I’m still playing catch-up on the news after three weeks out of the country, but the biggest political story in Missouri is the race to succeed retiring U.S. senator Roy Blunt.
I don’t know what you think, but to me this is about as frustrating and muddled a political situation as you can imagine.
And I’m talking about from all angles — Republican, Democratic and independent.
All the Republican candidates, including Attorney General Eric Schmitt, former Gov. Eric Greitens and U.S. Rep. Vicki Hartzler, are awful and should not be serving U.S. residents in any capacity, as far as I’m concerned.
And yet one of them — probably Schmitt — will almost surely succeed Blunt, who at least has some character and very likely loathes, privately, Donald Trump…(I would have a lot higher opinion of him if he’d have just said so at some point…like on Jan. 7, 2021.)
But that’s enough about the Republicans — they make me want to go back to Amsterdam — so let’s turn to the Democratic side.
One of the two leading candidates is 39-year-old Lucas Kunce, a lawyer and self-described populist. He seems very smart and well-intended, but he has zero political experience (why don’t these people with stars in their eyes start out at the city council level?), and even though he’s been running for 16 months, he has not been able to establish much of a profile or name identity.
His main opponent is Trudy Busch Valentine, 65, who, although she announced her candidacy a full year after Kunce, is now leading the race.
Busch Valentine is the kind of candidate who makes you grind your teeth. She is an heiress to the Busch/Budweiser fortune, which, unfortunately, made her a formidable candidate the day she announced her candidacy. In addition, she also has zero political experience and, moreover, has no interest in, or ability to, campaign at the grass-roots level.
She is woefully ignorant of the issues and has had made some gaffes, including on LGBT matters, which, admittedly, could confound the most seasoned and deft of politicians.
Busch Valentine’s plan is to flood TV and mail boxes with ads that present her as a sincere and caring person who has Missourians’ best interests (whatever those might be) at heart.
Indicative of the political wind carrying her along, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver endorsed her two months after she entered the race. Cleaver usually doesn’t take sides in Democratic primaries at any level, and the fact that he quickly came out for Busch Valentine tells me that’s where the smart money is.
The betting money is probably right: A recent poll from Emerson College (in Boston) and The Hill (a political website out of Washington) showed Busch Valentine supported by 39 percent of respondents, Kunce by 35 percent, with 22 percent of respondents saying they were undecided.
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In addition to the clutter on the Republican and Democratic sides, there’s a real joker in the deck.
John Wood, who recently stepped down as senior legislative counsel to the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot, is planning to become an independent candidate on the November ballot, assuming enough voters sign petitions to put him on the ballot.
John Wood — could there be a duller name? — was recruited and is being pushed by former U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth, grandson of the founder of Ralston Purina. Danforth has personally contributed $5 million to a political action committee supporting Wood, and he has said he will try to raise an additional $20 million.
To me, this is utter folly. Wood appears to be a dishrag of a candidate, and I have no idea who would vote for him or why.
Consider…
- Republicans won’t vote for him because they’ve got plenty of great (in their warped view) Trump-ass-licking candidates to choose from.
- Democrats won’t vote for him because while he’s the antithesis of the Trump-ass-licking crowd, he’s so conservative that he supports the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
- Finally, there aren’t enough independents in Missouri to fill Party Cove at Lake of the Ozarks.
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So, here we are, less than a week before the primary, with this muddled, ridiculous situation. I guess I’ll vote for Kunce, but I really won’t care if he loses. If he does, we’ll be subjected to a barrage of Trudy Busch Valentine ads in the fall, and then she will lose to the Republican nominee.
There it is…No drama…Just business as usual in a state that about a million or so Democrats are stuck in.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Jimmy, in my opinion, you pretty well nailed the race and the probable outcome of the two primaries. Depending on who wins the GOP nod, there could be more fireworks in the general. But the leading candidates on the Republican ticket should never be allowed on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
Words from one of the best Republican office holders to ever come from Missouri.
The main thing is who can beat Greitens. I don’t think Kunce can. Two white guys, they kind of look alike, both veterans. We’ve met Trudy. She meets people well and she seems sincere, but she is getting horrible advice and her campaign seems to be run by incompetents. On the plus side, she has universal name recognition, and I think many rural Missourians will identify with the loss of her son to an overdose.
You could move to JOCO. It is now blue. Or, you could move to WYCO where the food is not only better, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper.
Patty and I were talking about that at dinner tonight, John — why not move to Kansas, where Laura Kelly is governor, probably going to be re-elected, and where Kris Kobach is going to get his head handed to him, again? Well, housing prices being what they are and me being president of the City of Fountains Foundation…nah, I’m stuck.
I think Kunce offended the Democratic hierarchy early on since he is running a grass roots campaign, not taking big pharmaceutical or PAC money, hence Valentine getting all the “machine” endorsements. However, the St. Louis Post Dispatch endorsed Kunce after, according to their article, they grilled all three Dems and Valentine was woefully unprepared. I’ve met Kunce and he is beyond enthusiastic. I will take “stars in the eyes” any day over someone with enough money to buy a campaign.
I saw that endorsement…Welcome to the Comments Dept., Kay.
I just saw an interview with another Democratic candidate, Spencer Toder. He seems like an earnest young man who would make an excellent city council, school board or state rep candidate…I don’t sense Kunce is ready now. My friends like him and are enthusiastic about him, while the establishment likes Trudy. But I don’t sense the enthusiasm. I suspect many figure Trudy will be a force win or lose and don’t want to be on the wrong side. Interestingly she has wrapped up the African American leadership.
Of the candidates, I know Schmitt. He was a student at Truman State when I was a board member. He got off to a good start in the legislature…many thought in the “Tom Coleman” mold, working across the aisle to achieve results. Those days are gone now.
I don’t rule Greitens out. These days, polls seem to point to who has a chance, not who will necessarily win. Schmitt suing affluent suburban, popular school districts like Lee’s Summit doesn’t seem like a winning move to me.
“John Wood — could there be a duller name?”
A savvy campaign could put a catchy spin on it, à la “I like Ike,” such as “I got Wood!”
Down boy…
Danforth’s judgment of character has been disastrous — Clarence Thomas and “are you running?” Hawley. Maybe Wood is an exception, but instead of screwing with Missouri voters, Danforth should see the mess he’s making and do the honest and straightforward thing and support the whoever Democrat, bound to be superior to the Republican.
I like what Thomas More says of his imaginary Utopia — “Anyone who deliberately tries to get himself elected to public office is permanently disqualified from holding one.”