If Republican-turned-Democrat Chris Koster winds up winning his party’s nomination for attorney general, he deserves automatic induction into Missouri’s Political Hall of Fame.
There is no such thing, but if Koster snares a win in August, someone should form one and ready a spot for the Harrisonville state senator.
Almost anyone familiar with Missouri politics will tell you that Koster has “the gift.” He can talk. He has the look with ambition to match. He has an always valuable political credential — a background in law enforcement.
For someone with his natural attributes, here’s guessing that Koster would translate, perhaps easily, an August primary win into a second triumph in November in a year that shapes up as big-time Democratic.
Then for Koster, the future would know no limits. The governorship, the U.S. Senate or who knows what else — all would be within his reach because attorney general remains the state’s best political launching paid in the state. (See: Jack Danforth, John Ashcroft).
But first he has to win in August, a race that could be Koster’s toughest.
Of course, Kraske notes later in the column, far later, that Koster may have a pesky little problem with his possibly illegal money-laundering operation, especially since Koster is trumpeting his law enforcement background, but get that out of the way and it's full speed ahead to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
HARRIS WAS IN THE AG’s OFFICE FOR ABOUT AS LONG AS PARIS HILTON WAS IN JAIL
ReplyDelete8 months! Only 8 months!! I have written time and time again about the lack of experience Jeff Harris has vs Koster. I never had any idea how little experience Harris really had until now.
Did you know that when Jeff Harris served as an Assistant Attorney General it was ONLY FOR 8 MONTHS. This is all he talks about and he only held the job for 8 months.
For heavens sake, what kind of experience does he think he got in only 8 months. Did he take any vacation days? Did he catch a cold and stay home for a couple of days? Maybe he really only has 7 and a half months of experience as an Asst AG.
I have interns in my office that have 6 months stints. Was Harris really an just an intern? That might make a little more sense.
For crying out loud, who holds a job for 8 months and then brags about how much “experience” they earned. Most people don’t even put a job on their resume if they don’t stick with it for at least a year.
I think Paris Hilton was in jail for longer then Harris worked as an Asst AG.
Why would anyone ever elect a guy to be AG that could not even put forth an honest effort when he took a job as an Assistant AG. Why would anyone elect a guy that had such little interest in the AG’s office that he quit inside of a year of being hired. Harris accuses everyone else of being political opportunist and using this election as a stepping stone to the governor’s mansion. What did he do? Serving ONLY 8 MONTHS!! Was Harris padding his resume?
Harris’ slogan is “Real Democrat, Real Experience”. Real experience, my foot. I bet 99% of the people working currently as an Asst AG have more experience then Harris.
I must admit that when I have blogged in the past about Harris’ lack of experience, I had no idea he held the Asst AG job for such a short amount of time. Talk about exaggerating his experience. I thought when I would say “Koster has 10 times the experience of Harris”, I was using poetic license and that I was exaggerating a bit. Little did I realize that Koster really has 15 times the experience of Harris.
Think about it, Harris started his job. It probably took him 2 or 3 months to get to know everyone, figure out where the bathroom was and get worked into the equation. After that, he worked, at most, for 2 or 3 months before starting to think about quiting. He barely started, and he quit (we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he did not get pushed out). For God sake, isn’t it kinda normal to call somebody “the new guy” until they have been there at least a year? Harris was still “the new guy” when he quit And now he wants people to believe that in this short 8 MONTH stint he somehow generated some huge amount of experience….please.
Does Harris have any other experience we should know about now that the whole Asst AG thing is kinda not all that impressive.
Sorry Jeff, experience is not something you can not just say you have. You actually have to work at it. And just a little more advice, it typically takes more then 8 months to gain truly valuable experience (i.e. knowing more then just where the bathroom is)
Too bad his personal life disqualifies him.
ReplyDeleteHarris spent years and years and years defending corporations when he worked at Bryan Cave. That job is almost exactly the opposite of what the AG does. Besides his experience at the Cave, Harris has nothing. He talks about his experience as one of 250 Asst AGs, as if that is what makes him more qualified then any other candiate, only for it to come out that he only served in that role for 8 months. He intentional is trying to trick people. That is why he has no dates on his bio. People assume he held the job for more then a blink of an eye, when in fact he did not. Harris - Bryan Cave Attorney where he defended corporations, followed by a stint as an Asst AG (clearly so he could pad his resume) followed by his only real experience in the House. Not sure how that even comes close to Koster, a 14 year elected official (10 years as prosecutor, 4 years as State Senator)
ReplyDeleteNow Donnelly. Career “Family Law Attorney”, aka Divorce Laywer. I would bet that well over 50% of her experience has been representing either a husband or a wife in a divorce. ZERO help as AG. Purely a job to bring home money to the Donnelly family. Again, not sure how that even comes close to Koster, a 14 year elected official (10 years as prosecutor, 4 years as State Senator.
If you do not support Koster, it is clearly for some other reason then who is the most qualified. If you want to elect somebody that is less qualified, that is pure politics.
Annon 6:19... Even if Harris was in the AG office for only 8 months as some would like us to believe and then worked as a corporate attorney, why would that make him so much more unqualified than Koster? I don't have my mind made up by any means, but why does that make him less qualified than Koster? From personal experiences that I've had with the AG office it has always regarded a business venture in one way or the other, and I know that's a majority of what the AG office in Missouri handles. So why is an experienced attorney in corporate affairs a terrible thing? From everything that I can tell, being a county prosecutor is probably the furthest from making one the best candidate for AG as they do no where close to the same job.
ReplyDeleteJust some thoughts and curious to what your answer is, I really would like to know so that I can make an informed decision.