Left In Missouri

With rising energy prices, a faltering economy, bank failures, and a health care system that favors the healthy and wealthy, this is MSNBC breaking news:

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On Friday July 11th, the Boone County Muleskinners had a forum for the candidates of the Missouri 9th Congressional District.  Judy Baker, as well as Steve Gaw, Ken Jacobs, and Lyndon Bode, attended.  What many had thought would be an opportunity for candidates to inform the public of their vision for the future, turned out to be an attack on Judy Baker’s voting record.  Ken Jacob, despite knowing that Baker had to deal with 2 very sick relatives during the session, admonished her for not voting.  Jacobs also was critical with her for the Aquila bill..  This is yet another distortion.  She  had put an amendment on that bill to fund Utilcare.  This was to assist seniors and the poor with rising energy costs.  She even tried to put in an amendment to strip the bill of the power plant, the same plant she is being criticized for voting for.  Judy should of been commended for her political savvy to throw a rider on the bill to help seniors and the poor.  Steve Gaw, who had the opportunity to define himself and let Jacobs do his dirty work, decided to parrot Jacobs and have the “Me Too” attitude, joining in on the pile on.  This also gave the impression to quite of few in the audience of two men attacking the only woman in the race.  Another bad political move for Gaw and Jacobs.  Bode….well Bode is running as Republican Lite, enough said there.

I do appreciate what all these Democrats have done for the party.  My grandmother remembered only 2 politicians towards the end of her life.  One was Mussolini, the other was Ken Jacob. (not comparing the two) :)  He visited her in ‘84 and spoke with her for nearly an hour.  After that, she felt more connected  with Missouri and she knew that her representative was a union “guy”.

However, it is 2008.  We need politicians that look towards the future.  We have major issues like energy, education, health care, and social security.  It is time to let go of the old democrat ways and start fighting for issues.  The reason I am for Judy Baker is that she took the position that change will only happen if she ran against the entrenched incumbent.  We need that kind of courage and fight to represent the Mo. 9th congressional district in Congress.  There are too many cautious democrats, as the FISA bill had shown, compromising our values for political expediency.  Gaw and Jacobs are coming across as that kind of old democrat, speaking of the Glory days of the past and bringing up nostalgia for their supporters.  Ironically Brock Olivo is running the “nostalgia” campaign as well.

We don’t need to keep looking into the past.  It’s time to look towards the future.  Judy Baker is that future.

Every couple of years, there is usually a very small number of people who run third party campaigns.  One of their mantras is there isn’t any difference between the two major parties.  I usually dismiss this as windmill tilting rantings and don’t give it much thought.  There are plenty differences when it comes to health care, education, and energy policy.  But with this FISA bill, we Democrats had a chance to separate ourselves in defense of the constitution and we failed.  We are afraid as being labeled soft on terrorism, but have no problem being seen as soft on the constitution.

In the 9th Congressional district, Judy Baker was the first to sound off first against the FISA bill on Tuesday, followed by Gaw on Wednesday.  Bode broke from the other two by being for the bill, citing Obama’s support of it.  Claire McCaskill also voted for the FISA bill.

Telecom immunity will also hamper our efforts to investigate the Bush administration for their criminal actions.  This is another point where Democrats could of separated themselves from their Republican counterparts.

As Democrats, we really need to give Americans a real choice this November.  after 8 years of stagnant wages, war, anemic economic growth and declining standing in the world, we need to elect Democrats that will fight for what is right and not make crucial decisions based on political expediency.  I plan to vote for Democrats that have proven their courage through both words and actions.

This is totally off topic, but there has been a large amount of rain here in Columbia.  I wonder if this has any influence on political campaigns.?  Think of it, if a lot of rain can change a strategy of a candidate a tiny bit, could it be a tipping point to winning or losing a close race?

I need to go to bed.  I’m really need to get some sleep and not think up this sh** at 1:00 in the morning.  I promise a better perspective of Missouri politics soon

We are getting to the point of these presidential campaigns where VP candidate start to take themselves out of the running just like Jack Webb has done.  You see this happen when a high profile school looks for another athletic coach.  So I am going to help the Obama candidacy and take myself out of the running.  I know the vetting process would be a long one and I would like the candidate to get on with his campaign.  So this blogger from Columbia, Missouri will not be your veep :p

It looks like everyone who is running for an office in Missouri wants to really show how country they are.  Republicans and even some Democrats have this notion that you can’t win without the “rural” vote.  I know Bode, Luetkemeyer and Gaw are stressing their rural roots.  So is Hulshof.   However is this a winning strategy?  Over the years, both parties have pander to this population, usually with the Republicans gaining their support.

This year I believe is different.  Remember the book, “What’s the matter with Kansas” by Thomas Frank?  This book essentially asked the question “Why would rural people from Kansas vote against their own self interest?  The author believed that Republicans promised to bring a moral order to politics and protect them from gay marriages, abortion, and other social mores.  At the time, this superseded any concern of economic and energy polices.  This year the rural poor will see the soaring energy prices, their mounting medical bills as they age, and the lack of educational opportunities for their children.

The Republicans had 4 years to address those social concerns, but chose to keep them in play, probably to use it as a campaign tool time and time again.  Little do they know that using that tactic is beginning to have diminishing returns.

Candidates like Kay Barnes and Judy Baker are hitting the issues hard.  Instead of getting on a tractor or a horse to show how “rural” they are, they are addressing the issues that affect rural, urban, and suburban alike.  Issues like energy prices, soaring medical costs, and a good education crosses all these demographics.  To me the winning strategy is not to pander to one group over the other, but present the issues in a way that says we are all in it together.

Looks like the Obama campaign continues to push their voter registration drive.  On the 4th, they were in Fulton and Columbia registering voters before the cities’ firework displays.  not only are they registering, but they plan to follow up with a GOTV (Get Out The Vote) initiative come November.

Most candidates are talking a few days off and enjoying the holiday.  No one has called for me to phone-bank or canvass this weekend.

Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend

Looks like McCain is going to have a tougher time in Missouri.  Along with the 3 established parties in Missouri, the Constitution Party will have access this November according to a post in the Columbia Tribunes political blog.  If a more liberal party or candidate does not make it on the ballot, there is a possibility that these 2 third parties will siphon enough votes to essentially “Nader” McCain.

To quote Wayne Brekhus quoting Keith Brekhus “There are 4 Greens in Columbia divided into 5 factions.  If this is true, the protest vote might skew right this year, not good for McCain in a battleground state

Finally got away from Blogger and decided to host my blog itself.  I will be expermenting with it for the weekend and the DNS proliferation will take another day or 2 to work itself out.  So Leftinmissouri.com will work one second and down the next. I’m using wordpress and seem to like it.  Have a happy 4th of July and take care.

Just checked out the website of the candidate with the social studies cred. I don’t know if Olivo’s site is a political one or a Mizzou Alumni fan site

(I especially like it when he points to the buttons above him on the video)

At least he doesn’t mention clones.