Thursday, July 28, 2016

Greitens Did The White House

Brunner supporter Gregg Keller tweeted yesterday that Eric Greitens – despite his recent proclamations that Barack Obama is the worst president in history – has been a White House visitor over the last few years.  Here’s a link to the White Log visitor log.  Keller surmises from the dates and times that Greitens attended a White House Christmas Party in 2013 (see it here).

Tweets from Gregg Keller (‏@RGreggKeller):

GOP #mogov hopeful @EricGreitens calls @BarackObama the worst president - but WH logs show hypocrite Greitens attended Obama parties.

Greitens’ longest visit to Obama’s White House occurred on 11.27.13, when he stayed for nearly 2 hrs. #MOGov

WH Visitor Logs show Greitens stayed for about an 1.5 hrs. Presumably enough time to call @POTUS "Worst President Ever" to his face.

White House Visitor Logs show 5 @EricGreitens visits to "worst President ever" with last on starting in '10 and continuing till '14. #MOGov

Meet Franklin & Lee

Yet another group is weighing in on the Republican gubernatorial race.  Franklin & Lee (see their website here) has sent mailers.  They offer a “scorecard” on the positions of the candidates.  See it here.  Nobody is perfect in their scorecard, but Eric Greitens fare very poorly.

And they attack Greitens – including a reiteration of “sex slave” charge which recently elicited a lawsuit from Greitens’ biggest donor. See it here.

The treasurer for Franklin & Lee is Adam McLain.  He’s also treasurer of Patriots for America.  He writes about his involvement here.

Franklin & Lee says it’s a 501 (c)(4).  “Any person or entity that contributes more than $5,000 to a Section 501(c)(4) organization must be disclosed to the Internal Revenue Service in our annual tax return. The IRS does not make these donor disclosures available to the general public, and Franklin & Lee does not provide this information to the public.”

Hanaway Ad

See Catherine Hanaway’s latest ad here.  It’s a negative hit on Greitens for his support of Mayor Francis Slay who – like many St. Louisians – supports welcoming refugees to the city.

It uses the words “dangerous” and “terrorism” eight times.  I guess because Republican primary voters are scared of the orphans, widows and fleeing refugees.

Baker Ad

Here is Judy Baker’s ad.  It’s got some sunny Gilmore Girl-ish music in the background and will be as effective as it can be with as little money behind it as Baker has.

Graham Embarrassed by Nixon

Former Sen. Chuck Graham in a letter to editor endorses Deborah Daniels in the 13th Circuit judicial election, and rips Governor Jay Nixon for his appointment of Jeff Harris to a judgeship.  See it here.

Pull Quote: When my friend Judge Oxenhandler was unable to complete his term, Jay Nixon skipped over many qualified women to pick his staffer Jeff Harris, a bureaucrat who never even handled one jury trial. Unfortunately, Jay has skipped over women 67 percent of the time in appointing circuit judges. In eight years, he’s never appointed one to the Supreme Court. As a Democrat, it’s embarrassing to see the lack of equal opportunity continue….

What is Roe’s Game in KS?

Politico reports on Jeff Roe working against a Ted Cruz ally. See it here.

Pull Quote: Ted Cruz isn’t just colliding with Donald Trump since the Republican convention. He’s also at odds with some of his own advisers.

At issue: a high-profile primary challenge to Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a Cruz ally and tea party favorite who has long been a thorn in the side of the party establishment. Cruz has rushed to Huelskamp’s aid, providing him with a valuable endorsement just weeks before the Aug. 2 primary. But members of the Texas senator’s political team are working aggressively to defeat the embattled congressman.

Two of the pillars of Cruz’s political operation, the consulting firms Axiom Strategies and Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research, have helped steer a super PAC that is spending heavily to defeat Huelskamp, a member of the conservative, Cruz-friendly House Freedom Caucus — even though Jeff Roe, Cruz’s former campaign manager and Axiom’s top strategist, had previously pledged that he and his firm wouldn’t oppose Huelskamp.  It’s an unusual turn of events. When a prominent politician makes an endorsement, their political apparatus typically follows suit. Roe’s role is particularly surprising. In December, Roe, a Kansas City-based strategist who is Cruz’s closest political adviser, wrote a letter to Huelskamp vowing that neither he nor anyone working at Axiom would join any effort to unseat him in 2016….   

eMailbag on Supreme Court Ruling

The lobbyist you quoted on the "remarkable" Supreme Court decision (Pestka) says the "liberal" judges – a group that includes one of the most conservative members of the Court, Paul Wilson – were activist.

To the contrary, the Court majority simply was enforcing the rules of the road that the people of Missouri prescribe in the Constitution; the dissenters wanted to interpret the words to say what the provision used to say before the people voted to amend it. Which group is activist?

I thought "constitutional conservatives" – this year's political buzz phrase – want the constitution to be interpreted as it is written, not as liberals, career politicians, or lobbyists wish it to be. What is remarkable is that a majority of the Court did not cower in fear of legislative disapproval.

Judge Draper's majority opinion is a model of careful, dispassionate analysis of the words of the constitution as they were written and as the people voted to change them over time.

Today’s Events

From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable events calendar:

Rep. Chuck Basye Meet & Greet – Shakespeare’s South – Columbia – 5:30PM.

ALEC Missouri State Night Dinner – St. Elmo Steak House – Indianapolis, IN – 7:30PM.

$5K+ Contributions

Vote for MYMCPL - $10,000 from Children’s Plus Inc.

SEIU Missouri State Council PAC - $6,000 from SEIU MO/KS State Council.

Parson for Missouri - $10,000 from John Danforth.

Parson for Missouri - $15,000 from MO Majority PAC.

Dr. Dan Brown for Senate - $8,148 from Dr. Dan Brown for Treasurer.

Citizens to Elect Kurt Schaefer Attorney General - $100,000 from Grow Missouri.

Citizens to Elect Kurt Schaefer Attorney General – $500,000 from Great St Louis.

Missourians for Randles - $100,000 from Grow Missouri.

Missourians for Randles - $107,901 from Missouri Club for Growth PAC.

Missouri Democratic State Committee - $20,000 from UAW V-CAP.

Greitens for Missouri - $10,000 from Donn Lux.

Grietens for Missouri - $40,000 from Dick Uihlein.

Greitens for Missouri - $5,001 from Wendy Knudsen.

Wood for Commissioner - $8,300 from Eric Wood.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to Dale Ludwig.