Republicans' approaches vary on Carnahan, U.S. Senate race

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Republican Jim Talent says he's promoting his own Washington experience as he campaigns to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan -- not running against a widely admired widow who ascended to the Senate through tragedy and political appointment.

"Let us go forward in graciousness," Talent, former four-term congressman from St. Louis County and narrow loser of a 2000 bid for governor, exhorted Republicans during the party's weekend Lincoln Days.

But other Missouri Republicans took off their gloves as they endorsed Talent, labeling Carnahan a "rubber-stamp minion" for Senate Democrats and urging voters to give her "a one-way ticket from Washington, D.C., back to Rolla."

The differing approaches show Republicans are still unsure how to take on Carnahan, who has never run for statewide office but was praised for displaying poise and dignity after her husband, Gov. Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash three weeks before Election Day 2000. Also killed were the Carnahans' eldest son Roger and campaign aide Chris Sifford.

Balance of the term

Mel Carnahan went on to defeat Ashcroft, becoming the first person posthumously elected senator. Mrs. Carnahan was appointed to fill the first two years of the six-year term won by her late husband, but a special election this November will settle who serves the balance of the term.

The increased Democratic voting inspired by Carnahan's death helped put Democrat Bob Holden into the Governor's Mansion in a narrow victory over Talent. Many Talent backers said they will redouble their efforts this year because they believe he deserved to win the governor's race.

"The Carnahan sympathy vote carried over just enough to defeat Jim Talent even as President Bush carried the state," said Roland Wetzel, a Republican activist from St. Charles County.

Talent said in an interview and in weekend speeches that he is a naturally positive person, and plans to base his campaign upon his policy differences with Carnahan.

He said they differed in many areas, from how much to increase defense spending to the best steps for stimulating the economy.

"I'm running FOR the Senate," Talent said. "I'm not running AGAINST anybody."

But his fellow Republicans were happy to criticize Carnahan, although usually not by name.

U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, who succeeded Talent in Congress, said Missouri's Republican Sen. Kit Bond is "not being backed up in Washington because we have a rubber-stamp minion" for Democrats in Carnahan.