The battle in Missouri is heating up. Sam Graves is fighting for his Republican life in MO-06 against Kay Barnes, the well-liked former Mayor of Kansas City. This week, Graves rolled out his first ad.....and boy was it a stinker. Just about as sleazy and low as they come. In fact, it was so low that they dared not even air it in Kansas City - the largest market in MO-06. The ad features a black man dancing in a bar with two women - one black and one white - and accuses Kay Barnes of having "San Francisco values" and being funded by "west coast liberals." See the ad below:
So.....according to Sam Graves, because Nancy Pelosi - the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and the highest-ranking elected woman in American history - threw a fundraiser for Kay Barnes, it means that voting for Kay Barnes is the equivalent of voting for "San Francisco values" - ie homosexuality, abortion, etc. Graves thinks that Kay Barnes wouldn't be in this race if it weren't for all that "west coast liberal" funding. Nevermind that Graves wouldn't be doing nearly as well financially without questionable funding from the gas and oil industry and fairly recent fundraising visits from both Bush and Cheney on his behalf. It is hard to say who Sam Graves is working for in DC, but it sure doesn't appear to be Missouri families.
And, is it any wonder that Graves only had the guts to air this ad in one, smaller TV market and on rural radio in Missouri? Is Graves afraid that some Missourians - and Kansas Citians in particular - just might share some of those "San Francisco values" of tolerance and peace and won't take too kindly to his racist, homophobic pandering? If recent elections are any indication, voters in traditionally Republican leaning districts are not falling for this type of "politics of division." The voters have heard the right wing rhetoric for the last eight years - and more importantly - they've seen the results. They feel it in their pocketbook everyday. And, they won't be distracted by Republican boogeymen this November.
But, what do the political experts have to say about the ad? KC Star columnist, Steve Kraske, asked a political science professor:
“It’s sleazy,” said Rich Fulton, a political science professor at Northwest Missouri State University. “It’s homophobic, and it borders on the racist. It just says to me (Graves) is desperate.”
Kay Barnes immediately hit back, calling both the ad and Graves' record in congress "pathetic." Amen, Kay.
One thing is abundantly clear as a result of this ad.......Sam Graves is desperate. The economic policies he has so lovingly embraced over the last eight years are hurting many, if not most, families in Missouri and no amount of racist or homophobic language is going to change that for Missouri voters.