This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 1, 2010 - Republican U.S. Senate nominee Roy Blunt displayed confidence Monday as he pledged to supporters gathered in a Chesterfield plane hangar that, as soon as Tuesday's election is over, he'll act to target federal spending and the new health care changes.
Blunt reaffirmed his belief that easing taxes and regulations on business is the best way to create jobs. He also recalled that he'd "led the fight" in the 1990s, while a member of the U.S. House, to curb spending for entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. He declared he was prepared to weather the political heat and tackle such issues again.
Blunt said he'd press to change the federal laws so that health insurance can be purchased across state lines, which he asserted is perhaps the best way to expand insurance coverage and lower the cost. "I'd like to be the leading senator in that effort," Blunt said, touching off applause from several dozen allies who had shown up at the Spirit of St. Louis airport, one of 10 stops for Blunt as he makes a final air tour around the state.
Blunt sought to dispel Democratic assertions that he favored corporate interests, saying that he often has tangled with the powerful in his quest for "the most free market, the lowest tax."
Leading in the polls, Blunt and Republican leaders are optimistic enough about his chances that state auditor nominee Tom Schweich is accompanying the congressman on his flyaround.
Also on the flights are retiring Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., and other party leaders, as well as the congressman's wife, Abigail Blunt, and his campaign manager, son Andy Blunt.
Blunt exhorted his audience to keep campaigning on his behalf, and not get overconfident by polls signaling a likely victory.
Still, Blunt seemed unconcerned about the Democratic attacks lobbed his way at Sunday's rally for his Democratic rival, Robin Carnahan, currently Missouri's secretary of state. He didn't mention her in his remarks, and broke a slight smile when a reporter asked him about U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill's heated rhetoric directed at his record.
"McCaskill screaming? I can't imagine," Blunt said with a hint of sarcasm.
McCaskill had told allies at Sunday's rally in Forest Park that Halloween was a fitting time for the event because Blunt, she said, had "put on his costume about six months ago."
McCaskill contended that Blunt, R-Springfield, was masquerading as "a guy who wants to reform Washington," when he actually had spent much of 14 years in Washington as part of the Republican elite "pulling the levers of power, driving this country into a ditch, making deals with K Street to keep the money flowing, the special interests happy."
"This is an outfit!" McCaskill shouted. "Trust me! Roy Blunt is no reformer."
That's why, McCaskill continued, outside groups are spending so much money on TV ads attacking Carnahan. Corporations and special interests fear her independence, McCaskill said, and want to keep Blunt in Washington protecting them.
McCaskill was among a parade of speakers, from Comptroller Darlene Green and Mayor Francis Slay to Attorney General Chris Koster and Gov. Jay Nixon, who addressed the crowd of a couple hundred supporters and volunteers at the World's Fair Pavilion. Their chief pitch was that Carnahan, who trails Blunt in the polls, can win Tuesday if Democrats get to the polls.
Blunt and Carnahan had been criss-crossing the state in dueling bus caravans for most of last week and over the weekend. On Sunday, Blunt made stops in southwest Missouri, television station KOMU reported.
Carnahan was continuing to campaign today in the St. Louis area. On Tuesday, she plans to vote early in the morning at her polling place in St. Louis, while Blunt plans to cast his ballot mid-morning in Springfield.
The Democrats' Forest Park rally Sunday capped a series of weekend get-out-the-vote events across the state. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., kept up the heat -- and ignited cheers -- Sunday when he blasted groups like Crossroads GPS and the National Chamber of Commerce who, he said, have spent $9 million from undisclosed donors on TV and radio ads against Carnahan. That's believed to be more than either she or Blunt have spent on their own TV spots.
The undisclosed donors, said Durbin, are believed to be "Texas oil and gas millionaires."
Durbin added that it was only fitting that Crossroads' co-founder was former Bush adviser Karl Rove, who the senator asserted "crawls on his belly like a reptile."
Such strong attacks reflected, in part, Democratic frustration and assertions that voters in Missouri and elsewhere may not understand that the corporate interests they distrust are bankrolling Republican efforts to retake control of Congress.
"People are confused about what's going on," said Carnahan. All of the money pouring into the campaign coffers of her opponent, or allied groups, reflects the fact that "the fat cats are doing fine" and want to protect their privileged status, even as average Missourians are suffering, she said.
Carnahan contended that the question voters need to ask is, "Are the special interests electing a senator, or are we?"
Nixon, who earlier had kept his partisan efforts largely behind the scenes, told supporters that Carnahan's performance as secretary of state had displayed "an unblemished record of standing up for people'' and that she would be a stronger advocate for average Missourians than a "consummate insider'' like Blunt.
Democratic activists contended that they weren't bothered by the relatively small audience for Sunday's rally and cited strong appearances at similar get-out-the-vote events Saturday in Springfield and Kansas City.
An additional 350 supporters in St. Louis were canvassing Sunday on Carnahan's behalf and were told to continue knocking doors and skip the rally, said her communications chief Rachel Barinbaum. Ditto for labor groups conducting their own canvasses and phone banks.
McCaskill contended that she believes Democrats are more engaged than some analysts believe and will cast more votes on Tuesday than expected.
State Sen. Rita Days, R-Bel Nor, said that she and other area Democrats have been campaigning hard for Carnahan and other candidates for weeks. "If they don't come out," she said of would-be supporters, "it won't be because we haven't tried."