MoGOP Hearts Dem Mike Carter for "Courage"

Democratic candidate for Governor Mike Carter has answered the call.

To the Republican Party, that is.

The Missouri G.O.P. recently called on Democratic candidates to announce whether they support a recent Supreme Court ruling affirming the right to bear arms.

It's not like either side takes these calls seriously. It's not like Jay Nixon is going to call Tina Hervey and say, "Yeah, mark me down for supporting the 2nd Amendment."

Yet, Missouri G.O.P. spokesperson Hervey reports that Carter did actually respond.

Yesterday, at 2:41 p.m.

"On behalf of the people of Missouri, I want to applaud Mr. Carter for displaying political courage, something that’s not been seen lately by many of his Democrat colleagues. He was the first to clarify his position on Missourians’ right to bear arms and his action should be commended,” said Hervey in a release. "In an email yesterday, Mr. Carter stated that he has been a proponent of Missourians’ right to carry concealed weapons since the mid-1990s and ‘was happy when Missouri's legislature gave Missourians conceal and carry rights.’"

"Although Mr. Carter’s were not made publicly prior to the Supreme Court ruling, we will give him the benefit of the doubt that his beliefs on this important issue are heartfelt. We also have not been able to find any public statements that would contradict what Mr. Carter stated privately to us," Hervey added.

"For many Democrat politicians it is easy to remain silent and mislead voters but showing political courage is sometimes costly and Mike Carter has chosen to take the path less travelled – we commend him and hope that other Missouri Democrats will have the courage to respond to our challenge. Unfortunately, we suspect most Democrats; particularly those like Sam Page will lie and mislead voters," Hervey said.

"A lot of politicians are trying to change their stripes on this issue and we are outraged by Sam Page’s statements because we have always found him to be staunchly anti-Second Amendment while Lt. Governor Kinder has always been a vocal supporter of our right to bear arms under the Constitution," she added.

See there, and we thought everybody was close to getting along for a second? (Sigh).

It's Hit Your Non-Opponent Day . . . Carter Criticizes Harris

Democratic candidate for Governor Mike Carter is criticizing Rep. Jeff Harris' plan to ban political robo-calls.

Harris is running for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General.

Carter sent out a release Monday that said he would "truly and legally answer voters' complaints about robo-calls," by establishing a Missouri Political "Do Not Call List," legislatively.

In March, Carter created that type of list on his site. He claims nearly 10,000 voters have signed up.

"First Amendment scholars across the nation know that the outright banning of politically-focused robo-calling would be Constitutionally suspect on its face,” said Carter. While last week Harris said he would be open to pursuing a similar list with or without an "opt out" option, Carter said that could present Constitutional problems.

Carter believes an "opt out" is the only way to pursue such a political robo-calling ban.

"A legislatively enacted Missouri Political 'Do Not Call List' would speak to ‘political calls’ specifically and be somewhat analogous to a voter having the choice of which newspaper to purchase (or not) or to turn the channels on her radio and television – if not completely turn them off," said Carter. "Voters pay for their phones and phone-lines just as they do for cable television & newspapers and should be able to control what comes to them over the medium," said Carter.

VIDEO: More on Hulshof's Ethics Plan

This aired on KY3 News @ 6 on Friday

Would've had it up Friday, but had some technical issues . . .

Better Late Than Never . . .

***Make sure to check up the boffo reporter standup engineered by super-photographer Doug Magditch . . . and an appearance from Lt. Gov candidate Mike Carter

"I Kind of Like Putting It To The Test"

Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Mike Carter is winning attention and headlines -- but why is he running?

Some skeptics have suggested he's only running to boost his name I.D. to draw more law clients. Thursday, Carter denied that in a phone interview with the KY3 Political Notebook.

"If I was Lathrop & Gage or some other big firm that would work," Carter said. "To boost my name presence throughout the state does little or no good for me. I have two offices and two major clients who I do work for all the time," he added.

Cater, a Mizzou journalism graduate, said he's running because he likes a challenge and "kind of likes putting it to the test."

"I mean I think Joe Buck could win the Lieutenant Governorship based on name I.D. because no one really cares about it," Carter said. "I want to see if people really care. I don't have money coming out of my ears, but I have enough to do it," he said.

"If my theory's right about name I.D., then Sam Page, the leading monetary candidate, can't be known better than me across the state," Carter added.

When asked why his campaign has called him the frontrunner, he scaled that back a notch. "I think we are making inroads far more than anyone expected. If everything is measured in donors, then we are not the one in the lead," he said.

"I want to prove that I can do it without the donors, so when I'm elected I can do things for the people and not the contributors," Carter said.

A spokesman for Rep. Sam Page's campaign declined to comment.

Who Is Mike Carter?

He's a Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor making waves for an unorthodox Do-Not-Call campaign list and a potentially unconstitutional pledge to cut the salary of the office he's seeking.

But his campaign calls him the Democratic frontrunner for the nomination.

That strikes some political insiders as odd, being that Rep. Sam Page looks to be the Democratic Party's "establishment candidate."

So what gives?

I asked Carter's spokesperson Chad Carter (must be related, right?) why anyone should believe Carter is the frontrunner over Page. "Mike is the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for MO Lt. Gov. based on the amount of his press coverage, web presence, robo-call survey response, ability, and other research," Chad Carter explained.

When I picked up the phone to ask some Democratic party insiders about Carter's candidacy, some of them seemed just as befuddled.

"I don't see how somebody beats Sam Page without access to his kind of money," said one Springfield Democrat. "Nobody I know knows who he is," she added.

Another Dem quipped, "He's somebody looking for a quick, cheap headline."

Today, the Carter campaign announced the establishment of a legal team in response to recent questions about his pledge to donate at least $10,000 of his salary to the state treasury or a charity.

"It is interesting to think that an AP reporter was monitoring the websites of down-ballot campaigns and thought to look into the possibility of obscure laws that have never been applied; however, we have assessed the matter and, while we feel certain no violation has occurred, we would cooperate fully with any regulatory authority suggesting otherwise." said Carter in a statement.

Lt. Gov. Candidate To Form "Do Not Call" Registry

VISIT HIS WEBSITE ---

AND HE WON'T CALL YOU

Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor Mike Carter is pledging not to conduct "robo-calls" in trying to reach you -- if you don't want him to.

He claims he's just the fourth politician in the country to take this pledge.

According to a campaign spokesperson, Carter will be running his own “do not call” registry.

Carter freely admits he's planning on making 50 million "robo-calls" to Missouri voters this year. But he is also giving voters a chance to opt-out of the calls now and throughout the campaign by visiting his campaign website and registering their phone numbers for free on the Missouri Political Do Not Call Registry. To sign up, go HERE.

"I know it's self-serving to ask voters to visit Vote4Carter.com to register their phone numbers,” said Carter, “but the Missouri Political Do Not Call list is a very real way for voters to say, 'leave me the heck alone;' that's much more than any other candidate has offered up. And, it's really truly amazing that the not-for-profit National Political Do Not Contact (NPDNC) registry took notice of our campaign's do not call program and is helping to legitimize our efforts," he added.

Carter calls himself "the leading Democratic candidate running for Missouri's Lieutenant Governor." He said it's "nearly certain" the Democratic nominee will take the reigns of the office. He is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Missouri and a real estate and business attorney in St. Louis.

So, do you want to know more --- or will you sign up for him not to call?