Plain Talk With Rob Port

When we organize candidate debates on the Plain Talk podcast, our intent is to foster a competition that's not bogged down by a lot of rules and restrictive formatting, nor plagued by shouting and candidates talking over one another. We don't really even want a competition. We want a conversation. A thoughtful discussion between two candidates on important issues of interest to the voters. I think we achieved that with the debate my co-host Chad Oban and I hosted between incumbent U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger Katrina Christiansen. Our conversation covered everything from partisanship, to social security, the national debt, the state of the farm bill and Congress's inability to pass an updated iteration of it, the wars in Ukraine and Israel, and the role of government in our lives. The candidates found places where they agree. Both say they're committed to America's continued backing of Ukraine against Russia's war of aggression. Both support Israel's right to defend itse