State Democrats irate over Jetton comments

House Speaker Rod Jetton, not known for hiding his political views, went too far during a campaign stop Friday in Platte County, Democrats said this week.

Jetton, a Marble Hill Republican, was on a statewide tour with Gov. Matt Blunt and Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons promoting GOP legislative measures and candidates.

When his turn came to speak, Jetton thanked the Republican faithful for turning out. "Democrats don't have a problem during the day because they don't have jobs," Jetton said, according to Kansas City media reports. "Republicans work. It's a little harder for them."

Jetton did not return messages left on his cellular telephone and at his state Capitol office seeking comment. But his Democratic opponent in the 156th District Missouri House race, Michael Winder, said the statement shows Jetton is out of touch with voters.

"I just can't believe what he says sometimes," said Winder, a union ironworker. "I think that shows he is not representing everybody in his district."

And Democratic House leader Jeff Harris of Columbia said in a statement that Jetton's remark "shows the utter disdain high-ranking Republicans have for hard-working Missourians. Speaker Jetton obviously believes that people who don't share his politics are of less value.

"To the contrary, most hard working Missourians do not have the luxury of taking off work to attend a political rally," Harris said.

Touring the state

Jetton has traveled across the state repeatedly for political reasons. In August, he made an official tour touting agriculture. At the Cape Girardeau stop with Blunt and Gibbons, Jetton joked that he had introduced himself to his wife, who also attended, because he had been gone so much she forgot what he looked like.

Winder said he fits campaigning around his work schedule. "I get up about 4:30 in the morning and I drive to St. Louis. I start at 7 a.m. on the open iron, bolting stuff up, welding and beating on the pieces of iron to get them to fit. I do it eight hours a day until 3:30, and sometimes 10 hours."

Mixing work with politics

When working, Winder said, he's often strapped into a harness that sometimes weighs 100 pounds. "Then it is a couple-hour drive home, and then I try to go out and politic."

Jetton lists his occupation in his official biography as a real estate broker and appraiser. He receives $33,851 a year as a salary for being speaker. He also receives $1,000 monthly from state Sen. Jason Crowell's campaign fund as a political consultant. He and Crowell are close friends.

Winder said he has never been on welfare. He has worked his entire life, he said, adding that he understands that some people live in circumstances that require them to seek public assistance.

"Some people need some help and we should try to get them a job and help them along the way, but some people just ain't able to," he said. "That is the goal of it all is to get them a good job, but I don't think we are supposed to turn around and criticize everybody."

Winder is hoping to win the seat Jetton has held for six years. The 156th District includes Bollinger, Madison and most of Wayne counties. The counties, Winder said, are among the poorest in the state and Republican cuts in Medicaid hurt working people in the district.

"They say the Medicaid cuts affected one in four people in all three counties," he said. "A lot of people down here need some help. There are no good jobs down here, and that is why I am driving two hours to the city to work."

rkeller@semissourian.com

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