ST. PAUL — Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt and state Republican Party chairman Doug Russell made similar pitches this morning to the state’s convention delegation.

In short, as Russell put: “We’re going to see John  McCain and Sarah Palin take Missouri and keep it red.”

Blunt made artful jabs at the Democratic ticket by citing The National Journal’s ranking of presidential nominee Barack Obama with the No. 1 liberal record, while running mate Joe Biden came in at No. 3.

The audience laughed because the sole socialist member of the Senate, he said, came in at fourth. (Actually, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is officially an independent, although some do see him as a socialist.)

Blunt might want to be careful about bringing up those National Journal ratings, which are based on 2007 votes. McCain was among three senators who received no score because, the Journal wrote in the ratings guide: “they missed more than half of the rated votes in an issue area…”

McCain’s absences are tied to his campaign for president.

Blunt also jabbed at Biden’s long record in the Senate, which goes back to “when I was 2 years old.”

Later, Blunt told reporters that McCain ’s almost-as-long record (in Congress since Blunt was 12) was different because of his maverick image.  McCain, unlike the Democrats, has often been “a thorn in the system,” the governor said, citing McCain’s various issue differences with Republicans.

“He definitely is a force for change,” Blunt said. Palin’s selection, he added, reinforces that message.

Blunt said that the scaling back of the GOP’s convention proceedings, because of Hurricane Gustav “changes the tone (but) I don’t think it changes the message.”to v

 Blunt plans to be in St. Paul-Minneapolis for most of the week. He is speaking to various other states’ delegations, and also is attending various events organized by the Republican Governors Association. He is the group’s vice chairman.

When asked, Blunt said he couldn’t say whether this convention would be his last as a high-profile figure.

“I wouldn’t want to predict that,” he told reporters, citing “a lot of unpredictable events in my life.”