Kenny Hulshof

Answers to questions like "how much does the plan actually cost?"­­ ­­

So Kenny Hulshof waited until many of the capitol and political press were away in Denver before rolling out his health care "plan" to the rest of us.

Kenny Hulshof on Tuesday announced a health-care proposal he said could decrease costs and increase accessibility by allowing consumers to shop collectively for health insurance.­

In this year's gubernatorial election, the Democrat's secret weapon may well be... Michael Kelley.

Kelley is a long-time Democratic and labor activist.  This summer, Kelley has frequently co-hosted a radio show on KMOX in St. Louis with Hulshof campaign manager John Hancock. 

The entertaining programing is reportedly raising a troubling question in GOP circles: Who is running the Hulshof campaign while the self-indulgent Hancock nurtures a second career as a radio personality?

Apparently no one, including the candidate.  This weekend, Kansas City Star political writer Steve Kraske described the state of the Hulshof gubernatorial campaign as, "running up the down escalator."  Story Continued »

How's this for GOP message discipline?

Both John McCain and  Kenny Hulshof think the economy is doing well.

Maybe from their perch. 

McCain has at least seven houses (note: staff recount still not official) and millions of dollars in annual income.

As America waits for the text message from Barack Obama announcing his vice-presidential choice, GOP circles are buzzing about Kenny Hulshof's big announcement. 

According to straight faced GOP sources, Kenny Hulshof will use text messaging to announce a real jobs plan an earmark for a Bridge to Nowhere an endorsement of his candidacy by Sarah Steelman. 

I'm guessing Kenny is out of cell range.  Story Continued »

Must be nice to be able to afford a $26,000 bull.  From the Sedalia Democrat:

Laine Martin, 16, of Curryville, admitted to being a little sad to see her her crossbred grand champion steer, Willie, sold. She purchased him in December when he was nine months old.

Willie weighed in for competition at more than 1,300 pounds, and sold for the record-breaking price of $26,500 to Rep. Kenny Hulshof, the Republican gubernatorial candidate.

The steaks from Hulshof's bull will no doubt pair nicely with a classic '86 California Cabernet from his 1,000 bottle wine collection.­

Nearly two weeks after the GOP gubernatorial primary, Sarah Steelman still can't name one Republican candidate for Governor she will support.

After watching Kenny limp across the primary finish line, I don't blame her. 

Today we get a very telling YouTube video of Kenny Hulshof launching into angry, defensive mode when asked to explain his record of Congressional support for Big Oil.  Have a look...

This is the prototypical behavior of a Washington politician.  Hulshof has benefited from the largess of multi-billion dollar petroleum companies for a dozen years and cast vote after vote during his career to help bolster the industry's profits.  Now he acts shocked and indignant when someone dares ask him to defend his record.  

­So long as reporters are writing about Republican partisans claiming to be happy about the outcomes of certain Democratic primaries they should go ahead and write about the Democrats who are happy about who came out on top in the big Missouri GOP primary.

Here's a specific tip: Missouri Democrats were elated when Kenny Hulshof barely held off a charge from Sarah Steelman and won the gubernatorial nomination by a handful of points a week ago.  Though either Republican nominee would ultimately be defeated, Hasselhoff's Hulshof's primary victory allows Democratic nominee Jay Nixon to run against a candidate that's far easier to beat in a general election.  Here's why:­

New figures from a California foreclosure information firm show our state with a record number of pre-foreclosure filings in 2008 through the month of July.

These numbers are partially attributable to almost four years of Matt Blunt's "leadership" on the economy.  Blunt has recently referred to Missouri as a "more prosperous state."

Interestingly, newly minted GOP gubernatorial nominee has embraced Matt Blunt's policies and the foundering state economy they've helped produce.­­
 Story Continued »

I should probably start by noting that Republicans rightfully shouldn't care who I think people ought to support in a GOP gubernatorial primary.

But it does strike me that Missouri Republicans (or at least those who aren't yet too embarrassed to pull a GOP ballot) have a very clear choice.

They can choose the candidate whom everyone expects to win and who probably will, yet who has generated close to zero excitement, even among his own partisans.  Or they can choose the candidate for whom a victory would embody a total meltdown failure of the Republican Party's establishment and infrastructure.  

In listening to the GOP gubernatorial candidates debate, watching their advertisements and reading their public statements, one can't help but get the sense that Kenny Hulshof is in the race without a reason.

Can anyone honestly determine why it is that Kenny Hulshof is running for Governor?  The rationale for his candidacy, in its entirety, seems to be that Kenny Hulshof Deserves to Be Elected Governor Because He's a Swell Guy with a Farm.  

Nowhere in the six-month course of this campaign has Kenny ever made it clear why he wants to be governor or what he'd hope to accomplish if he won.  There are seemingly no theme, no new ideas, and no meaningful reasons animating Kenny's run for the state's top office.  Most days it is as though Kenny is running a campaign for its own sake, one built on the idea that he must run for something and governor is the right spot this time because he was thwarted from running for the seat last time.

Sarah Steelman, for all her stumble-tongued simplicity and monotonous carping, has at the very least seized on a kernel of something substantive (if not entirely relevant) in her constant attacks on Congressional earmarking and Kenny's complicity in it.  Observers get the sense that Steelman has a reason for running that's real, even though hers is a campaign without a constituency that can make it a success. 

By contrast, Kenny Hulshof seems content to make the campaign about convincing voters that his unremarkable record in Congress and as a prosecutor is enough to stave off disqualification while rarely giving anyone the notion that he's in this race for something larger, for the chance to do something innovative or make life better for Missourians in some way worth noting.  His candidacy smells as though it was thrown together using equal parts I've-waited-my-turn entitlement and establishment-choice inevitability, baked in the oven of thoughtfulness for about thirty minutes too few, then served to a populace that quickly wondered why they ought want to swallow it.

Tony Messenger has a story today about Kenny Hulshof changing his vote to override the President's veto of a Medicare reimbursement bill just weeks after a fundraiser through which he raised more than $20,000 for his gubernatorial campaign from funders who would benefit from the reimbursement bill.  

The money quote comes from our old friend Spence Jackson:

“You cannot trust Congressman Hulshof,” said Steelman spokesperson Spence Jackson. “He changed his vote explicitly for campaign contributions at Dr. Steve Reintjes house in Kansas City just a few days ago. Missourians can’t afford a government that’s for sale.”

Far be it from me to agree with Spence, but he may be onto something.

Watching this video makes me long for a fifty-five gallon drum of drawn butter.