Veteran political consultant Dick Morris is enamored enough with Sarah Steelman’s anti-terror policies that he traveled across the country to deliver a campaign speech, gratis, without ever having met her.

Morris’ opinion of her Republican primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof? Eh, not so much.

The campaign guru who helped guide the Clintons from Little Rock to the White House - before their famous falling out - was in St. Louis Monday, stumping on behalf of Steelman’s bid for governor.

In an interview before the event, Morris - as he has done in several columns - extolled Steelman’s policy of not investing state pension funds in companies that do business with Iran.

“Sarah’s innovation in the use of that - of a nothing job like state treasurer,” Morris said, “and using it to leverage all of federal policy about dealing with the preeminent international threat we have is pretty interesting.”

“Nothing” job?

“It’s not governor, you know. It’s not senator,” Morris said. “But she’s had more influence in fighting Iran than anybody in the United State except Condoleezza Rice.”

Morris, speaking from his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton, believes that Steelman can capitalize on the “stardust” surrounding Barack Obama in her race for governor.

“The obvious strength that she has is that she is new and that she is different,”Morris said.

Morris said that he thought Hulshof - who got his own dig in earlier in the day - is too ingrained in the Beltway establishment.

Missouri voters, Morris offered, “don’t like to import Washington dirt into Jefferson City. So, very rarely does somebody move from Washington into state politics.”

Is Hulshof that “dirt”?

“Yes,” Morris replied.

Morris, a native New Yorker, is no stranger to Missouri politics. He’s worked for Ike Skelton, and was part of William Webster’s ill-fated bid for governor in 1992.

He learned of Steelman from Frank Gaffney, who worked in the Pentagon during the Reagan administration and later founded a Washington think tank, the Center for Security Policy.

Both Gaffney and Morris have praised Steelman’s “terror-free” investment stance.

“She’s my hero,” Morris explained.

And, a few moments after we spoke on Monday, Morris finally got to meet her, shaking hands for the first time with Steelman in the lobby of the Ritz.

Morris: Former Clinton strategist now with Fox News