ST. LOUIS • When your campaign has less than 1 percent of the cash as the opposition, it helps to be a little creative.

It also doesn't hurt to capitalize on the other guy's missteps.

Hours after it was reported that Republican Dave Spence's "degree in economics" was actually in home economics, his underfunded rival for the GOP nomination for governor, former Kansas City lawyer Bill Randles, released his own academic transcripts — including his report card from Harvard Law School.

"Because I know this is an issue and I know the people of Missouri have a right to know, I am releasing the transcripts for all my degrees," Randles said in a news release sent Tuesday night.

Randles released photo images of transcripts from three schools:

• Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., where Randles graduated summa cum laude
• Baylor University, where Randles received all A's and earned an M.A. in speech communication
• Harvard Law School, where Randles got A's and B's on his way to a J.D.

Randles was at Harvard from 1988 to 1990, which would have put him in the law school at the same time as, that's right, President Barack Obama.

The preacher-turned-lawyer-turned-investor is running for governor on a shoestring budget. Randle's latest report shows the campaign with about $2,800 — a fraction of the $2 million Spence donated to his own campaign in November.

Even so, Randles is showing some hints of conservative appeal. He recently won a southwest Missouri straw poll by a wide margin.

And he already has at least one endorsement in Jefferson City: southern Missouri State Rep. Ward Franz, who was on the speech and debate team with Randles at Southwest Baptist. 

"If Bill can get his message out to enough people," Franz said, "he can be a serious threat in this race."