In the children’s book “Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day”, young Alexander decides that he wants to move to Australia because he was having such a bad day. Perhaps now-U.S. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan might wish to consider a similar strategy…it was a no good very bad week for her this past week. Things were going so swimmingly - she declared (almost two years early) that she was planning to pursue Kit Bond’s U.S. Senate seat, to the surprise of pretty much no one. But it was more or less downhill from there.
MO Senate 2010 - It won’t be Talent
One of the leading GOP contenders for Christopher “Kit” Bond’s Senate seat - former U.S. Senator James Talent - removed his name from contention today.
“There are other qualified Republicans who are seriously investigating the race, and it is vital to prevent the kind of dissension that hurt my party’s ticket so greatly in 2008,” Talent said. “In addition, I have family and public obligations which this unexpected race would disrupt.”
If you recall, I wrote previously that it was unlikely that Talent and Blunt would contend with one another for the seat. This may be, in part, the result of that situation. I am personally disappointed, as Talent is one of my favorite GOP pols, but Rep. Blunt and former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman represent good alternatives…and there are others out there that could emerge in the next months.
It’s going to get more interesting, guaranteed.
The Missouri Senate race in 2010
On January 8th, GOP Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond of Missouri announced that he would not seek re-election. Bond has a long, distinguished career in Missouri and national politics and has held his current Senate seat since 1986. He’s a fairly dependable conservative vote, with an 82.5% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union. He disappoints hard-core conservatives on occasion, as with his recent support for the automaker bailout, but he is, in general, a dependable vote for the GOP (for example, today’s opposition to protectionism in the Obama economic destruction recovery legislation). Considering the current battle for the GOP to hold fillibuster rights, Bond’s seat is critical, and will be one of THE key matchups in 2010.
