Left In Missouri

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.

Just read this CNN article about the race being a statistical dead heat. Last week some polls had Obama up in double digits. What is going on here, in my opinion, is a news media driven by the entertainment side of the 24/7 news business. This new poll made me shake my head and wonder who was really wagging the dog.

In the poll with just McCain and Obama compared together, Obama leads by five points. When you throw in Nader and Barr, it dwindles to 3 points. One reason why I am skeptical of this polled is that Nader polled at 6% and Barr at 3%. Now since the margin of error is close to these third party percentage vote totals, it is more than likely that these third party candidates don’t have this much support In 2004 Nader got 465,650 votes while the Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik received 397,265 votes. I can’t see that changing very much this election cycle. Nader is old news and Barr might spoil Georgia in a close race.

Here in Missouri, the Libertarian Party is the only established third party in the state and a lack of a more liberal third party candidate may have an impact, but most people when they get behind the curtain in the voting booth will usually vote for major party candidates.

BTW, I tried to set up this blog on Wordpress or b2evolution on a host server. But I found out it’s a lot harder than it seems. I’ll stay on Blogger for now.

Governor Blunt is still trying to become the worst governor in Missouri’s history. Instead of making it a priority to enact phase 1 of Insure Missouri, Republicans decided to let that die and had Blunt sign a bill that protects firing ranges from litigation. Never mind that 54,000 low income working families were denied heath coverage.
This is Blunt’s legacy. To all those working families who voted for Blunt because of his social agenda, can you see why voting against your own self interest was not such a good idea. This was not effective governance, but another campaign stunt for the Republicans to get the base all worked up about.

Good Missouri legislative wrap up in pdf form by the Missouri Budget Project

Well it looks like the strategy of the right is going to be firmly rooted in fear mongering and race baiting. A LA times article has Norquist equating Obama to Kerry, Dukakis and Carter. Fair enough. That statement alone probably has no basis in fact, but it is based on ideology and can be debated. However bringing up the “tan” is injecting a racial component to their assertion . This is a not so veiled code to the conservative base that he is a black man. Fox News has been spewing this garbage as well. I really hope this will backfire. It’s despicable.

In New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton addressed a rather large crowd on behalf of Barack Obama. She spoke of unity and the ultimate goal: Getting Barack Obama elected. She appeared relaxed and in her element. This brings up the question of where was this Hillary during the campaign.? I must say that her campaign staff did not do her justice. Terry McAuliffe seemed to be running a 2000 campaign in 2008. Any candidate, if they are not careful, can be handled to a detriment.

The media, in my opinion, was only interested in keeping this campaign a horse race. It made for good TV.

Glad to have Hillary aboard

At the Unity Center tonight, according to the Columbia Missourian, over 35 people showed up for a fundraiser to help purchase a customized 2000 Ford Windstar. Kathleen needs the use of a motorized wheelchair and a customized van in order to get around. It is no secret she does get around. She serves as 3rd Ward Democratic committeewoman for the Boone County Central committee. She also serves on numerous boards, commissions, and steering committees.

However she might be best known as the lead plaintiff against the 2006 Voter ID law. The Missouri Supreme court that year ruled in favor of Kathleen’s position. Her efforts prevented the Republicans from disenfranchising thousands.

She needs about $20,000 dollars to purchase this van and still has quite a ways to go. Please help this progressive Missouri activist keep her crusade rolling (pun intended): Below is the address to send donations:

The Kathleen Weinschenk Fund at P.O. Box 893, Columbia, MO, 65205.

It will be money well spent

I just come across this article. Nader is accusing Obama of “talking” white and should focus more on the poor in the inner cities. I believe that Nader is missing the point and perpetuating a stereotype. Obama is trying to appeal to all Americans, not just African Americans. Poverty strikes not only in the inner city here in Missouri, but also in poor rural areas. Poverty does not discriminate. I know I just gave Nader more attention than he deserves. His 1/2 of one percent vote intake in 2004 is evidence of his irrelevance.

Maybe if Obama started to talk “street” Nader would then, only in his mind, lend crediablity to Obama’s candidancy? Probably not.

On June 15th, i received an email from Karl Skala via the ColumbiaCitizens listserv about the upcoming June 16th public hearing of the Lemone/Maguire Extension and Bridges project. A 9+ million dollar project that would extend Maquire Rd north to Stadium Ave. This would require the building of 2 bridges over the environmentally sensitive Grindstone creek. Below is the email that was sent:

ColumbiaCitizens,

Two bills regarding the Lemone/Maguire Extension and Bridges project are coming before the City Council tomorrow night, 6/16/08 @ ~7:45 p.m. in the Council Chambers (B162-08 regarding a call for bids & B163-08 regarding the final easement acquisition prior to commencing construction)

This will be your last opportunity to express your opinion before the Council renders its decision as to whether to proceed. I would cordially invite you to offer your comments to the Council regarding this proposed expenditure of >$9M of your taxpayer dollars.

And thank you for your continued civic interest.

Best Regards,

Karl Skala

Fred Parry, on his Morning Meeting radio show, accused Skala of “lobbying” against the project. It was no secret that Skala was against this extension. He had argued that other projects should had priority over this one. Especially the improvement of Clark and Ballenger lane in his ward.

As you can see, the email states no position and just informs its citizens of the hearing and the economic impact of the project. Conservatives are really out of touch with the citizens of Columbia. A call to civic action is not “lobbying” Mr. Parry, I thought you were a little more educated than that. Petitioning your government of your grievances is the cornerstone of the First Amendment, the same amendment that protects your right to tout your ignorance to the masses. It is refreshing to have an elected officeholder reminding his constituents of that right.

Notice to all those people that believe real estate development is equal to economic development: We are overbuilt and overdeveloped. The infrastructure subsidy that you have received has not been a good investment to Columbia Missouri. Your empty stores do not generate tax revenue and ends up costing the citizens of Columbia even more. We need to incubate small and medium businesses that are homegrown. This will stabilize our local economy and the wealth created stays in Columbia.