JEFFERSON CITY - The Missouri Republican Party released internal Jay Nixon office e-mails to expose Nixon?s ?run, Jay, run? encounter at the Missouri State Fair as a transparently phony stunt.

 

?Ah, vanity. Uncertain of his ability to draw a crowd to much of anything, Nixon has added to a long string of stage-managed events with today?s ?encounter? with a Democrat from Pulaski County,? said John Hancock, spokesman for the Missouri Republican Party. ?And then he looked at the media and denied the obvious. Nixon, who has lost two major statewide races, claimed that Merrel Breyer surprised him by urging him to run for Governor. Good grief.

 

?Lest Nixon be struck by lightning, we urge him to own up to the embarrassing record of contrivance from his office, and stop claiming this wasn?t an empty stunt.?

 

Summary:

 

Associated Press, August 18, 2005

??Breyer made a point of seeking out Nixon to encourage him to challenge Blunt. Nixon told the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association member from Pulaski County, “I’m very interested in looking,” at the governor’s race, jokingly imploring the questioner “to demand action.” Nixon insisted later that the encounter was not staged. “People like that come up to me across the state all the time,” Nixon said, adding that as the senior statewide Democratic elected official he would be well suited for the governor’s office.?

 

Breyer is a local Democrat candidate just rejected by the voters. Richland Mirror, 11/5/2004

Pulaski County voters elected a new sheriff, new eastern district county commissioner and public administrator in elections Tuesday. . . . Western District Commissioner Dennis Thornsberry, a Republican, was re-elected. Thornsberry received 2,521 votes to 1,389 for his challenger, Democrat Merrel Breyer.

 

Breyer is no political novice; BA in political science from the University of Missouri, Richland Mirror, 7/23/2004

Merrel Breyer is running unopposed as a Democratic candidate for Pulaski County Western Commissioner. He will face the winner of the Republican primary in the Nov. 2 general election. Breyer is a lifelong resident of Pulaski County. He has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Missouri in political science.

 

Now, let?s look at Nixon?s recent track record of staging events:

 

Tuesday, May 25, 2005 @ 9:53 AM

Current Nixon/ex-Holden press secretary Mary Still e-mails St. Louis environmental group Trailnet to alert them to a press conference the next day in St. Charles pertaining to Nixon?s MKT lawsuit. She thanks the Democrat-loaded group for their support and assistance in ?getting the word out.? Still indicates that Nixon?s ?consumer education coordinator? Travis Ford is the contact person for the planned events.

 

May 25, 2005 @ 9:58 AM

Still e-mails Audubon Society (anti-Bush organization) environmentalists. Still alerts them to the planned press conferences in conjunction with the lawsuit and encourages them to ?pass this [information] along? to like-minded environmentalists.

 

May 25, 2005 @ 10:13 AM

Environmentalist/Former DNR employee David Bedan sends mass e-mail to ?Friends of Conservation? group regarding two Nixon press conferences relating to the MKT suit. The mass e-mail includes specifics about the suit Nixon is to file the next day, which means Bedan could have had knowledge of information in the suit prior to its release.

 

May 25, 2005 @ 10:57 AM

Audubon?s Roger Still responds to Mary Still?s 9:58 AM e-mail to thank her for the alert. In addition to saying he would be at the press event, Still inquires about a rumor he heard that Ameren UE was ?considering making a run at decapitating Church Mountain again.? Roger Still goes on to say that ?his help again on that front would be important? in reference to Nixon?s assistance in stopping any further action by Ameren UE.

 

May 25, 2005 @ 2:54 PM

Nixon?s ?consumer education coordinator? Travis Ford e-mails Nixon spokesperson Holste to notify him that he spoke with George Boehm, an environmentalist with the Greenway Network. Ford informs Holste that Boehm and many members of ?his network? planned to be at a Wednesday press conference. A follow-up e-mail indicates that Ford contacted Boehm at the request of Holste.