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Even if Robin Carnahan was never seriously considering taking on Jay Nixon, encouraging such speculation was a smart move. It brought her name back into the political chatter circles during this relatively boring time of year and, most importantly, allows every newspaper in the state to print a piece mentioning her battle with breast cancer, her recent engagement, and her choice to put her party before her own personal ambitions. Name a potential GOP Secretary of State candidate who can top that.

Speaking of candidates with famous last names demonstrating the courtesy of communicating gubernatorial intentions to their fellow statewide officeholders, did you see the quote from the Blunt campaign in the AP’s Carnahan piece?

“The governor is focused on the legislative session that’s coming up and continuing the work of the people. He’s not really thinking about an election that’s two years away.”

See that simple, concise answer? That’s exactly what wasn’t coming from the governor’s campaign — or the governor himself — just two weeks ago on December 12, 2006 B.C. (Before Chrismer).

Already, the ace of the staff is bringing his teammates up to his level.

Good stuff, Rich. Your next objective: Convincing the boss to announce his 2008 intentions sooner, rather than later, for the sake of our party’s statewide candidates. We’re not holding our breath, but we are waiting — and watching.

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If the Royals hired Tony LaRussa to manage the team, and LaRussa signed Chris Carpenter, would the Royals go from worst to first in a year?

Probably not, but Carp would elevate the level of play of his teammates, and restore some faith among the fans that want to root for the home team but don’t care for their brand of baseball.

Expect a .500 performance next year. By ‘08, they may be contenders.

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While I tend to disregard even the most constructive of criticism, I got an e-mail a few weeks ago that got me thinking. A friend asked a relatively trivial question about a link I had posted on johncombest.com, but the main thrust of his e-mail was this: Why am I so hard on Matt Blunt?

Of course, I always respond to those types of complaints, from Rs and Ds alike, by pointing out that I don’t make the news — I just link to it.

But my friend was right — I don’t spend enough time pointing out the good things about the Blunt administration. And there are a few.

As explained a couple weeks ago, those of us Republicans still considering voting for Matt Blunt in 2008 should be glad that Ed Martin is starting Friday as the governor’s new chief of staff. Let’s keep the positivity going and look at the good stuff Ed has to work with:

– A focused political team. As previously mentioned, Blunt’s HARRIS (to Hell with All Republicans Residing In St. Louis) Plan was criticized in 2004 by many of us on this side of the state, including your favorite blogger’s favorite blogger. But the focus on outstate counties proved successful — energy that might have been wasted on Dem constituencies was channeled toward our base. To this day, the Blunt team realizes that as long as Republicans control the executive and legislative branches, there will exist a political underclass that is not happy unless they’re unhappy. The Blunt team is content to let such chronic malcontents jibber-jabber on low-wattage radio while the governor stays focused on implementing his agenda. A wise move.

– Spence Jackson. Any honest political spokesperson (1) can be no better than the facts at his disposal. Those who criticize Spence should look at what he has had to work with and tell me what more he could have done to positively spin the myriad of ethical charges levied against the administration. Spence is at his best when he is dismissing the Democrats’ whiny, sour-grapes complaints for what they are: whiny, sour-grapes complaints. Spence is not so great — how could he be? — when he’s forced to explain dumb mistakes made by others in the administration. Give Spence less to apologize for in 2007 and we’ll all be talking about what a great job Matt Blunt is doing.

Also, you know that I never, ever, under any circumstance, claim to speak for anyone but myself, but I speak for every single Missouri Republican when I say that Spence was everybody’s favorite Blunt campaign guy. (2) The fact that he’s stuck around probably keeps some people from completely disavowing his boss.

– A strong political machine. Sandra Thomas’ victory in the GOP auditor primary proved that the Blunt machine can still turn out nearly 30% in a crowded race. You can bet everyone from Mitt Romney to potential gubernatorial candidates to your local GOP county chair took note of the results and will remember them as they make their plans for 2008.

More to come.

(1) I know, I know. Just play along.

(2) I know, I know. But still.

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1.) Anyone who lacks the ambition to roll off the couch, brush the potato chip crumbs off their belly, and catch the bus to the local Revenue office to get a photo ID shouldn’t be voting anyway.

2.) Two smart, polished candidates plus national media scrutiny equals the most issues-based Senate campaign we’ve seen in a long time. (And humorless, too: no “macaca” jokes from JMT, no “Dean scream” from Claire.) Facts trump emotion. Yawn. Edge: Talent.

3.) Nobody cares about a state auditor’s race, much less with Talent-McCaskill on the ballot. Desperate for attention and hoping for earned media, auditor campaigns will turn to negative ads that have nothing to do with the auditor’s job.

4.) Thomas campaign: “Wealthy trial lawyer.” Montee campaign: “Blunt-Graves-Thomas.” Edge: Montee.

5.) In a primary, a state party should either get behind one candidate early or stay out of the race. Pretending to be neutral while giving one candidate access to your most valuable resources creates ill will and makes it impossible to unite after the primary.

6.) Though criticized in 2004, Blunt’s HARRIS (to Hell with All Republicans Residing In St. Louis) Plan was ultimately successful, and effectively relieves future statewide Republican candidates of the obligation of having to face the black community.

7.) Question: When does, “I’m not planning on running” sound like, “I’m not running”? Answer: When that’s what you really, really want to hear.

8.) Union members whose jobs require actual skill and a work ethic couldn’t care less about a minimum-wage increase, and why should they?

9.) Elected officials are some of the most egregious users of fake logins and dummy e-mail accounts, and among the sloppiest at covering their tracks (here’s looking at you, state Rep. “Allison Tidwell”!)

10.) The country’s print media institutions, having co-opted the best features of blogs (timeliness, depth of reporting) for their own websites, will seek to portray political bloggers as a bunch of reckless, amateur boobs — and our own behavior this fall (impending libel lawsuits, “pay-to-post” scandals) will prove them right.

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