Missouri Senate Candidate Sarah Steelman

Former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, a Republican now hoping to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), said recently that she was unfamiliar with the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the landmark anti-domestic violence legislation whose re-authorization is now stalled in the Senate.

Senate Republicans are objecting to re-upping the 1994 law, which has already been extended several times, because of amendments that would extend protections for Native American women, gay victims, and others.

A video released today by the Missouri Democratic Party shows a man asking Steelman about VAWA at a campaign event. Steelman replies, “I’m not sure what that is because I’m not serving right now.” He asks again, “You haven’t really heard about it?” And she confirms, “No, not really.” Watch it:

Caitlin Legacki, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Democratic Party, told Inside Missouri Politics that the exchange “underscores how ill-equipped she is to serve in public office.”

For her part, Steelman said in a statement: “Of course I am for stopping violence against women.” But she accused Senate Democrats of making the bill a “political football” and said she would would look at “an improved version” of the bill advanced by Republicans.

Businessman Wil Cardon, a Republican running for Senate in Arizona, wouldn’t say whether he thinks President Obama is a citizen of the U.S., the Arizona Republic newspaper reports. Cardon said he thinks that people running for office “ought to prove” their citizenship, but:

When asked if he was satisfied that Obama had met those qualifications, Cardon sidestepped the question.

“I haven’t been in the middle of that inspection,” Cardon said. “I’m running my own race right now, not worrying about Obama’s race.”

Cardon is running against Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in the GOP primary for the seat vacated by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who is retiring. Flake is the heavy favorite in the race, though Cardon is still viable. Whoever wins the Republican nomination will likely beat the Democratic nominee in November. Cardon has lent his campaign more than $1 million.

Flake has strongly condemned birthers, saying people who think Obama may not have been born in the U.S. need to “get off this kick” and “accept the reality.”

Former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman slammed his party during an interview this weekend at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. He compared his party’s demand for purity and discipline to the Chinese Communist party, BuzzFeed reports, saying that Ronald Reagan would “likely not” be able to win the GOP nomination today.

He said he regrets taking such a hard line against tax increases, criticizing pledges like the one from anti-tax activist Grover Norquist that almost all Republican politicians sign. On his party’s foreign policy, Huntsman said, “I don’t know what world these people are living in.”

And Huntsman, who, during his presidential run, slammed his party’s denial of climate change and evolution, said this weekend, “I had to say I believe in science — and people on stage look at you quizzically as though [you were] an oddball.”

Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Huntsman downplayed much of his criticism and attempted to make nice. But when asked about presumed nominee Mitt Romney — whom the former ambassador once called “completely unelectable,” but has since endorsed — Huntsman couldn’t help but bring up the candidate’s flip flopping:

JOE SCARBOROUGH: What does Mitt Romney stand for? What’s his core conviction?

HUNTSMAN: Listen, [laughter] he’s talking about jobs. He’s talking about economic revitalization. And I think he’s been consistent on that theme. You can talk about the other back and forth, and flip-flopping and the other things. … If you’ve wrapped yourself up in too many pledges, that diminishes your ability to do what needs to be done in the final stretch to some extent.

Watch it:

Indeed, Huntsman and Romney have a long history of tension, and the former Utah governor has slammed some of the former Massachusetts governor’s positions as “out of touch,” “wrongheaded,” and “outlandish.”