By AP/St. Louis Public Radio
St. Louis – Sources inside the Democratic and Republican parties have told the Associated Press that the campaign arm of the Senate Democrats has pulled advertising money from the Missouri Senate race.
Since January, Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan has trailed Republican Congressman Roy Blunt in the polls. The most recent Rassmussen Reports survey has Blunt leading Carnahan by eight points. A Time-CNN poll put Blunt up 13 points.
The online political magazine Politico, citing ad sales executives in St. Louis and Kansas City and a Republican source, said the ad buys total about $1.3 million. A DSCC spokesman told Politico it was "dead wrong" to conclude that the change in the advertising purchase meant the Democrats were abandoning the race, noting the committee purchases ad time on Fridays.
Democrats denied reports last week in the National Journal's Hotline on Call that the DSCC pulled two weeks worth of ads from a Kansas City TV station.