AP Analysis: Blunt's "Extensive Ties" to Washington Present "A Tactical Problem"

Posted today by The Associated Press:

If Republican Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts gave the party new energy, their Senate recruits are more like an attempt at renewable fuel. The circumstances of Brown's upset victory two weeks ago are hard to recreate on their own, but even more so when the GOP's pack of Senate hopefuls have such extensive ties to a city that's rapidly becoming anathema to much of America...

"People right now are really disenchanted with the way things are done and bringing back familiar faces is not really the way to do it, or at least it hasn't been," said Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University.

The GOP recruits present "a tactical problem," he said.

In Missouri, Rep. Roy Blunt is flying the GOP flag as Senate candidate — the same Roy Blunt who lost his spot as Republican whip when Democrats stormed back into power amid a populist revolt 2006.