Todd Akin’s got a challenger within his own party. Insert laugh tracks here.
P-D:
U.S. Rep. Todd Akin will have some company on the August ballot next year.
Kirkwood Republican Liz Lauber announced today that she will challenge the five-term Republican in the 2010 primary.
A Kirkwood Republican. That’s all I need to know. After the Cookie Monster of Kirkwood did his thing almost a year ago, I kept my ear to the ground really closely. Come to find out, the Cookie Monster did what he did because Kirkwood’s polticians, almost Republican in everything, did nothing but pander and grovel to him. Then again, Jerkwood’s Republicans have always been problematic on race — the Kirkwood School District, run by school board members who have had close alliances with Republicans, was about the first school district in St. Louis County to embrace the deseg program.
“My opponent won a narrow primary victory in 2000 and has not faced a tough general election campaign. After what will be ten years in office for my opponent, I intend to mount a competitive race to give voters a clear choice,” Lauber said in a news release. “Todd Akin calls himself a ‘conservative with a soft edge,’ and I consider myself ‘an edgy conservative.’”
That Akin has not faced a tough campaign since that primary in 2000 doesn’t mean that he’s weak, dear.
I looked at her website, and she’s entirely about fiscal conservative stuff. That fits the Kirkwood Republican model very well. Kirkwood got its start because upper middle class businessmen who worked in St. Louis City wanted a relatively rural homestead, when the railroad stop in Kirkwood opened up to create that opportunity.
But for Miss Lauber to complain about Akin backsliding on fiscal conservatism is the joke of all jokes. That’s why I think that there’s something else at work here. I get the feeling that it’s got something to do with Christian cultural conservatives (sometimes called the “religious right”). She might have a hard-on against them for some reason.
Akin captured his seat in 2000 after a crowded GOP primary that included Jack Jackson and Gene McNary. Akin, of Town and County, replaced Jim Talent in the House seat.
I predicted Akin’s victory. The reason was that he had a strong base among Christian conservatives, and they showed up in force. McNary did better than I thought he did, coming within 100 votes. But the reason why I thought he wouldn’t win is because he was old news.
According to her website, Lauber, 43, worked on Capitol Hill for former Majority Leader Dick Armey and later on the House Homeland Security Committee. She was also a “government and industry relations communications consultant” for Wells Fargo.
Wells Fargo. I wonder if they’ve got something to do with this.
It won’t matter anyway. Todd Akin’s got MO-2 for as long as he wants it.
