After a national report cited his “ubiquitous use of Twitter” as an “enduring worry” among fellow Republicans, Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder appears to have stopped, at least temporarily, sending out messages.

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder

The national political website Politico published the story by David Catanese, a reporter who previously worked at a Springfield, Missouri TV station, about Kinder on Tuesday.

As of Thursday evening, Kinder’s last tweet was on Monday.

The main point of the Politico story is that unnamed members of the Missouri Republican Party are writing off Kinder as the top Republican choice to reclaim the governor’s mansion.

“At times, his tweets appear to be ill-timed or even tone-deaf,” writes Catanese, citing a tweet urging Kinder’s followers to “go vote for [a] hot wife in the Top 25 Political Mom blogs” a day after Joplin was hit with a tornado. Another time Kinder, who is single, retweeted a message referring to “tramp stamps.”

The Missouri Republican Party declined to comment on the story and a campaign staffer would only talk on background, accusing the Democrats of placing the story with Politico.

A staffer at the Missouri Democratic Party, meanwhile, said they were not aware of the story until after it was published. The staffer, speaking off the record, pointed out to Missouri Watchdog that Kinder has not used Twitter in three days.

In addition to frequently sending messages on the social media platform, Kinder follows Twitter avidly. He has had his staffers call Missouri Watchdog on numerous occasions following messages viewed as unfavorable.

Kinder is widely expected to run against Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon in 2012. He will face Bill Randles, a Republican from Kansas City in the primary. Randles declined to criticize Kinder, saying that he wants to focus on issues.

By Brian R. Hook, brhook@missouriwatchdog.org, (314) 482-7944

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