Carnahan says election could be 'turning point' in Cape Girardeau appearance

The 2008 election could be a "long-range turning point" that brings thousands of new voters into the Democratic fold, former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan said Monday in Cape Girardeau.

During a visit to the local headquarters of the Sen. Barack Obama presidential campaign, the widow of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan said massive voter registration efforts and the strong presence of the Obama campaign in rural Missouri should make strong inroads into the GOP's rural bastions in the state.

The election could result in big Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, Carnahan said,

"There is that chance that this could be a long-range turning point," Carnahan said in an interview. "It could be a political tsunami. We will need to build on that and do what the people want."

Carnahan is touring the state to speak with campaign workers and build enthusiasm ahead of the Nov. 4 election. Carnahan served two years in the U.S. Senate. She was appointed to the seat her late husband won two weeks after his death in an airplane crash in 2000. Carnahan was defeated in 2002 as she sought election to serve out the rest of the term.

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