COLUMBIA, Mo. – Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens spoke to a group of students and community members Thursday night at the University of Missouri, promising that should he be elected, he would enforce tight ethics reform with a conservative platform.
“I am going to demand that we ban gifts from lobbyists, close the revolving door between legislators and special interests, and demand term limits for every statewide office,” he said to raucous applause from about 100 attendees. He also pledged that he would never engage in lobbying for the rest of his life.
Greitens, a former Navy SEAL and nonprofit organizer, has run on a platform consisting mainly of his “conservative outsider” status, a phrase he repeats often in his speeches, running against career politicians, another phrase often heard. He believes the problems of government stem from some politicians knowing too much about the subtleties and nuance of governing, enough that the can take advantage of the legislation they write.
“Laws should be written clearly enough that all of us can read and understand them,” he said. “We know that there is corruption in Jefferson City. Where does corruption hide? Corruption hides in the creases and crevices of complication. And I know that career politicians cannot stand it when their practices are exposed to the light of day.”
Greitens also stressed after his speech that the problem was not partisan.
“It’s not just a problem with Democrats, it’s a problem with Republicans. A lot of these corrupt consultants, a lot of these well-paid lobbyists, a lot of these career politicians who we’re running against have been Republicans as well. I’m a conservative outsider in this race who believes we need to bring a strong culture of ethics to Jefferson City. I think that’s what all Missourians want, and there’s absolutely a problem with that in the Republican party as well the Democratic Party.”
His message seemed to have gotten through to the crowd. Two of the students in attendance, at least, had positive impressions.
“I think he’s a new refreshing face to bring to the race,” Trent Wideman said. “I really liked a lot of his values and what he believes in. His background that he comes from I feel gives him some credibility in the things that he talked about and how he experienced leadership.”
Cole Stauss, a senior, even began to echo some of Greitens’ lines.
“It’s nice to see someone come from a background that isn’t just a career politician, you know?” Stauss commented. “There’s definitely a charisma there that makes you gravitate towards him and makes you believe in what he’s saying. You want to listen to what he has to say.”
The appearance came just a day after Greitens cancelled an appearance in Lee’s Summit. According to the Kansas City Star, Greitens and his staff were held up in Columbia after trying to drive to the Kansas City suburb from Washington Missouri. Greitens campaign staff denied it had anything to do with the low turnout to the event; only three people, including a reporter, showed up, the Star reported.
Questions have also been raised about the sources of funds raised by the Greitens campaign. While Greitens has raised plenty of cash in Missouri, nearly 70 percent of his donations have come from outside the state as recently as early September, according to analysis by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Greitens disputes that.
“We are funded by Missourians and we actually have conservative investors all over Missouri and all over the country who are investing in this race,” Greitens said. “So the facts are, one, we have raised more money in Missouri than all of our other opponents, two we have more donors in Missouri than all of our other opponents.” He added there were definitely supporters from around the country invested in this race since it is such a high-profile election.*
Overall, he believes his message is connecting with people with a way that many other gubernatorial hopefuls cannot emulate.
“Missourians are gravitating to this campaign because I’m the only conservative outsider in this race,” he said. “I’m the only proven leader in this race, and I’m the only person who’s been on the front lines, with my hands, solving real problems for real people. People… recognize that too many of our career politicians often don’t understand the things they do actually hurt people.”
EDIT: A more extensive look into Greitens’ campaign finances by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reconfirmed that nearly 70 percent of Greitens funds have come from out of state donors. It also found that Catherine Hanaway has raised more than twice the amount of money from Missouri donors than Greitens, and Hanaway has almost 500 donors from Missouri compared to Greitens’ 112.
