This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 11, 2012 - Ed Martin, a Republican candidate for Missouri attorney general, has released his first television ad this week; it is a spot that focuses on his opposition to the federal health care law.
Entitled “Minute,” the 30-second ad features the St. Louis lawyer standing in what appears to be a hospital. Martin notes that “over 30 states filed lawsuits to stop Obamacare – but not Missouri.”
“Our attorney general sat it out,” said Martin, referring to incumbent Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster. “I’m Ed Martin. During my first minute in office – and I mean minute – we’ll have a new legal strategy to stop Obamacare.”
Adding this is “no time for the wishy-washy,” Martin goes on to say that the federal health care law is a “fundamental threat to our health, economy and future.”
Koster filed an amicus brief last April stating that a mandate prompting everyone to buy health insurance runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution's "commerce clause," which he said "bars Congress from compelling citizens to step into the stream of commerce when they have either neglected or chosen not to do so." He added though that tossing out the mandate would not affect implementation of other parts of the law.
The mandate, of course, ended up being upheld under Congress’ taxation authority.
[Martin criticized Koster's brief in the past as inadaquete.]
Martin -- who previously was running for U.S. Senate and the U.S. House during this election cycle – is squaring off against Livingston County Prosecutor Adam Warren in the GOP primary for attorney general. But Martin has collected big donations – including a $250,000 contribution from TAMKO CEO David Humphries – and was tapped to lead the Missouri Republican Party’s Missouri Victory 2012 campaign.
Koster has already accumulated a sturdy treasury for his re-election bid, including roughly $417,250 in large donations of $5,000 or above during the past fundraising quarter.
This week, Martin was part of a cadre of Republicans that denounced Vice President Joe Biden’s fundraising trip to help out U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. He also went on a statewide tour yesterday with House Speaker Pro Tem Shane Schoeller, R-Willard, to criticize ballot summary language on a measure outlawing a governor setting up a health insurance exchange through an executive order.
Schoeller, who is in a three-way GOP primary for secretary of state, released his first television ad in June. According to campaign spokesman Patrick Morrow, the ad is running primarily in the GOP hotbed of southwest Missouri.
