GOP targets vulnerable Armed Services panel chairman Skelton

The House’s top Republican will spend Labor Day weekend in the backyard of Rep.
Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the Armed Services Committee chairman who is a huge GOP target this cycle.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Saturday will
be the headliner at a fundraising lunch in Jefferson City, Mo., for Vicky Hartzler (R). Hartzler is challenging Skelton, who is seeking his 18^th
term.

{mosads}Skelton’s district is red. In 2008, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) easily defeated
President Barack Obama 61-38 in the fourth district of Missouri.

Anticipating a huge wave in November, the GOP has been gunning
for several committee chairmen, including Skelton, House Budget panel chairman
John Spratt (D-S.C.) and Natural Resources Committee chairman Nick Rahall
(D-W.Va.).

At the Jefferson City luncheon, Boehner is expected to make
some comments and mingle with guests and donors. The lunch is at a private
residence and is closed to the media.

“Leader Boehner will speak about the importance of electing public servants
like Vicky Hartzler who will help small businesses create new jobs, and fight
to stop the Democrats’ ‘stimulus’ spending spree and their jobs-killing ‘cap
and trade’ national energy tax,” said Boehner spokesman Don Seymour in an
e-mail to The Hill.

Skelton is known as one of the more mild-mannered chairmen, but his campaign
has been aggressive.

For example, Skelton’s campaign manager fired off a statement on Friday
calling on Hartzler to confront Boehner at the fundraiser about his positions
on Social Security.

“Representative Hartzler should take this opportunity to
tell Mr. Boehner that she stands with Ike Skelton and Missouri seniors in
opposing the Boehner plan to privatize Social Security and raise the Social
Security retirement age to 70,” said Jason Rauch, Skelton’s campaign manager.
“Time and again, Ike has stood up to his party, like when he opposed the
healthcare bill, because it was in the best interest of rural Missourians. So
far Representative Hartzler hasn’t shown the same willingness to put people
before party.”

Skelton has opposed the Obama administration’s effort to
repeat the Pentagon’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Hartzler has repeatedly criticized Skelton for voting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) 95 percent of the time and is trying to make in-roads on issues such
as climate change, which Skelton supported in 2009.

After Hartzler’s primary win last month, National Republican
Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas) claimed in a memo that she
can defeat Skelton: “From her ‘all of the above’ energy approach to a strong
plan to reign [sic] in government spending, Vicky has the right message to
unseat this staunch Obama/Pelosi ally.”

Hartzler’s campaign is also attacking Skelton for backing a
procedural vote on healthcare reform earlier this year, even though he voted
against the healthcare bill twice.

Skelton has focused much of his campaigning on his work for the military. His
campaign has already been running ads on local TV highlighting Skelton’s
military work.

Skelton has stressed that his work on behalf of the military community has also
made him an effective voice for the small businesses in his district. Whiteman
Air Force Base and the Army’s Fort Leonard Wood are both in Skelton’s district.

Skelton called these bases “engines for economic growth,” according to local
media reports.

“According to the Missouri Department of Economic Development the presence of
the military in Missouri added almost 30,000 jobs to the economy in 2008. These
are not Defense Department employees, these are folks like our neighbors who
work in restaurants and hotels, construction crews and the like,” Skelton said.

Skelton’s campaign has not yet asked political heavyweights in the Democratic
Party to campaign for him.

House leaders and colleagues, however, have poured more than $60,000 into
Skelton’s campaign coffers, according to CQMoneyLine. Among those lending a
helping hand are House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Majority Whip James
Clyburn (D-S.C.), Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Howard Berman
(D-Calif.), Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), and
politically vulnerable Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas), the top Veterans Affairs
and military construction appropriator.

Skelton has close to $1.4 million in campaign cash, according to the latest
fundraising data, with 57 percent of the contributions from out of state.
Hartzler has close to $366,000 with 91 percent of the contributions from
in-state, according to CQ Moneyline.

According to David Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report,
Democrats like Skelton who took “early precautions” and have taken “aggressive
action” are now polling well in red districts.