Ike Skelton

Good to know that former Congressman Ike Skelton will continue to work on national security policy. 

The Center for a New American Security picked up three top Democrat foreign-policy hands, all of whom recently left government service: Ike Skelton, former House Armed Services Committee chairman, Anne-Marie Slaughter, former State Department policy planning director, Rich Verma, former assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs...

(CNAS President John Nagl) said Skelton "will prove an invaluable member of our team, particularly through helping to further our mission of educating and training the next generation of national security leaders."

Tuesday, President Obama announced his intent to appoint former Congressman Ike Skelton to the American Battle Monuments Commission.  From the announcement:

President Obama said, “I am grateful these accomplished men and women have agreed to join this Administration, and I’m confident they will serve ably in these important roles. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years.” [...]

Ike Skelton, Appointee for Member, American Battle Monuments Commission
Isaac “Ike” Skelton represented Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District from 1977 until early 2011 and is currently a partner at the law firm of Husch Blackwell LLP.  During his career, Mr. Skelton chaired the House Armed Services Committee and was instrumental in bringing the Army Engineer School to Fort Leonard Wood and the B-2 Stealth bomber to Whiteman Air Force Base, both of which are located in his district.  Before serving in Congress, Mr. Skelton was a State Senator from 1971 until 1976, and a Special Assistant Attorney General in Missouri from 1961 to 1963.  He received his Associate of Arts degree from the Wentworth Military Academy and Junior College and his Bachelor’s degree and LL.B. from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The League of Conservation Voters released its annual environmental voting scorecard today.  Eighty-one House members received "zero" ratings for their votes against clean energy and commonsense pollution safeguards -- and four of those zeros came from Missouri.  

Here's how the LCV summarizes their methodology:

“While the lack of progress in 2010 is highly disappointing, we applaud those members of Congress who fought to protect public health and the environment and reduce our nation’s dangerous dependence on oil,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. “Conversely, the 2010 Scorecard clearly exposes those members who put corporate polluters and other special interests ahead of the health and well-being of all Americans by opposing efforts to transition our nation to a clean energy economy, enforce commonsense pollution safeguards, and protect the environment.”

Yesterday, the Congress gave final approval to its defense authorization bill for the upcoming fiscal year, which includes almost $160 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  As a farewell gesture, the bill was named in honor or Rep. Ike Skelton.  Here's what Leader Steny Hoyer said after passage:

"Today the House voted for final passage of the Ike Skelton Defense Authorization Bill. This legislation makes crucial investments in our national security, nuclear counterproliferation and counterterrorism efforts, and the well being of our troops. I have been consistently committed to making sure that this critical national security legislation be completed by the Congress, as has been done for 48 years running. I am pleased to see its passage, and particularly so in the name of our outgoing Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Ike Skelton.

"For more than three decades, Ike Skelton has been one of Congress's leading voices on defense policy. His hard work, his diligence, and his insight have made this a stronger nation. Chairman Skelton did so much to shape this bill, along with a host of others. I'm proud to count him as a friend; his absence will be deeply felt."

For anyone who missed Ike Skelton's farewell address yesterday, I encourage you to take a few minutes and watch it here.  The Star, Beacon, Missourinet and Post-Dispatch also have stories on his remarks worth reading. 

After Skelton's address, Emanuel Cleaver, Jo Ann Emerson, Russ Carnahan, Lacy Clay, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and others offered their personal praise for a true statesman respected by members and staff of all parties.  Skelton's speech and theirs can be watched in this CSPAN widget here. 

He will indeed be missed. 

In The Hotline's final rankings of the 90 House seats most likely to switch parties tomorrow, Missouri's 4th District race between Ike Skelton and Vicky Hartzler comes in at #50.  No other Missouri races are on the list.

The Tribune's Hank Waters closes his endorsement of Ike Skelton with the following:  

Despite his long record of good service in Congress, Skelton could lose this race. That would be a shame. Even though many might disagree with his conservative stands on some issues, those who appreciate Ike Skelton’s public work need to support him this year. If you think Skelton is too far to the right, you ain’t seen nothing yet if he loses this race.

Sikeston superstar Neal E. Boyd campaigned with Ike Skelton in the 4th District today, including a stop at the American Legion in Jefferson City today.  Here's what Boyd had to say about Skelton after the event:

And for your listening pleasure, here was Boyd's rendition of "God Bless America."

The Warrensburg Daily Star-Journal has published a glowing endorsement of Ike Skelton, praising Skelton for being "a stellar public servant" and his "devotion to protecting the nation through a strong military [which] stands second to none."  An excerpt:

In the years since he first became the 4th Congressional District's representative, Skelton has not forgotten the voters who employ him.

Skelton's devotion to protecting the nation through a strong military stands second to none...Skelton's tireless efforts for national defense and veterans' services are, alone, more than enough to merit him another two-year term in Washington, but Armed Service Committee Chairman Skelton is not a one-trick pony. His versatility benefits his constituents...

Skelton's opponent, former state Rep. Vicky Hartzler, has tried to portray Skelton as a liberal. But as his endorsements from Farm Bureau, from NRA and from Right to Life supporters demonstrate, Skelton continues to build upon his well-earned reputation as a level-headed, 4th Congressional District conservative.

There is no substitute, absolutely none, for proven leadership, and Skelton has proven himself a leader in Washington. More importantly, he also has proven himself as a stellar public servant at home.

The Ike Skelton campaign has a new TV ad up today highlighting his support from the NRA, and Vicky Hartzler's opposition to a conceal carry proposal in the House of Representatives.

I'm a huge fan of Ike Skelton, but it's not because the NRA is endorsing him.

Meanwhile, the NRA Political Victory Fund is running ads for Roy Blunt with manufactured accusations that somebody somewhere in Washington is "surrendering sovereignty to the United Nations." 

What I find most notable about the absurd UN-bashing in the Senate ad is how little we've heard from the NRA in the past two years.  If advocates for expanded gun rights had any legitimate complaints with Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress, there would have been deafening cries of trampled freedoms and endless talk of such moves in the right-wing noise machine.  But when the Obama Administration's only significant action on the issue of guns was to expandaccess in national parks, you get vapid complaints about "surrendering sovereignty to the United Nations." 

In this morning's "Morning Defense" roundup from Politico:

The race for Missouri’s conservative 4th district is still tight, with Democrat Ike Skelton, a 17-termer and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, fighting to keep his job. But Skelton appears to be solidifying his lead over Republican Vicky Hartzler, a former state representative who has been trailing in polls but whose standing has been within the margin of error. DoD Buzz’s Colin Clark reported that Skelton’s internal polls show him with a high-single-digit lead, and KY3/Missouri State University’s poll in August showed Skelton ahead by 12 points; We Ask America’s August poll also showed Skelton ahead, but only by three points. http://bit.ly/9Nngss

h/t The Turner Report

I certainly wouldn't describe the criticism of Christine O'Donnell's candidacy in Delaware as "infanticide" (!), but Chris Matthews' point regarding Republicans' ability to define Ike Skelton as some sort of hippie is well taken.

You can build a case about a stranger you can't build about an Ike Skelton, for example, or a guy or woman who's been around for a while.

You know, Ike Skelton has never made an issue of his own physical challenge of having a left arm immobilized since his teen years because of polio. The polio and resulting loss of use of his arm dashed Ike's boyhood dream of attending West Point and following his father into military service. But Ike never let up because of his physical challenge. He finished military school, even ran track. He excelled in college and received high academic honors. He served as a crime fighting county prosecutor and later as a state senator. And in Congress, he has energetically served our men and women in uniform, rising to Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Through it all, Ike has turned the other cheek to insensitive, insulting, mocking comments by Republicans about his immobilized arm, comments too tasteless to repeat. But this NRCC ad is over the top, showing Ike's arms flapping, when Ike's GOP colleagues in Congress know full well his courageous battle to overcome the effects of boyhood polio and his commitment to a life of service to our men and women in the military. So the chickenhawk award goes to the NRCC for the most insulting ad to infuriate all fair-minded Missourians and particularly those with disabilities.

The Tribune's Hank Waters publishes his take on the Fourth District race today:

IKE SKELTON; HARD TO BEAT

One prominent Republican in Lafayette County said Democrat Rep. Ike Skelton has voted “about the way Republicans would want him to.”

The popular congressman from Missouri’s Fourth District is said to be more vulnerable this year than in the past. His Republican opponent tries to link him to Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats, but my bet is Whiteman Air Force Base, B-2 bombers and Ike’s social conservatism will trump any allegations the GOP right wing can muster....

Beyond all this, Ike Skelton is a genuinely nice man well known for generations to people in his district. No candidate can possibly please every constituent on every issue. Skelton is the acknowledged military expert in the House and chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee. Fourth District voters not only have reason to return Skelton to office; they might want the Democrats to keep their House majority so their own can keep his committee chairmanship.

Even if Republicans take control of the House, as many think possible, Skelton will remain its most influential voice on military affairs. Why on Earth would Fourth District voters turn him out?

The NRCC has announced a new round of television buys in the Fourth District, but Politico's House race reporter Alex Isenstadt expresses confidence that Ike Skelton will continue to impress:

Among those targets is House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, a 17-term congressman from Missouri who hasn’t won less than 60 percent in a general election since 1982. While he represents a Republican-oriented seat, Skelton has shown few signs of weakness and appears to be well-prepared to weather a difficult reelection campaign.

It's a bad day when your spokesman says that Americans who were drafted and served in Vietnam aren't "proud Americans."  The Star's Steve Kraske explains:

In discussing veterans who have signed up to support Republican Vicky Hartzler, the 4th District Missouri congressional candidate, Hartzler spokesman Steve Walsh said this to a Springfield radio interviewer:

“This is not exactly a group made up of people who might have been drafted, served in Vietnam for a year and hated it, and then came back and said bad things about their country like John Kerry.

“These are people who actually are proud Americans and are supporting Vicky Hartzler.”

Democratic incumbent Ike Skelton was having none of it. Campaign spokesman Jason Rauch said Hartzler owed veterans an apology.

“Many patriotic Americans were drafted and served our country in Vietnam and, like generations of veterans before them, they returned from war to become leaders in their communities,” he said.