CCP Endorses Robin Carnahan for US Senate

At a membership meeting yesterday evening celebrating the end of the Missouri Legislative Session, the Committee for County Progress loudly and enthusiastically endorsed Robin Carnahan's candidacy for the US Senate Seat to be vacated by Kit Bond. This endorsement is Ms. Carnahan's first endorsement by a major local political organization. (She's already supported by EMILY's List and the Teamsters, among others.)

In winning the endorsement, Ms. Carnahan demonstrates once again that she will benefit from a unified Democratic party eager to complete a transformation of Missouri's Senate delegation from John Ashcroft and Kit Bond a few short years ago to Robin Carnahan and Claire McCaskill.

Rep. Blunt and Sen. Stevens

You know what they say about birds of a feather . . .

Just a little flash back to 2006. The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington came up with a list of the 20 most corrupt politicians in DC. Guess who came in at #1 - Congressman Roy Blunt. This non-partisan group is so good at picking out the corrupt politicians, they picked Congressman William Jefferson (the Democrat from LA with a freezer full of cash).

What did Roy Blunt do to get listed as #1? "Rep. Blunt's ethics issues stem from the misuse of his position to benefit family members, his connections to Jack Abramoff, and a trip paid for by a foreign agent." The report details of helping out big tobacco companies to assist his wife, but what I thought was prophetic is that he helped out UPS and Fed Ex when his son, Andy Blunt, was the lobbyist for these two companies. When Blunt needed a kindred spirit, he went to his good friend, Sen. Ted Stevens. After almost $100,000 in political contributions from these two companies (and giving his young son some work), the only person that would help Congressman Blunt insert a special provision in a bill was Sen. Stevens. Blunt and Stevens co-hosted a party together, sponsored bills together

Sen. Stevens was convicted of violating federal ethics rules and run out of office. Here's hoping Missouri voters end Roy Blunt's political career, too.

Robin Carnahan - Standing up for the Elderly

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan comes by some things naturally, like standing up for the elderly.

The St. Louis Biz Journal has an article about Robin sticking up for an elderly St. Louis woman who was ripped off by some shady financial companies. OK, that is her job to regulate securities, but Robin does a fine job.

It's good to know that someone is out there fighting for middle class America.

Roy for Senate

It's about time we returned to real Missouri values.

You know, we need more of the Blunt family in our state. Matt Blunt has shown himself to be a leader in ethics and open government during his four years as Governor. His father, Congressman Roy Blunt, represents real Missouri values. Like when he divorced his wife to marry a tobacco lobbyist; those are family values. Then, when tobacco companies needed a favor, Blunt helped out his lobbyist wife by inserting language into a bill.

I can't wait for Roy Blunt to bring his record of family values and self-dealing to the US Senate.

The Carnahans Rock

This morning's Missouri delegation meeting featured not one, not two, but three Carnahans.

Congressman Russ Carnahan told of how he graduated from college a semester early and drove his dad to every county in the state when Mel first ran for governor. Russ also talked about when Mel lost that first bid, he worked just as hard for the Democratic nominee.

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan is inspiring. She spoke of the need for hard work, about the need to address health care and about how we can work for party unity.

Senator Jean Carnahan makes me feel lazy. She's no spring chicken, yet she spoke of her work across the country for Obama. She tolds stories of her faith, of the need for God's people to work hard for justice and how this is too important of an election to sit on the sidelines.

Missouri is fortunate to have the Carnahans as our first family.

Stem Cell Wars

The Stem Cell wars have made it through the second round with hope and good science on the winning side.

Last Friday the Court of Appeals affirmed the ballot language written by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. The anti-stem cell forces wanted misleading language on the ballot, but a Court of Appeals affirmed what we all know was going on - they were attempting to ban stem cell research. The Missouri Cures website has a great article on this issue.

Even better news came on Sunday when the anti-stem cell forces failed to get the 150,000 signatures needed to get a amendment to the constitution on the ballot, AGAIN. However, Round III has been promised. Lori Buffa, the leader of Cures Without Cloning (the anti-stem cell group with the misleading name) told the Columbia Tribune the following:

"CWC will continue our educational efforts throughout this year and resubmit our initiative in November. Hopefully, by this time next year our vast organization of trained volunteer circulators will be collecting signatures for the 2010 election cycle."

So, another win for sanity, respecting the voters wishes and Missouri not being the only state in the union to criminalize stem cell research.

State Wide Candidate Wrap Up

Going into the weekend, just a quick wrap up of state wide candidates:

Gov: Jackson will not run against Blunt (too, bad.)

AG - on the Republican side, Catherine Hanaway won't run, giving Mike Gibbons a clear shot at the Republican nomination. Democratic side - Koster is rumored to announce his Democratic candidacy in the next couple of weeks. Koster may also have $1 million on hand. Donnelly announced her supporters, including local state reps Beth Low, Jennee Lowe & Kiki Curls. Harris' wife had a baby and they are rumored to have a good quarterly report.

Lt. Gov. - Dr. Sam Page is the first to have in his report. Page’s report shows that he’d raised $127,512 for the quarter ($503,480 total), spent $77,084 ($150,774 total), with $350,547 in the bank.

SOS - No one dares to mess with this Carnahan