Kansas City News Blog

Conservatives in Missouri have a new place to congregate online. Missourians for Responsible Government, a nonprofit dedicated to free-market ideals, has unveiled The Missouri Record, an electronic source of news and opinion.

Patrick Tuohey will edit the ostensibly nonpartisan Missouri Record. The last we heard from Tuohey, a Washington, D.C.-trained political operative, he was working to defeat Kansas City's most recent light-rail initiative.

In a news release, Tuohey says Missourians interested in the issues have few places to opine and read the thoughts of others. "We believe The Missouri Record will meet that need and elevate the quality and quantity of political discourse in the Show-Me State," Tuohey says.

Jason Barnes, a Jefferson City-based contributor, authored the declaration of principles that appears The Missouri Record site. The intent, he writes, is "to create a publication neither conservative nor liberal, Republican nor Democrat."

That said, readers should not expect to read about the positive differences Barack Obama's economic recovery plan is making in their lives. The "about the author" blurb at the bottom of Barnes' column notes that wrote speeches for former Republican Gov. Matt Blunt and worked as an adviser to Kenny Hulshof's campaign.

Also, Tuohey doesn't seem to be in much of a position to pledge independence, given that he's a professional message artist who has worked for Mobil and Monsanto, among others.