Staffer Problem for Missouri Candidate

In Missouri's 2010 US Senate race, the Democrats are putting forward Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, daughter of the late Governor Mel Carnahan - and it looks like her candidacy may have a hint of scandal to it.

My sources on the ground are expressing concerns about Ms. Carnahan's Communications Director, Laura Egerdal. Apparently, Ms. Egerdal was employed by the activist group America Coming Together during the 2004 election cycle, and was involved in hiring new employees (she is listed as a contact in an online classified ad). This presents a problem, as ACT got in some hot water that year for hiring convicted felons to do door-to-door canvassing in numerous states including - you guessed it - Missouri.

And these weren't just your run-of-the-mill shoplifters, either. Some of them had done time for sex offenses, assault, and burglary - and at least four of them had already landed back in the slammer by the time the Associated Press found out in June 2004. ACT said that these people deserved a second chance, which might be true, but using recently released criminals (some still in halfway houses) for door-to-door work strikes me as a bit of a stretch.

So, I guess the question is why Robin Carnahan would hire someone who was so close to the roots of a major scandal to run her communications operation.