JEFFERSON CITY - After inexplicably being allowed to manipulate federal campaign finance laws so special interests can pay off her $1.6 million state campaign debt, which by the way goes straight into her own pocket, Claire McCaskill is now using the same tactics she bashed Bob Holden for when he used special interest contributions to pay off his record-setting $1 million inaugural debt.

The Federal Election Commission today ruled that McCaskill is eligible for a narrow exemption from federal law that will allow her to solicit unlimited contributions to pay off a loan dating back to her unsuccessful bid for governor in 2004. The situation is eerily similar to Holden’s 2001 rush to raise money from lobbyists after the record-setting costs of his inaugural were exposed by the media and later were used by McCaskill to attack him during the 2004 Democrat primary for governor.

“Unbelievably, Claire McCaskill has chosen to rip a page from Bob Holden’s playbook by tapping all-to-eager lobbyists to pay off a debt even though McCaskill once attacked Holden for the same behavior and vowed in 2006 that she would distance herself from special interests,” said Paul Sloca, communications director for the Missouri Republican Party. “Claire McCaskill has duped Missourians time and again with her hypocrisy but this latest travesty takes the cake.”

The Missouri media attacked Holden for his lavish spending and his subsequent tapping of special interests to pay off the inaugural debt and McCaskill, to a much lesser extent, has faced similar criticism. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said in a January 5 editorial that McCaskill should abide by the campaign rules in effect in 2004; that she’s already been given more than enough time to pay back the loan; and that lobbyists should not be given another opportunity to influence her with unlimited contributions as she lines “up for more campaign swill.” The newspaper concluded: “Tacky. Very tacky.”