The national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is finally swooping into Missouri with a TV ad aimed at helping Democratic nominee Robin Carnahan by bashing her Republican rival, U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt.
The DSCC ad began running Saturday. It comes as several independent conservative groups -- including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- are filling Missouri TV screens with spots attacking Carnahan, currently Missouri's secretary of state. (Click here and here for earlier Beacon stories on the independent ads.)
Like Carnahan's own ad, this spot attacks Blunt for his leadership role in late 2008 in getting the $700 million bank bailout through the U.S. House.
The line of attack is somewhat ironic, since most House Democrats backed the measure, which was originally crafted by then-President George W. Bush's administration. Carnahan's brother, U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, was among those voting for it. Robin Carnahan has said she would have opposed it because of the lack of adequate oversight.
The DSCC ad is the first TV spot purchased by the Democratic operation since it recently announced plans to spend $4 million in Missouri on behalf of Carnahan. (The money, or at least a sizable chunk, was likely raised when President Barack Obama headlined a fundraiser for Carnahan in early July.)
Blunt's campaign issued a statement today saying, "The Washington Democrats are so desperate for another rubberstamp for Obama, Pelosi and Reid, they will say and do anything to mislead Missourians, even if their attacks hit Robin Carnahan and other Democrats."
Blunt's campaign continued its assertion that Carnahan secretly backed the bailout, although she denies it.
Airport woes
Also over the weekend, the web -- and local TV stations -- were filled with reports about the latest issue of Travel + Leisure magazine that backed up why officials at Lambert St. Louis International Airport are busily sprucing up the place.
Lambert was rated the third worst in the country by the magazine's readers, trailing only the airports in New York and Los Angeles. Rounding out the five worst were the airports in Washington, D.C. and Boston.
Among the complaints about Lambert: The airport still charges for wi-fi access.
The three airports rated by the magazine as the best were, in order: Houston, Orlando and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
This article originally appeared in the St. Louis Beacon.
