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The air is getting hot in the Show-Me State

Hopefully Trump’s campaign maneuvers are the start of his pulling it together. He owes it to himself, his supporters, the Republican Party, and, honestly, the country to up his game. Moreover, I’d hate to have to admit Mark Reardon may have been right.

Donald Trump speaking at CPAC in 2011. (Courtesy of Gage Skidmore)
Donald Trump speaking at CPAC in 2011. (Courtesy of Gage Skidmore)

He has certainly owned a multitude of gaffs, but one that strikes closest to home is the banning of the Washington Post from his traveling corps. It’s just wrong. He may think they have a liberal bias and he may be right, but their readers know what they’re reading, and there is no excuse for that type of behavior.

Once, President Obama tried to boot Fox News from the pool because he didn’t like their coverage of him. He was wrong to do so, and it failed. I’ve personally seen it from the other end when an academic liberal wanted to stifle reporting he didn’t like. Fortunately we won, Fox News won, and the Washington Post should win, but that kind of behavior has no place in political discourse.

Normally it’s liberals who are used to a liberal slant on the news who try to stifle right of center publications. Trump doesn’t have the political institutional memory to know this, but everyone must stand up for free speech and freedom of the press, especially speech and publications we disagree with the most.

Screen Shot 2016-06-21 at 8.59.55 AMIn today’s politics, people write down everything you say, and then post it to the web and tag your name so that every time someone Googles you it can be repeated back to you. The latest victim was Eric Greitens. Adam Sharp spent a good deal of last fall reposting his prior statements this fall, but it took a new turn this week.

Last fall Greitens repeatedly called his opponent John Brunner a “weasel” over what he described as “cowardly anonymous attacks”.

In fact, Greitens was so over the top in his criticism of federal PACs with anonymous donors dropping negative ads into Missouri races many assumed he wasn’t behind the latest attacks hurled at John Brunner via the LG PAC.

Well that was until famed KMBC political reporter Mike Mahoney revealed video footage of Greitens engaged in friendly conversation with the treasurer of the LG PAC. Greitens supporters behind the scenes assert that it was some masterful plot engineered by the Hannaway campaign, but with the facts known today folks in West Butler County would have to say that it looks like old fashioned hypocrisy on his part.

Contreras
Contreras

One guy tearing up the road right now is Pat Contreras. The guy is running for state treasurer and is the underdog in the primary against former Rep. Judy Baker who has been on the statewide ballot before. If he pulls off that upset, he gets to take on Sen. Eric Schmitt, who has a clear primary and will have raised around $3 million dollars.

However, the guy is tearing up the roads and has an aggressive social media campaign. He also scratched out some earned media this week with his opposition to Donald Trump. Who knows what Missouri Democrats will say about his candidacy, but one this is for sure, he is hustling.

Speaking of Senator Schmitt, he added one last bit of polish to his legislative legacy when the Governor signed his latest bill to cut local government waste Friday. You could probably tell it’s an election year, as he made the announcement on Friday afternoon instead of during the morning in the middle of the week. Schmitt is the one candidate Republicans feel can win this fall no matter the electoral environment or what happens up the ticket.

Was I the only one who was surprised to see how the state Democratic convention panned out? First of all, it’s shocking that Sen. Curls, one of the most talented politicians in the state of either party, wasn’t placed on the DNC slate. Further, of course, the Missouri Democratic Party is liberal, but is it really now confessed-socialist Bernie Sanders liberal?

Nothing wrong with it if it is, but surprising none the less. I can imagine the look you would have been shot if you would have called the senators who made up the last Democratic majority in the Senate socialists.  It also makes Chris Koster’s work to avoid a primary even more impressive.

I know you thought it was The Onion when you read that some group of professors criticized the University of Missouri for firing Melissa Click. But no, the one decision they have managed to make in the last year that has made sense was the one this group of people detached from reality picked to criticize. It begs the question, why be in a group that deranged? Maybe it’s all of higher ed, not just Mizzou?

Speaking of Mizzou, honestly, you can’t have a world-class journalism school and fight complying with the Sunshine Law. There is no excuse for having to be sued to comply with the Sunshine Law, and its time the Missouri Press Association and the journalism school faculty were heard on the matter.

Pre DebateTake a minute tonight and catch the Republican gubernatorial debate I’ll be hosting in Warrensburg at Missouri Boys State. The debate will be focused on what the state will look like 8 years from now, about the time many of the young men in the audience will be eligible to run for the Missouri House. We will live stream it at missouritimes.com.

On This Week in Missouri Politics, we’re taking a break from our series on the gubernatorial candidates to host Senator Mike Parson and Bev Randles for in a Lt. Governor’s race debate. Catch it on ABC 30 in St. Louis, KRCG in mid-Missouri, and anytime after 12:00 p.m. on Sunday mornings at twmp.tv.