Some Democrats shun Obama event in St. Louis

The Show Me State temporarily became the No-Show State on Wednesday as some prominent Missouri Democrats decided they'd rather be somewhere else when President Obama came to push his massive health care overhaul plan.

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, the all-but-certain Democratic nominee for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Christopher S. "Kit" Bond, was "already locked in" to meetings in Washington, D.C., on Wall Street financial reforms, said her spokesman, Linden Zakula, who downplayed her absence for Mr. Obama's visit to St. Charles, just outside St. Louis.

"Yes, she could have been there, but she feels very strongly about the need for financial regulatory reform," Mr. Zakula said. "We've got eight months to go. ... I'm sure we'll be seeing him out on the campaign trail this fall."

But her spokesman didn't mention that Mrs. Carnahan was also in Washington for a Tuesday night $5,000-a-plate fundraiser at the home of Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, who most recently made headlines for the secret backroom deal known as the "Louisiana Purchase," which would send $300 million in additional Medicaid taxpayer funding to her state.

Rep. Ike Skelton, one of 39 House Democrats who voted against the party's health care overhaul bill in December, also skipped the presidential stop in his home state. Mr. Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, was taking part in a House floor debate on the future of the war in Afghanistan.

In addition, Rep. Russ Carnahan, a Democrat from St. Louis and Mrs. Carnahan's brother, skipped the event, even though it was in his home district.

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Meanwhile, Sen. Claire McCaskill, Missouri Democrat and an early supporter of Mr. Obama's during his campaign who is not up for re-election until 2012, accompanied the president aboard Air Force One to the St. Louis event. Mr. Obama also scheduled a fundraising event for Mrs. McCaskill before returning to Washington.

The event could be an early sign of the draw of Mr. Obama's coattails on the campaign trail and whether the president will be seen as an asset or drawback for his party in what polls suggest will be a difficult midterm battle for Democrats.

The Missouri Republican Party mocked Mrs. Carnahan's absence, saying she certainly should have taken the opportunity to bask in the high-profile visit just eight months before the vote.

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