When it comes to debating health reform, Republicans have spent the better part of 2010 on the offensive. But Sue Lowden, once the front runner in Nevada's GOP Senate primary, made herself a notable exception in an April 19 interview with a local TV station. In defending a previous statement she had made suggesting that patients barter with their health care providers, Lowden noted that "in the olden days ... they would bring a chicken to the doctor" to pay for treatment. Democrats pounced on the comment, ceaselessly mocking the candidate and coining one of the more memorable taunts of the campaign season: "Chickens for checkups." Lowden ended up losing the primary to Tea Partyer Sharron Angle, who has had no shortage of foul-ups herself.