Meet Dave Spence: Missouri's Latest Embarrassment

By Nathan Rothwell

Screenshot of Gov. Nixon's ad criticizing Spence

The “Show-Me State” is no stranger to politicians who are all but morally bankrupt. Senator Roy Blunt values the “right” of religious employers to impose their moral codes on their employees, denying them the right to health care. Todd Akin, the man vying to join Blunt this year as Missouri’s other senator, has earned national attention for his views on rape and women’s issues, which appear to stem from the Medieval Era.  

And if this weren’t bad enough, another Missouri politician joins the “How badly can we embarrass this state?” club – Dave Spence, the Republican candidate for governor against incumbent Jay Nixon.

State Democrats have been having fun at the expense of Spence’s campaign, which has at times appeared inept. For example, Spence’s campaign website touted his degree in economics from University of Missouri-Columbia; however, earlier this year it was discovered that Spence in fact did not earn a degree in economics, but rather home economics. Spence claimed it was a simple mistake, but a circulated campaign flier also boasted of Spence’s “economics” degree, also claiming that he attended Mizzou’s business school. While his website eventually corrected the error, it didn’t escape Jay Leno’s ever-watchful eye.

Did Spence and his campaign knowingly lie about his background, or was this a mere clerical error? Some of his supporters argue for the latter, but his history of lying makes that argument difficult to swallow.

Health is not a moral issue

I am proud to call Missouri my home. I’ve lived here practically my entire life. Yet it seems that at nearly every turn, our state’s leaders are all too happy to paint a black eye on the state and embarrass us in front of the rest of the nation.

No one is worse than Senator Roy Blunt. Recently, Blunt made headlines by attempting to push an amendment to the Affordable Care Act through Congress that would allow any employer to refuse coverage to employees for any health service if the employer morally objects to it.

This came in response to a federal regulation that requires employers and insurers to provide contraception to employees as part of their health care plans. Even though contraception is a legitimate and useful part of preventative health care (such as preventing the formation of ovarian cysts, for example), leaders in the Catholic community insisted that making such treatment available amounted to “the rape of the soul.”

The Obama administration devised a practical compromise. If a religious employer morally objected to providing contraception as part of a health care plan for its employees, it would be exempted from the requirement. Employees could still obtain free contraception, however, directly from the insurer who administered the employer’s health care plan. Everyone wins – employees retain access to the best health-care options available, and religious zealots don’t have to have their souls raped (whatever that means).