Brody: You’re gonna need a bigger boat.

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C001135 10/11/2012 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Democratic Governors Association – Missouri 2201 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Suite 320 Washington DC 20007 10/9/2012 $300,000.00

[emphasis added]

Cue the ‘cellos, then the French Horn enters….

Previously:

Dave Spence (r): corporate downsizing (October 8, 2012)

Dave Spence (r): nothing exceeds like excess (June 16, 2012)

Is there a Jaymobile? Just asking.

Dave Spence spent what probably amounts to a pretty big pot of money to run an ad that is likely to be more notable for the fact that it misspells “governor” as “Spenceforgoverner.com” than for its content. Rep. Todd Akin has also run into problems with spelling and grammar when assembling his campaign adds Website. They’re minor errors, and, God knows, with my propensity for typos, I should tread carefully. But wouldn’t you think that folks who are paying beaucoup bucks to run ads could take the time to proof them? Especially since there are relatively few words to check and most of them are common everyday words.

When I was in college, I remember a professor who declared that casual, sloppy errors in term papers amounted to an expression of contempt for the educational process and for educators. By the same measure, aren’t such casual, easily corrected slips on the part of politicians likely to be an expression of contempt for voters? It’s sort of like they think we’re so easy we don’t require much effort. And isn’t it just as likely that this contempt will express itself in other ways as well? Through blatant, in-your-face dishonesty, perhaps, or excuses that beggar belief? And sure enough, both Akin and Spence are guilty.

Remember Spence’s effort to present his home economics degree as a business degree in economics? Or consider his crude deflection of accusations that he voted to default on a TARP bailout loan while on the board of Reliance Bank. He can’t refute that fact, so he pretends that the issue is whether or not he was on the Board when it decided to request the funds. Do you maybe think Spence thinks we’re stupid?

Akin, for his part, quickly flip-flopped on earmarks when it meant a few bucks in his campaign coffers, but tried to save face by claiming that his new-found enthusiasm for earmark bans was consistent with what he’d really meant all along when he said that banning earmarks was unconstitutional. Once again, don’t you get the idea that this guy thinks we’re stupid?  

If Spence and Akin demonstrate a lazy contempt for voters, the Romney/Ryan campaign has taken the same approach to new heights (or, perhaps, depths?). Take, for example, Romney’s tax and deficit proposals. When challenged with the fact that there’s no math there, he refuses to actually discuss the issue in terms of specifics; he just insists that the criticisms aren’t true and, if we’ll just trust him, it’ll all turn out okay. However, in the words of the non-partisan study that actually did the math:

Our conclusion was not a prediction about [what] Governor Romney would do as President, it was an arithmetic calculation: all of the promises couldn’t be met simultaneously without resorting to tax increases on households with income below $200,000.

Now, are you telling me that Governor Romney, a former financier, doesn’t know that? Want another example? Consider Romney’s statement in last Wednesday’s debate that the health care “plan” that he put on his Website provides for coverage of preexisting conditions. It’s just flat-out not true, and it’s highly unlikely that the Governor didn’t know that. He’s responsible for what it says after all. Do you think that maybe he figures we’re just too lazy or stupid to check it out?

Of course, in the aftermath of an obstreperous  presidential debate performance, Romney is enjoying a bump in the polls. While Akin is running behind McCaskill in the polls, at least 40% of Missourians don’t care how he disses them – in fact, he’s just announced that he pulled in a $1 million dollars in online campaign donations. True, Spence has an uphill battle, but he’s still collecting endorsements from organizations that ought to know better. Maybe the GOP is on to something with that stupid shtick. If any of these bozos make it into elected office this November, it won’t be because the electorate is all that.

We miss the campaign land yacht.

Spotted in a parking lot in west central Missouri.

“Honk for more TARP bailout money for banks” must have already been taken.

Yesterday, the really big bucks, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C121403 10/05/2012 RGA MISSOURI PAC Republican Governors Association 1747 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Ste. 250 Washington DC 20006 10/4/2012 $3,000,000.00

C111205 10/05/2012 SPENCE FOR GOVERNOR RGA Missouri PAC 1747 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Ste. 250 Washington DC 20006 10/5/2012 $950,000.00

[emphasis added]

They always have all the money they need.

I’m beginning to believe republicans oppose campaign finance reform because they want to prop up the republican campaign operative industrial complex, mail houses, and broadcasters. And there is that small matter of influencing elections with an influx of excessive amounts of money, too.

…at the Missouri State Fair.

We just thought you’d like to know.

Dave Spence (r), candidate for governor with the desperately silly campaign commercials,

in Sedalia at the 2012 Missouri State Fair Governor’s Ham Breakfast.

That is all.

Previously: Campaign Finance: dueling checkbooks (September 25, 2012)

Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C001135 09/26/2012 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Clyde Lear 5618 Saddlebrooke Lane Lohman MO 65053 Retired Retired 9/24/2012 $10,000.00

C001135 09/26/2012 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Joseph P Danis 8235 Forsyth Boulevard Suite 1100 Clayton MO 63105 Carey & Danis, LLC Attorney 9/24/2012 $12,422.47

C001135 09/26/2012 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Joseph P Danis 8235 Forsyth Boulevard Suite 1100 Clayton MO 63105 Carey & Danis, LLC Attorney 9/24/2012 $9,107.86

[emphasis added]

C111205 09/26/2012 SPENCE FOR GOVERNOR William Koman One Forest Ridge Place St Louis MO 63105 The Koman Group President & CEO 9/26/2012 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

It’s not going to end anytime soon.

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C001135 09/24/2012 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI The Travelers Indemnity Company One Tower Square Hartford CT 06183 9/22/2012 $10,000.00

C001135 09/24/2012 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI MOSFA PAC, Inc. 221 Bolivar Street Suite 300 Jefferson City MO 65101 9/22/2012 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

C111205 09/24/2012 SPENCE FOR GOVERNOR Gerald Cook 2340 E. Cottage Blvd. Ozark MO 65721 Loren Cook Co. CEO 9/23/2012 $10,000.00

C111205 09/24/2012 SPENCE FOR GOVERNOR William McGinnis 17 Bridle Ridge Lane St Louis MO 63131 Nestle Purina Executive 9/24/2012 $10,000.00

C111205 09/24/2012 SPENCE FOR GOVERNOR Prime Inc. 2740 N. Mayfair Springfield MO 65803 9/23/2012 $19,000.00

[emphasis added]

At this rate there won’t be any business capital left in the state.

It’s easy if you have unlimited resources. Today, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C111205 09/19/2012 SPENCE FOR GOVERNOR RGA Missouri PAC 1747 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Ste. 250 Washington DC 20006 9/18/2012 $1,100,000.00

[emphasis added]

It’s not helping to bring down that contribution per donor average.

Jay Nixon (D) had a decent day:

C001135 09/19/2012 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Western Missouri and Kansas Laborers’ District Council PAC 1101 E. 87th Street Suite 100 Kansas City MO 64131 9/17/2012 $12,500.00

C001135 09/19/2012 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Advantage Capital Management Corporation 909 Poydras Street Suite 2230 New Orleans LA 70112 9/17/2012 $10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Enough to be semi-generous:

C000960 09/19/2012 MO DEMOCRATIC STATE COMMITTEE Jay Nixon for Missouri PO Box 143 Jefferson City MO 65102 9/19/2012 $25,000.00

[emphasis added]

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C001135 09/10/2012 JAY NIXON FOR MISSOURI Comprehensive Health Systems PO Box 468 Hannibal MO 63401 9/8/2012 $10,000.00

C111205 09/10/2012 SPENCE FOR GOVERNOR Steven Trulaske Sr 7700 Forsyth Blvd. Ste. 1220 St Louis MO 63105 True Manufacturing Executive 9/10/2012 $50,000.00

[emphasis added]

They’ll have all the money they want, more than they’ll need.

Yesterday, at the Missouri Ethics Commission:

C111205 09/02/2012 SPENCE FOR GOVERNOR Samuel Hamacher 948 Kingscove Ct. St Louis MO 63017 Harbour Group President 8/31/2012 $10,000.00

C111205 09/02/2012 SPENCE FOR GOVERNOR William Koman One Forest Ridge Place St Louis MO 63105 The Koman Group President & CEO 8/31/2012 $25,000.00

Gee, we’re used to seeing much larger amounts.