Blunt and Steelman get ugly over earmarks

Rep. Roy Blunt’s (R) campaign took aim at his likely challenger in the 2010 primary for Missouri’s open Senate seat, former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, calling her “dishonest and hypocritical.”

“Sarah Steelman’s letter is dishonest and hypocritical,” Blunt spokesman Rich Chrismer said in a statement, blasting Steelman for her comments condemning earmarks and, by extension, Blunt. (Via the Kansas City Star.)

“The Missouri Republican Party should not proclaim earmark spending a virtue,” Steelman said last week. “This does nothing but harm the efforts of principled politicians of both parties, who recognize that the old way of doing business; earmarks, pork, and a lack of accountability, has cost America jobs, security, and confidence.”

“Roy Blunt has a totally open record of fighting for Missouri’s fair share and he will continue fighting for Missouri in the United States Senate,” Chismer said, alleging that Steelman had earmarked millions of dollars worth of pork while in Missouri’s state legislature. “It would be nice if Sarah Steelman was open and truthful about her own record before she launched political attacks against other Republicans.”

Blunt had defended his use of earmarks last week and encouraged Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) to reverse her anti-earmark stance, setting the backdrop of a fiscal conservative fight in the primary to replace Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) in the Senate.