In the 1996 comedy Blacksheep Chris Farley plays a character who plagues his brother's gubernatorial campaign with problem with after problem.
A black sheep by definition is "a disfavored or disreputable member of a group", according to Merriam Webster's dictionary.
Here in Missouri, the brother of at least one statewide candidate may now be just that.
Matt Koster, a brother of State Sen. Chris Koster, serves as a principal at Bush O'Donnell in St. Louis. That firm is led by Bucky Bush, brother of former Republican President George H.W. Bush and uncle of current President George W. Bush. Bucky Bush is also a powerful player in the Missouri Republican Party and led presidential campaigns in the state in 2000 and 2005.
In recent years, the Bush O'Donnell firm gave maximum contributions to Gov. Matt Blunt and fellow Attorney General candidate Michael Gibbons. The relationship was reciprocated as Chris Koster supported the Bush family in seeking higher office and was supported by the Bush family according to records on file with the Missouri Ethics Commission.
The link between Matt Koster and the Republican elite stands as a barrier to Chris Koster's message that he is not a Republican and has shed his conservative past completely to instead favor the Democratic Party.
Of course the point of the Black Sheep comedy is that Farley's brother stands by him, but only after losing a much desired political office.
It looks like Matt Koster is already offering his full support of Chris' campaign as in years past and despite the party change. Whether Chris will stand by his brother's ideology is yet to be seen.
Chris Koster is facing former House Democratic Leader Jeff Harris, Rep. Margaret Donnelly, and Kansas City Attorney Molly Williams in the Aug. 5th Democratic primary. The winner of that contest will face State Sen. Michael Gibbons in the Nov. General Election.
Photo Credit: Bush O'Donnell Capital Partners, LLC
Monday, July 7, 2008
Blacksheep in Missouri politics: Will Bush connections plague the Koster campaign?
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2 comments:
Yup.
This is yet another connection between Chris Koster and the Republican Party's upper echelon. Koster's ties to the Republican elite stand strong and I'm certain his allegiances to them do as well.
Has anyone done a vote analysis from the last session to see how often Koster voted with Republicans?
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