JEFFERSON CITY — The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza calls Missouri Democrat Robin Carnahan “a star” in the making, but not all the news in his Friday column is good for the U.S. Senate candidate.

Carnahan, Missouri’s Secretary of State, is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, and shell likely face 7th District Congressman Roy Blunt, a Springfield Republican, in the November 2010 election.

In his blog post comparing recruitment efforts of both parties for the key Senate mid-term elections, Cillizza gives Carnahan high marks. But he also downgrade’s Missouri’s race as one of the most likely to switch parties because of Blunt’s campaign and fund-raising ability.

Some rankings have Missouri the most likely state to go from Republican to Democrat in the 2010 election, but Cillizza’s punditry drops the race from 3rd most likely to switch to 5th. No doubt, it will change again, probably both up and down, before voters get their say.

It’s the fund-raising of both candidates that will be of interest to political followers later this week when the third quarter campaign finance reports are due. We’ll post results when we get them.