Official duties coincide with politics as election nears

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Presidents do it. Governors do it. U.S. senators and representatives do it. So, too, do Missouri's auditor and House speaker.

What do they do?

These elected officials continue to do their jobs -- or to hold news conferences and make announcements touting the jobs they do -- while they are simultaneously running for re-election.

That's part of the power of incumbency.

Sometimes, at least in the eyes of their political opponents or rivals, there is a fuzzy line between official duties and political ones.

Take, for example, House Speaker Jim Kreider, a Democrat from Nixa who is term-limited in the House and so is running this fall for a state Senate seat.

He recently created or appointed members to two special legislative committees charged with studying issues for potential legislation in the 2003 session.

One committee is to study job losses in rural Missouri -- a response to an announcement by the former Fasco Motors plant near Kreider's hometown that it was moving to Mexico and laying off about 430 people.

Another committee is to study a statewide alert system for child kidnappings -- a response to a string of abductions nationally. Kreider appointed Rep. Craig Hosmer, a Springfield Democrat, to be chairman. Hosmer also happens to be a term-limited House member who is running for the Senate.

State Republican Party spokesman Scott Baker said such committees have "the appearance of a political stunt."

"I'm not saying the goal isn't important, but it just seems a bit silly to report back to a speaker who is no longer speaker," Baker said.

'We're doing our duty'

Kreider points out that his term as House Speaker doesn't end until Jan. 8.

"I have a responsibility and duty, and I will do them," Kreider said. "These are important issues. There's no politicking. We're doing our duty."

Kreider's Republican opponent in the Senate race, Dan Clemens, points to another event with some political skepticism.

Kreider recently unveiled a bronze bust of Edwin Hubble in the astronomer's hometown of Marshfield, a city that isn't in his House district but is in the Senate district he is seeking.

The bust is the latest addition to the Hall of Famous Missourians at the state Capitol, which the House speaker oversees and for which he selects honorees. The ceremony for the Hubble bust -- the 24th for the hall -- was the first held outside of the Capitol.

Kreider intentionally selected an honoree from southwest Missouri and chose a Missouri artist to make the bust, said House communications director Jim Gardner.

As for choosing to hold the ceremony in Marshfield, "he just thought it made more sense" to do it in an area where Hubble was better known, Gardner said.

Kreider acknowledged that his actions during his final months as House speaker could be interpreted differently by different people -- just as could almost any action by an election official.

"If you want to be negative you can call it politicking. If you want to be positive, you can say Kreider is doing his job," Kreider said.