Third time's a trend? Koster skips Obama event

Two months ago it was a debate among Democratic candidates. Last weekend it was a forum with the West County Dems. Monday, it was Barack Obama's first gathering of Democrats in the Show-Me State since becoming the party's presumptive presidential nominee.

Each of these events was skipped by State Sen. Chris Koster, a candidate for Attorney General.

Koster, who joined the Democratic Party last summer after a dramatic farewell from the Republican Party, has had to prove his credentials as a statewide Democratic candidate over the past year. That has been hard to do for Koster who voted with the Republican majority on several key votes during his first years in the legislature, including the now infamous cuts to the state's Medicaid program in 2005. Only recently did Koster say he now regrets that vote.

The developing trend of missed appearances with fellow candidates Jeff Harris and Margaret Donnelly has led some party insiders to question Koster's credentials and loyalty.

To be fair, Donnelly also backed out of the first debate arranged by college students at Truman State University. But both Harris and Donnelly attended the progressive West County Dems meeting last weekend and the Obama event Monday night.

Koster's campaign claims that a scheduling glitch kept him away from the gathering and even the West County Dems website says Koster was never a confirmed attendee at the meeting. Others suggest Koster would have avoided the meeting even if his schedule was wide open.

"Since [West County Dems] is a very progressive group of people, there was skepticism about the explanation from Koster's campaign--you know, a feeling that Koster might have canceled because he knew he'd be in hostile territory," a report from Show Me Progress says.

So where was Koster during the Obama rally? Eating barbecue, at least that's according to the Democratic Party's website which shows a fundraiser hosted in Koster's honor by the Jasper County Democratic Central Committee, an event planned several weeks ago.

Some are calling Koster's decision to attend his own fundraiser instead of meeting with the newly anointed Democratic presidential nominee a snuff on Obama. Others say it is just the nature of the game.

More to come.

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