Will Kit Bond’s Senate career be “sleeping with the fishes” after 2010?

The respected Capital Hill newspaper Roll Call has an interesting article today on our senior Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond. In what will probably be the first in a series of articles on Republican incumbent senators facing uphill battles for re-election in 2010, the article titled “Ties That Bond: Will He Stay or Go?” tries to give us a little insight on Mr. Bond’s thinking. “I’m laying the groundwork, but right now I’m focused on my official role as Missouri’s senior Senator.”

Long time political observers we talked to speculate that Bond running for re-election is almost a certainty:

“Look, all Kit’s known for forty plus years is politics and holding elected office. They’ll have to drag him out of the Senate chamber stiff and at room temperature before he leaves! His playboy days are FAR behind him, so what is going to do, end out his days being a gentleman farmer in Mexico, Missouri? I don’t think so.”

In the article, Bond said he’s readying his legendary “Bond Brigade” for 2010 and that he is “lucky to have the best county coordinators and Republican volunteers in the nation.” He also took credit for “deliver[ing] the only win for John McCain in a battleground state.”

We see three big question marks for Mr. Bond in 2010. One, will the Bond Brigade and party activists forgive him for involving himself in the governor’s primary? Two, what impact will the current scandal involving political pygmy Jason Van Eaton and the firing of former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves have? The notion that Bond had no idea what was going on in his own office is not credible. And three, the country is not in the mood for politicians who pride themselves on the pork they bring back to their state. It’s an especially hard argument when our junior Senator Claire McCaskill doesn’t ask or receive earmarks.

We chronicled the taxpayer paid junkets (New Orleans & Asia) taken by former Bond state director Jason Van Eaton and the revolving door he maneuvered to lobby the Senator.

We’ve learned Mr. Van Eaton wasn’t the only Bond staffer abusing the taxpayers and taking lobbyist sponsored trips.

Former Chief of staff and now state director Brian Klippenstein has been a travelin’ as well. Mr. Klippenstein has racked up over $8,000 in trips to Hawaii ($2,694.95) and Arizona ($2,414.31).

Can Kit win in 2010? Sure, he’s an incumbent and he’s a tireless campaigner. If we had to put our early money on this race, we’d have to call it a toss up between him and Robin Carnahan.

Related:

Human Events: “The 54-year-old Kinder is considered a likely Republican contender for governor in four years or for the U.S. Senate if four-term Republican Kit Bond retires in 2010.”

Club for Growth Video: Bond Supports Pork for Bicycle Paths

Geez, we just had an election! What impact will President Obama have on the 2010 race when he travels to Missouri to campaign for Robin Carnahan, an early supporter of his?

From Public Policy Polling:

Kit Bond is more popular than Voinovich and Martinez but our polling finds him somewhat vulnerable as well if the right person runs against him in 2010.

In July we found Bond’s approval rating at 39%. In August we found it at 44%.

In hypothetical matchups we found Bond leading Secretary of State Robin Carnahan 44-42, Auditor Susan Montee 47-35, Congressman Russ Carnahan 46-43, and former Congressman Dick Gephardt 44-43.

As is often the case in Missouri politics the Democrats’ best bet may be nominating a Carnahan, and with the newly reelected Secretary of State’s term running through 2012 she would have nothing to lose by making a Senate run in 2010. Read more…

As President-Elect Obama mulls over his choices for his cabinet, one Missourian’s name -besides Claire McCaskill - is being bandied about as a future member. Former minority leader Dick “son of a milk truck driver” Gephardt is being mentioned as a possible labor secretary in the new administration. Though overly partisan at times, Mr. Gephardt is respected by his former colleagues and would easily sail through Senate confirmation.

Mr. Gephardt, who enjoyed strong support from the labor unions while in office, may not be such a good fit now that he is a corporate lobbyist for the coal industry and clean coal technology - an industry Mr. Obama promised to bankrupt during the campaign. Also, as a partner in a prominent Washington law firm, Gephardt’s making more money than he’s ever made in his life. Does he really want to give all that up at this stage in his life?

Related:

Lobbyist Gephardt Calls for More Drilling & Use of Coal

Quote[s] of the Day: Lobbyist Gephardt Not Following Dem Talking Points on Energy

 Our subtle advice to the alleged Peter Kinder haters

The good folks over at FiredUp Missouri are doing their best today to rain a little on Lt. Governor Kinder’s victory parade. IF their allegations are true, (They’ve finally put a picture up) FUM revealed today how Mr. Kinder won his election against Sam Page in a historic Democratic year.

From FiredUp Missouri:

“According to GOP sources, (MOPNS speculates the “sources” are either Rod Jetton or “political pygmy” Jason Van Eaton - or both!) Kinder and his allies distributed thousands of sample ballots in urban areas on Election Day.

One sample ballot sandwiched Kinder’s pocked mug between the photos of Barack Obama and Democratic Congressman Lacy Clay.”

How underhanded! A Republican candidate actually vying for African American votes! We have to hand it Kinder and his handlers to realize that the demographics in this country are changing, and that winning elections - solely dependent on white majorities - are coming to and end. We Didn’t see too many African Americans in Mr. Hulshof’s commercials -or in any of the other Republican statewide candidates’ commercials for that matter. My God, rent an actor or actors for a day. Your message told thousands of voters that you didn’t even respect them enough to put a token in a campaign commercial!

After being humiliated and told to stand down so that the state committee could hand pick the candidate they wanted, Mr. Kinder had every right to run his campaign the way he saw fit, and it obviously was very successful. An old friend of ours had a saying that is very fitting for this occasion: “I’m loyal to those that are loyal to me.” We say Amen!

Related:

Team Kinder: Kinder: Last Man Standing

PuDef: The Tale of Peter Kinder

This certainly is no surprise to us!

From the Wall Street Journal’s “Environmental Capital” blog:

“Among five major energy and environmental ballot initiatives from California to Missouri, all but one were voted down.

Only in Missouri did a green-energy ballot initiative have any success…Proposition C set out to gradually increase the use of renewable energy to 15% by 2021. Alone among the five environmental ballot initiatives, Proposition C had almost no opposition.” Read more…

What is about St. Charles County Republican Councilman Joe Brazil that motivates Republican operatives to campaign so vigorously against him? Two years ago it was Jeff Roe, this cycle it was William “buddy” Hardin.

From the Suburban Journals:

“Something interesting happened in County Councilman Joe Brazil’s defeat of challenger Darrel Hollinger, who ran as an independent in District 2, which covers the southwest part of the county.

It seems that our very own Merry Prankster/Political Hit Man William “Buddy” Hardin was at it again. He sent out an attack mailing, received Saturday, that called Brazil a “career politician.”

Hardin, a Republican with ties to Gov. Matt Blunt, operates a committee called Voters for Good Government. You might recall that Hardin was the person who put out a phony copy of the First Capitol News in St. Charles the day before the April 2007 municipal election. It had an amazing resemblance to the real thing — until you read it.

But why would Hardin target a fellow Republican like Brazil?” Read more…

Related:

Jeff Roe: “I Always Wanted to Own a Newspaper”