How Missouri's Republican senate candidates are different
by
Daniel Winn
Posted: 08.06.2012 at 10:21 PM
Most analysts says there is very little difference among the three leading senate republicans on the ballot.
They all say they want to go to Washington to fix the budget, to take care of Missouri's economic woes, and to change the political culture.
They all claim conservative credentials and indeed share a lot of the same views.
So how does a voter differentiate them?
I talked to all three candidates today and asked them how they are different from one another.
Here's some of what they had to say:
Sarah Steelman said, "I'm going to stand up for what's right and I'm not afraid to stand up to the status quo and the establishment in Washington D.C, and right now we have a lot of jaw bone, and not enough back bone."
Todd Akin said, "I believe the main thing that separates us is I have a proven conservative record I've stood on principal over politics and that has been over a period of years. And ever since Ronald Reagan was in the party, everybody claimed that they were a conservative. But it's easy enough to say you're a conservative on the campaign trail. It's a very different thing to have taken the tough votes..."
John Brunner told us, "I argue that they are conservative, but they have no practical experience. They have decades of political experience. I will argue that I am conservative with conservative values, plus bring in decades of actual practical experience from the manufacturing floor and from the Marine Corps to get in there and get the job done."