Roy Blunt Would Like To Change The Subject From Economics To Mosques

My day started yesterday with a look at a really excellent new TV ad. Missouri Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, who's been lagging the polls lately, hit the nail on the head with her fantastic reminder to her state's voters that Roy Blunt didn't just vote for the 2008 Bush no-strings-attached Wall Street bailout, he was one of the architects of the massive giveaway to the very people who caused the financial chaos because of their reckless, imperious, if not criminal, behavior. Please watch the video above.

It hits all the points we've been urging campaigns of other Democrats running against Republicans who fought hard for the $700 billion bailout-- John Boehner (R-OH), Paul Ryan (R-WI), Richard Burr (R-NC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and virtually all the crooked California Republicans from Ken Calvert, Mary Bono Mack, Gary Miller, Jerry Lewis, and John Campbell in the Southland to Dan Lungren and Wally Herger way in the northern part of the state-- to pound on.

Calling Blunt "the very worst of Washington," the ad states that Blunt in 1999 eliminated some financial system safeguards put in place during the Great Depression and then took a leading role in 2008 to work out the financial bailout legislation. It also says he has accepted more than $1.6 million in campaign donations from the banking and financial industry during his tenure in Congress.

The ad is running in markets across Missouri, Carnahan campaign spokesman Linden Zakula said Thursday. He said the spot is designed to hold Blunt accountable for wasting tax dollars, defending corporate special interests and hurting the middle class.

Blunt spokesman Rich Chrismer criticized the ad and said Carnahan was shying away from talking about jobs and economic development issues.

"This phony ad is the worst in political deception and hypocrisy," Chrismer said.

...The Sedalia Democrat reported in July that Carnahan, Missouri's Secretary of State, said the bailout money may have been needed to stabilize the economy but that Blunt and others failed to attach strict controls on how it was spent. Two weeks later, the newspaper reported that Carnahan said she was not convinced banks were in a crisis and would not have voted for the legislation and does not currently support it.

Blunt has no answer to the charges except some mumbo-jumbo about being for it and against it and a bunch of incomprehensible claptrap that emphasizes his beady eyes and focuses voters on the fact that he has taken more in bribes from Wall Street than any other Missouri congressman in history-- and almost more than any other Member of the House ($3,636,377 as of June 30 with more Wall Street money gushing into his coffers at an unprecedented rate. "A top official from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is accompanying the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, U.S Rep. Roy Blunt, around the state today to emphasize the chamber's commitment to help the congressman from southwest Missouri as he seeks to succeed another of their favorites-- retiring U.S. Sen. Christopher S. "Kit" Bond. Bond also voted for the Wall Street bailout, of course, although he hasn't been as blatantly in the pocket of Big Business and the banksters as Blunt.

If you're rushing off to the Blue America Senate Candidates Worth Fighting For page to donate to Carnahan's campaign, slow down. She's not there. We love the ad and she's infinitely better than Blunt and everyone involved with Blue America would vote for her over Blunt in an instant. But that doesn't mean we're going to donate money to her. I haven't spoken with her but from what I've been reading, she'd be another middle-of-the-road Democrat confusing issues and playing games in Washington. She may not be Blunt, but she's not Barbara Boxer, Bernie Sanders or Russ Feingold either. Yesterday, for example, she flip-flopped on tax cuts for the wealthy and basically adopted the same odious position as Blunt. Echoing the GOP talking points that Miss McConnell sent out to his cronies, she told pig eaters at the Missouri State Fair's annual ham breakfast that "Now is not the time to be doing anything to raise taxes. We're still in the midst of a downturn in the economy, so we need to keep those tax cuts in place-- all of them."

In a February radio interview, Carnahan had said she favored extending tax cuts for the middle-class but not for the wealthiest Americans. She said then that the nation couldn't afford it.

Carnahan said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that her position has evolved because of an additional six months of difficult economic times, which she blamed on policies backed by Blunt. Carnahan said she supports making permanent the tax cuts affecting lower and middle-income people and extending tax cuts for wealthier people until the economy improves enough to consider ways of balancing the budget. She declined to specify how long that extension should last.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday that renewing all the tax reductions would cost government at least $3.3 trillion over the coming decade.

At least Carnahan is making effort, albeit lamely, to talk about the bread and butter issues Americans care about. Blunt is trying to take the focus off his abysmal record in Congress and screech shrilly and hysterically about a supposed mosque in New York City. This time it didn't work and media reacted in horror at the grotesque nature of Blunt's latest attempt to throw everything at Carnahan to see if something sticks. He pulled down the ad. Although maybe he pulled it down because Carnahan sounded rational in it and his position is nihilistic and essentially anti-American. Take a look:

Those Unresolved Senate Seats

Four Senate Democrats are moving up in the DC pecking order-- Barack Obama (IL), the new President, Joe Biden (DE), the new Vice President, Hillary Clinton (NY), the new Secretary of State, and Ken Salazar (CO), the new Secretary of the Interior-- the most unscheduled openings since 9 senators died during Eisenhower's first term. And then there's the still not 100% resolved Minnesota race.

Ex-Senator Norm Coleman was narrowly defeated by Democrat Al Franken (by 225 votes out of over 2,900,000 cast). After endless counting and recounting, Coleman is dissatisfied with the outcome and is now suing to try to overturn his defeat. Minnesota politicians across the political spectrum are urging Coleman to give it up and think of the state instead of himself for a change.

Former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson said today that Norm Coleman should consider bowing out of the U.S. Senate election dispute.

"I don't think it's winnable," said Carlson, who served from 1991-99.

He said a court fight by Coleman contesting a recount that favors Democrat Al Franken could hurt the Republican's image.

"I think there will be a tremendous amount of public anger, I think it will hurt his reputation," Carlson said. "I think he's got to get on with his life. .. At some point you've got to recognize, it is over."

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter's fast decision to appoint Michael Bennet, although not without disagreement, was smart in terms of getting it over and done with, with the least drawn out public agony. By the time observers started pointing out that Bennet's approach is more right-wing and reactionary than a Democrat's should be-- or that America needs at this time, the nomination was a fait accompli.

The Delaware situation may be the next smoothest but even that one is odd. Our new egomaniac VP, was intent on being sworn in as a senator for the 7th time. That means his appointed successor (and chief of staff), Ted Kaufman, will have less seniority than freshmen senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mark Begich (D-AK), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the Udall cousins (D-NM and D-CO), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Kay Hagan (D-NC), Mike Johanns (R-NE) and James Risch (R-ID).

After weeks of speculation, Biden's office announced Tuesday that he would resign from the seat Jan. 15, five days before he takes the oath of office as vice president. His former chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, will be appointed to serve in Biden's seat until a 2010 special election.

Biden chose to extend his Senate service even after President-elect Barack Obama resigned from his Senate seat shortly after the election. His friends said taking his final Senate oath was important to him.

"He wants to be able to tell his grandchildren he did it," said Mark Gitenstein, a Biden adviser who previously served on his Senate staff. "I just know that he feels it's important. He's told me that. I've been in meetings where he said, 'I really want to do this one last time.' "

Kaufman, 69, is widely considered a placeholder for Biden's son Beau (in the 2010 special election) who couldn't take the job just now because he's serving in Iraq.

In New York, Governor Paterson has seemed far more interested in finding a good, balanced running mate for his own 2010 re-election than for the best person to represent New York in the Senate. If he wanted to put the best person in the Senate he would have decided on Rep. Jerrold Nadler and that would have been that. Instead, he decided to play the role of ringmaster in a creepy circus. He dredged up the extremely unaccomplished (but certainly "nice" enough) Caroline Kennedy, although there has been so much opposition inside political circles that the nomination seems to be slowing down a bit. Apparently only the children of political dynasties are eligible.

Of course, the most dysfunctional situation of all is in Illinois, where a corrupt Gov. Blagojevich tried selling the seat and-- after being arrested-- suddenly decided to make a really good appointment. Jane Hamsher, in explaining why she'd love to play poker with Harry Reid, explains how Reid has shown anyone who's still wondering why he's just not the right person to serve as Senate Majority Leader. It now looks like Reid is backing away from his embarrassing position against seating Roland Burris. At least he knows where he stands on convicted felon Ted Stevens. Rachel Maddow on all this: video.

No wonder both Jeb Bush (R-FL) and Chris Matthews (D-PA) have taken themselves out of contention for 2010 Senate races!


UPDATE: KIT BOND (R-MO) WON'T SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2010

Missouri's senior senator, the very conservative Kit Bond, announced this morning that he won't be seeking re-election. He served in the Senate since 1986 (after two terms as Missouri's governor) and has generally been a complete tool for Big Business and is "credited" with pushing Bush's unconstitutional and highly controversial FISA and torture legislation through the Senate. He's generally considered an asshole on both sides of the aisle. Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan and Congressman Russ Carnahan are both interested in running. Bond joins Sam Brownback (R-KS), Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) in announcing early retirement plans-- and dooming the GOP to another disastrous cycle, especially if Voinovich (R-OH) follows suit.