®RM75¯COL451.PRB - Memories of the Late Missouri Governor Kit Bond
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Phill Brooks
Governor Christopher Kit Bond's death brought very deep memories for me about a governor I have missed since he left as governor in 1985.
My strongest memory of Bond was his pursuit as the Republican gubernatorial candidate to replace the Democratic governor who controlled a legislature dominated by Democrats.
He began his election campaign critical of Democrats, until, as I was told, Republican Attorney General Jack Danforth advised Bond to put more focus on issues of importance to Missourians.
I suspect that was a factor in Bond's subsequent policy-focused agenda which led to Bond's lasting legacy and the frequent description of Bond as a moderate.
Bond's successful agenda included consumer protection, campaign finance disclosure requirements, expanding education programs for children, the Sunshine Law providing public access to government records and reforming state government hiring.
Bond's focus on consumer protection issues was not surprising since he served as Danforth's consumer protection director.
Bond went further in his bipartisan approach crossing conservative Republican lines when he supported Missouri ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which failed.
Bond's cross-party agenda came under dramatic attack from a few fellow statehouse Republicans.
The most vivid demonstration of the split between Bond and his party came from long-time Carthage Republican Senator Richard Webster.
Angered by some of Bond's gubernatorial staff and proposals, Webster attacked Bond's staff on the Senate floor.
Webster coined the phrase "kiddie corps" which he used in his Senate attacks to describe Bond's staff as brash younger folks, not sufficiently conservative for Webster.
Webster's attack reflected the views from some Republicans who had hoped for a new Republican-focused conservative agenda without a Democratic governor.
It was not to be.
I do not recall Bond ever wavering from his agenda.
Instead, Bond pursued pushing issues that could win bipartisan support, including moderate Senate Republicans.
I still miss that era when a partnership with Bond, Democrats and moderate Republicans dominated public policy in the legislature.
Bond demonstrated his subsequent cross-party support for major issues when, after leaving the U.S. Senate, he came to Missouri on behalf the Missouri Chamber of Commerce to support Medicaid expansion.
Facing stiff statehouse GOP opposition, Bond's efforts failed in the legislature, but it was followed later by statewide Missouri voter approval of Missouri's current Medicaid expansion.
But it was another demonstration about how Bond could cross ideological and political boundaries for an issue he felt was important for our state.
[Phill Brooks has been a Missouri statehouse reporter since 1970, making him dean of the statehouse press corps. Although now mostly retired, he has been the statehouse correspondent for KMOX Radio, director of MDN and an emeritus faculty member of the Missouri School of Journalism. He has covered every governor since the late Warren Hearnes.]
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