government?"

Either they didn't understand it, or didn't *want* to. Just more Band-Aids instead of cures.

Anonymous said...

Okay. . .I just HAD to point this out. . .irony in motion. . .right after KSFX's parting shot of THOUSANDS of screaming Cardinals fans, cheering the fact that their team is ONE game away from winning the World Series, Norma Champion has an ad on criticizing Harpool for voting for the Cardinal's stadium in St. Louis. . .FUNNY. . .And Classic!

Anonymous said...

If I had been Harpool I would have let the moderator ask the preprepared questions to Norma, and then I would have asked for any question from the audience. The difference could not have been clearer or more noticed by everyone.

Anonymous said...

What does it matter? It'll just be the same standard questions:

"Will you give Missourians free health care, or do you hate children and old people?"

"Will you raise taxes on the wealthy, or do you hate children and old people?"

"What about the children?"

Anonymous said...

I saw the dbate and I agree with the kid from Glendale. I am a conservative but Harpool would clearly be the better Senator. Champion seems like a nice lady who is trying but I think her time for public service has passed her by. It is shame she didn't jsut admit to herself it was time for her to retire. It was almost painful watching her struggle to answer questions.