http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/9939081.htm?1c

Oct. 17, 2004

By KIT WAGAR 

This year's campaign for governor offers Missouri voters a distinct choice.

From style and personality to age, experience and gender, Matt Blunt and Claire McCaskill offer significantly different alternatives for the state's next chief executive.

Blunt, 33, is the epitome of the Generation X Republican. His meteoric rise through the party ranks has been fueled by a steadfast opposition to taxes, a strong military record, an appeal to traditional values and a well-connected family name.

McCaskill, 51, is a classic baby-boomer Democrat, a lawyer who came of age in the heyday of the women's movement. She climbed the political ladder, first as a local prosecutor, and then moved through a succession of state and local elected positions of increasing responsibility. In the biggest gamble of her career, McCaskill knocked off a sitting governor in the August primary.

As I heard on a radio program not too long ago, "That Cemetery Precinct is crucial."

Illustration added by The Webmistress, with the kind permission of  the KLJ Art Collection.