It look's like you don't have Adobe Flash Player installed. Get it now.
As the race for an open U.S. Senate seat in Missouri continues to heat up, recent comments made by Democratic candidate Robin Carnahan has Republican Roy Blunt and his campaign up in arms. This time the disagreement centers around the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. KSMU’s Justin Lux has the story.
Following a May 18th speech by Roy Blunt in St. Louis, Robin Carnahan’s campaign website posted video clips from Blunt’s speech. The videos include allegations that Blunt is trying to limit the amount of money that oil company British Petroleum or “BP” has to pay for the clean-up of oil in the Gulf.
Carnahan’s campaign is portraying Blunt as a politician who is influenced by so-called “Big Oil.”
But Roy Blunt’s campaign manager, Andy Blunt, says Carnahan should apologize and remove the statements and videos from her campaign website.
"It is a terrible thing. I think the last thing that Missourians want right now is somebody trying to figure out how to capitalize politically with a bunch of false, misleading statements on what is a very serious problem in the nation, and in particular for the people living in the Gulf," Blunt says.
According to a May press release from Blunt’s Congressional office, Blunt is supporting legislation that would establish a new liability cap for companies responsible for oil spills. The cap would be based on the company’s recent profits, and Blunt’s press release claims that the measure would increase the liability of companies.
But Robin Carnahan’s campaign press secretary, Linden Zakula, says Carnahan’s position is that the oil companies responsible for oil spills should cover the bill in full.
"What we have been focused on is being very clear in that Robin believes that ‘Big Oil’ should pay for the clean-up of all damages. That includes both the environmental clean-ups and the economic clean-up," Zakula says.
Blunt and Carnahan are considered to be the frontrunners in the race to replace Senator Kit Bond, who is retiring after five terms in the U.S. Senate.
For KSMU News, I’m Justin Lux.
