MOScout Daily Update: Inflation Unabated - More on Piper - Jason Smith's Campaign and more...
Quick Friday update…
No Relief on Inflation
Wall Street Journal reports that “U.S. consumer inflation excluding energy and food accelerated to a new four-decade high in September, a sign that strong and broad price pressures are persisting. The Labor Department on Thursday said that its so-called core consumer-price index—which excludes volatile energy and food prices—rose 6.6% in September from a year earlier, the biggest increase since August 1982. The measure increased 6.3% in August.”
What It Means
Inflation has been one of the top lines of attack for Republicans. This number reinforces their narrative, and will solidify the issue as a concern for voters.
Reaction to Piper Fundraising Blurb
Dems, in particular, seem to have varying views of the Jess Piper fundraising juggernaut. Here’s some feedback I received yesterday…
· One Dem consultant says I’m missing the point about Jess Piper’s fundraising: It's true that money might make more of a difference in tighter races. However, the reality is that money likely wouldn't be invested at all if not for Jess. Grassroots donors don't self-budget. These folks chip in a few hundred dollars here and there based on feelings, and many of them are more than aware that the races they're sometimes contributing to are long shots. It's easy to say ‘that money could be better used elsewhere’ — but the reality is, if Jess wasn't getting that money, no one would be.
· But then there’s this reader’s point: If Jess Piper wanted to actually help Missouri Democrats in the way her Twitter feed suggests, she'd donate 95% of her $$ to the HDCC (which has 1/3 the CoH than she does!) so that they can spend it to win a few of the dozen or so races in doubt.
· Another Dem says it’s TikTok, not Twitter that’s the engine: She’s probably our biggest celeb in the party, maybe with a bigger following than Crystal Quade. Donations like that aren’t a zero sum game - if anything she’s drawing new donors in to the idea of giving to rep-level Dem campaigns, and she’s spreading Dem messaging amazingly well. Her Twitter is incredible but her TikTok following is really where the magic is happening… 175,000 followers.
· Meanwhile PR guru Richard Callow weighs in on Twitter: If @piper4missouri isn’t the next chair of MO Dems, the state committee should move to Kansas.
· But another Dem consultant thinks it’s all a symptom of Dems needing to return to IRL: We Dems need to get off Twitter. Badly.
Rollcall on Jason Smith
Rollcall reports on Congressman Jason Smith’s campaign to be the new Ways and Means Chair. Read it here.
· Rep. Jason Smith invokes a populist image for the GOP as the party of the working class, vowing to ingrain that commitment in how he handles tax, trade and health care policy if he wins the top Republican spot on the House Ways and Means Committee…
· “I’m a working-class, you know, hillbilly from southeast Missouri,” Smith said during an interview in his Capitol Hill office…
· Smith jumped into the Ways and Means race after his competitors — Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Adrian Smith, R-Neb. — were already campaigning. But Smith made up ground fast with flashy fundraising hauls for House Republicans and his track record as the Budget Committee’s ranking member…
· While many Republicans aren’t commenting publicly on their favored candidate, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer is backing his fellow Missourian for the job. Luetkemeyer, the ranking member on House Small Business, has a vote on the Republican Steering Committee that will decide the race…
Strategic Capitol Consulting Open House
eMailbag: More on Eigel…
Good luck taking on the entire congressional delegation who haven’t forgotten his role in the map debacle - *their map*
Lobbyists Registrations
Angie Schulte added Metrc.
$5K+ Contributions
Majority Forward (Senate Dems) - $15,000 from Protect Missouri Freedom.
Majority Forward - $15,000 from Centene Management Company LLC.
Jack PAC (pro-Coatar) - $25,000 from Leadership Counts.
Move Forward STL (pro-Mantovani) - $20,000 from Christopher Garlich (Key Largo, FL).
House Republican Campaign Committee, Inc - $15,000 from Old McDonald PAC (pro-Deaton).
Freedom's Promise PAC (pro-Koenig) - $5,600 from MO Majority PAC.
Lincoln PAC (pro-Hough) - $9,500 from Missouri Senate Campaign Committee.
Rizzo For The City - $20,000 from Henry Rizzo.
Jackson County Leadership PAC - $16,552 from Missouri Senate Campaign Committee.
Jackson County Leadership PAC - $9,500 from Missouri Senate Campaign Committee.
Physician Led Anesthesia Care PAC - $20,000 from Western Anesthesiology Associates, Inc.
Together KC - $10,000 from Hallmark Cards Inc.
Together KC - $15,000 from Heavy Constructors Association Industry Advancement Fund.
ASAPAC MO Federal Committee - $10,000 from American Society of Anesthesiologists Political Action Committee (Schaumburg IL).
Birthdays
Happy birthdays to Jeremy LaFaver and Casey Guersey.
Saturday: Chrissy Sommer, Lane Koch, and Dean Morgan.
Sunday: Rita Heard Days, and Antonio French.
MOScout Schedule
No weekend editions this weekend. See y’all Monday.