Monday, July 18, 2016
New Kinder Ad
See the new Peter Kinder ad here. It shows little children: “Eric” dressed in camo with those funny firing range glasses, “Catherine” with pearls in pink, and “John” wearing a tie and one of those touring-the-factory-floor hats. After they call each other names and throw mud (literally), Kinder appears as the grown-up talking tax cuts etc…
Pretty good ad. But does he have enough money to make it work?
And
Kinder’s big announcement last week was that three Navy SEALs endorsed him.
eMailbag: It appears that the Republican primary will be determined not by strategy or fundraising, but by how many Navy SEALs support the candidate. This whole election is becoming so bizarre. I fear we will all come out on the other side of it dumber….
New Ashcroft Ad
See Jay Ashcroft’s first ad here. “There was a time when we could believe in our leaders (show a framed picture of Ronald Reagan shaking a young Jay Ashcroft), but unfortunately these days we can’t trust them anymore….”
This is how the son of a well-known politician runs as an outsider I guess.
Big Checks
AFSCME gives Chris Koster $500,000… and Rex Sinquefield donates another $300K+ to Catherine Hanaway. It’s almost funny how commonplace and non-newsworthy these types of huge checks are becoming…
Missourians for Life?
A few House Republican candidates (Bruce DeGroot in House 101 and Jean Evans in House 99) are claiming endorsements from “Missourians for Life” which political newsletter writer John Hoffmann thinks isn’t a real organization. Is it a pretend pro-life group to pad endorsement lists?
Pull Quote: We could not find Missourians for Life. In fact we found evidence that the group does not exist. We Googled the name and came up with 10 groups that were pro-life but none were Missourians for Life.
Next I checked the Missouri Secretary of State files for current non-profits, corporations, LLCs, or fictitious names registered with the office. There I found the former Missourians for Life, but no current one.
The first group of Missourians for Life was formed in Springfield, MO and ceased to exist on December 27, 2007. The second was merely a fictitious name filed by someone in St. Charles and that expired on 07/24/13. So I'm not sure how DeGroot can be endorsed by Missourians for Life when according to records there is no Missourians For Life and the last group with that actual real name ceased to exist eight years ago.
Ardini Gets Judgeship
There was never any doubt that Ted Ardini would get the judicial appointment from Jay Nixon. Chummy, chummy inner circle…
The press release: Ardini began working at the Attorney General’s Office in 1992 after graduation from the New England School of Law in his native Massachusetts... “There are few people who possess as keen of an understanding of the executive, judicial and legislative branches of Missouri state government and of Missouri civil and criminal law as Ted Ardini,” Gov. Nixon said. “He will be an outstanding appellate judge, and I am pleased to select him from the well-qualified panel presented to me.”
Wyatt to Return to MO
Former Rep. Zach Wyatt posted news on Facebook: I'm excited to announce that this weekend I accepted the position of Executive Director for Missouri Solar Energy Industries Association! I have enjoyed my last few months at Mathnasium Omahawest. With recent changes happening in my life, it is right for me to return to my home state of Missouri!..
With this announcement comes a sad announcement that has taken me over a month to say in a public forum such as Facebook. David Wyatt-Gomez and I have decided to part ways and divorce. Many will want to know what happened, and many will want to point fingers at one or the other. This I won't do. Just know I love him with all my heart, but sometimes two people just aren't meant to be together for a lifetime...
Rumorville: English Prepping Return?
Only have one person saying this, so we’ll see if it shakes out, but… “[source] bumped into [Keith English] and his job prospects were not what he wanted so he’s gathering signatures for an independent run [for his House seat]…”
Haas Fired for Run?
Bill Haas, the perennial candidate who’s now running in the Democratic Congressional primary with Congressman Lacy Clay and Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, says he’s been fired from Charter because of his candidacy. From his email blast: I started work at Charter Communications about 4 weeks ago to train as a Customer Service representative for internet and phone repair. It was hard but I was doing well. I never made a secret of my political interests. It's on my Resume, I mentioned it in my interviews, and it's all over my car. I'm not expected to win my congressional race, tho I think I have a chance, so I didn't think it unfair of me to start a new job. No one in the Bridgeton facility had a problem with it. I never missed a minute of work. Then early this week on of the political honchos found out I was running against Clay for Congress and I was fired the next day. I knew their PAC had contributed to Clay, but never thought it would be a problem for me. They told me they though the campaign might distract me from my job even tho it hadn't, the election was less than a month away, and I was not expected to win… In any case, their stated position was "You're running for Congress, you're out." The Vice-President of the facility Ray McFadden said the decision was made above his head...
Bits
Ken Morley’s Hilltop Public Solutions gets a mention in Politico’s Influence: The House's passage of the industry-backed food labeling legislation on Thursday, 306-117, with an indication President Barack Obama will sign, notches a win for Pam Bailey, Denzel McGuire, Roger Lowe and the Grocery Manufacturers Association; other food and agricultural groups forming the Coalition for Safe Affordable Food; lobbying firm the Russell Group; FP1 Strategies, which managed communications, research and digital; and Hilltop Public Solutions, which handled grassroots and grasstops…
Former Post-Dispatch intern Rebecca Berg gets a mention in Trump notes on reporters… See it here. Instead of talking to Byron York of the conservative Washington Examiner, for example, Nunberg proposed a “STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVE” interview with his coworker Rebecca Berg. “York has consistently been negative towards Mr. Trump. The Washington Examiner is influential. I can arrange a pre-trip piece with Rebecca Berg about Mr. Trump’s ‘second NH visit.’ She covered Mr. Trump at American Spectator favorably.”
Missing Lynn Messer and the family fallout makes the front page of the Sunday Post-Dispatch (above the fold). See it here. Abram Messer has said he believes his father knows what happened the morning his mother disappeared. He told KMOX radio that his dad either hid the evidence of a suicide or was more actively involved in her disappearance. He reiterated those theories to the Post-Dispatch… Both brothers dispute some details of their father’s account of the first few hours after Kerry Messer informed Abram before dawn that Lynn was missing. They say their father also appeared angry and uncomfortable when he learned Aarron had called 911 and that investigators were on their way to the farm. They say Kerry Messer then inexplicably ordered the sons away…
At the halfway point this month, state revenues are not starting off the fiscal year with any zip. So far revenues down -3% compared to last year…
Today’s Events
From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:
MIC-PAC Golf – Redfield Golf Course – Eugene.
Rep. Joshua Peters Reception – Bissinger’s – St. Louis – 6PM.
July 18-21 – Republican National Convention – Cleveland, Ohio.
Lobbyists Registrations
Frank Plescia added Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.
$5K+ Contributions
Hanaway for Governor Inc - $10,000 from Susan Ludeman.
Hawley for Missouri - $10,000 from Xcaliber International LTD LLC.
Missourians for Fair Taxation - $641,000 from National Association of REALTORS.
Missourians for John Brunner - $10,000 from Peter Herschend.
Hanaway for Governor Inc - $311,946 from Grow Missouri.
Koster for Missouri - $500,000 from American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees.
Citizens to Elect Kurt Schaefer Attorney General - $10,000 from Jennifer Bukowsky.
Koster for Missouri - $25,000 from Operating Engineers Local 101 PAC.
Lews & Clark Ozarks Mountain Forum - $15,000 from Dwayne Holden.
Lewis & Clark Ozarks Mountain Forum - $15,000 from Jerry Fenstemaker.
MO FOP PAC - $11,000 from Missouri State Fraternal Order of Police.
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Rep. Charlie Davis, Becky Cook, Gary Otten, and Jim Gwinner