Talent stresses independence from Bush

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Missouri Sen. Jim Talent tried to distance himself from President Bush yesterday in a nationally televised debate, during which he and his Democratic opponent, Claire McCaskill, argued over Iraq and stem-cell research.

Tim Russert, host of NBC's "Meet the Press," challenged both candidates on their past statements -- asking Mr. Talent about his ties to the poorly polling president and Mrs. McCaskill about her insinuating Mr. Bush is a racist.

Mr. Talent blanched when Mr. Russert noted that Mr. Bush has campaigned for him in Missouri at least four times, and the senator has voted with the president 94 percent of the time, according to Congressional Quarterly.

"Why don't they ever say in those surveys that the president agreed with me a certain percentage of the time?" Mr. Talent asked. "I've been in public life a lot longer than he has. When I went in the Congress, I think he was still running the Texas Rangers. He's come a little bit further, I guess, than I have since then."

Mr. Talent, first elected as a representative in 1992, contended that he is independent of Mr. Bush on immigration, farm policy and highway funding.

The senator opposed the "comprehensive" immigration plan that most senators and the president supported. He said it equates to amnesty for illegal aliens.

Mr. Russert also got tough on Mrs. McCaskill, the state auditor, over these September comments: "George Bush let people die on rooftops in New Orleans because they were poor and because they were black."

When asked whether she should apologize for her remark, first reported by St. Louis blog Pub Def Weekly, Mrs. McCaskill didn't back down.

"I was acknowledging what Americans believed at the time. I don't believe he's a racist," she said. "I probably should have said it another way, but the feelings are real."

The two candidates are neck and neck in one of the nation's most closely watched races, a key race for Democrats hoping to regain Senate control.