According to McCain’s campaign, the pair will fly into Kansas City on Sunday night.

On Monday, they will travel to Lee’s Summit for a rally at the Pavilion at John Knox Village, 520 NW Murray Road.

The event is open to the public. Doors open at 8:30 a.m., with the pre-program starting around 10:30 a.m.

According to a release, no tickets are required.

The visit will be the second by the GOP ticket in a week to Missouri.

Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for more details on Tuesday’s announced stop in the St. Louis area by the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Joe Biden.

How did a convention anti-war protester get my name tag?

I had been wondering the same thing for a couple days, after two Missouri GOP delegates had told me an amazing tale of what apparently happened at a St. Paul reception Tuesday hosted by the Republican National Coalition for Life, led by St. Louis’ own Phyllis Schlafly.

I had gone to cover the reception, which was to feature and honor Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. ( Schlafly had set up the event to honor Palin months ago, well before she ended up as John McCain’s running mate.)

Palin was a no-show, presumably because she was working on her Wednesday night speech.

I had checked in at the press desk, and was given a hanging badge that read “media.” (I still have it, by the way.)

I waited around the reception for about an hour, working on a story in a corner on my laptop, until Schlafly kicked off the program. After getting the quotes I needed for the story, I left the ballroom and made a pit-stop in the nearby ladies room.

As I was walking out, I heard the melee in the ballroom and ran back in, just in time to see security men snag a protester who had jumped on the podium and yelled “Be pro-life, stop the war!”

The young woman was escorted out, still shouting. I wasn’t close enough to get a good look at her.

After hearing and writing down Schlafly’s response, I left for the convention hall a couple blocks away to finish the story and get ready for the evening’s events.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

The next day, Wednesday, I’m on the bus with the Missouri delegates.

Janet Engelbach, with Missouri Eagle Forum, then proceeds to tell me that she and another delegate at the reception had witnessed the woman protester being interviewed by a TV crew.

She had a name tag on. I’m told it read, “Jo Mannies, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.”

Engelbach said she jumped in front of the TV camera and — apparently channeling 1988 Democratic vice presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen — shouted, “That’s not Jo Mannies! I know Jo Mannies!”

Engelbach said the woman then quickly ripped off the tag and dropped it.

So, how did she get it?

I’m assuming that the woman at the press check-in desk who gave me the tag saying simply “media” had overlooked that I apparently had a tag waiting with my name on it. (Thanks Mrs. Schlafly — I think.)

I’m further guessing that the protester snagged a name tag in order to get into the reception, and that it just happened to be mine.

In any case, I’d pretty much forgotten about the incident until the reporter called Friday.

Apparently, the TV footage of my imposter also is circulating all over the Internet and on some TV stations — at least one local station aired it tonight, I’m told.

From what I hear, the alleged Jo Mannies is a heck of a lot younger and thinner than I am.

She’s apparently a lot dumber, too.

And, thank God for Janet Engelbach!

Said MRL President Pam Fichter in a statement:.. “John McCain understands that America must protect the unborn in law and never allow innocent life to be treated as property.

“His resolute knowledge that life begins at conception is not a statement of political expedience — it is a heartfelt belief of fact borne out in his legislative record.

“He also understands the importance of the contributions of pro-life voters. Pro-Lifers are the most dedicated workers in political campaigns, and McCain has chosen Sarah Palin, an outstanding running mate that pro-life activists can strongly support.”

Fichter went on to call Palin, the governor of Alaska, “one of the most exciting candidates to emerge in years.”

“…Palin is unapologetic and courageous in her defense of the unborn, and has been an example of strength and grace as a mother blessed with five children, including one with special needs. Sarah Palin is a member of Feminists for Life, an organization dedicated to the legacy of American suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who spoke strongly against abortion while working for women’s right to vote….”

MRL also asserted that the Democratic ticket — nominee Barack Obama and running mate Joe Biden – “have solid records against the protection of innocent human life….”

Why is Chris Kelly, a Democratic House candidate from Columbia, wearing a helmet in his TV ad when he’s canoeing but not when he’s bicycling?

Kelly says the answer is simple: The canoeing film — showing him negotiating whitewater — wasn’t shot for TV.

“That’s the Grand Canyon. Of course I’m going to wear a helmet,” he said.

As for the cycling footage, showing him hatless on Route M near Ashland, Kelly said his campaign advisers decided a helmet obscured his face.

“They said, ‘Lose the helmet, for the good of the commerical.’ ”

Okay, but be warned: Newspapers often get critical letters when they feature helmetless cyclists.

Kelly, a former state representative and a retired judge, is challenging Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia.

Where?

The city has not yet been disclosed.

 Another thing you can do is subscribe to all our Political Fix podcasts. With the kind of political season we have before us, that might be a good idea. We’ll interview politicians and share our journalists’ insights for Fixers everywhere.

Currently, SLU students who live on campus must vote at Central Baptist Church, on Washington Avenue near Huntley Avenue.

That’s not close enough, says Lauren Khouri, President of the SLU College Democrats.

According to a news release sent by the group, only 55 students registered at 20 N. Grand — the campus address — voted in the February primary.

Advocates of opening a polling station on campus are collecting signatures to present to the Board of Elections and SLU administrators, the release says.

“We will staff the polling location all day if we have too, free of charge,” Khouri said. “We just want to vote.”

For more on the effort, check out the “SLU Students for Voters Rights” Facebook page. 

Republican campaign consultant and fund-raiser John Hancock continued to proffer that argument when the new law took effect, saying that anybody who uses the committee system under the new law is doing so to hide the source of funds.

Well, Hancock should know. He’s also the campaign manager for Republican Kenny Hulshof, who is running for governor against Democrat Jay Nixon. And since the new law passed, Hulshof continues to take in many thousands of dollars through the very campaign committees that Hancock said were unnecessary.

Yesterday and today, the Hulshof campaign filed two more documents with the Missouri Ethics Commission outlining donations from four different party committees. One committee gave three different times; another gave twice.

In some cases the committees gave cash, in others they paid bills to the company producing Hulshof’s TV ads. In each case, the committees were funneling money that appears to have come from the Missouri Republican Party, sometimes passed through at least one other committee on the way.

So why is Hulshof still taking money from these committees and thus hiding the true source of funds?

“My question would be ‘why not?’” says Hulshof spokesman Scott Baker. “If a group of citizens, in this case a committee, decides they want to give to a candidate, why shouldn’t they? And why would the candidate reject that money, if it’s from a legitimate group? Put another way - if the Boone Co Republican committee decides they want to help out Kenny Hulshof, and they have some resources to share, why shouldn’t they?”

OK, let’s take Baker’s example. Indeed, the Boone County Republican Central Committee has given to Hulshof’s campaign. In fact, the main purpose of the committee this year has been to funnel money to Hulshof’s campaign. In the most recent reports, the committee raised $38,350. And what “group of citizens” did this money come from?

It’s all from the Republican Party, given in two separate donations. And what did the committee do with this money? It spent it on Hulshof. On Aug. 22, the committee received $26,900 from the Republican Party. On Aug. 23, it spent $26,700 on Hulshof’s campaign, half in a direct payment to Thompson Communications and half in a monetary payment to the campaign.

Just to be clear, there’s likely nothing illegal going on here. And it’s no different than the same game that’s been played by both parties under the rules that were in effect until Aug. 28.

But in the so-called age of transparency, why isn’t the Party simply writing a check to Hulshof? Is it any secret that the Missouri Republican Party wants Hulshof to be the next governor? And why is Hulshof’s campaign being coy about the “groups of citizens” who make up these party committees?

Perhaps some of the concern has to do with the source of the party’s money. Like Hulshof, the party has received large donations from the Republican Governors Association recently. Several hundred thousands of dollars worth. Some of the biggest donors to the RGA are some of the special interests Hulshof is trying to keep his distance from during the election, such as Big Pharma and Big Oil.

And then there’s this: The RGA last year received a $250,000 donation from a pro-stem-cell research group. The money had been intended to help Gov. Matt Blunt, who opposed Amendment 2. Hulshof has staunchly maintained he is against any form of embryonic stem cell research.

Could Hulshof be afraid of it looking like he’s received money from a pro-stem cell group? Perhaps he has. Perhaps he hasn’t. It all comes out in the wash, so to speak.

According to the folks who backed the new law, the age of transparency was supposed to get rid of these questions. But the very party that pushed the new law is still using the old system to funnel funds through a variety of committees and thus hide their true source.

What say they now? 

UPDATE: Missouri Democratic Party spokesman Zac Wright responding to the news that the Hulshof campaign is continuing to funnel donations through committees:

“Congressman Hulshof’s hypocrisy knows no bounds. This is one more example of his Washington games — thinking he can say one thing but get away with doing another. Is he going to make the committees disclose where the money comes from, or is Congressman Hulshof ‘doing it solely to hide the source of the funds’? Now that Congressman Hulshof can receive unlimited funds from his Washington special interest friends, why would he continue to funnel money anonymously through campaign committees?”

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(Sorry about the audio sync. It’s an imperfect system.)