JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – With the first week of the legislative session in the books, the campaign trail remains a critical focus of the year. Missouri will vote for a new U.S. Senator, a president, new legislators in Jefferson City, along with other races, and of course, someone will take over Gov. Jay Nixon’s role as governor.
Eric Greitens, has quickly become the name to watch in the Republican primary. Though Catherine Hanaway, Peter Kinder and John Brunner all have their own traits to tout, Greitens resume (Navy SEAL, boxer, author, orator, photographer, Rhodes Scholar, etc.), copious fundraising (nearly $2.3 million on hand as of the Oct. 2015 quarterly report (expect that number to rise with the release of the Jan. 2016 quarterly report)), and lack of prior involvement in politics have made him popular in a year in which candidates considered outside the establishment have had success around the country.
However, the Greitens campaign may be tipping their hand as to what exactly they plan to do with their huge cash reserves, and that is attack politicians that have been in the game for a long time.
In his most recent strike, Greitens criticized Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chris Koster by accusing him of silence and complicity with the Obama administration’s recent executive order that many gun owners fear is an attack on rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
Anyone seen Chris Koster? #mogov pic.twitter.com/tYSqjFNlB0
— Eric Greitens (@EricGreitens) January 7, 2016
Austin Chambers, Greitens’ campaign manager, accuses Koster of “playing politics” and adhering to a liberal agenda.
“His silence while President Obama threatens our second amendment [sic] rights sends a clear message to gun owners across Missouri that he is in fact no friend,” he said. “When the going gets tough, he is quick to duck and hide like a typical politician. Chris Koster owes the people an answer: does he stand with President Obama or with lawful Missouri gun owners?”
The attack comes just a day after Greitens levied a different attack against not only Koster, but also Nixon and Republican gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. Greitens called the upcoming legislative effort on lobbying reform, which has been supported by members of the executive branch, “politically convenient.”
Greitens also made headlines in late November and early December of last year for a feud with Brunner after Brunner released a recorded phone call to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Dr. Jeremy Walling, a political science professor at Southeast Missouri State University, notes that Greitens’ strategy is likely one where differentiates himself, and play off the outsider vibe that so far has worked for presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ben Carson and, to a lesser extent, Carly Fiorina.
Walling also notes that going after Kinder on his long tenure in government makes sense.
“When you’re campaigning against Kinder, that’s one of your main tools,” he said. “He’s the ultimate insider. He’s been around, not my entire lifetime, but it’s felt like it.”
However, Walling contends that to win the Republican primary, Greitens needs prove that he is not a RINO, but a true elephant.
“The suggestion that he’s not a real conservative kind of clearly touched a nerve for him,” Walling said, noting that Greitens could run the risk of his conservatism making him too unpopular for the general electorate. “It’s kind of hard to determine how conservative to go, but there’s a group that needs you to solidify your conservative bona fides.
