In an election year when “Washington insider” and “career politician” stand as the most poisonous slurs, Missouri’s U.S. Senate race has enviable diversity.

True, the frontrunners in the respective major parties, Republican Roy Blunt and Democrat Robin Carnahan, have names that speak to electoral pedigree. They and relatives have appeared on numerous Missouri ballots and served the public in a variety of official positions.

But the other 15 candidates vying in the Aug. 3 primary range in background from an architect to a chemist, from a flight attendant to a charter pilot, from an environmental manufacturer to a hatchery owner.

At least two of the candidates have served abroad in the nation’s military. The words “Reagan conservative” and “Goldwater conservative” arise in some of the candidates’ campaign literature, plus one reference to “Abe Lincoln center-right Republican.”

One claims life membership in Mensa, an international organization of people with high IQs.

What most have in common is a lack of resources, which will inevitably lead to a lack of votes. While both Ms. Carnahan and Mr. Blunt have raised cash in the $7 million to $8 million range, none of the others has net receipts approaching the six-figure range, according to Federal Election Commission financial disclosures.

The retirement of Republican Kit Bond, in the Senate since his election in 1986, opened the seat for a new batch of office hopefuls. That explains the crowd. Or maybe a $174,000-a-year job proves irresistible in a tough economy.

But 17 names on the August ballot — three Democrats, nine Republicans, two Libertarians and three from the Constitution Party — probably surpassed expectations for the race. (Initially, 20 filed for the office, then three candidates withdrew.)

Given the shortage of campaign treasure, most of the Senate candidates eschew travel across Missouri’s nearly 70,000 square miles. Only the hopefuls with greater funding have strayed to the northwestern corner of the state. Television, radio, newspapers and billboards, advertising vehicles to broaden name recognition, are out of the question.

Use of the Internet, of lesser cost and lesser impact, seems the medium of choice for message distribution among the cash-strapped.

Slogans on these sites look for punch and lean heavily on exclamation marks.

“Missourians, I Believe in You!” begins Republican Kristi Nichols of Kansas City.

Another Republican, Mike Vontz of Lake St. Louis, opens with “Wake Up, Missouri!”

Jonathan Dine, a Riverside Libertarian, opts for the grabber, “Show Me Freedom, Missouri!”

To illustrate their patriotism and philosophical grounding, candidates make liberal use of symbols.

Democrat Francis J. Vangeli of Columbia went with an American flag and eagle header, while Republican Hector Maldonado of Sullivan accented with the flag, Declaration of Independence and U.S. Capitol.

Republican Chuck Purgason of Caulfield decorated his site with artwork of the U.S. Constitution and the Founding Fathers. The Constitution Party’s Joe Martellaro of Cuba festooned the Stars and Stripes with the words “Less Taxes, Less Government, More Liberty.”

Many of the candidates had in common a distaste for the people they would serve with in the nation’s capital.

“When I look at what is going on in Washington, I feel like I’m watching a train wreck,” wrote Libertarian Cisse Spragins, a Kansas City resident who hold a doctorate in plasma physics.

R.L. Praprotnik, a Republican and St. Louis architect, added, “I believe that freedom is being destroyed and the Constitution is being ignored completely by the Obama administration and the Congress.”

The most succinct campaign message appeared in the website of Mike Simmons, a resident of New Haven and candidate in the Constitution Party. In 220 words, and with a picture of him in a Marine dress uniform, he announced the discontinuance of his campaign.

Ken Newton can be reached

at ken.newton@newspressnow.com.

Candidates for U.S. Senate

Democrat

Francis J. Vangeli, Columbia

Robin Carnahan, St. Louis

Richard Charles Tolbert, Kansas City

Republican

R. L. Praprotnik, St. Louis

Hector Maldonado, Sullivan

Kristi Nichols, Kansas City

Roy Blunt, Springfield

Deborah Solomon, Independence

Davis Conway, St. Peters

Mike Vontz, Lake St. Louis

Chuck Purgason, Caulfield

Tony Laszacs, Waynesville

Libertarian

Jonathan Dine, Riverside

Cisse Spragins, Kansas City

Constitution

Joe Martellaro, Cuba

Jerry Beck, La Monte

Mike Simmons, New Haven