Missouri Republicans lauded the legacy of retiring U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., at Saturday night's closing banquet for the party's annual Lincoln Days celebration, an honor that cast a spotlight on all the prominent Republicans who owed their careers to the state's senior senator and former governor.

big four

Photo by Jo Mannies | Beacon staff

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, retiring Christopher "Kit" Bond, Rep. Roy Blunt, former Gov. and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft shared the spotlight at Lincoln Days.

Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, himself a former Missouri governor and U.S. senator, led the litany of speakers who praised Bond's 40 years of public service. The packed ballroom at the St. Charles Convention Center also viewed a video detailing Bond's political career, and featuring many political colleagues, friends and family, including his adult son, Sam Bond.

Ashcroft noted that he got his own start in statewide politics in 1972 when Bond -- who had just been elected Missouri's youngest governor in history and the first Republican in decades -- named Ashcroft to fill his old job as state auditor.

But Ashcroft primarily emphasized the present, as he cited the common views that he and Bond hold on national security issues. Bond, said Ashcroft, has a better understanding than President Barack Obama's administration of the seriousness of the threat the nation faces from foreign terrorists.

Obama and his chief advisers, said Ashcroft, "refuse to use the vocabulary of war" and fail to grasp the importance of keeping some information quiet.

Not so Bond, continued Ashcroft, as he lauded the senator for criticizing the administration after it made public details of how relatives had been used to obtain information from the man who made an unsuccessfully attempt to blow up an American airliner on Christmas Day by igniting explosives hidden in his underwear.

Bond's public outcry, said Ashcroft, "made people understand the importance of intelligence."

But it was Bond who changed the subject when, during his appreciative remarks, he sought to direct the Republican crowd's attention to their own political future.

The best retirement gift Missouri Republicans could give him, Bond said, was to "keep this seat in Republican hands" by electing U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Springfield, as his successor. Bond then called on Blunt to join him on the podium.

Blunt's brief address brought the focus of the crowd, the evening -- and the Lincoln Day weekend -- back to their optimism about Republican Party chances of making major gains in November.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, currently the only Republican holding statewide office in Jefferson City, was buoyant after Saturday's banquet. Kinder said he had been attending Lincoln Day gatherings for 35 years and "I've never seen anything like this -- the crowds or the enthusiasm."

Missouri GOP optimism high

(As the Beacon reported earlier)

At Friday's opening-night banquet, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty led a series of fiery speakers who brought the hundreds of state and local Republicans in the audience repeatedly to their feet, with calls for conservatives to take action.

at lincoln days

Photos by Jo Mannies | Beacon Staff

From top: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty brought Missouri Republicans to their feet.

Part of the teen T-shirt brigade for Thomas Schweich.

A supporter of Allen Icet offers iced tea.

Some of the buttons available to the Lincoln Days crowd.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder sweetened his gubernatorial aspirations with scoops of ice cream.

"Misguided liberals all over this country," said Pawlenty, were "chipping away at these pillars" of religious freedoms, lower taxes and other key conservative values.

Such liberals, he said, were "in city councils, on county boards, in the state Legislature, in the halls of Congress and, I dare say, the White House."

"We need to grab their arms and stop them!" Pawlenty declared.

Widely touted as a potential presidential hopeful in 2012, Pawlenty helped kick off one of the Missouri GOP's largest annual Lincoln Days weekends in years. And for the first time, it was being held in St. Charles County, long a Republican stronghold.

Such critical anti-Democratic talk continued at Saturday's Lincoln Day public forum, where U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Town and Country, called for dramatic changes in Washington.

"We have to take it apart. We have to deconstruct the government," Akin said, touching off applause from the audience.

The congressman added later, "Democrats always surprise me by something dumber than I expect."

Akin joined Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, and Roy Blunt, R-Springfield, in reaffirming their opposition to the cap-and-trade energy bill that House Democrats passed last summer.

All emphasized that they supported all forms of energy production, and backed any efforts to produce more of that energy in the United States.

But Blunt said that coal and natural gas, along with oil "need to continue to be part of our energy future." He cited studies showing that the U.S. has 100-years worth of natural gas, and 300 years worth of coal.

St. Charles hosts record turnout

High energy among Republicans optimistic about possible gains in this fall's elections has sparked a record Lincoln Day turnout, said state Republican Party executive director Lloyd Smith.

Smith said more than 800 Republicans from around the state had registered for this weekend's festivities, held at the St. Charles Convention Center. Although Lincoln Days is held in the St. Louis area every third year (shared with Kansas City and Springfield), the St. Louis stop previously has always been in downtown St. Louis or in suburban St. Louis County.

St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, a Republican and one of the organizers of the weekend's events, said Friday night that he was "very, very pleased" with the enthusiasm and energy exuded by the crowd during its inaugural gathering in his backyard.

Smith said that Pawlenty and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had been approached last fall about appearing at this weekend's Lincoln Days, with one of the attractions being Missouri's reputation as a swing political state with a key U.S. Senate race on this fall's ballot. Pawlenty agreed early to the invitation, said Smith, while Palin's staff notified the Missouri GOP months later that her schedule was full this weekend.

Smith added that there also is another break with tradition this weekend. Along with the usual parade of speakers, meals and parties, the event also is featuring a number of training sessions on such topics as ethics, campaigning and "new media."

Still, the most significant fact of the statewide Lincoln Days is that it attracts virtually every major Republican candidate and officeholder from around the state. Missouri's top legislative leaders were all at Friday's festivities -- including state House Speaker Ron Richard and Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields -- along with several Missouri members of Congress.

Tables lined the convention halls, sporting the usual candidate buttons, balloons and pamphlets promoting dozens of would-be officeholders. And there were some creative extras. Survey Missouri, a local polling and direct-mail firm, was conducting an unscientific straw poll (pictured, right) to gauge whether the Lincoln Day crowd preferred former Bush ambassador Thomas Schweich or state Rep. Allan Icet for the Republican nomination for state auditor.

(Later, the firm released its results, which it emphasized were "for entertainment only," and didn't reflect who had a real edge among likely GOP voters. Allen Icet garnered 87 percent of the 134 straw poll votes, which were only a fraction of Friday's attendees.)

Both men had teens circulating through the convention hall sporting T-shirts declaring support for one or the other. Icet's T-shirts had an added message on back, emphasizing that the wearer had not been paid to do so.

Icet, R-Wildwood, also was handing out large labeled plastic cups filled with iced tea -- a play on his last name, and an overt appeal to the conservative "Tea Party" crowd.

Tea Party crowd wins praise

Pawlenty and U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Springfield and a candidate for the U.S. Senate, were among the GOP speakers who credited the Tea Party movement -- which celebrates its one-year anniversary on Saturday -- for first stirring conservative Republicans to action a year ago. At that time, said Blunt, many Americans were "still enthralled" with new President Barack Obama.

But now, said Blunt, Americans no longer trust Obama and the Democrats controlling Congress because of their proposals on energy, the economy, taxes and health care. "They have just scared the country to death and rightly so," said Blunt.

The congressman ignited applause and cheers when he added, "No one has done as much for my campaign as Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid," the Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate.

Although the state Republican Party officially isn't taking sides in its primaries, Blunt was the only U.S. Senate hopeful who got to address Friday night's banquet crowd.

Pawlenty, and state GOP executive director Smith also had attended a private fundraiser earlier Friday in Clayton for Blunt, who is seeking to succeed retiring Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., the chief honoree (along with former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, a former governor and U.S. senator) at Saturday night's banquet. Pawlenty praised Blunt later at the dinner.

Pawlenty told reporters in a brief interview session after his speech that he had made no decision about his political plans in 2012, but emphasized that Missouri was among a number of states that he has visited -- or planned to. He has formed a new political action committee, called Freedom First, that the governor plans to use to raise money for various like-minded candidates.

One of Blunt's rivals, state Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, also was at Friday night's dinner. Afterward, Purgason said he was disappointed, but not surprised, that Blunt got to address the crowd and that party leaders seemed to be favoring the congressman.

"You're basically ignored by your own leadership," said Purgason in an interview. "But that's the deck you're dealt with, so you move on."

Smith said there was no attempt to favor anyone in the Senate contest. Others noted that, besides Pawlenty, all but one of the speakers were members of Congress or statewide officials. The exception was St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin, who is running for Congress in the 3rd District against Democratic incumbent Russ Carnahan.

Still, Purgason's physical appearance underscored the importance he was placing on Lincoln Days, even though he didn't get a chance to speak.

Known for always sporting a Western bolo tie and boots, Purgason (right) showed up Friday night in a standard suit and tie.

Why the change? Purgason quipped that, at Lincoln Days, he was out to "shock and awe."