Bill Seubert

Following now-Senator Scott Brown’s supermajority-busting win of TedKennedy’sSeat™ in Massachusetts, the Democrat rats are quickly leaping from the Obama sinking ship. The latest “run away” moment comes on the heels of the Obama FY2011 budget proposal. Unsurprisingly, the POTUS continues his trillion dollar deficit extravaganza, even after his laughable attempt to feign fiscal responsibility by recommending a so-called “spending freeze.” as part of his proposal.  This week, it was revealed that one of the rats abandoning the Good Ship Barry is none other than Missouri’s Democrat Secretary of State and presumptive Dem candidate for Kit Bond’s U.S. Senate seat, Robin Carnahan.

It’s been fun to watch the leftist bloggers lament about how their man-god has betrayed them.  Earlier this week, Robin Carnahan expressed her “disappointment” in Obama’s “lack of fiscal discipline”, and the Huffington Post was right there to document it.  HuffPo quotes Robin:

“From where I stand here in Missouri, I’m disappointed in the President’s budget recommendation. Budgets are about setting priorities and it’s time Washington started making fiscal discipline and tackling the long-term budget deficit higher priorities.

As you might expect, the HuffPo blogger was none too pleased with her newfound opposition to their Fearless Leader

But for an Obama White House that is touting the deficit reducing measures it has thrown into the budget (from spending caps, to prospective cuts in defense programs, to “restoring some balance to the tax code”) comments like Carnahan’s don’t help.

Now you might think that we fiscal conservatives might welcome statements of this kind.  If it came from someone we could trust, that might be the case.  But those of us in Missouri are accustomed to politicians who try to talk a good game, yet plant themselves firmly in Barack Obama’s lap.  Senator Claire McCaskill is a pro at trying to sound tough but she always returns to her leftist voting ways.  Claire makes statements that pretend to be “independent” or “moderate”, yet always manages to vote with the Left, displayed by her none-too-stellar 14% lifetime rating from the ACU.  And Robin Carnahan seems to be following suit – trying to sound moderate…but who believes it?  Surely not those who witnessed her speaking under the Obama Logo

Ms. Carnahan’s rebellion begs the question:  ”what exactly do you oppose from President Obama’s budget?”  She is very nondescript in her opposition. Can she identify specific areas of the budget where she’d like Obama to cut back? What does she find objectionable?  She has yet to oppose any of Obama’s initiatives, such as the failed “stimulus” spending or the near-deceased ObamaCare initiative.  And Robin, have you talked to your bro, Missouri Rep. Russ Carnahan, about this?  I fully expect Robin would be as “low maintenance” as Russ, and certainly she’ll be persuaded to change her tune once Rahm, Robert and the gang hear how she’s wandered off the ranch.

I don’t think that HuffPo’s Stein has much to worry about with respect to Robin Carnahan.  Despite her tough talk, she’ll be back in the fold eventually.  She’s terrified to tell Missourians what she believes because she knows they won’t like it.  That’s why she chooses not to talk about health care or terrorism or any of the policy positions that sunk Martha Coakley in Massachusetts.  She knows that Roy Blunt is far closer to Missourians’ attitudes about fiscal responsibility, with his support for bills such as 2005’s Deficit Reduction Act and his opposition to bloated budgets even during the Bush administration.

But most importantly, we must keep in mind this worth-a-1000-words picture:

It’s a reminder:  the $1.85T deficit is OBAMA’S DEFICIT and Robin Carnahan will support every major Obama program that is generating these massive deficits that are going to bankrupt the United States and burden your children, your grandchildren and their grandchildren for decades to come.

This past Thursday morning, St. Louis NPR station KWMU reported that Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts Senate race could be “a shot across the bow for Robin Carnahan”, the Democrat competing with Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt (MO-7) for retiring Senator Kit Bond’s seat.  The station said:

Speaking in St. Louis Republican Senator Kit Bond said Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts is further proof that voters do not support the President’s agenda, from bailouts, to cash-for clunkers and most of all the healthcare overhaul. “It should be a wake-up call,” said Bond. “People are tired of government takeover, government takeover, of government taxation. Anybody who is on the wrong side of this issue might want to consider it again.”

It now appears that the polls are agreeing with Senator Bond.  The Missouri Senate race is starting to move strongly in Roy Blunt’s favor, no doubt due in large part to a gradual increase in unease with the Obama/Pelosi/Reid agenda.  Today’s numbers from Scott Rasmussen shows that Blunt has gained eight points on Carnahan, with Blunt leading 49%-43%. Last month, he trailed Carnahan by just two points.

Policy positions are critical in a campaign, and name recognition is a key component of success.  Both the Blunt and Carnahan names are well-known around Missouri. But there is one name that’s known more around Washington DC than the other, and you may be surprised to know whose name that is.  Let’s take a peek…

Robin Carnahan’s grandfather, Albert Sidney Johnson (A. S. J.) Carnahan, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1944-1946, and again from 1948-1960. He lost in 1960, and was appointed as Ambassador to Sierra Leone by JFK. So A.S.J. Carnahan spent over 16 years as a DC resident and significant player in DC Democrat party politics.

A.S.J. Carnahan’s son, Mel Carnahan, was a prominent Missouri politician, serving as MO’s Lt. Governor and Governor. In 2000, Mel ran for Senate against then-MO Att’y General John Ashcroft. Carnahan was tragically killed in a plane crash weeks before the election, but won anyway, as MO law did not allow his name to be removed from the ballot. Then-Lt. Gov Roger Wilson appointed Carnahan’s wife Jean to serve in his place until a special election in 2002. Jean Carnahan lost to Jim Talent, who served the remaining four years of Jean/Mel’s term.  Mel obviously spent quite a bit of time in DC even prior to his Senatorial run, as he was a graduate of GWU, where he met Jean.

Mel and Jean Carnahan’s son Russ Carnahan is currently serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing MO-3 (south portion of the St. Louis area, through Jefferson Co, to Ste. Genevieve.  This is the same seat that Russ’s Grandpa A.S.J. held (and he also serves as the vice chair of the International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight subcommittee – his grandpa’s subcommittee).  Russ is known as a reliable left-wing vote in Congress, and one of Russ’s “Town Hall” meetings were the site of the notorious SEIU union thug beating of Kenneth Gladney.  Russ’s biggest accomplishment appears to be his nomination as “Porker of the Year” by CAGW.  His tenure in the House has shown him to be rather hapless.  He’s earned the title “Low Maintenance Russ,” a name supported by none other than Nancy Pelosi herself, based upon her comments that Russ is “not a high-maintenance type”.  Russ has a pretty solid reputation as one who blindly supports pretty much anything that Pelosi throws at him.

And that brings us to Russ’s sister – Missouri’s current Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, the latest member of the Carnahan dynasty to seek office in DC.  Some might think that Robin has no background in DC politics, but they would be wrong.  Ms. Carnahan served as an “executive” with the Export-Import Bank of the United States and did work with the National Democratic Institute…both Washington, DC entities.  In fact, she joined the Ex-Im Bank in 1993 – four years before her Senate competitor Blunt was elected to the House.  We have a list of her addresses where she lived in DC, so she has had extensive presence there in the past.  So while Robin Carnahan is currently a Missouri state official, she is no stranger to the DC world and culture.

It’s surprising to hear accusations of Roy Blunt’s family as any kind of “dynasty” when Congressman Blunt is the first of the family to spend significant time in DC, beginning with his election to the House in 1996.  Contrast with the Carnahan family, who has significant DC presence back into the 1940s.  Now who is the dynasty?

Robin Carnahan has yet to reveal much in the way of positions on key national issues.  However, she’s already been endorsed by unions and groups such as Emily’s List, a pro-abortion political advocacy group.  While she (unsurprisingly) has not explicitly stated her position on the bills in the Senate and House, she spoke out in praise of the bill passed in the Senate in December.  She DID state earlier this year that we need to “get past Guantanamo” – a veiled approval of Obama’s generally unpopular policy of moving prisoners and treating them as criminals rather than terrorists.  She has held no campaign news conferences, issued no policy position statements, and has generally sequestered herself in the safety of her Jefferson City office.  No one knows where she is or what she thinks.  But based on her background, it is a pretty sure bet that she will continue to be an unfailing supporter of Barack Obama and his policies.  If elected, Robin Carnahan would soon become known as “Rubber Stamp Robin” – as much of a lapdog to Barack Obama as brother Russ has been in the House to Nancy Pelosi and Obama.

Judging from the outcome of the Massachusetts Senate election, Robin’s close ties to Obama policies and ideas during the election campaign will be a very bad thing for her.  To characterize Robin Carnahan as some sort of “DC outsider” who will bring a “fresh view” to the seat is ludicrous.  She is fully saturated with the DC mindset.  She’s lived it throughout her life.  But the Carnahan DC Dynasty is about to come to an end.

(originally posted at Redstate.com)