While Jason Kander travels the state criticizing Congress for taking a long break after the national nominating conventions, a little bird is always around to irritate him.

Actually, it is a human in a Kansas jayhawk costume, sent by incumbent U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt�s campaign to raise questions about Kander�s oft-repeated statement that he is a fifth-generation Missourian. Kander, a Democrat currently serving as secretary of state, is a former state representative and an officer in the Missouri National Guard.

Kander was born in Kansas, where he grew up and attended high school, but four previous generations of his family called Missouri home, and he does, too, he said Tuesday during a Columbia campaign stop.

�I think Sen. Blunt should be pretty embarrassed that he forced a member of his staff to dress up in an animal costume,� Kander said. �If a politician who has lived in Washington more than half my life believes that a former captain in the Missouri National Guard is not a Missourian, I wish him luck with that argument.�

Kander was joined by about 70 Democrats at Logboat Brewing Co. for his #FixCongress bus tour, planned for 50 stops while Congress is on a seven-week recess. Blunt is vice-chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and could have objected to the lengthy recess while vital business awaits action, Kander said.

�Instead he chooses to throw up his hands and blame somebody else and say that it is about gridlock and excuse himself,� Kander said.

Congress has failed to act on protecting people from the Zika virus, to update a use-of-force resolution to oppose the Islamic State group or to hold a hearing on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, Kander said.

Kander is 35, and Blunt is 66. As he introduced Kander, state Rep. Kip Kendrick said he represents �a new generation of leadership� that is �focused on finding solutions to issues that face Missourians and Americans day in and day out.�

Kander is not attending the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be nominated for president. When Blunt said he would not attend the GOP convention in Cleveland, Democrats criticized him for ducking out of the event. Kander, at the time, said he would go to Philadelphia.

In a release sent Monday, the Missouri Republican Party criticized Kander for changing his mind and tied him to Clinton.

�Jason Kander and Hillary Clinton are running as a team in Missouri and no last-minute political calculation will change that,� Rich Chrismer, a Republican spokesman, said in a news release.

Kander said he�s not distancing himself from Clinton.

�There is only one qualified candidate for president of the United States, and, yes, I campaigned with her the other day in St. Louis,� Kander said.