Multiple GOP gubernatorial entries keep race interesting
Richard Fulton
With Trump continuing to call Hillary Clinton everything but the devil incarnate and Clinton attacking Trump as not having the disposition to be president, the rough and tumble of presidential politics is not likely to let up.
This means that the people trying to run for governor of Missouri, and for other statewide offices, are getting lost in the media’s orgy of headlines and loud commentary.
This being the case, and with the primary just a month away, let’s at least explore who the candidates are for governor of Missouri.
You may have already gotten a hint at the infighting within the Republican ranks over the governorship nomination. A great deal of money is already being spent on television ads on the topic.
The focus of a great deal of expenditure centers on John Brunner’s candidacy.
He has spent lavishly already in an attempt to define himself and get ahead in the race. He fancies himself as one who “cannot be bought,” whatever that a means. Except he is a successful businessman with a lot of money to throw around. His theme is: independent of special interests, businessman, family man, Christian values.
A super-Pac that has a name nobody is familiar with has gathered a great deal of money to promote an attack ad featuring Mr. Brunner. It appears he is a shady character who doesn’t pay his taxes. Sound familiar? I said it is an attack ad.
What this does illustrate is that others see Brunner as the front runner for the nomination. This is further illustrated by the fact that the presumptive Democratic nominee, Attorney General Chris Kostner has already focused on Brunner for press releases charging him with being harmful to farmers.
The other Republican candidates have found different themes they are using to sell themselves.
Catherine Hanaway, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and only female candidate for governor, wants to emphasize her adherence to Missouri’s rural values.
She has a few ads on TV trying to introduce herself to the state as a conservative who wants to cut state spending by cutting state workers and by emphasizing her anti-abortion stands.
Peter Kinder is another Republican office holder looking to trade up.
He is the lieutenant governor. He has a conservative record and hopes to out-conservative the rest of the conservative campaigns.
Bob Dixon is a state senator term limited out and seems to be unable to match the finances of the other candidates. He, too, is trumpeting his conservatism.
The most interesting candidate for the Republicans is Eric Greitens.
He is a former Navy SEAL and presently a businessman.
He is hitting hard on the theme that he is an outsider; a theme that seems to be working lately in American politics.
He seems to like guns since his rather controversial TV ad has him in a rather excited mood sending multiple shots (presumably at “insiders”) from an assault rifle.
Seems rather poor taste to me, though the ads did run before Orlando, but after other mass murders.
As one wag has said about the Republican candidates, they all have at heart the overriding theme of “Guns, God, and Family.”
Besides Chris Kostner, the Democrats can choose one of two assuredly also-ran candidates.
One is Charles Wheeler the 89-year-old former mayor of Kansas City.
The other is Leonard Steinman, one of those people who runs every year, regardless of the hopelessness of the cause.
The Libertarian Party candidate is Gary Johnson. The party’s theme is Individual Life, Free Markets, and Peace. If there is a strong national ticket, the party may get up to 10 percent of the vote.
While Kostner can afford to focus on John Brunner, his assumed winner for the Republicans, each Republican will have to find a way to stand out from the crowd.
Look out for heavy hitting campaigns.
