Well, I got there to the candidates forum a little early and was glad to see that there was about an equal number of people turned out to support Jim Newberry as there was to support Roy Blunt.
I had a sign that read: Who Does Roy Blunt REALLY Represent? on one side, and it had a list of Congressman Blunt's corporate contributors on the other side. I made sure that all of Roy Blunt's supporters saw who their candidate was getting his money from: Phillip-Morris, RJ Reynolds, Anheuser-Bush, AFLAC, Pfizer, and more.
The debate was more of a forum (closed to public, but there were probably 50-80 members of the press there), and it consisted of three panelists from area newspapers asking questions.
It went very well. Jim Newberry's opening and closing was AWESOME. Roy Blunt came off sounding very much like a DC politician. The wild card of the event was the Libertarian Kevin Craig who mostly re-iterated the party line. KY3 TV aired the debate live.
I don't know what effect this will have on voters in SW MIssouri, but at least ROUND 1 has finally been fought. ROUND 2 will be october 1st at SMSU where it is supposed to be open to the public, with questions accepted via phone, email, and audience. It will be aired on public TV (PBS affiliate) and KSMU radio.
The race is on!