Politics & Government
Claire McCaskill Takes Campaign Finance Fight To Colbert; John Brunner Picks Up Tea Party Support
This edition of Political Potpourri has campaign machinations on both sides of the race to be Missouri's next U.S. Senator.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) made an appearance this week on The Colbert Report, a popular satirical news show on Comedy Central. The first-term senator spent time on the show talking about her latest ad, which hones on third-party organizations that have been running ads against her.
“Stephen, as he always does, used his character to point out the absurd loopholes in federal election law that allow corporations and special interests to anonymously influence the political system. I applaud the work he and his show do to educate America about 501(c)(4) organizations and secret money,” McCaskill said in a letter to supporters. “But, until the system is fixed, secret money will continue to flow into Missouri and attack me. As I said, if Missourians knew who was giving this money, they'd probably appreciate the enemies I've made.”
Not everybody was impressed with McCaskill’s appearance. Lance Trover, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, noted that outside groups have run ads on behalf of McCaskill.
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“If she were really serious, she would call on Patriot Majority PAC, Majority PAC and Vote Vets to end their ad campaigns on her behalf,” Trover said in a statement. “But we all know that’s not going to happen because the only thing she is serious about is this phony outrage that in her view will help her raise more campaign contributions.”
McCaskill, of course, will likely face either former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Wildwood) or Frontenac businessman John Brunner in the fall.
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Thursday, The New York Times reported that Brunner will on Monday receive the formal backing of FreedomWorks, a conservative group with ties to the Tea Party movement. The group's vice president of public policy and government affairs told the Times that Brunner had "the deepest intellectual background in free market economics” of the three primary contenders.
Meanwhile, McCaskill made more news when Politico reported that U.S. Capitol Police contacted the Kirkwood Police Department to help increase security for the senator. That came after Tea Party activist Scott Boston said "we need to kill the Claire Bear, ladies and gentlemen" at a Tea Party Express event.
Local Editors Owen Skoler and Gregg Palermo contributed information for this report.