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Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - "In case you haven't noticed, I'm running against a very young man," Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Claire McCaskill said at a fundraising event in St. Louis.
In a state gubernatorial race that has turned into a elaborate display of negativity, qualification and age has emerged as one of the central issues in the race between McCaskill and the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Matt Blunt.
Eighteen years separate the ages of two candidates -- an issue to which McCaskill raises on the campaign trail.
On the other side, McCaskill's longer governmental record has provided Blunt with more issues for attack.
It's Friday night and McCaskill is securing funds and support in St. Louis.
Sitting in a black SUV driven by one of her staffers, she chatted on her cell phone, from ironing out some details in her latest campaign finance report to calling to tell her daughter when she would be home.
Closer to home that week, Blunt's retrofitted RV, a spectacle of red, white and blue, pulled into a farm near Ashland. Standing in front of stacks of wheat seed bags, a pile of pallets formed his podium.
Blunt cracks a joke that sends the barn full of farmers wearing brown farm-style jackets into a fit of laughter. Blunt worked the crowd with boyish vigor -- extending firm handshakes and listened to people with focused eyes.
As McCaskill's car sped through a depressed North St. Louis neighborhood, she took time to look out the window at the abandoned storefronts and shadowed figures on the street corners.
"Many of these people have to go so far to shop," she said in a hushed tone.
Sitting in the front-seat, she displayed little anxiety about the frantic closing days of the campaign -- an attitude she credited to her multiple races in the past.
"This is my 18th election," McCaskill said. "I was prepared for how much energy it takes, quite frankly I love this part of it."
Blunt, the current Secretary of State, too expresses optimism about his campaign and about the support for his values in out-state Missouri.
"I think on a number of public policy issues, you'll find that my views are inline with those folks who live in rural Missouri," Blunt said.
McCaskill's long career in Missouri public service is something she sees as an advantage over her opponent.
Starting her political career as a representative from Kansas City in the Missouri House, McCaskill served from 1983 to 1988. She served as Jackson County prosecutor for six years and was elected to Missouri state auditor in 1999.
Glenn Campbell, McCaskill's spokesperson said that the decision to run for governor was made after the veto session of 2003 proved that Gov. Bob Holden could not hold influence over the Missouri General Assembly.
Strongly courting the St. Louis area, currently where McCaskill resides with her family, Campbell stressed the fact that the area contains 40 percent of the Missouri voting population.
Although she lives in St. Louis County, McCaskill said Kansas City still feels like home to her, having spent 20 years of her adult life there. With a foot in each of Missouri's major cities, McCaskill has made it clear that she is not willing to give up either to her opponent.
During her campaign stops in St. Louis, McCaskill spent time defending her values.
"These guys think they have a corner on the market in values and patriotism," she said about her opponent's campaign.
Support of moral values is one of the central themes to Blunt's campaign.
As Blunt spoke to the Ashland crowd, his wife, Melanie Blunt, rolled her eyes while laughing at her husband's jokes.
"I have been introduced as the pro-marriage candidate for governor," said Blunt. "Since Melanie's married to me, she's only pro-marriage part of the time."
Blunt has made a strategy in contrasting his values with McCaskill, criticizing the Democratic candidate for not supporting a state amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.
His stop in Ashland followed his endorsement by the Missouri Farm Bureau and Missouri Soybean Association.
"I think it's accurate to say agriculture stands solidly behind Matt Blunt for governor," said Charles Kruse, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau. "Do you know who stands solidly behind Claire McCaskill? The Sierra Club."
The son of U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, the House majority whip, the Blunt family hails from Southwest Missouri. Blunt's prior political experience includes one term in the Missouri House from the Springfield area before his election as secretary of state in 2000.
"I think Missouri's a competitive state and it is because of that keen competition, a single county in Missouri could determine who wins the race," said Blunt. "It could be the margin of victory one way or the other."
In Blunt's campaign message, he stressed the importance of consistent and accountable state government. He touted his record of streamlining the office of the secretary of state where he said he cut uneccessary costs to Missouri taxpayers.
"I really want to lead a state government that provides sustained guidance for (it's) people," Blunt said.
But Blunt has come under attack from McCaskill for his negative TV commercials.
"Some of the negativity in this campaign is unfortunate because I think it's going to impact," she said. "When people see the negative ad after negative ad, they get tired of it and tune out."
Recent advertisements include Blunt's criticism of McCaskill's record on nursing home regulation as state auditor.
But McCaskill's campaign also has had a negative side.
McCaskill has criticized Blunt's comparably meager experience with a TV advertisement featuring an actor playing the Republican candidate as he performs poorly at a job interview.