Missouri GOP Congressman Roy Blunt is one of the oil industry's best friends in DC. Even in the wake of the disastrous oil spill, he was defending BP and trying to protect it from increased liability. That's the position of GOP Senators, which is what Blunt wants to be.
But, then a funny thing happened to Roy Blunt. The campaign of Robin Carnahan, the Democratic candidate in Missouri, released this video about Blunt, his ties to big oil and his willingness to let taxpayers bail out BP:
That sent Blunt scrambling. This week, he flipped his position and now says he's for increased liability.
Whenever a candidate starts flip-flopping, it's clear they're worried. Blunt is getting hit from both sides. He's also facing an increasingly serious challenge from the right in his August 3rd GOP primary. The teabaggers are uniting behind a seriously hard-core conservative named Chuck Purgason. In the wake of the defeat of several incumbents, Purgason is feeling some momentum. His campaign sent out a press release that trashed Blunt:
The four primaries Tuesday, especially Trey Grayson's and Arlen Spector's losses, shared a common theme: the establishment's choice is not necessarily the people's choice. "As Robin Carnahan starts her "no bull" campaign, it's clear that her mission is to define Rep. Blunt as the establishment candidate because of his record of irresponsible spending," said Sen. Chuck Purgason. "Carnahan's plan only works if her general election opponent has a record of supporting Bank Bailouts (TARP), Cash for Clunkers and unbalanced budgets.Those are fighting words for teabaggers. And, Blunt is tied to all of it.
Blunt is an establishment candidate. He's ultimate inside-the-beltway politician. He even dumped his wife to marry a lobbyist. And, nothing says you're a DC insider like the fact Georgetown's Social Safeway is your local grocery store.
Could Roy Blunt be the next Trey Grayson or Bob Bennett? GOP voters are in an anti-establishment mood, so Blunt could be in big trouble.
Robin is running a great campaign. Even Chris "The Fix" Cillizza is impressed, "Secretary of State Robin Carnahan may be the best Democratic Senate challenger in the country." Robin understands the current political climate and is taking nothing for granted. She is hitting Blunt hard -- and there's so much to hit him with. We've got an ActBlue page set up for her campaign. This seat is currently held by Republican Kit Bond so it would be a sweet pick up in November.
