NRSC

Carnahan's Absence Raises Questions About Her Campaign

On the Missouri Senate front, Democrat Senate candidate Robin Carnahan probably thought she was being clever by conveniently planning a trip to Washington on the same day President Obama was in the Show Me State, but her absence only sparked more questions about her campaign.  Politico reports that, [C]arnahan picked a truly lousy day for a trip to Washington. And her Republican enemies leveraged President Barack Obama’s presence here into a daylong attack on her.   The Missouri secretary of state had been scheduled to attend low-profile fundraising and official meetings in Washington on Wednesday. But the president’s decision to stage a health care speech in this St. Louis suburb sparked speculation about her absence from his side — and highlighted her connection to a Washington establishment she had hoped to distance herself from. It also didn’t help that one of the Carnahan fundraisers in Washington was hosted by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who has been excoriated by the GOP for her role in the so-called Louisiana Purchase tucked into the Senate health care bill….“It says a lot about Robin Carnahan’s priorities and the state of the Democrat Party brand these days when she’d rather stand with the author of the Louisiana Purchase in Washington than stand with the president of the United States in Missouri,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh.

• The Washington Times reports that the Missouri GOP also weighed in and mocked Carnahan's absence, saying she certainly should have taken the opportunity to bask in the high-profile visit just eight months before the vote.  "Barack Obama should be campaigning his heart out for Robin Carnahan - after all, Carnahan has pledged to rubber-stamp his agenda of a government takeover of health care, job-killing cap-and-tax, the failed stimulus bill and much more," said Lloyd Smith, executive director of the Missouri Republican Party.

• Fox News noted that, [I]t’s not lost on political pundits that Carnahan isn’t appearing with the President, as his track record for getting people elected is not nearly as solid as previous presidents. In 2009, Obama appeared in New Jersey for incumbent Governor Jon Corzine, in Virginia for Gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, and in the most high stakes race, in Massachusetts for Martha Coakley, who was running to replace Edward Kennedy. All three candidates lost.

• While the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that hundreds of protesters appeared in St. Charles and in downtown St. Louis, many to express opposition to the health care plan. Outgoing U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., said the president's speeches in St. Charles and elsewhere — he was in Philadelphia on Monday and will be in Ohio next week — are an attempt by Obama to use oratorical skills to sell a plan Americans don't want. "He is trying to cram it through. He has shown that he is not listening," Bond, who is retiring when his term ends this year, said. "He thinks if he talks very slowly, we will understand."  U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who is running for Bond's seat, proffered a more measured approach to health care, endorsing incremental steps — such as limiting lawsuits and allowing patients to shop across state lines for insurance. "Go back to the things that everybody believes would change the system. Do a handful of those in the next couple of years. Then see what needs to be done," Blunt said.