The headlines were bad news for GOP

This past week was not a good one for Missouri Republicans. And the bad news had nothing to do with Tuesday's primary election.

For starters, Rep. Scott Muschany, R-Frontenac, was indicted Wednesday by a Cole County grand jury on a felony charge of deviate sexual assault. The cast involves the daughter of a former House employee with whom Muschany was having a romantic relationship. Now yes, I know that he's innocent until proven guilty. But regardless of the outcome, it was not a good day for Muschany or the GOP in Missouri.

The charges had just been filed when top Republican officials began calling for Muschany to step down. Gov. Matt Blunt and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder both urged Muschany to step aside and resign his House seat. At press time, Muschany was still not making any statement.

If that were not bad enough, on Thursday, the former chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Kinder pled guilty to displaying sexually explicit materials. According to the court, Eric Feltner, 40, of Columbia, apparently thought he was sharing the material over the internet with a 13-year-old girl. The "girl" turned out to be an undercover agent which led to the pornography charges. Feltner was a highly-respected GOP operative who had been involved in several other political campaigns and GOP staffs. He is now on probation but his career in the political arena is long gone.

You can probably look behind the sensational nature of these two cases and find some information that might help explain these actions. But that matters little at this point. Two promising young men have made mistakes that ended all hope of their future in the world of politics. And given the circumstances, maybe that's best.

Stupidity is not limited to one political party. The Democratic mayor of Detroit spent Thursday night behind bars for violating his probation on a case involving abuse of power. And then there's former Gov. Elliot Spitzer of New York. The list just goes on and on.

The election season in Missouri is well under way. And from most indications, it could be a strong year for the Democratic party in Missouri. Regardless of what might happen between now and November, the headlines this week from the GOP will not go far in helping their chances at the ballot box. It may not hurt necessarily but in a close contest, you need all the help you can get. The headlines were not helpful for the Missouri GOP this week.