President Barack Obama attended two fundraisers for Senate candidate Robin Carnahan (D) in Kansas City.

The decision clears the way for Gov. Joe Manchin to call a November 2010 special election for Byrd's seat.

At least one lawmaker was noticeably absent from President Obama's Thursday visit to Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City, Mo.

Both sides of Kansas City were represented in Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), but Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), whose district borders the city limits, wasn't there.

Skelton, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, is expected to have a tough reelection race this cycle, and it's possible that appearing with Obama would make it more difficult. The president's approval rating in Missouri was at 40 percent in a recent poll.

Skelton's office said it came down to a scheduling conflict.

"As the details of the president's trip were finalized after the congressman had cemented his schedule, he was attending previously arranged engagements," William Chapman, a spokesman for Skelton, said in an e-mail.

Skelton's perceived vulnerability has drawn a number of Republicans to seek the nomination to face him. Whoever emerges from the crowded field is expected to be competitive against the 17-term incumbent.

U.S. Senate candidate and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) called for a special session of the state legislature Thursday for lawmakers to consider a constitutional amendment that would ban oil drilling off the coast of Florida.

From the Miami Herald:

At a hastily-called news conference, Crist said the session would be devoted to one issue — “a rifle shot,” he called it — to give the voters of Florida a say on drilling. But in doing so, he violated a cardinal rule of Tallahassee politics by calling for a special session without a consensus with legislative leaders.

“I feel a compelling duty to protect Florida,’’ Crist told reporters. “And I’m going to be governor for about six more months, and I think I wouldn’t be doing my duty as governor if I did not call for this special session.’’

Crist noted that the deadline is Aug. 4 for a proposed amendment to make it to the Nov. 2 ballot. He said the Senate sponsor of the proposed drilling ban will be Sen. J. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, but no House sponsor has been selected. His announcement sets up a clash with the House, where Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, has publicly accused Crist of grandstanding on drilling.

Republican Marco Rubio quickly called the governor’s move nothing more than politics.

“The Obama/Crist response to the oil spill has been a total failure and Florida families and businesses are suffering because of it,” Rubio said in a statement. “This special session is nothing more than a political sideshow that will do nothing to help Panhandle businesses, keep oil off our beaches, or prevent future spills.” 

President Barack Obama is in Missouri on Thursday raising money for Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's (D) Senate campaign and talking jobs at an electric car factory. 

It's a trip Carnahan's Republican challenger, Rep. Roy Blunt, says is likely to help his campaign in the long run. 

"I believe he's helping me more than her," Blunt said on a conference call with reporters Thursday morning.

Republicans are anxious to tie Carnahan to the president. Obama's approval ratting in the state is under 50 percent and key parts of his legislative agenda are deeply unpopular there. A June Rasmussen poll found 61 percent of Missouri voters support repealing the administration's health care law. 

Speaking in Kansas City earlier this afternoon, the president said the economy is "moving in the right direction."

The president will headline a fundraiser for Carnahan on Thursday before he heads off to Nevada to stump for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. 

Sharron Angle’s comment provides ammunition for Democrats seeking to keep Senate Majority Leader Reid's (Nev.) seat in their column.

An analysis of the unemployment rate in Rep. Betsy Markey's (D-Colo.) district spells trouble for her reelection prospects.

The 4th district has been steadily losing jobs — the number of non-farm positions in its 16 counties declined by 3.7 percent between 2008 and 2009, according to the The Coloradoan.

The job losses were really centered in the two more urban counties, Larimer and Weld. Those two counties lost a combined 4.2 percent of their jobs in 2009. The 14 rural counties saw a 1.2 percent decline in jobs.

 That's significant because the rural counties are deep, deep red and likely will vote almost 2-1 for [Republican Cory] Gardner no matter what the economy does. Markey built her 2008 victory margin in Larimer, Weld and Boulder counties and she'll need another strong performance there to win re-election.

But if the job picture isn't improving by the fall, the national dynamic of punishing the party in power for a poor economy likely will play out here. And expect Republicans to go hard after Markey for statements like praising "a stimulus bill that has gotten us out of the recession."

Meanwhile, an economist at the University of Colorado in Boulder predicted that the state could lose six times more jobs this year than earlier predicted. The analysis predicts 20,250 jobs will be lost in the state in 2010.

Markey's Republican challenger used the revised estimate to hit the freshman lawmaker.

"Colorado is suffering under the failed policies of Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic majority," Gardner said in a statement. "This revision is more evidence that the recession is not over and that government spending will not create private sector jobs."

A new Rasmussen poll out Thursday gives Republican Marco Rubio a slight edge over Gov. Charlie Crist (I) and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) in Florida’s Senate race.

The poll has Rubio with 36 percent of the vote to Crist’s 34 percent. Meek trails with 15 percent, while 14 percent of respondents remain undecided. 

In a hypothetical race with self-funding Democrat Jeff Greene, Rubio garners 37 percent of the vote with 33 percent for Crist and 18 percent for Greene. The poll surveyed 500 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points. 

The state’s primary is Aug. 24.

Crist hasn’t had much good news over the past week. The corruption trial of former Florida GOP Chair Jim Greer is now set for October, with Crist as a potential witness. And while Rubio and Meek have largely steered clear of the issue, Greene has tried to use it against all three.  

These latest numbers show the race largely unchanged from a month ago, when Rubio and Crist were tied with 37 percent. A Florida Chamber of Commerce poll from mid-June gave Crist an 11-point lead in a three-man race.

Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) will get fundraising help from the White House Thursday despite criticizing the war in Afghanistan.