ST. LOUIS, Oct. 13, 2010
Democrats Play Catch-Up in Missouri Senate Race
Two Years Ago Democrats Thought They Could Win Missouri's Republican-Controlled Senate Seat; Now That Looks Like a Long Shot
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U.S. Senate candidates from Missouri, Republican Roy Blunt, left, and Democrat Robin Carnahan, right. (CBS)
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State Fast Facts Missouri Learn about the people, economy and geography.
Republicans have a good chance to take back the House. It will be a lot more difficult for them to capture the Senate, and CBS News is keeping an eye on the critical contests that will decide it all.
The Republicans need to pick up 10 Senate seats now held by Democrats and hold onto five that are currently in play, including Missouri.
CBS News Senior Political correspondent Jeff Greenfield reports the Missouri Senate race is a family affair: Republican Roy Blunt's son was governor. So was Democrat Robin Carnahan's father. But it's party, not family, ties that are driving this campaign: The "D" in Democrat could stand for "Disadvantage," the key to a double-digit poll lead for Republican Blunt.
CBSNews.com Special Report: Election 2010
You hear it from a stalwart Democrat in Hannibal, Mo.: "The Republicans have been great about staying on message and accusing the Democrats of tax and spend," says one voter.
You even hear it from the party's nominee: "Just no doubt," says Carnahan, "because they are in charge in Washington. People want results and they haven't seen results yet."
When the 2010 midterms began, Democrats saw the open Republican Senate seat here as a prime target of opportunity. Now, that target seems a lot more elusive.
"This is a campaign about what to do to create private sector jobs and get the federal government under control," says Blunt.
For Blunt, a 14-year veteran of Congress, the declining fortunes of President Obama have proven a political goldmine. Mr. Obama's ratings in Missouri are well below his national numbers.
Now Carnahan, who has never served in Washington, is trying to recast the debate from "Democrat vs. Republican" to "outsider vs. insider."
"If you'd been watching those ads on television, you'd think I was the one in Washington causing the economy to be a wreck," says Carnahan.
Carnahan says in an interview, "He's been he worst of what we don't like in Washington. Wasting our money, too much corruption and sweetheart deals."
One analyst says that argument is not working against the broad tide of voter unhappiness.
"The economy is not doing well and it's difficult to say it would have been even worse if someone else had been running it," says Terry Jones from the University of Missouri-St. Louis' political science department.
In 2008, John McCain won a razor-thin victory when his overwhelming support in rural Missouri overcame Obama's huge advantage in St. Louis and Kansas City. This year, the overwhelmingly bleak view of the way things are going has made the outlook much bleaker for Democrats.
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- Here is our Post Racial President!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~White House Meeting for Black Journalists Doesn?t Stay Off-The-Record for Long By JEREMY W. PETERS The White House is usually quite good at keeping a muzzle on the media after one of its off-the-record sessions with President Obama and senior members of his administration. But not this week. A group of black bloggers and journalists from outlets like Essence and BET were invited to the White House on Monday for a half-day of policy briefings by the president?s advisers. The White House provided the journalists with an agenda that spelled out the ground rules: the first half of their briefings was to be on background, meaning they could report any information they learned but not attribute it to any specific official; the second half was off the record entirely. When did Bush have a meeting with Just "White" Bloggers and Journalist? Post Racial?
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- I live in the neighboring state to missouri and myself as well as thousands of others who belong to the Cherokee Nation have noticed that the folks from missouri have proven it impossible to committ suicide by jumping out of a basement window.Another point in case. If the missouri state residents are so poor ? How come our casinos are doing landslide business and seems to be growing by the day everyday except friday . That is wrestling night and in missouri you can't hear a jet flying over because evryone that is not at the casino all have thier tvs on the same wrestling channel.
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- You even hear it from the party's nominee: "Just no doubt," says Carnahan, "because they are in charge in Washington. People want results and they haven't seen results yet." She says that she understands that the polices of the ruling Democrat party has not produced good results. If she understands that it is the failed extremist progressive policies that the Democrats have put in place, why is she still a Democrat?
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- The real problem with Carnahan is comparison of her positions with Blunt's on the issues; they were basically the same. You could easily change the D behind her name to an R. Given the choice between a republican and a pseudo-republican I'll vote for the republican because no matter how bad they are, they aren't lying about it. If Obama had run as the pseudo-republican that he appears to be, he would have lost the election. Making insurance company CEOs even richer and myself unable to pay for a visit to the doctor isn't my idea of progress. Bush was bad and he caused a lot of our problems but Obama has been in office for two years which is plenty of time for him to make a difference in people's lives and he hasn't. Instead he has kept Bush's policies and added a few anti-democratic policies of his own. I no longer care if a republican congress tries to impeach him.
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- I can not believe a Stat with such unemployment and poverty would vote Republican. Can you imagine a future in St. Louis when the poor get poorer? Civil unrest is upon us. Vote Democrat for the change that is on the thresh hold of raising taxes for the wealthy. It's honestly their turn to pay for the services they have been getting for free for years under Republican rule. Those tires on those expensive cars have been rolling us middle class over for too long. I say, Raise the taxes for those who are constant in their greed filled with lack of compassion for human rights. Vote Democrat in Missouri or regret it later. Republicans will only continue to take the jobs over seas, like they have been doing and further more, they will increase your taxes to pay for the road work that needs to keep their cars driving smoothly, ya know, those Mercedes, BMWs, not those American made cars, heck no, they import everything and export Americas ENERGY. VOTE DEMOCRAT!
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- Republicans prefer 18-26 year old Americans to be on COBRA instead of their plans.
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- It's hunting season. I hope Dick Cheney takes the Tea Party Parrots of the Powerful out bird hunting. Maybe have "a couple beers" for lunch.
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- By the way, Democrats were in charge for two years while Bush was in office. Chirs DODD and Barney Frank pushed the housing market into what it is now. No one else offeredany changes of any kind that would have helped the people of America. I am not giving any more chances to ruin this country. They have had long enough.
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- The housing foreclosure crisis had everything to do with exactly what Bush and republicans wanted done. It was Bush's appointees who were the CEO's of Fannie and Freddie. Dodd and Frank were not the bosses of these two government agencies. Fox News has been so successful making what republicans did with Fannie and Freddie as Dodd and Franks fault. The truth is Bush and Cheney were the bosses and what they wanted to do was done because Bush was the president and what got done was because Cheney wanted it done. The republicans are so simpleminded and gullible to the lies of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. If it is political Fox will make everything that happened while Bush was President Dobb and Franks big issue. That is just a great big lie.
- earlysand - Please - take a moment and look at the facts. Run a request on youtube for Barney Frank and Fannie Mea and you will get about 20 hits for CSPAN2 videos of hearings showing Republicans asking for tighter controls of both Fannie and Freddie while the democrats, attack them as racists and Barney frank saying, less than one year before the collapse and long after Greenspan warned of the danger they posed, saying that Fannie and Freddie are fine and well capitalized. In fact it was Frank and Dodd that allowed the change of accounting rules that let Fannie and Freddie become so weak. You can yell about Bush all you want (a tired and pointless tactic btw) but it was Frank, Waters and Dodd who created the mess we have.
- Nancy Idiot Pelosi did not really make anything possible as far as kids staying on their parents insurance. All she did was raise cost to all Americans. None of this is free, Health plans Insurers offer are already changing to compensate for added cost. All Pelosi And Obama have accomplished is lowering the working mans coverage and increasing our out of pocket expense'. For instance, The deductible where I work is increasing drastically and items thatwouldhave been covered will not be covered. Sure, my kids can stay on, but it cost Myself my wife and everyone else. You can not force companies to give more coverage without someone some where paying for it. VOTE REPUBLICAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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- Democrats have made sure that young people can stay on their parents health insurance until they are 27. Democrats have not raised anyones health insurance costs. Your insurance companies are the ones raising the rates. This is exactly what they have been doing for the last ten years. They have been raising rates, reducing coverage, raising deductibles and making billions of dollars in profits. These insurance companies also were dropping customers who get sick and can no longer to that. Now there is no yearly maximum. Free preventive care is now provided and other great benefits. These are terrible terrible things that do encroach on your rights but that is just too darn back.
- Earlysand - So exactly what are insurance companies supposed to do when their costs rise due to new regulations? I supposed you think they should just continue to pay without more income. Insurance rates will rise to cover costs - and since nothing in this "reform" actually reforms anything - costs rise. Massachusetts is the leader in this respect. They passed essentially the same program and their rates have risen faster than anyplace else in the country. Now the state is trying to freeze rates becuase nobody can afford the mandated insurance the state chose for them. ************************Read they facts - not the party talking points. FACT - you raise a companies cost - the company must correct for the cost - SEC regulations require they do so - so prices rise. It is very simple.
- hate these republicans and stone these republicans there ruthless they are inglorious bastards GOP is inglorious bastards GOP is going to hell stone the republicans like stoning the woman in other country. Democrats will fix the encomony and create jobs and ban unemployment. stone the republicans!
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- It is easy to know what republicans will spend our money and their time doing since they are already talking about investigating President Obama and impeaching President Obama. These filthy rotten republicans who have not been doing their own jobs since President Obama took office are the ones who need to be fired. We have republicans who did nothing for the middle class and have opposed helping Democrats help the middle class. These republicans who did not want unemployment benefits for people to be extended. These republicans voted as a sorry group against all the important issues to help the country. When they spent America into terrible deficits republicans didn't revolt, republicans didn't form a tea party. They only did that when a Democrat took office. Now they are so against spending money on Americans and for Americans. They cry about the deficit, but it is phony. If is it for corporate interests then they are all for it. Money is no object. Americans are the ones who deserve concern and Americans are the ones who have been hurt by republican policies and corporate dealings by republicans.
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