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The Meltdown Continues: Legal, political, public-opinion problems plague Carnahan campaign

August 18, 2010

Two weeks after the August primaries, a beleaguered Robin Carnahan has found herself overwhelmed with legal, political, and public-opinion problems.  The problems have caused her to stumble out of the gate—and given Carnahan’s continued rubberstamp support for the unpopular Obama-Pelosi agenda, she may never recover.

“Robin Carnahan ran a lackluster, negative campaign all the way until August, so why would anyone expect anything better from her after the primaries?” asked Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party.  “Now Carnahan is airing ads that violate federal laws and being exposed for what she tells her out-of-state liberal donors—and it has quickly become clear that she simply is not ready for prime time.  And down in the polls, Carnahan is finding out that her rubberstamp support of Barack Obama’s agenda and her reliance on radical out-of-state interest groups, which have poured more than $1.3 million into the state on her behalf, is a recipe for failure in Missouri.”

Since the August primary, Carnahan has suffered blow after blow:

1)      While Roy Blunt traveled the state following his primary victory, Carnahan took the day off.

2)      The first public post-primary survey, conducted by Rasmussen, showed Republican Roy Blunt leading Robin Carnahan 50%-43%.

3)      A Missouri Republican Party videographer was assaulted outside of a Carnahan event in Kansas City.

4)      Carnahan released her first television ad—not surprisingly, an attack ad—which clearly violates federal disclaimer requirements.

5)      Carnahan’s own words came back to haunt her with the release of the Santa Fe Tapes, which expose what Carnahan says to her liberal donors when she thinks no one is listening.

6)      Public Policy Polling, a Democrat polling firm working for the left-wing DailyKos, released a survey showing Carnahan’s support at 38%.

Carnahan’s problems are so extensive that even liberal icon Howard Dean has been forced to admit that she has an uphill battle.

But Carnahan’s troubles should not come as any surprise to Missouri political observers.  After all, she spent most of 2009 dodging questions from the media and hunkered down, attempting to keep Missourians in the dark about her liberal positions and avoid scrutiny from the press or the public.