JEFFERSON CITY -- U.S. Senate candidates crossed paths at the state's American Legion convention in the Missouri capital today, with the two big-name contenders telling veterans they will fight for them.

"You fought for us; I've been fighting for you," Congressman Roy Blunt, a Republican from Springfield, Mo., told the veterans at the Capital Plaza Hotel.

Blunt and Democrat Robin Carnahan, the Missouri Secretary of State, addressed the convention in short speeches that hit the highlights of the two candidates' stump speeches.

Carnahan got the biggest chuckle and clap during her speech for a line she's repeated over and over in the last couple of months: "I learned to know bull when I see it," she said, criticizing Blunt (not by name) for voting, in her words, against Missourians interests.

Carnahan continued to harp on Blunt as the consummate Washington insider, and pointed out that he voted for the unpopular "Wall Street bailout" under the Bush administration.

Carnahan has said she was opposed to that bailout.

After his speech, Blunt defended his vote.

"Every economist thinks that stopped the economic downfall," Blunt said of his vote for the TARP bill. "The taxpayers recovered all their money and then some. It was the kind of responsible thing that government should do."

Blunt pointed out that many of Carnahan's supporters -- including President Barack Obama -- supported the second bailout that he opposed.

In his speech, Blunt told the veterans that the Obama administration isn't concerned enough with real dangers facing America.

"We do have enemies," Blunt said. "There seems to be a willingness in the current administration ... to suggest that those enemies arent' as big as we think their are. ... This is a time when the generations of Americans who are alive today decide whether we're going to extend the lease on freedom, or not."

Blunt got his biggest clap and cheer for a line in which he said he supported the anti-illegal immigration law in Arizona that the Obama administration is suing to stop.

He also said that he was opposed to the current effort to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that keeps gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military.

"This is not the time to eliminate Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Blunt said.

Asked later if he would ever support changing the policy, Blunt said, "I'd want to give some thought to what the military leaders would say ... I don't know that I would."

Republican Hector Maldonado, who is running against Blunt along with several other less well-known candidates -- including State Sen. Chuck Purgason -- also addressed the veterans' group. Maldonado is himself a veteran, having recently completed a stint in the Army.