JEFFERSON CITY - Democrat operative Roy Temple has been banished from Missouri
after allowing Bob Holden to become the first incumbent governor to lose a
primary in state history. Temple also failed in 2002 to lead Jean Carnahan
to another term in the U.S. Senate.

The
Associated Press reports that Temple was shipped off to Minnesota to direct
John Kerry?s campaign there. Temple was one of Claire McCaskill?s sharpest
critics and she wasted little time getting rid of Holden?s former adviser.
The exodus of Temple, along with the second-tier advertising status that
John Kerry has given Missouri, illustrates that Kerry has all but ceded
Missouri to President Bush.

"If Roy
Temple has the kind of success in Minnesota that he had in Missouri, then
that?s good news for President Bush," said Paul Sloca, communications
director for the Missouri Republican Party. "Roy Temple did a lot to
boost the fortunes of Republicans during his stay in Missouri and we?re
almost sad to see him go."