Other notable endorsements and omissions by the American:
McCaskill over Holden for Governor
Russ Carnahan for Congress (yet another reason Carnahan will ride the "underinformed" vote to victory)
No endorsement in the embarrassing city sheriff's contest. (Even the Post found an African American to endorse over incompetent incumbent Jim Murphy.)

Wow, talk about damning with feint praise. Two paragraphs on Jeff, his energy and attentiveness to African-American issues and Russ has name recognition. Funny how Russ got the endorsement even though the paper was clearly more impressed with Jeff. I guess mommy pulled more strings. It seems like that is the only thing Russ has going for him.

That is great for Rachel. I wish I lived where I could vote for her. This is one of the most interesting state races I have seen in years. That whole district is actively involved in this race. I bet turnout sets records for a primary.

I am disapointed in the American's lame, sellout endorsement of Russ and the fact that his Mom is running his campaign for him. Over the last two weeks Russ has been raising last minute money in $1,000 chunks from all of the country. How much do you want to bet those are calls his mom is making and not Russ. How many of his contributions and endorsements did Russ go out and earn and how many did his mom call in a favor for. I knew he was unimpressive. This campaign has been beyond my wildest imagination. Russ is pathetic. I hope not only the black community but the whole 3rd CD sees through this sham. To bad for Russ that his Mom can't pull the lever or punch our cards for all of us voters. I wish our political process that rewards nepoitism (W. for starters) didn't delude folks like Russ into thinking that they should run for Congress. It's painful for everyone involved.

The American quotes the Jeryl Christmas statistic of his losing the election last time around to Jennifer Joyce by only 1%. The ACC has debunked that already. Oh, well.

I've done my share of Russ criticism, but let me suggest that if you want Jeff to win, don't worry about Russ or endorsements. Endorsements are nice--especially the wise ACC one ;), but ultimately, this isn't about Russ Carnahan. It's about Jeff Smith and what positive things he can do. Every election has a last week turn in negative, but most people aren't paying attention to that--they want to know the positive reasons to vote for someone. I have a million for Jeff. Focus on that and not on the stuff no one can control.

I don't know what is worse, that Russ Carnahan received the American's endorsement (despite their quite favorable impression of Jeff Smith), or that Russ' campaign doesn't think highly enough of the American to put out a press release or a webpage touting the endorsement (a la Claire McCaskill's campaign).

I can sum up how the American chose their actual endorsees for Governor and 3rd Congressional District by one fact:
When I picked the paper, a Wal Mart insert fell out.
I truly beleive that the writers and editorial staff wanted to endorse Jeff considering the glowing write up, but advertising dollars ended up carrying the day.
I also wouldn't put it past Claire to carry Wal Mart's water in the inner city. She's a Wal Mart Democrat, and not to be trusted...