Wonder why it's taken so long for a bill to grab any traction making it illegal for lawmakers to work as political consultants?
Because former House Speaker Rod Jetton wasn't the only one doing it.
The article in question mentions Jeff Roorda's work for Sam Page (if that was the only work for a legislator, Jetton still leads $234K to $20K)
The Speaker of the Missouri House is the most powerful person in the Missouri House. The Minority Whip is probably near the bottom of the top 25 depending on how many permanent committees are in existence at this time.
In other words, the Majority Whip is in the top 5 of power in the 163 member house most of the time. And I'd need to do more digging to decide on if the Democratic Whip is powerful enough to be near the top 20% of the Legislature in power and influence.
That being said. Legislators still shouldn't be paid political consultants and Reporters will unleash false equivalence beyond all reason. This changes nothing.
As far as the races in Missouri, Terrence Jones echoed this blog's disappointment with the Dem showing in state legislative contests (only three seats gained in the House and three seats lost in the Senate). Then he commented on the statewide candidates who won (including his answer to the question in the title of this posting):
Asked why Sam Page lost, Jones had this analysis:
My next posting on Jones' speech to the West County Dems will feature two brief clips: one on redistricting, the other on what we can do to improve our performance in state legislative races in 2010.
Sam Page's loss is Missouri's loss. You can get a sense of what kind of public servant we just lost from this letter Sam sent to his supporters:
"Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan."
That quote is from Tacitus, a Senator in first century Rome. JFK quoted him following the Bay of Pigs, reflecting on its failure, but before that, he was quoted by Count Ciano, wartime pilot and Mussolini's son-in-law, objecting to so many sharing in his success.
I find myself in the interesting position of having failed in my race for the Lt. Governor's office, but my failure did not leave me an orphan. So many have reached me with support and with expressions of regret, that it gives a lie to this old saying.
Our campaign revealed so many friends, reaching to all four borders of our state that I feel an obligation to you -- one that I can never satisfy in my mind and heart.
My well-wishers ask what are my plans. At this point, the answer is simple. Spend time with my family, catch up on the movies, read for pleasure again and date Jenny like the old days. It will be strange at first to get up in the morning and not have a long list of meetings and phones calls for the day. All this freedom will be disconcerting at first, but we all adapt quickly.
I want to thank you for standing with me. I want to thank you for asking your friends to support me. I want to thank you for participating in the Democratic process.
Winning is great -- but winning is not everything.
Josh Marshall uses a term "riding the tire swing" to describe journalists who get too cozy with politicians (the term comes from descriptions of major media figures eating BBQ and riding the tire swing at John McCain's ranch.) Was PubDef's Antonio French riding Peter Kinder's tire swing today?
French had a rather long post today recapping Kinder's outreach to the African-American community in Saint Louis, topped off with a release of new endorsements from black leaders, and ending with a note about Kinder's "angry response" to Sam Page's negative ads and an embedded video of that "angry response."
For the record, it wasn't just an angry response. Kinder went ballistic and compared Sam Page to Goebbels and Hitler. Even if Sam Page weren't a kind man who went down to the Gulf region to volunteer his time and expertise to help Katrina victims, you don't compare your opponents to genocidal maniacs just because you think their negative ads are mean. And if Peter Kinder were comfortable with his lead, you'd think he'd be able to tone it down a little bit.
Watch the video:
And of course, Kinder's rant about anonymous bloggers (I think Fired Up got under his skin, too) and "unsourced claims" by Page are meritless. Put on your reading glasses, Peter, the sourcing is right there on the screen.
Getting back to Antonio, why put a gauzy post about African-American support for Kinder front and center while burying an outrageous historical analogy at the bottom of the post and framing it as a legitimate response to negative ads? Tire swing?
The enablers of Peter Kinder (r - "mr. personality"), the incumbent in the Lieutenant Governor race, are certainly relentless when it comes to producing robocalls attacking Sam Page (D).
We've previously covered the robocalls and other attacks:
Sam Page has a secret. He's accepted a large contribution from a Canadian company, breaking a Federal law in the process. In fact, Sam Page admitted it came from a Canadian address. Now, after having been caught Sam Page has all kinds of excuses. The bottom line? Sam Page doesn't want you to know that he broke the law. Sam Page's choices are risky for Missouri. On November 4th say "No" to Sam Page. Paid for by Citizens Taking Charge, Patrick Wilson, treasurer.
Typical old school style republican campaign tactics. I figure their "...was found to have voted with Vito Marcantonio" robocall will be out any day now.
Sam Page (D), the candidate challenging republican incumbent Peter Kinder in the Lt. Governor race, is the target of a lot of republican campaign trash tactics. Does anybody think Peter Kinder (R) might be a little concerned about his re-election prospects?
"No" to seat belts on school buses? The Lt. Governor's race between incumbent Peter Kinder (r) and Sam Page (D) has reached a point of absurdity.
On Thursday (at some point) I received a robocall. It left a message on my answering machine.
[male voice - recorded] Doctor Same Page has the wrong prescription for Missouri's children. Sam Page supports forcing our children to wear seat belts on school buses. Despite study after study that proves school buses are safer without seat belts, Sam Page thinks he has the better answer. Sam Page wants to take another decision out of the hands of parents and local school districts and put it into the hands of state government. Sam Page's choices are risky for Missouri. On November 4th say "No" to Sam Page. Paid for by Citizens Taking Charge, Patrick Wilson, treasurer.
In the hierarchy of wedge issues I'm wondering where this fits in. Are they telling us they've run out of gas on God, gays, and guns? Wow.
Much as Peter Kinder would like to trust that Post-Dispatch late September poll that showed him leading Sam Page 51-35, even Kinder will admit that he doesn't dare. For one thing, he knows how disastrously wrong the late July P-D poll showing Jeff Harris winning in the AG race was. (Were their pollsters filling their Dasani bottles with Absolut?) Kinder figures it's unlikely that this P-D poll is any more reliable than the AG poll when he considers that his own internal poll shows him with a single digit lead.
"I have never believed that if as I expect McCain carries Missouri, it would necessarily mean anything down ballot," he said. "So I am furiously paddling my own canoe."
And McCain is looking less and less likely to do Kinder even that much good. The latest Fox News/Rasmussen poll has Obama up by three points (50-47) And the presidential matchup is the good news for Kinder. The bad news is the way that Sam Page is sandwiched in between Jay Nixon and Robin Carnahan on the ballot. The latest SUSA poll shows Jay walking away from Hulshof by 17 points. From Kinder's point of view, that's a big ouchie.
Whatever the Post-Dispatch may think, both these candidates believe it's going to be a horse race with, who knows, maybe a photo finish.
John Nance Garner, vice president under FDR from 1933-41, famously said that the office of vice president was "not worth a bucket of warm piss." And I assumed that the obscurity that has settled like a shroud over many a vice president was also the usual fate of lieutenant governors. Sam Page set me straight.
Peter Kinder, he said, in presiding over the state senate, pushed through a tax credit for Paul McKee worth $100 million. That kind of power ain't warm piss. Furthermore, among the dozen boards Kinder sits on are five or six that influence health care policy in this state, including the Senior Citizens Advocacy Board--a critically important board, considering that health care is a preeminent concern of seniors.
So Dr. Page, I stand corrected.
The question then is how Page would use the power of the office if he had it. His focus, he tells me, would be on health care, since he is a physician, and bringing good jobs to Missouri. Easy to say, but what politician doesn't claim he'll bring good jobs to his state or the country? So I asked him what he meant by that, and his policy prescriptions make sense.
Today is John McCain's birthday. That's easy to remember, because on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans as a Category 3 hurricane, bringing ruin and devastation to an impoverished population unable to evacuate partially because of decades of neglect and partially because of an unresponsive government.
And part of the unresponsivity is directly tied in with John McCain. On August 29, 2005, John McCain was celebrating his 69th birthday with George Bush in Arizona, and apparently the festivities couldn't be called off so that the president of the United States could coordinate some sort of effective response. Now we have indelible images like this:
juxtaposed with this:
This is yet another shameful legacy Bush, along with his enablers like John McCain, has given us. When you don't believe government can be useful or effective, you don't spend time trying to figure out how it can actually be useful or effective.
Speaking of responses, our very own Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor Sam Page volunteered his time and effort providing free medical services for Katrina in Jennings, LA. That's especially touching to me, because not only was I born in Louisiana, I still have lots of extended family in Jennings. Thank, Sam, for showing that you cared when those higher up in government did not.
[applause] Thank you all so much. It is, it is such a thrill to be here, Ike, to be with you. I've always heard about this picnic, both from you and my folks. And I think this is the first time I've actually been to this particular event. So, I am, I am thrilled to be able to be a part of it. You mentioned Jim Kirkpatrick. You know his picture is on the wall in my office down in Jefferson City, so not a day goes by that I walk in the door that I don't see him and feel inspired by the public service that he gave to this state. And particularly on days like this, which we just made it through an election. You know, that's one of the jobs of the Secretary of State, to work with all the local election officials and get us through these miraculous things that keep our democracy going. And I look at Jimmy and I smile and just feel honored to follow in his footsteps...
Lately, voters around the state are being awoken around 3 AM to the sound of a ringing phone. Those that answer hear a recorded message purporting to be on behalf of Sam Page. Naturally, Page didn't do this, because the candidate waking you up in the middle of the night is the last person you want to vote for.
This is what Republicans do. This was what Richard Nixon's team excelled in, calling it "ratf*cking." It's no surprise that Kinder is dabbling in this dark art; his buddy Karl Rove has been playing dirty tricks since the beginning of his political career. In 1970, he distributed fliers promoting a rally for Democrat Alan Dixon. He wasn't being nice - the flier offered free beer, food, girls and a good time, and he distributed them at homeless shelters and rock concerts, all to disrupt a big rally for Dixon.
This kind of crap just keeps on coming, and all you can do is just work harder to beat it. In this case, we have a really good chance at doing just that. Sam Page has been working hard reaching out to voters across the state, outraising the incumbent quarter after quarter, and the Democrats will have a strong ticket all the way up and down. In 1970, Dixon won despite Rove's dirty tricks. You can help beat his ilk again in 2008 by helping Sam Page out, and it's very likely that with our help, he can beat Peter Kinder. Go to www.sampage.com and get involved in whatever way you can.
The story of Molly and Steve Schad was featured today on NBC's The Today Show. Molly and Steve are the parents of an autistic child. They have refinanced their house several times and borrowed money to pay for treatments. They are hoping Missouri will join other states in requiring insurance companies to cover autism spectrum disorder.
In Missouri, that legislation was sponsored by State Rep. Sam Page. Molly testified before a Missouri House of Representatives committee on April 15 in favor of the legislation. Six states have already passed such legislation and legislation awaits the governor's signature in Louisiana.
"The state has a moral obligation to look out for its most vulnerable citizens," Page said. "Because not all insurance companies share that obligation. My legislation would make certain that every health insurer was meeting the standard of basic human decency for patients and families with autism."
Also, The Today Show's home page is featuring an online poll asking if state's should require coverage of autism spectrum disorder. Take a moment to vote to show your support of this legislation.
Antonio has a guy at Lincoln Days so that you didn't have to go yourself. It turns out there was big news to be made, and not of the gaffe variety, either. Peter Kinder is out of the governor's race.
It's not too surprising, even though Kinder was the first to throw his hat in the ring after Blunt's exit. After all, he's the most tied to Blunt legacy, a powerful machine that managed to catapult Mitt Romney into third place in Missouri's presidential primary. (Kinder himself endorsed Thompson as a Reaganesque figure. I'm guessing he was thinking of Reagan waking up from a long nap, or after a big turkey dinner and a little red wine.)
Still, from Kinder's speech, it's all too clear that he wants to keep the Blunt flame alive:
"This is a campaign I believe I would have won, but I also believe in my heart that this is the right decision. I hope it will help our Party unite so together we can tell Missourians a remarkable story of how together we turned our state around by turning a $1.1 billion deficit into three straight surpluses without raising taxes, ended the cuts to education while increasing funding for classrooms, transformed Missouri's health care system and helped bring nearly 90,000 new jobs to our state by supporting job-creating initiatives and investing in tourism as we did by bringing the Tour of Missouri to our state. [My emphasis]
Yeah, Missouri Republicans transformed the health care system all right - by cutting out needy families. And the 90,000 jobs created figure sounds nice, until you compare it to historical averages.
Notice that in the first two years of Mel Carnahan's first term, Missouri added over 150,000 jobs. In the last two years of his second term, Missouri added over 100,000 jobs. Blunt's administration has added 90,000 in 3 years, and jobs have actually decreased lately. So yeah, I hope Republicans take Kinder's advice to run on Blunt's legacy: "No health care for you, but you get a bike race and maybe a job!"
John Nance Garner, vice president under FDR from 1933-41, famously said that the office of vice president was "
Previous coverage:
Lately, voters around the state are being awoken around 3 AM to the sound of a ringing phone. Those that answer hear a recorded message purporting to be on behalf of Sam Page. Naturally, Page didn't do this, because the candidate waking you up in the middle of the night is the last person you want to vote for.
