Secretary of State Carnahan visits Cape Zonta luncheon

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan visited with Cape Girardeau's women leaders at the Zonta Women of Achievement luncheon Friday.

The Cape Girardeau Zonta Club event draws about 300 people annually to raise money for scholarships and service projects.

During a speech Carnahan paid homage to past women leaders who helped pave the way for women office holders, such as 19th-century activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

"People favor underdogs but only follow top dogs," she said to the crowd made up mostly of women.

Carnahan, who was elected in 2004, is a Democratic candidate in the 2010 Senate race.

Last quarter she and Roy Blunt, one of her Republican challengers, raised more than $1 million each in the race to fill retiring Republican Sen. Kit Bond's seat.

Following Friday's event, she spoke to the media about her candidacy.

The Missouri Republican State Committee recently launched a website alleging she has been closely tied to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. The committee requested all the correspondence between her office and ACORN. The site includes excerpts from the 1,400 documents it obtained.

The community organizing group encountered controversy during the 2008 election for voter-registration fraud. Videos emerged in September showing staffers posing as a pimp and prostitute. In the following month, the group lost millions in federal funding.

Carnahan said the consequences of the group's actions were necessary and her relationship with ACORN does not go beyond her duties as Missouri's secretary of state.

"They contact my office just like any group that is involved with registering voters," she said.

She said the majority of the correspondence included information requests regarding a lawsuit against Missouri Department of Social Services. The lawsuit, filed in 2008, was settled in June. ACORN has two Missouri offices, one in Kansas City and another in St. Louis.

Regarding the health care debate in Congress, Carnahan said she anticipates it will continue. She said one bill or debate will not solve the health care issues that have so far been avoided.

"We spent way too long sweeping it under the rug," she said.

She said she supports a system that is affordable to families and small businesses that does not penalize for pre-existing conditions.

"It has to create competition to keep insurance companies honest," she said.

As a federal legislator, she said, she would side against earmarks, a stance also taken by Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. She said earmarks should be eliminated to show more accountability for taxpayer money.

"The current system does not have accountability and transparency," Carnahan said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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