The Joplin Globe

By Joe Hadsall

Former U.S. Ambassador Tom Schweich said that he has met a lot of politicians, and that they have something in common: They have been running for everything since they were kids, from leaders of bake sales to student councils.

“I’ve never run for anything, not once in my life,” Schweich said during a Joplin campaign stop on Wednesday. “The reason I’m doing this is because I’m concerned about the direction of our economy. I want to protect taxpayers, and I have a lot of experience in this area.”

Schweich stopped in Joplin as part of a nine-stop, two-day tour announcing his campaign for Missouri auditor in 2010.

The main reason he wants to run is because of a federal economic stimulus package. The money coming to Missouri needs strong oversight, he said, and his resume is “tailor-made” for the office.

“In an era where billions of dollars are coming to the state, you want someone who is financially conservative,” Schweich said. “I have a history of financial conservatism, even back when it wasn’t popular to be financially conservative.”

Schweich spent more than 20 years consulting as a lawyer with companies on legal compliance. In 2005, he was appointed to the State Department, where he conducted audits of the department’s law-enforcement division.

In 2007, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan with a special focus on counter-narcotics and justice reform.

Schweich is also a financial author: He wrote “Crashproof Your Life,” which was published by McGraw-Hill in 2002. He currently teaches courses about Afghanistan and the United Nations at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

He joins a race that includes Republican Rep. Allen Icet, chairman of the House Budget Committee, who announced his candidacy in June. Last week, Icet released a list of endorsements that includes every local state representative, including Speaker of the House Ron Richard.

Schweich said that some of those representatives on Icet’s list have reached out to him and attended his events, however. He said he will be releasing his own list of endorsements in the future.

A conversation with U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt is what led him to run for the auditor’s office, he said. Schweich originally considered running for the same U.S. Senate seat for which Blunt is campaigning.

“I didn’t want to run if I would be a divisive force,” Schweich said. “If I was in a primary election with him, it would be tough, and not productive for the Republican party.”

Former U.S. Ambassador Tom Schweich spoke about the pronunciation of his last name, which rhymes with “bike.” The pronunciation is part of the reason they are using a campaign similar to President Eisenhower’s slogan, “I like Ike.”

“(Schweich) is a German name that no one knows how to pronounce,” he said. “The reason we’re using the slogan ‘I like Schweich’ is so that it makes the pronunciation easy to remember.”