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McCaskill back under attack over her use of family-owned plane

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 13, 2011 - American Crossroads, an independent campaign group led by former Bush adviser Karl Rove, is back on the attack against U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

The topic is a familiar one: her official use of a private plane co-owned by her family.

One aspect of the attack is used less often: McCaskill's own voice.

American Crossroads announced this morning that it is airing a radio ad statewide, and posting billboards, that jab the senator for having used her Senate travel budget to reimburse the cost of her private jet. McCaskill no longer flies on the jet.

Says Crossroads:

"The two billboards, located on the main highways approaching the St. Louis and Springfield airports, read: 'Sky-high airfares got you down? Sen. Claire McCaskill: Flies in her own jet -- and you pay for it' (Click here for a look at a mockup of the billboard.)

The radio ad, meanwhile "uses real audio of McCaskill responding to questions about the private jet issue." (Click here to listen.)

That's not necessarily true. Some of the McCaskill audio appears to come from a town hall she held in 2009 in Jefferson County over health care. Her comments are used in a mock conversation with the ad's pretend detective.

Crossroads is spending $75,000 to run the ad on various radio stations for one week -- a decent buy that is, perhaps, a test of how well the attack registers with the public.  If the past is any indication, Crossroads and its allied independent groups are likely to spend millions of dollars in 2012 attacking McCaskill -- who is seen as among the most vulnerable Democrats seeking re-election.

Crossroads notes that the radio ad and billboard are part of its anti-McCaskill campaign highlighted on a special website.

"We're going to make Air Claire famous because McCaskill's private jet symbolizes everything that's wrong with her candidacy: living large on the public's dime, dodging taxes while voting to raise ours, and being out of touch with everyday Americans' lives," said American Crossroads president and CEO Steven Law in a statement.

The controversy erupted last spring over McCaskill's use a private plane partially owned by her family. She was using her office transportation money to reimburse the family-owned company for the use of the plane.

McCaskill's practice was not illegal, as long as the flights were for official business -- not unusual among the wealthier members of Congress. However, a couple of flights turned out to include political events -- which is not allowed for flights paid with tax dollars. Hoping to end the controversy, McCaskill reimbursed the U.S. Treasury for almost $90,000, covering the entire cost of the plane flights.

A bigger problem erupted when McCaskill disclosed that her family had been unaware that it owed property taxes on the plane because it was housed at Spirit of St. Louis airport in St. Louis County. The family paid more than $300,000 in back taxes and penalties to the county.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out a rebuttal this afternoon:

"Karl Rove and his anonymous billionaires are at it again with blatantly inaccurate commercials about Claire McCaskill," said DSCC spokesman Matt Canter. "The bottom line is that Claire self-reported, fully corrected any mistakes and hasn't stepped foot on the plane since. Karl Rove and out-of-state special interest groups are going to use this issue like a pinata, but it won't work. These Washington groups simply don't like that Claire is an independent moderate who fights for Missouri's working families -- not the special interests."

McCaskill now travels on commercial flights (which she has noted that, depending on the flight, can cost taxpayers more than they paid for her to fly on the private plane). Her family also has put up the plane for sale. But it has yet to be sold.

Jo Mannies is a freelance journalist and former political reporter at St. Louis Public Radio.