This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 7, 2012 - By coincidence, the two rivals who headlined Missouri’s 2006 ballot – Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Jim Talent – were launching some of their respective state parties’ field operations on Saturday.
Talent, a former U.S. senator ousted by McCaskill in 2006, spoke by conference call to leaders of the state Republican Party’s “Super Saturday” effort. For 12 hours, volunteers at campaign offices in St. Louis, Springfield, Kansas City, Cape Girardeau and Jefferson City were to make calls and go door-to-door to identify supportive voters.
Talent asserted that “stakes are extremely high’’ in this fall’s election because of the nation’s still struggling economy.
An economic turnaround won’t happen if President Barack Obama is re-elected, said Talent during the call. “This economy is being oppressed by the regulatory state.”
Talent currently is an adviser to presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who if elected, “is not going to let Washington go on the way it’s been going,’’ Talent said.
Meanwhile, McCaskill — now seeking re-election as the state’s senior U.S. senator -- hosted the opening of the state Democratic Party’s field office on north Euclid Avenue in the St. Louis, one of about 20 offices around the state. McCaskill headlined events Thursday at newly opened field offices in Warson Woods and St. Charles County.
Joining McCaskill early Saturday were St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, city Democratic Party chairman and U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis.
“Let the word go out, we are on the ground, we are working hard,’’ McCaskill told several dozen supporters. “We’re going to win this thing.”
McCaskill told her audience that the wealthy brothers, Charles and David Koch, were making the secret contributions to the SuperPACs paying for the TV ads attacking her and Obama. She said that field operations in Missouri were a key way to counter such spending.
