Blunt spends $126,000 on flights in three months

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When it comes to flying, there's no denying, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt is the king of the air.

Consider the recent holiday-shortened Labor Day week.

In a mere three days, Blunt flew from Jefferson City to St. Joseph and Kansas City to Springfield; to St. Louis and Kirksville and Dexter; to St. Louis again, and Kansas City again, then to Nevada and Joplin.

At most of the stops, Blunt simply put a new twist on old news -- highlighting the local benefits of statewide bridge repair and tax break bills he already had signed into law elsewhere.

The Republican governor's most recent campaign finance report reveals he spent more than $126,000 on air travel in the three months from April to June.

Asked for an explanation for his high-flying habits, Blunt proclaimed as he prepared to dart from one news conference to the next: "It's about communicating with Missourians.

"It's an opportunity for me to talk directly with the people of the state, and that means I need to go where the people of our state are," Blunt said.

Democratic Gov. Bob Holden, the predecessor with whom Blunt often contrasts himself, said much the same thing when asked after his first few months in office why he was flying so often.

"When you take on these tough issues, you can't sit in Jefferson City and build the support base to get things accomplished," Holden said in June 2001. "You've got to be able to reach out there and touch people."

But there is a key difference between Holden and Blunt.

Holden was flying on state airplanes, which cost taxpayers money but for which there is a record of the exact times and places he went and who flew along with him.

Blunt is flying on privately chartered or corporate planes, which cost taxpayers nothing but for which there is no record of the exact times and places he went or who flew with him.

Blunt pays for even his official-duty flights with money raised from the individuals, businesses and interest groups that fund his campaign.

"I think the way we do it is a responsible way to respect taxpayers and ensure that their resources aren't spent on any sort of political activity," Blunt said.

But Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon, who is challenging Blunt in the 2008 gubernatorial election, contends Blunt's way is a poor way for an elected official to act. His main concern is that the privately financed flights keep the public in the dark about when someone's currying favor with the governor.

Nixon's campaign says it spent less than $8,500 on his airline travel from April through June. When Nixon travels on official state business, he usually rides on the roads.

But unlike Blunt, Nixon is not averse to using a state plane.

State flight logs show a dozen Nixon flights during the 2007 fiscal year, costing the state $12,225. Blunt flew on a state aircraft just once in that time -- to Monett on May 10 at a cost of $900.

In some respects, a frequently flying governor puts himself in a no-win situation, said political scientist Dave Robertson, of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. If he takes state planes, he can appear to be wasting tax dollars. But if he takes private planes, he can appear cozy with special interests.