Friday, May 11, 2012
This edition of Political Potpourri has campaign machinations on both sides of the race to be Missouri's next U.S. Senator.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) made an appearance this week on The Colbert Report, a popular satirical news show on Comedy Central. The first-term senator spent time on the show talking about her latest ad, which hones on third-party organizations that have been running ads against her. “Stephen, as he always does, used his character to point out the absurd loopholes in federal election law that allow corporations and special interests to anonymously influence the political system. I applaud the work he and his show do to educate America about 501(c)(4) organizations and secret money,” McCaskill said in a letter to supporters. “But, until the system is fixed, secret money will continue to flow into Missouri and attack me. As I said, if…
Friday, May 4, 2012
Pending student loan legislation is a source of controversy in the race to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate.
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Wildwood) got some press in late April after President Barack Obama alluded to the U.S. Senate hopeful’s comments about government-backed student loans. At a debate in Columbia, Akin said the following about pending student loan legislation: "America has got the equivalent of the stage three cancer of socialism because the federal government is tampering in all kinds of stuff it has no business tampering in. So first, to answer your question precisely, what the democrats did to get rid of the private student loans and take it all over by the government was wrong, it was a lousy bill, that's why I voted 'no.'" Soon after Akin made that statement, Obama told a crowd at the University of Iowa that “you’ve got one member of …
Saturday, April 28, 2012
The Attorney is using an old ambulance to collect petition signatures.
Chalk this up as one of the more unusual transportation vehicles utilized during the 2012 election season: St. Louis City attorney Ed Martin’s campaign for attorney general is using a retrofitted ambulance aimed at showcasing the Republican’s opposition to President Barack Obama’s health care plan. Martin’s campaign announced last week that the “Ed Martin for Attorney General Campaign ‘Stop Obamacare’ Ambulance” would be traveling around the state to collect signatures against the health care law passed in 2010. “We are inviting citizens from across the state to come out to the ‘Stop Obamacare’ Ambulance Tour and sign the petition to stop the implementation of Obamacare here in Missouri,” Martin said in a statement. “The petition is meant…
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Both candidates in the April 3 election failed to include some necessary wording on campaign materials.
On April 19, the Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC) filed orders to fine Wentzville board of aldermen candidates Jeremy Pritchett and Rick Stokes and their campaign committees for failing to include some state-required wording on campaign materials. The complaint against Rich Stokes stated that Stokes and his committee had published an ad in Crossroads Newsmagazine that failed to include the wording "Paid for by Citizens for Rick Stokes, Donn Lesser, Treasurer." The complaint against Jeremy Pritchett concerned campaign signs that failed to carry the statement "Paid for by Friends for Jeremy Pritchett as Alderman, Jill Matlick, Treasurer." The signs instead carried the wording "Paid for by Friends of Jeremy" on the back of the signs. The …
Friday, April 20, 2012
Also, find out why Newt Gingrich may not be a fan of the St. Louis Zoo, and we have links to this weekend's congressional district caucus events.
The tea party movement’s activism may have helped tip the 2010 election cycle to Republicans, especially since dedicated volunteers helped Republicans win the U.S. House and close the gap in the U.S. Senate. So it’s no surprise that candidates—including the three major Republicans running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri—are trying to gather support from tea party organizations and political figures. But one of the interesting aspects of the movement is its inherent decentralization—no one entity speaks for everybody. For instance, former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman announced a few weeks ago an endorsement from Tea Party Express, a California-based group that touts itself as the “nation’s largest tea party political action committee.” “…
Friday, April 13, 2012
Even if the state's presidential primary had carried delegate weight, would Mitt Romney's defacto hold of the GOP nomination be any different now?
Missouri politics may be the best arena to ask “what if?” For instance, what if Republican Matt Blunt had decided to run for re-election in 2008? Would he have defeated then-Attorney General Jay Nixon? Or would he have been swept under the relative Democratic wave that year? And what if Chris Koster had decided to run for attorney general as a Republican? Would he have emerged victorious out of a GOP primary or would have been defeated by more conservative candidates? Political prognosticators can only dream. But a more recent version of that fun and exciting exercise comes about with Missouri’s presidential caucuses. After the legislature failed to move the primary date to March, Republicans in the state had to go through with a non-…
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Lambi's legal fees to date are $6,671.25.
Mayor Paul Lambi has asked that an agenda item be added to tonight's Board of Aldermen meeting concerning his legal fees in a city investigation into a $15,000 check that may have constituted a conflict of interest. Lambi is requesting $6,671.25 in reimbursement. In a March 30 memo to Interim City Administrator Dennis Walsh, Lambi said that the city has already paid $41,448.71 to special council Tom Lorain. "Do you really want to send the message to City Department Heads and employees that they can use the city treasury to neutralize the Mayor if they curry enough favor of the board by simply making allegations," Lambi wrote. On March 16, Wentzville Patch posted a story about Alderman Nick Guccione's allegations that the investigation was …
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Paul wins 59 delegates in Second Congressional District, 88 delegates in Third Congressional District.
Caucus participants hope for a better outcome than March 17 caucus attempt.
The second attempt at a St. Charles County caucus was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the St. Charles County Convention Center tonight. This caucus is a redo after the March 17 caucus ended early with no delegates assigned. Inside the convention center, supporters checked in with the various camps in hospitality rooms, picked up stickers. Ron Paul's supporters offered free babysitting in one room and also handed out election voting suggestions including a suggested slate that included Brent Stafford as caucus chairman. Dan O'Sullivan, state volunteer coordinator for the Newt Gingrich campaign, said he expects the caucus to go more smoothly than last time. This caucus is being run by the Missouri Republican Party. "The difference being …
Jeremy Pritchett lost last week's Ward 2 alderman race to Sonya Shryock by a margin of ten votes.
Ward 2 alderman candidate Jeremy Pritchett has decided not to pursue a recount of the April 3 vote. "I have looked into my options for a recount," Pritchett told Patch. "Given the history and accuracy in St. Charles County I have decided not to request a recount." In a story posted on April 5, Pritchett told Wentzville Patch about the issues involved in requesting a recount of the election, which was won by candidate Sonya Shryock with 459 votes or 37.72 percent. Pritchett ran a very close second with 449 votes, or 36.89 percent. The third candidate, Donna Sherwood, had 308 votes, or 25.31 percent. There was one write-in vote in the election. Pritchett said Election Authority Director Rich Chrismer had told him that a recount could cost …
Devon Seddon
10:45 am on Friday, May 11, 2012
Can't think of a more appropriate place for a joke than Comedy Central. Unfortunately, the Claire joke just isn't funny anymore. I wonder if they could employ her over there full-time? more ›