No Room For The Prez

Senator Talent's re-election speech lasted about 20 minutes, but he notably did not ever mention President Bush or the war in Iraq.

When asked why, Talent said he considered inserting a part into his speech about how tough it was to get the Bush administration on board to support his anti-meth legislation. Talent said he decided against it because the speech was already too long.

Talent spent a good portion of his speech stressing legislation he co-sponsored with Democrats, such as Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-California), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut), Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York.)

"I even found common ground with Senator Chuck Schumer," Talent said to ooohs from his G.O.P. crowd. He said he worked with Senator Schumer on a sickle-cell treatment bill, even though the New York senator personally courted Claire McCaskill to run against him last summer.

Even after Gov. Blunt hacked away at McCaskill's record, he noted that Talent is "very bipartisan" and "the only candidate in this race that can work with people on both sides."

Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report told me, "I think Talent is viewed as a workhorse and not a showhorse. He works quietly. He can work across the aisle."

"He has actually compiled a fairly long and substantive list of accomplishments for somebody who's only been in the Senate for 4 years," Duffy added.