The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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September 10, 2009

Carnahan campaigns for union votes

By Debbie Robinson

news@joplinglobe.com

Robin Carnahan, Missouri secretary of state and a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010, told a group of about 65 people Thursday night that Washington has been taken over by special interests, and that it’s time to take the country back.

Carnahan’s appearance at the hall of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Joplin was sponsored by the Jasper County Democratic Central Committee.

“We’re here because we need to change the direction of the country,” she said.

Health care, the environment and energy are among the issues that need to be addressed, she said. She offered no specifics as to how to address those issues.

About health care, she said the current system is unsustainable.

“It’s a broken system,” she said. “The government’s budget is being eaten up by that.”

While that is happening, she said, “health insurance (companies) are spending $1 million a day on lobbyists to prevent change.”

With regard to the nation’s reliance on foreign oil, Carnahan called for development of alternative energy sources in the United States.

“We can’t have petro dictators on the other side of the world, who hate us, controlling our oil supply,” she said. “We have to come up with new alternative energy sources, so we can sell it to them.”

Carnahan said change is difficult, “because there’s always a fight between progress and the status quo. It’s always hope or fear.”

She said she decided to run for U.S. Sen. Kit Bond’s seat next year because she sees the country on the cusp of change. Bond, a Republican, is retiring after his term ends next year.

Most observers expect Carnahan to square off next November against Republican U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt.

Carnahan urged volunteers to talk to neighbors about the issues. “Call out the folks who are telling lies,” she said.

She said she sees the issues facing the country today as not Democratic or Republican issues, but the issues of the people.

“If there’s more focus on people’s lives, the better we’ll do,” she said.

Carnahan said she decided to begin the campaign 14 months before the election because of the magnitude of putting a campaign together.

“It’s a great opportunity to bring a new direction to our state and a new voice to Washington,” she said.

Carnahan, a Rolla native, talked about her family’s 900-acre cattle ranch, and how there was no time for bickering if a fence went down and cattle got out.

“You’ve got to fix the fence, and you’ve got to get the cattle in,” she said.

Before her public discussion, Carnahan was asked about her reaction to President Barack Obama’s health care speech Wednesday night.

“He hit on a lot of good points and talked seriously about a lot of the problems in the country,” she said.

Carnahan was elected secretary of state in 2004 and was re-elected last year.

After her talk at the union hall, Carnahan planned to address students and others at Missouri Southern State University.



Family ties

Robin Carnahan’s father, Mel Carnahan, served as state treasurer, lieutenant governor and governor in Missouri. Her mother, Jean Carnahan, was the first woman to serve Missouri in the U.S. Senate.

Mel Carnahan was running for the U.S. Senate in 2000 when he died in a plane crash. He won the election posthumously over Republican John Ashcroft, and Jean Carnahan was appointed to take the seat.

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