VIEWS FROM AROUND MISSOURI: INDISCRETIONS TAR BOTH REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS

With only a week to go before Tuesday's primary elections in Missouri, political activity is peaking. ...

... Most of the speculation seems to center on which party will be hurt the worst in the elections by recent accusations.

Until a few weeks ago, the answer to that was, the Republicans.

Former gubernatorial candidate and ex-attorney general William Webster was in prison for misusing state resources in his campaign. Former Treasurer Wendell Bailey was brought up on similar charges.

It looked like a good year for Democrats to bash Republicans for malfeasance in office. But then Secretary of State Judi Moriarty got indicted for breaking election laws to register her son to run for office, and has been the target of various other complaints. Now, Democratic House Speaker Bob Griffin has been accused by The Kansas City Star of using his office to pressure a Las Vegas gambling company to do business with his legal clients. The latter accusation, if true, is vastly more serious, by the way, than the complaints against Moriarty -- or Webster or Bailey, for that matter.

So at this point, it looks like a political wash in Missouri, scandal-wise. That means the parties in the fall campaign actually may have to address the issues.