Column:
Carnahan silent for upcoming Senate race
Published Sept. 18, 2009
The midterm elections are more than a year away, but people are already focusing on the race for Kit Bond's seat in the U.S. Senate. Bond is retiring after a long career in Missouri and national politics.
The likely candidates are Democrat Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
During the first months of the Obama Administration, there have been more controversial issues brought up and more polarization than we have seen in a long time. It would seem logical to want to know both Blunt's and Carnahan's thoughts on topics like health care, cap-and-trade and other policy issues being discussed in Congress.
One can easily find out how Blunt feels because he has been very outspoken about the issues. At the same time, we are left to make assumptions about Carnahan based on her past and her membership in the Democratic Party. It really isn't much of a risk to just assume she will vote how Democrats want, but Missourians should not be left wondering.
So, where is Carnahan and why have we not heard her specific thoughts on these issues?
Granted, Blunt has an easier time getting his opinion out there given his position as a high-ranking Republican in the House, but Carnahan has a responsibility to let the people she hopes to represent know where she stands. Earlier this month, Blunt even offered to have a joint news conference about health care, but Carnahan refused.
She has been questioned about her views on the stimulus, cap-and-trade, the health care debate and other issues, and each time she has deflected the question and refused to give a straight answer.
Brian Wahby, St. Louis Democratic Central Committee chairman, offered an excuse on her behalf.
"She's busy," Wahby said in an article from POLITICO. "She's got an office to run."
That is simply one of the most pathetic excuses for a candidate anyone could come up with.
Do you mean to tell Missourians Carnahan is too busy to let us know how she feels about issues in which she would have a vote? Didn't President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., just run presidential campaigns lasting well longer than a year, while still holding office as U.S. senators? They didn't seem too busy to speak out on the issues.
How can anyone support a candidate who simply refuses to let her prospective constituents know where she stands?
The simplest explanation for Carnahan's disappearing act is the growing opposition to Obama and the liberals in Congress. Just by presenting herself to the public, her poll numbers would have likely dropped across the state. Because of this, keeping quiet is likely a political strategy.
What does it say about Carnahan and her views when her strategy for getting elected is to not take a side and let you Missourians know how she feels? Is her best chance really to leave us all guessing?
There's no way she can win a Senate seat without committing to a side on the issues, so it's a complete mystery why Carnahan doesn't let us all know right now so we can make a fair judgment. In the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see how her strategy plays out. Carnahan had a six-point lead in a poll back in May, but this was before the health care debate took off and Democrats across the country saw their numbers fall.
There are no recent polls, but Carnahan will have to choose a side if she hopes to win that coveted Senate seat.
Eric Hobbs is a senior and the vice chairman of the Mizzou College Republicans. He can be reached at emhn75@mizzou.edu.
