Jake Wagman’s at it again.

For those wondering, Jake Wagman was the guy who earlier tried to pass off this photo:

…as some sort of evidence that Russ Carnahan is some sort of rock-em, sock-em Congressman (and not, say, evidence of why American political dynasties rarely survive the third generation).  Needless to say, after being thoroughly mocked for it the reporter corrected – so you’d think that the guy learned his lesson about uncritically working with the Carnahan campaign[s], right?

Yeah, you know where this is going.To summarize 24thState:

1. Jake Wagman of the Post-Dispatch writes an article suggesting that Roy Blunt’s not being on a particular list in that Leaked RNC Presentation That Would Be Meaningful During Any Other Election Cycle (LRPTWBMDAOEC) suggested that Blunt’s not being taken seriously as a candidate by the RNC.
2. 24thState takes a bunch of screenshots.
3. It turns out that the list in question was of Democratic-held seats that are ripe for takeover.  Hence, no reason to have Blunt on the list.
4. Wagman rewrites the article, without mentioning said rewrite.
5. Preliminary conclusion by 24th State?  Wagman should have noted the revision, but it happens.
6. Then 24thState discovers some Tweets from the [Robin*] Carnahan campaign/Democratic party of MO, which predated the Wagman article – and which pushed precisely the same angle as Wagman did.
7. And it’s apparently not the first time that the Post-Dispatch and/or Wagman’s done this, either.

Conclusions?

• If Wagman’s going to have a history of being in the tank for Russ [& Robin*] Carnahan, mere pity at that particular life choice shouldn’t stop people from bringing it up.
• Whatever it is that [Russ]* Carnahan has, is apparently contagious.
• Ed Martin is running for [Russ']* seat.  That’s not a conclusion, but it’s starting to look like a bit of a relief.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

*See what I did there, Jake?  I had it pointed out to me that it was the Robin Carnahan campaign who pushed the email, which I neglected to fully explain in my sheer joy of smacking Russ Carnahan around.  Because that’s a significant change, I didn’t erase the original story.

It’s not hard to do this.

(Via 24thState, via Instapundit)

…yes, I know. You are right now quietly resolving to never get within 100 feet of Russ Carnahan when he’s carrying a firearm. Me, I’m still wondering why – assuming that this wasn’t a faked photo-op – that the law enforcement people standing next to him still have jobs. Heck, if that’s not really a functioning pistol it’s still subverting patient years of public education on gun safety. And for the sake of Russ Carnahan, no less.

No wonder Cook upgraded this race to competitive recently. And it a D+7 district, too.

Moe Lane

PS: Anybody who doesn’t understand What’s Wrong With That Photo is going to be somebody who thinks that guns are Evil Magic Talismans (thank you, S.M. Stirling) anyway: so there’s no point in explaining it to them. 24thState is more accommodating than I, though.

PPS: One hopes that Ed Martin’s campaign is paying attention.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Wind Capital Group, led by President Tom Carnahan, said Monday it has closed on financing for Missouri’s largest wind energy development.

The lenders, led by Nord/LB, Bayern LB, Rabobank, Santander and Union Bank, are providing $240 million in debt facilities to support the construction and operation of the proposed Lost Creek Wind Project in DeKalb County, Mo. The debt facilities consist of a construction loan, term loan and letter of credit.

The project also is seeking $90 million in aid through the federal stimulus package.

Like, for example, that ’seeking’ in this context effectively means ‘calling up your brother the Congressman’ (as Dana Loesch helpfully points out). Or that this project needs both stimulus money and a cap-and-trade bill to pass in order to survive (as 24thstate.com helpfully points out).

I’d ask why Russ Carnahan felt comfortable voting for legislation that would directly benefit his brother, except that I already know that Democratic legacy politicians typically don’t believe that they have to obey the rules that they expect the rest of us to follow.  Given the incredible amounts of deference that the rest of their party gives them, they may unfortunately have a bit of a point.

Moe Lane

PS: Ed Martin’s running in that district.

Crossposted to RedState.

The fact that Roy Blunt had raised 200K more than Robin Carnahan in the Senate race was already known – but 24thstate is now reporting that Ed Martin has also raised 40K more than Russ Carnahan for the MO-03 race. Which is interesting, as Martin only declared around the end of July. Guess when they say “Show-Me” in Missouri, they mean it.

But that’s not even the most interesting thing coming from 24thstate.com.  The most interesting thing right now is his evidence that someone in Robin Carnahan’s office is violating Sunshine/election/ethics laws by funneling documents to attack blogs…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

• AR-01: Rick Crawford – who is running against Marion Berry, AKA The Guy Who Can’t Remember That He’s Not Supposed to Be Taken Farm Subsidies – has a revamped website. It’s a definite improvement over the old version, and should allow for more and better networking. AR-01 is a R+8 district, and long overdue for a Congressman not as ready to ‘forget’ about his income (both agricultural and residential) as Berry is. Check Rick out.

• MO-SEN: The website’s name says it all: www.acorncarnahan.com. Apparently, Robin Carnahan (running against Roy Blunt) wasn’t very careful – or careful at all – in keeping distant from ACORN, and the Missouri Republican Party is laying the connections out, emails and all (H/T The Campaign Spot). And you have to wonder: what does her brother Russ Carnahan know, when did he know it, and is he done running away yet? It’s been a couple of months by now.

• NM-02: Cap-and-trade supporter Harry Teague’s opponent Steve Pearce had himself a very good third quarter: 508K, donors overwhelmingly from inside the state. Teague hasn’t reported in, yet – but surely he’s not having problems getting funding from a R+6 district, right? Steve Pearce needs a better website, though: perhaps he can get the people who did Crawford’s…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

My name is Russ Carnahan (D, MO-03), and I’m lost:

(via Dana Loesch. Also note: Ed Martin is running against this guy.)

I was last seen a week or so ago, hiding in a garage after a get-together I threw ended with some people that I invited beating up a guy. I’ve dropped off the face of the earth since then. No Twitter*, no blogging, nothing from work… I’m just gone. Now, I’ve had a bit of a sheltered life, and I’m not used to it when things go bad: so I may in a bad place right now. If you see me, please let Ed Martin (R) know; he thinks that I need to take a break anyway, and he’d like to talk to me about it.

I may be with one or more friends, who are also missing:

• Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO)
• Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH)
• Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
• Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
• Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
• Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)
• Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL)
• Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA)
• Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA)
• Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA)
• Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS)
• Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK)
• Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX)
• Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY)
• Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA)
• Rep. Mark Schauer (D-MI)
• Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI)
• Rep. Bob Andrews (D-NJ)
• Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL)
• Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)
• Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC)
• Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ, whose constituents want a recall)
• Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME)
• Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
• Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO)
• Rep. John Yarmouth (D-KY)
• Rep. Chris Carney (D-PA)
• Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN)
• Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
• Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
• Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)
• Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL)
• Rep. Debbie Halverson (D-IL)
• Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC)
• Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)
• Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL)
• Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY)
• Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
• Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA)
• Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA, who will talk at UCLA about climate change)
• Rep. Bobby Bright (D-AL)
• Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
• Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)
• Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ)
• Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA)
• Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA)
• Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI)
• Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
• Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
• Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
• Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ)
• Rep. John F. Tierney (D-MA)
• Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA)
• Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ)
• Rep. G. Connolly (D-VA)
• Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC)
• Rep. David Price (D-NC)
• Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
• Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA)
• Rep. Travis Childers (D-MS)
• Rep. Jim Oberstar (D- MN)
• Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr (D-IL)
• Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL)
• Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
• Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)
• Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI)
• Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
• Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ)
• Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL)
• Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
• Rep. John Olver (D-MA)
• Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA)
• Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC)
• Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD)
• Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
• Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL, who will meet people who pay $25)
• Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI)
• Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ)
• Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
• Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL)
• Rep. John Tanner (D-TN)
• Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN)
• Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)
• Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH, details here)
• Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT)
• Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
• Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
• Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
• Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-TX)

…so, please, if you see one or more of us on a street corner, or hunched up in a chair at the Greyhound station… don’t walk away. We’re career politicians; the real world is scary to us. And when we’re out here all alone, it’s so easy for us to make bad choices…

Moe Lane

*To whatever anonymous staffer writes Russ Carnahan’s tweets for him: putting on the final ‘/’ makes a difference. As in, ‘makes the difference between a working link and a non-working link.’

Crossposted to RedState.

Rep. Russ Carnahan (D, MO-03) is of the third generation of a political family.  His last name is obviously not Adams – and does it ever show.

The video above is from his secret press conference (I am not joking) that nonetheless got crashed by reporters who wanted his reaction to the Gladney Incident (SEIU thugs attacking an unarmed flag vendor).  For those who don’t have video, his reaction was to say nothing, flabbily.

I know that this is staggering to comprehend… but Russ Carnahan really is incapable of understanding that it is necessary to instantly and forcefully condemn attacks on unarmed men.  The above video should have ended in twenty seconds, with Carnahan saying “Violence has no place in my campaign.  SEIU is unwelcome in my district until I believe they understand that.  Next question?”  Of course, a man who would do that would not be hiding at a secret press conference and blaming the opposition party for his own side’s violence; but it’s fairly clear that nobody taught him better, and one has to start somewhere.  The cowardice thing will have to be the next step.

Alternatively, one could just go with Ed Martin.  Easier to get somebody who gets it than go with somebody who only got it because of who his ancestors were.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

When faced with a vigorous band of constituents who wished to loudly express their discomfort and annoyance with both Russ Carnahan’s specific and general voting records, the Congressman did the proper thing: he engaged with them. He listened. He explained why sometimes – to evoke Burke – you have to exercise your own judgement in representing your district, and not knee-jerk defer to constituent opinion. In short, he was a Representative.

Yes, I’m joking. What he actually did was lock the doors on them before the speech, and ran out the back like a scared little bunny rabbit. Or a Democratic legacy politician who doesn’t understand why the grubby little proles are so exercised over things, all of a sudden.

Dana Loesch (also via Gateway Pundit) has more, including a video of the proceedings; note that the local news people are a lot more grounded in objective reality than most of their national counterparts. Do watch the videos and the pictures associated with this one; it’s good to see that we’re internalizing the attitude that you record everything from now on. Here’s one picture that I want to point out, for two reasons:

1. Those people are part of what the DNC wants to call a “mob.” Retirees in polo shirts.
2. That sign on the bottom right corner? Saw it later in a video. Says “Elections have consequences.”

Which they do. I bet that Ed Martin would agree, too.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Actually, that last factor may suggest why Martin may think that he has a shot: Carnahan is part of a local aristocracy, and frankly? It’s starting to show.

Yes, this is the representative who is being yelled at by his constituents via their electronic building signs because they think that it’s the only way to get Carnahan’s attention – and as the video above demonstrates, they’re wrong. Not even that worked. The video found here also illustrates the situation nicely, I think: Carnahan is so used to having to simply go through the motions to retain his seat that criticism and dissent merely roll off of him, like water off of a duck’s back. Watch and listen to those videos again. He doesn’t dismiss his opponents so much as he doesn’t notice that they’re talking. Which is why (H/T: Instapundit) the St Louis Tea Party people are going to try to get his attention again today (10 AM, 4100 Gravois, St. Louis, MO 63116), this time over the Cash-for-Clunker program. Because, oddly enough, Russ Carnahan’s not actually an aristocrat, even if he is part of the Other America.

Folks have decided to start pointing that out.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

And Carnahan still can’t parrot talking points about the Democrats’ health care rationing plan without getting mocked and booed. Via Ed Driscoll:

The title of Ed’s post – “If It’s So Good Why Doesn’t Congress Have To Be On It?”, a quote from the video – captures the feel of the room pretty well. I’ve been blogging since probably 2002 or so, which is about the same amount of time that I’ve been really watching politics – and I don’t think that I’ve seen this wide an atmosphere of scorn about a particular policy position before. I’ve seen this level of scorn, sure; just nothing this ubiquitous.

And now you know why Blunt introduced this measure. Because – thankfully! – the GOP is paying attention.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.