Missouri
updated
12:05 a.m.
Earlier in the week I wrote about State Rep. Cynthia Davis' diatribe about the Department of Education's Race to the Top grant program. Two events today, however, have helped me to better understand the source of Davis', and, I think, general conservative hysteria about public education. The first of these events was the decision of the The Texas State Board of Education to revise American... ...
Show Me Progress - Sun 12:03 a.m.
That First Amendment will make you crazy. It's like we have a choice between protecting free speech (down with dictators!) or keeping corporate money from buying elections for the wealthy (down with the oligarchy!). But censoring corporate speech without weakening the First Amendment is nigh onto impossible, according to William Freivogel. Freivogel, a former editor at the Post-Dispatch whose... ...
Show Me Progress - Sat 12:47 p.m.
While digging around on the Web, I came across a couple of blog posts concerning Claire McCaskill. In response to a letter concerning the miscues of Democrats in Congress, McCaskill sent the blogger this response boasting about her wise stewardship of tax dollars - and addressing none of the concerns about which the blogger had contacted McCaskill. This inappropriate, one-note response struck me.....
Show Me Progress - Fri 11:23 p.m. - 4 clicks 
Leave it to republicans. Our friends at Fired Up posted on this Twitter item by Renee Hulshof, spouse of former Congressman and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof (r): My husband is convinced that the dems will get healthcare passed. This educated prediction from him is freaking me out. [Note: according to Twitter - "This person has protected their tweets."] Huh? Why, because......
Show Me Progress - Fri 6:01 p.m. - 5 clicks
The March 11 issue of the Muleskinner, the weekly student newspaper at the University of Central Missouri, included a front page article on an unfilled Missouri Sunshine Law request pertaining to the search for a new president for the institution. This morning a significant number of newspapers were scattered about the University's visitor lot (and the University president's designated parking... ...
Show Me Progress - Fri 5:03 p.m. - 5 clicks
Roy Blunt may be a little too obsessed with Robin Carnahan; she may not be quite as powerful as he thinks. According to Big Bucks Blunt, he is opposing not "Obamacare" which seems to be the bane of most members of the Party of No, but Carnahan's government takeover - as he twittered earlier: According to @RasmussenPoll 60% of Missourians support our position on health care. Only 37% want... [[...
Show Me Progress - Thu 10:00 p.m. - 3 clicks
Earlier, I noted that State Senator Jane Cunningham attended Todd Akin's kill-health-care-reform pep rally to push her Health Care Freedom Act. This bill would put a constitutional amendement on the Missouri ballot this fall that is based on fringewingers' wistful reading of the tenth amendment, which they insist permits states, Civil War to the contrary, to opt out of federal legislation they... ...
Show Me Progress - Thu 3:01 p.m. - 2 clicks
I don't know why the President let the Republicans get eight months ahead of him in selling health care reform to the public. Now that he's started, though, he's saying all the right things. He needs to convince people that if we don't make these changes, even middle class people who currently have health insurance are going to be priced out of the market. And he needs to allay their fears that,.....
Show Me Progress - Thu 12:48 p.m.
The plan will leave the district operating 33 schools, the fewest in 120 years. The district’s enrollment in 1889 was less than 18,000 — the same as its current enrollment. At its peak in the late 1960s, Kansas City was using more than 100 buildings and serving some 75,000 students. – Kansas City Star As the school system in Kansas City, Missouri takes the national stage it...
DailyKos (Missouri) - Thu 11:24 a.m. - 4 clicks
I wait with the proverbial baited breath for each and every one of State Rep. Cynthia Davis' (R-19th) Capitol Reports; I am filled with anticipation to learn just how absurd her latest effort to deal with the complexities of government will be. Her most recent effort (printed here at The Turner Report) does not disappoint. It brings us Davis' musings on educational reform, specifically the Race......
Show Me Progress - Thu 10:03 a.m.
Dungeness crab is a rare treat. You can get it fresh out on the west coast, or frozen here in St. Louis. If you steam the frozen ones, they still taste very good. Served with melted butter, garlic, lemon, white wine and french bread and you have a great meal. More and more regional delicacies can be found here in St. Louis. It's a nice add-on to our quality of life. A Dungeness crab has...
STL Rising - Thu 6:40 a.m. - 4 clicks
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for January 2010: ...The largest over-the-month decreases in employment occurred in Missouri and Ohio (-12,800 each), followed by Kentucky (-11,800), New Jersey (-9,100), Florida (-6,100), and Nevada (-5,700). Kentucky (-0.7 percent) experienced the largest over-the-month percentage decrease in employment, followed by Missouri and Nevada (-0.5 percent....
Show Me Progress - Thu 5:23 a.m. - 4 clicks
Design philosophies for the nine competing Stage Two design teams have been published on the City + Arch + River Competition website. Statement of Intent PDFs ...
STL Rising - Thu 4:47 a.m.
Since President Obama was to be in St. Louis today on Wednesday pushing for health care reform, Rep. Todd Akin (R - 2nd) thought he would jump the gun and rally the president's right-wing foes via a video town hall in St. Charles. Attended by about 2,200 people, the event consisted of presentations of the same ol' same ol' talking points by Akin and a handful of other retrograde Missouri... [[ ...
Show Me Progress - Wed 10:23 p.m. - 4 clicks
At St. Charles High School in suburban St. Louis this afternoon, Barack Obama laid out the argument for the health care reform bill. He was thorough. He was clear. He made that audience understand that we must have reform and that we can, even in these recessionary times, afford it. Indeed, we can't afford not to have it. I'll write more tomorrow about how he laid out that argument, but right... ...
Show Me Progress - Wed 7:23 p.m. - 4 clicks
Sometimes the scheduling just doesn't work out. I'm not in St. Louis for President Obama's visit. I wanted to be. This from the Kansas City Star on March 9th: ....Since she [Robin Carnahan] also has a couple of campaign fundraisers scheduled while she's in the capital, Zakula said the campaign is paying for the trip. Still, the president is not the most popular guy in Missouri, lately. He only....
Show Me Progress - Wed 5:40 p.m. - 4 clicks
From someone else it would sound corny but when Joplin East Middle School Principal Ron Mitchell greets his faculty each year, the message always carries a potent punch: “We’re not here to teach math,” the tall, chrome-domed Mitchell says. “We’re not here to teach science or social studies…We’re here to teach children.” ...
DailyKos (Missouri) - Wed 5:40 p.m. - 5 clicks
Via HuffPo's Ryan Grim, even Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) supports passing the public option through reconciliation: Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) became the 41st senator to say that he would back the public insurance option as part of a health care bill moved through reconciliation. Nelson, asked by HuffPost if he would vote for a public option on the Senate floor, was unequivocal. "Yes," he said firmly.......
Show Me Progress - Wed 2:08 p.m.
In the early part of the last century, St. Louis was growing rapidly. Lots of buildings were going up and streets were being widened. In downtown Dutchtown, property values were increasing and the area was thriving with activity. One block south of Meremac, off an L-shaped alley on the west side of Virginia, there's a relic from those busy times. A family operated a tin shop up on Meramec....
STL Rising - Wed 6:02 a.m. - 7 clicks
Via Think Progress, the usual suspects: ...Senator Kit Bond: The Constitution says nothing of the subject of filibuster and it says nothing of the power of a minority to defeat the president's judicial nomination.... ....It is the product of a rule of the Senate, passed many years after the ratification of the Constitution. This rule does not derive from the authority of the... [[ This is a...
Show Me Progress - Wed 5:28 a.m. - 7 clicks
This snug row of buildings along Broadway, just a little southwest of the Off Broadway night club, has always been one of my favorites. The grade of the street and the turn in the road reminds of the style of architecture you see all around Baltimore. Some say St. Louis is the "western-most eastern US city", and buildings like this show it. The historic collection is located in the Marine ...
STL Rising - Tue 6:20 a.m. - 6 clicks
STL Rising isn't the most tech savvy blog around. In fact, it's probably one of the least. So we are just now figuring out how to upload pictures from an old camera phone to the internet. At the end of last week, a commenter on the River City post requested pics of the cool views we found there. So, the team here at STL Rising did some homework over the weekend and we are now able to provide...
STL Rising - Mon 3:01 p.m. - 2 clicks
Manifesto, Ryan Maybee’s popular and critically-acclaimed speakeasy, has fallen victim to the collapse of the Dalzell restaurant group. Manifesto is located in the basement of the closed 1924 Main restaurant and apparently operated under the restaurant’s liquor license. The bar’s Facebook page indicates they hope to reopen, but don’t know [...]...
BlogKC - Mar 5 - 3 clicks
With over $400 million invested, the new River City Casino in South County raises a lot of curiosity. To find out more about it, I ventured over there this morning for a look. The location is rare in St. Louis: a true riverfront setting. Just south of the confluence...that is the confluence of the Mississippi River and River Des Peres, you find it: an entertainment oasis equal to or super...
STL Rising - Mar 5 - 7 clicks
A new rooftop deck is opening Friday atop Kelly’s Westport Inn. Actually it’s on top of Joe’s Buy the Slice Pizza, just behind Kelly’s – so technically is preserves the historic integrity of the oldest standing building in Kansas City. The 1,000 square-foot deck will hold a hundred-some people and will [...]...
BlogKC - Mar 4 - 6 clicks
With gentrification the topic of tonight's City Affair, here are some random things to consider... St. Louis city population has dropped from 800,000 + persons to 350,000. Our region has a stable population, with a 50 year history of people moving to the suburbs. The result is a lessening demand for our older housing stock, creating an inventory of vacant and abandoned buildings in the urban co...
STL Rising - Mar 4 - 3 clicks
Exchanging Leawoodie Pete Levy for Mission Hillbilly James Heeter probably won’t do much to stop the growing consensus that the City needs put itself first going forward. News reports are making a big deal out of new Chamber of Commerce CEO James Heeter being a former KCMO City Councilmember and [...]...
BlogKC - Mar 4 - 2 clicks
Last week the City Council formally endorsed an application to be a test city for Google Fiber for Communities, the company’s plan to build its own high speed Internet networks around the country. The gigabit/second speeds would be 100 times faster than most DSL and cable modem lines. Competition will be fierce. Our suburban neighbors in [...]...
BlogKC - Mar 3
Over at STL Today, there is continuing discussion on the editorial about planning for removal of the I-70 lanes through downtown. An anonymous commenter (posting under the pseudonym name "Renew STL") hits the nail on the head with this comment: "Big Ups to the Post for supporting this idea. There is a great amount of positive energy working in STL right now, and it will lead to great things. ...
STL Rising - Mar 2 - 2 clicks
If you commute on I-70, get ready for a long year as two big construction projects will make driving very painful: The I-70/I-435 intersection is getting completely rebuilt. Eventually there will be six full lanes under I-435, reducing one of the metro’s biggest freeway bottlenecks. Several bridges are being rebuilt between the [...]...
BlogKC - Mar 2
St. Louis Post Dispatch on removal of I-70 lanes adjacent Arch, riverfront. ...
STL Rising - Mar 1 - 3 clicks
Libertarian think tank The Show-Me Institute is missing hundreds of thousands of dollars that was apparently stolen by an employee taking advantage of lax internal financial controls. The St. Louis Riverfront Times has the story. The Show-Me Institute is highly critical of government agencies and their management of public money, especially the [...]...
BlogKC - Feb 27 - 5 clicks
Rumors are running wild on some of the Facebook groups organized to talk about the rapist. The “Let’s Get This Prick” group is getting especially out of control riding the line between vigilant and vigilante. KCPD Chief Corwin dispels some of the rumors on his blog and explains that there [...]...
BlogKC - Feb 26 - 3 clicks
It sounds like a lot of Waldo and Brookside folks are basically calling the police every time they see a black man on their street. And a guy that tried to take the law into his own hands almost got himself nominated for a Darwin award. Meanwhile, no one is organizing vigils for two sexual [...]...
BlogKC - Feb 26
Update: The annexation fails 5-8. Yeas: Ed Ford, Russ Johnson, Beth Gottstein, Cindy Circo, Mark Funkhouser. Nays: Deb Herman, Bill Skaggs, Melba Curls, Sharon Sanders-Brooks, Jan Marcason, Terry Riley, Cathy Jolly, John Sharp Today’s 3:00 p.m. City Council meeting will likely include votes on the Tomahawke Ridge annexation… ...
BlogKC - Feb 25
Sun newspapers has suspended publication of the Northland Sun Tribune, which covered northern KCMO, Gladstone, Parkville, etc. For the moment, Sun continues to publish newspapers in Liberty, Smithville, Johnson County, and south KCMO. Business Journal: NPG Newspapers suspends publication of the Kansas City Northland’s Sun Tribune ...
BlogKC - Feb 25
Today I had a hearing on SB783 , the DREAM Act, in front of the Senate Education Committee . The legislation makes certain students eligible for instate college tuition regardless of their immigration status. The bill creates the “Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act,” otherwise known as the Dream Act. The legislation requires any higher education institution in Missouri ...
Jolie Justus - Feb 24 - 5 clicks
While this blog has focused a lot of attention on the Missouri side of the river, the National Park Service has made plans to improve the east riverfront a focus of its new General Management Plan for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Just as St. Louis has spent years trying to figure out how to reconnect the city to the riverfront and Arch grounds, there has been a lot of attention ...
STL Rising - Feb 22 - 3 clicks
"City to River", a citizens group formed to advocate for improved connections between downtown St. Louis, the Arch grounds and the riverfront, has developed a plan to reconnect the city to its historic riverfront through the creation of a new Memorial Drive. Check out the group's proposal at the new City to River website . ...
STL Rising - Feb 17 - 2 clicks
...those with symbols and those without. St. Louis has a symbol: the Fleur de Lis. Can you think of any other cities with a symbol? Big cities? Does Denver have a symbol? What about Austin, Nashville, Portland, Seattle, LA or San Francisco? I don't think any of those places have a unique symbol. They all have flags , but are they recognized by a symbol? What does it say about St. Louis th...
STL Rising - Feb 16 - 3 clicks
The debate over the city's public schools has gone on for a long time. Everyone wants to see them improve. Many people are working to make them better. A new Memorial Drive is a dream for some of us. Like fixing the public schools, it's a complex challenge too. So, which do you think is more doable? Fixing the schools or building a new Memorial Drive? Which do you think is more complicated?...
STL Rising - Feb 12
Twice now in the past 24 hours, I have heard the name, "Carondelet" on the radio. This is more than I can remember hearing it in the past 6 months. And this is only the beginning. The new River City Casino is about to open, and advertisements on major radio stations are telling people to exit I-55 at the Carondelet or Germania exits. Everytime you hear the name Carondelet or Germania, you are r...
STL Rising - Feb 11
For Immediate Release: ST. LOUIS -- Contest organizers today announced the names of nine design teams selected to advance to the next round of the competition to invigorate the park and city areas surrounding the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The lead designers and design teams are: Behnisch Architekten, Gehl Architects, Stephen Stimson Associates, Buro Happold, Transsolar, Applied Ecological Se...
STL Rising - Feb 10
Could signs like these soon be rising in neighborhoods across St. Louis? STL Rising hopes so. Reducing speeding traffic on residential streets has been a long time effort here at STL Rising. The host of this blog has served as a St. Louis regional contact for the Keep Kids Alive - Drive 25 program for almost ten years. Just this week we received a telephone call from a nice lady in Univers...
STL Rising - Feb 10 - 2 clicks
Today I introduced a Senate Concurrent Resolution urging the Missouri General Assembly to send a message to Washington, D.C., that it is time to end the outdated military policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The following is the text from my floor speech. I will post the language of the concurrent resolution as soon as it is available online. This summer I had the privilege of attendi...
Jolie Justus - Feb 2
One of the biggest concerns about merging I-70 and Memorial Drive through downtown into one at grade boulevard is what would happen with the trucks? The answer is simple. Trucks would either be allowed on the new boulevard, which is the way it is now, or the road would prohibit through truck traffic. Today, as I was driving on Memorial Drive, I was next to a full size, semi tractor-trailer rig....
STL Rising - Feb 2
There was a time when mining was common practice in St. Louis. Mostly, mining was done for clay to make bricks. And back then, people probably didn't think of it as "urban mining". In those days, there wasn't much if any focus on the difference between "urban" and "suburban". Pretty much everybody lived in the City. Or on a farm. If anything, the difference was between "urban" or "rural". ...
STL Rising - Jan 28 - 4 clicks
On Wednesday I filed SB836 , legislation to combat repeat drunk driving. The bill closes a loophole that allows multiple convictions without a central reporting mechanism, it institutes harsher penalties based upon the level of intoxication, it mandates minimum jail sentences for offenders, and it provides courts the authority to establish a DWI Court for offenders with alcohol problems simil...
Jolie Justus - Jan 27
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE St. Louis, Missouri "Extreme Makeover - Riverfront Edition", a new reality show based in St. Louis, Missouri, begins production this month for airing in the spring of 2010. "Extreme Makeover - Riverfront Edition" will showcase the efforts of the National Park Service and the City of St. Louis to revitalize the historic Mississippi Riverfront, the Gateway Arch, and d...
STL Rising - Jan 22 - 4 clicks
Organizers of the Arch design competition have recevied lots of questions from Stage One participants in the process. Here are highlights from the questions and answers received to date: Q67: What role will the Casino play in the project? January 19, 2010 – 2:28 pm A67: Design and operational parameters of this specificity will be discussed with the Stage III participants at the Stage III Bri...
STL Rising - Jan 22
Here's how things look to me in the St. Louis primary election to be held a week from today: Democratic Primary All the so-called "smart money" is on St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay to win renomination and reelection easily. I think the election will be closer than most people expect, but that Slay will still win. Slay enters the campaign with enormous advantages: Financing . The last repo...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) wasted some of her political capital this month defending the “card check” provision of the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). That provision would have required employers to recognize a union as soon as a majority of workers signed cards saying they wanted a union, without a secret-ballot election. While supporting that provision in a conference call with Miss...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
Former President George W. Bush coined the term "compassionate conservative" when running for his first term. It turns out he never was compassionate as most of us understand the term, and his administration's moves to nationalize banks with its TARP program also undercut his claim to have been conservative. Bush has ruined the brand for the foreseeable future. Yesterday, the nation lost a politi...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
With the help of an architectural student, the City of St. Louis, and a local urban planner, the Southwest Garden Neighborhood Association has established a set of recommended architectural guidelines to foster new development and existing building renovations, "The Southwest Garden Neighborhood Association's Suggested Architectural Guidelines for Exterior Facades". Washington University archi...
STL Rising - Jan 22
One of St. Louis' best issues forum is now also one of her fastest. Urban St. Louis has always been filled with interesting discussions and information, but the site was so painfully slow that it was almost impossible to access. Those problems have now been solved, with all the interesting discussions continuing at the site. STL Rising will permalink Urban St. Louis on our links section. I...
STL Rising - Jan 22 - 8 clicks
Efforts to reconnect the Arch, the Riverfront and Downtown St. Louis begin today. The chosen method begins with an international design competition. The design competition program will lead to a plan for repositioning the way the Arch connects to the region. That plan comes with the possibility of substantial federal funding to make the project reality. Among the world's most famous landmarks, ...
STL Rising - Jan 22 - 3 clicks
Unprincipled "win at any cost" advocates received a bipartisan jolt of reality this week in Maryland. Two incumbent congressmen, one Democrat and one Republican, who strayed from their parties' ideological principles by staking out "moderate" voting records, were overwhelmingly defeated for reelection. Neither could draw more than a third of the vote in their own primaries. Congressional Quarter...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
The mysterious last-day filing of attorney Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman for mayor in a field that was supposed to include another Coleman, Sen. Maida Coleman, has lots of fingers pointing at Mayor Francis Slay for encouraging the former to serve as a stalking horse to hinder the challenge of the latter. Slay vehemently denies any connection. The motivation for the Slay camp is clear: Split the vo...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
This week, State Sen. Jeff Smith (D-St. Louis), State Rep. Steve Brown (D-Clayton) and Nick Adams, a graduate student who served as Smith’s campaign treasurer in his 2004 congressional campaign, pled guilty to federal charges concerning a cover-up of their involvement in illegal (but less serious) coordination of that campaign with purported “independent expenditures” by a separate one-man committ...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22 - 3 clicks
Remember the Uncle Remus fairy tale in which Br’er Rabbit pled to his captors not to throw him into the thorny briar patch, the very place the conniving rabbit wanted to be all along? Representatives for big banks seemed to have that tale in mind when they cried crocodile tears and warned of disastrous consequences if Congress passed the so-called credit card reform bill. The banks got their secr...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
There's "less than meets the eye" in the surprise switch of Sen. Arlen Specter (PA) from Republican to Democrat. All the talk about Specter giving the Democrats the magic 60th vote (counting the expected seating of Democrat Al Franken of Minnesota) overlooks the fact that the Democrats already had Specter's vote in every meaningful vote this session, including the stimulus bill and the budget. Mo...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
Attorney General Chris “The Imposter” Koster swept the first major scandal of Gov. Jay Nixon’s Administration under the rug. What a team player! The scandal involved the Nixon Administration’s Department of Natural Resources’ month-long delay in releasing the results of the May monthly water quality tests taken at Lake of the Ozarks until after Memorial Day weekend, so that tourists (mostly from ...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22 - 2 clicks
This appears to be one of those times when a mid-term election will be an important trendsetter. The 2010 elections will determine whether President Obama is able to translate his personal popularity into a generation-long realignment that gives the Democratic Party - and especially its progressive wing - total control over government policy, or whether the public will react negatively and pare b...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
“I’m Barack Obama, and I approved this message.” Those words may be the most damning of this contentious presidential campaign, the ones that cost Obama my vote. They appear at the end of a disgusting, ageist attack ad released this weekend by Obama for America. In a campaign susceptible to appeals that are racist (against the African America Democratic nominee), sexist (against the female Repu...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22 - 3 clicks
President Obama is to be congratulated for his nomination of 2nd Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor’s record of decisions is encouraging. The only question mark is the absence of a record on abortion rights. Some have raised the prospect that, as a Hispanic Catholic, Sotomayor could actually provide the decisive vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. It wouldn’t be t...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
On January 20, 2009, the United States inaugurated its first African American president. I need not repeat what so many have observed how this is the successful culmination of the struggle of African Americans to overcome the stigma of slavery. The American Dream has become a reality for what was once the most oppressed class of our citizens. Ten days later, a second, less visible achievement de...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting Barack Obama’s pick of Deleware Sen. Joe Biden seeks to complement Obama where he is perceived to be weak – foreign policy. Obama’s message to the public is clear: Biden’s the guy who will take the 3 a.m. phone calls. (I guess the red phone has call forwarding.) My friend and fellow blogger (and newly elected Democratic committeeman) Antonio French obs...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
Accusations are circulating about possible illegal campaign contributions to President Obama’s successful campaign. They are quite serious on their face, but the President could nip the problem in the bud by being as forthright and open as he has promised to be. Most of the charges are chronicled in an online article at conservative news site Newsmax.com. (Though infused with loaded rhetoric, ...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
Here's something for undecided superdelegates to consider. According to comparative polling by Rasmussen Reports in 29 states, Barack Obama runs stronger against Republican John McCain than Hillary Clinton in 21 states, while Clinton is stronger than Obama in 8 states. Missouri, though, is one of Clinton's eight. Perhaps more significantly, there are five states (Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico, Ore...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22 - 2 clicks
It isn’t exactly a Pulitzer Prize worthy observation to note the obvious, that Sen. Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy (D-MA), who succumbed to brain cancer this week at the age of 77, will be sorely missed. Almost anyone who served in Congress’ senior chamber for over 46 years would be missed after they were gone, but Kennedy was something special. Kennedy, in spite of his privileged background, was a pri...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
No, not that kind of 4-letter word. Names. As I noted in my previous post , Democrats have adopted the “10-letter strategy” that Republicans have used in all seven of their wins over the past ten presidential elections. The surnames of Nixon Agnew, Reagan Bush, Bush Quayle and Bush Cheney all added up to 10 letters. Now, for the first time in 84 years, Democrats have selected a 10-letter tick...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
Mayor Francis Slay won renomination for a third term by a larger margin than I expected. (I correctly predicted the order of finish, but anybody could have done that.) What happened and what does it say about next month's general election? This election was a rematch of the 2005 primary (with a different third candidate). In most rematches, the winner repeats with a larger margin than before. Thi...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the so-called American Clean Energy and Security Act (commonly referred to as “cap and trade”), but what it passed was a severely watered-down version that takes only the smallest steps toward reducing greenhouse gases. While it may be marginally better than no act at all, it fails the people in these ways: The bill’s targets are far less ambit...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
Barack Obama enters Election Day with a six point lead in national polls measuring popular vote. But, as Al Gore supporters well remember from 2000, the electoral vote is all that matters. States whose polls close first in the eastern time zone will provide plenty of clues as to the actual winner. State-specific polls indicate an approximate order of finish, from strongest Obama to strongest McCa...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22
The (apparently) last pre-primary survey of the Missouri governor’s race by Survey USA (released August 1) discloses an interesting non-event: In the high-visibility contest between Congressman Kenny Hulshof and State Treasurer Sarah Steelman in the Republican Primary, there is little or no difference in how the candidates perform with male and female voters. While the typical partisan gen...
St. Louis Oracle - Jan 22 - 3 clicks
