Says SarahPalin.com, “Tony Monetti, a conservative running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, just released the greatest campaign announcement ever.” The one-minute video begins with Monetti, a former B-2 pilot, flying a two-seat plane upside down. He talks about how things are “inverted” right now and that “we’re upside down as a country and as a state.” At this point, the plane flips right side up. Monetti tells of how he defended America as a B-2 pilot and is ready to serve once again, this time as a U.S. Senator bringing Missouri values to Washington and not Washington values to Missouri.
Although Monetti is not the first candidate to run against “career politicians,” he does a good job of immunizing himself against the one charge that could be brought against him, namely inexperience. The sophistication of the commercial also speaks to his seriousness as a candidate.
To continue with the aviation metaphors, Monetti’s campaign is in something of a forced holding pattern right now because the Republican moneyed establishment would like to put its money on Attorney General Josh Hawley. Until Hawley decides, the money will remain in Republican pockets.
Hawley’s only liability as a candidate, and it is a significant one, is that he has only been in office six months. One senses that he would rather not run at this point, but the pressure is intense for him to do so. This sixty-second exposure to Tony Monetti might persuade Hawley that the Republicans will have a viable candidate even if he does not run.
Originally from Brooklyn, the son of Italian Americans, Monetti has a remarkable back story, one that will be hard for the Democrats to counter if Monetti is the nominee. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine what strategy the Democrats would use to undermine his candidacy.
First up, though, Monetti must win the nomination. It will not be easy. That said, it will take less of a miracle for Monetti to secure a seat in the U.S. Senate than it was to secure one of the very first seats in a stealth bomber.