Headlines: Thursday, September 2

Two months 'til Election Day.

• New book takes on GOP leaders of early 2000s, trouble for Blunt?
• Carnahan Campaign Says More Tough Anti-Blunt Shots Coming 
• Former Sen. Talent's wife joins Show-Me Institute
• The only war on politicians' minds Wednesday was the battle for jobs
• Fired aide to ex-Mo. gov runs for gov's dad's seat
• Long avoids question on social security at MSSU “Meet & Greet”
• Barnitz, Brown both fail in efforts to obtain Farm Bureau endorsement
• Sowers agrees to set of debates; 4 candidates to face off in October
• Prosecutor: Charges in Nieves case could come next week
• The 17th Amendment: A political science term paper, offered as a public service
• Mo., Premium Standard reach deal on hog odor issue
• Missouri Bar recommends ouster of St. Louis judge 

U.S. Senate Race

• U.S. House Republicans write book criticizing Blunt-era leadership [News-Leader]
  The Washington Post has a story about a book due out in a few weeks that heavily criticizes the early 2000s Republican leadership in Congress and calls for young Republicans to run for office. Roy Blunt was in the thick of that leadership.
• Carnahan Campaign Says More Tough Anti-Blunt Shots Coming [KMBC]
  Robin Carnahan’s campaign manager says  the new Carnahan commercial attacking Republican rival Rep. Roy Blunt "is just the beginning." Mindy Mazur told reporters in a conference call today Blunt’s “ties to corruption” are  an untold story in Missouri.
• Blunt, Carnahan campaigns bump heads over corruption message [PoliticMo]
• New book takes on GOP leaders of early 2000s, trouble for Blunt? [Star]
• Robin Carnahan continues to press corruption message against Roy Blunt [Post-Dispatch]
• Union leader's blue words forecast colorful Senate contest [Post-Dispatch]
• Crooks, pervert benefit from Blunt connection to lobbyists [Turner Report]
• Blunt for Senate posts another "lobbyist" ad [Turner Report]
• Blunt talks jobs at Cape Girardeau visit [Southeast Missourian]
• Carnahan comes to Independence [Blue Springs Examiner]

CD3 Race

• The only war on politicians' minds Wednesday was the battle for jobs [Beacon]
• Martin, Carnahan expand on plans to revitalize local business [PoliticMo]

CD4 Race

• Hartzler: Skelton, not supporting the surge, “turned his back on our troops” [PolitcMo]

CD7 Race

• Fired aide to ex-Mo. gov runs for gov's dad's seat [AP]
  It's been three years since Scott Eckersley was fired after pointing out that his then-boss, former Gov. Matt Blunt, and others in Blunt's administration should not be deleting certain e-mails because they belonged to the public record.
• Long avoids question on social security at MSSU “Meet & Greet” [The Fuse Joplin]
• The Fuse Joplin: BIlly Long avoids Social Security question [Turner Report]
• Billy Long Speaks At MSSU, Says Youth Needs To Be Involved In Politics Then Ignores Them [Busplunge]
• Steve Hunter endorses Billy Long [News-Leader]
• Jack Goodman endorses Billy Long [News-Leader]

CD8 Race

• Sowers agrees to set of debates; 4 candidates to face off in October [PolitcMo]
  Joining Sowers and Emerson, who tend to hog the spotlight, will be the other two candidates – Libertarian Party candidate Rick Vandeven of Chaffee and independent Larry Bill of Jackson.

SD4 Race

• Secretary of State error almost leaves independent candidate off ballot [Post-Dispatch]
  A counting error by the Missouri Secretary of State nearly left a qualified independent candidate for State Senate off the November ballot.

SD16 Race

• Barnitz, Brown both fail in efforts to obtain Farm Bureau endorsement [Pulaski County Daily]
  As a fifth-generation rancher in the rural Dent County community of Lake Spring, State Sen. Frank Barnitz has received the Missouri Farm Bureau’s FARM-PAC endorsement in both of his last two state senate campaigns, but FARM-PAC announced Thursday that they won’t be making an endorsement this year for the 16th District.

St. Louis County Executive Race

• Republicans peeved over Dooley plan to honor Bond [Post-Dispatch]
  County Executive Charlie Dooley announced yesterday at the St. Louis County Economic Council meeting that he is planning to hold a Sen. Kit Bond day to honor the outgoing senator.

State Auditor's Race

• Humphreys gives $50,000 to state GOP auditor nominee Schweich [Beacon]

Brian Nieves

• Prosecutor: Charges in Nieves case could come next week [KMOX]
  The Franklin County prosecutor says he may know by next week whether anyone will face charges in the case of the state representative accused of threatening the campaign manager of a political rival at gunpoint. “If there is enough evidence to file charges, we will file charges,” Prosecutor Bob Parks tells KMOX News.  “If there is not enough evidence to file charges, we will not file charges.”
• Brian Nieves: Protection Order Hearing for Today Postponed [RFT]
  A protection order hearing involving state Rep. Brian Nieves scheduled for today in Cole County Circuit Court has been pushed back.  Michael Byrne, attorney for plaintiff Shawn Bell, tells Daily RFT that he recently filed an amended petition to the case in which his client accuses Nieves of assaulting him.

Premium Standard Farms

• Mo., Premium Standard reach deal on hog odor issue [AP]
  Premium Standard Farms has been given a two-year extension to install technology at its hog confinements to reduce odors after it failed to meet a July 31 deadline established by a Jackson County court six years ago.
• Deal reached to fix odor problem on company's Missouri hog farms [Star]
• AG reaches agreement with PSF on barn odor issue [Missourinet]

Judicial Retention Elections

• Missouri Bar recommends ouster of St. Louis judge [AP]
  The Missouri Bar recommended Wednesday that voters oust a St. Louis County judge from the bench in the November election following a survey of attorneys who said she was not competent.
• MO Bar recommends that voters ‘do not retain’ St. Louis County judge [Missourinet]
  The Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee has recommended that voters “do not retain” St. Louis County Judge Judy Draper.
• Voters in three area counties urged to retain judges in November [Star]
• One judge in state missed retention recommendation [Post-Dispatch]

New Anti-Strip Club Law

• Missouri's new strip club law remains in effect pending legal challenge [Star]
• Appeals court refuses to halt Mo. strip club law [AP]

Domestic violence task forces

• AG Chris Koster to host domestic violence task forces [Post-Dispatch]
  A task force will study the state's laws and suggest possible changes next year.

Palin in MO

• Palin profile includes discussion of Independence appearance, financing [Star]
  Vanity Fair magazine has published a profile of Sarah Palin that includes reporting on her visit to Independence last May. The story examines the financial disclosure of Preserving American Liberty, the group which sponsored the speech.
• Sarah Palin the Sound and the Fury [Vanity Fair]

People Done Lost Their Minds

• The 17th Amendment: A political science term paper, offered as a public service [Star]
  One of the more interesting proposals to surface from the tea party movement is a plan to repeal the 17th Amendment, which requires direct election of senators. Some tea partiers would prefer election of senators by state legislatures, which is the way it was done for roughly half of the country’s history.