It was rough week for two Republican gubernatorial hopefuls, as Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna lost his cool with a tracker and Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder again made headlines for spending lavishly on the taxpayer dime.
They say sunlight is the best disinfectant, but for these highly-flawed candidates it just seems to be revealing the ugly truth: neither is ready to be governor.
Here’s the rundown:
Washington
Washington State Republican Candidate Rob McKenna, who the RGA has touted as one of their top recruits for the 2012 cycle, became visibly spooked last night when he saw a Democratic tracker at one of his public events.
According to a press account of the event, “McKenna stopped and asked the [tracker] who he was with. The man gave his name, Zach Wurtz, and said he was with the Washington State Democrats. The Young Republicans club president, Jennifer Fetters, asked him to leave. Nope. McKenna told Wurtz to turn off the camera. Wurtz refused. McKenna’s voice got sharper, ‘Turn it off. Now!’”
The Attorney General of Washington is too embarrassed to be filmed at a public appearance, and now he wants to be governor? He can’t be serious.
After awkward flip-flops on issues like health care and worker rights, this latest incident raises questions about whether McKenna is ready for primetime.
Missouri
Three months after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch broke the story of MO-GOV Republican Peter Kinder’s lavish lifestyle on the taxpayer dime (including 300+ stays at hotels including the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons), the scandal is still grabbing headlines.
This week, it was an “audit” from Kinder’s political allies at the Auditor’s office that, while oddly refusing to comment on the appropriateness of Kinder’s taxpayer-funded luxury hotel stays, said Kinder “owes taxpayers more than $10,000 for meals on his trips around Missouri.”
With this type of baggage, you’d think national Republicans would look elsewhere for their candidate in Missouri. But just two weeks ago, RGA Chair Rick Perry held a St. Louis fundraiser for Kinder’s candidacy, indicating that Kinder might just be here to stay.
Tags: Hotel-gate, Peter Kinder, Rob McKenna, Tracker rage
