Free Republic

SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (July 28, 2010) — State Sen. Bill Stouffer knows he’s in an uphill battle trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton. When he visits military installations, he routinely sees everything from dog kennels to major training facilities named after Skelton, who as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has brought literally billions of dollars to Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base. So why would anyone ask voters in a county like Pulaski, where Skelton is widely credited with saving Fort Leonard Wood from closure, ask voters to close out Skelton’s congressional career of more...

SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (July 28, 2010) — It’s hard to avoid being attacked during a political campaign, but Pulaski County’s own legislator, State Rep. David Day, says he knows State Sen. Bill Stouffer well and believes recent attacks on him by former State Rep. Vicky Hartzler miss the mark. Stouffer and Hartzler are the two leading Republican candidates to replace U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, a longtime Democrat who chairs the House Armed Services Committee and represents one of the most conservative congressional districts held by a Democrat. Skelton has rarely had aggressive opposition, but this year both Hartzler and Stouffer...

SAINT ROBERT, Mo. (July 28, 2010) — As one of the two leading Republican candidates seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, State Sen. Bill Stouffer said he rather than former State Rep. Vicki Hartzler or any of the other candidates is best qualified to replace a conservative Democrat with a conservative Republican in Congress. Speaking Wednesday morning at the Sunshine Café in St. Robert, Stouffer said anyone who wants to unseat Skelton after more than three decades needs to be able to understand farmers and rural Democrats. “I think I am the...