The knives are coming out in the the race for Missouri Senate District 26. Guy Midkiff has had posted a tell-all letter to his blog whose anonymous author (the signature is illegible) claims to know all sorts of sordid details about Brian Nieves and his involvement in extra-martial affairs with lobbyists in Jeff City. But not just any lobbyists mind you - lobbyists from the porn industry, no less. The same letter was sent to one of our committee members out of the blue. And right before the Republican primary. Oh, my. If I didn't know any better I'd say Brian's Republican opponents were floating this tripe in hopes it might end up on someone's blog. And now it has.

Midkiff, whose conservative views are almost as kooky as Nieves's, apparently has no reservations about posting unsubstantiated and unconfirmed scandal to his site. But we expect that. He's a Republican. For Republicans this kind of thing is considered hard evidence. (See Andrew Brietbart's edited video of Shirley Sherrod for another example).

These same rumors have been swirling around about Nieves for years. They always resurface right around election time. The same names. The same claims. But no one ever steps forward or goes on record to corroborate them. No complaints are ever filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission to make them official. It's always just gossip.

Let's get one thing straight. Democrats don't care what Republicans do in the privacy of their own bedrooms. That's a Republican obsession. And if the letter's extraordinary claim that Nieves has been accepting sexual favors from female lobbyists in exchange for access is true, that's a matter for investigators. But the letter provides no proof.

Here's the thing, Republicans don't need a lurid sex scandal to go after Nieves. They could defeat him on the grounds that he's a fringe extremist who is outside the mainstream and has dangerous ideas, not because some anonymous letter claims he's been double dipping. That his Republican opponents are likely the ones spreading this bullshit is a testament to their cowardice. They are so petrified of Nieves and his seditious followers they are afraid to call out his fanaticism directly. Instead, they float idle and anonymous gossip in hopes it will cost him the election so they won't have to confront or acknowledge the Republican Party's new radicalized base. After all, they're going to need those good patriots to help them in the fall.

UPDATE 7/27/10 at 09:32:56 AM: Guy Midkiff has taken down his original post stating ...

... I have decided to remove the letter as it has the potential of shifting the balance of the race. Neutrality is the goal of Big Mic interviews and can not been seen as taking sides, if the blog is to have credibility.

Too late for that, Guy.