Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Parson: Apology Changes Nothing
On Sunday, Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal held a press conference apologizing to Donald Trump for writing that she hoped for his assassination, and apologizing to her constituents and her colleagues. See it here.
Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson (who went on Sean Hannity’s radio show to discuss the situation) was unmoved. On Twitter (@MikeParsonforMO), he reiterated his call to have her removed from the Senate... Senator Chappelle Nadal's statement today changes nothing. The USA is a nation of law & order & their are consequences for your actions. The Senator has until veto session to resign, or my colleagues & I will move to expel her. Their is no excuse for this behavior. It is an embarrassment for our country and the State of Missouri.
His stance was echoed by the two urban newspapers. The KCStar (see it here): This issue won’t drift away. It’s too simple to grasp — and the sentiment too vile. The longer Chappelle-Nadal stays, the more damage she does to her party’s improving prospects for 2018… Senator, you’ve got to go.
The Post-Dispatch (see it here): There are times when unequivocal contrition should be enough to clear the air and move on. This, sadly, is not one of those times… Rarely has such a disparate political chorus sung in such complete harmony in Missouri. Yet, Chappelle-Nadal isn’t getting the message… The longer Chappelle-Nadal stays in office, the more damage she does to her party, which is struggling for its very survival in Missouri.
I think her apology will help her with her Democratic senators, but if Senate leadership pushes ahead with expulsion, her political future may hang on Sen. Claire McCaskill’s leadership. If McCaskill repeats her call for Chappelle-Nadal to go, I think you’ll see Democratic senators accepting that judgment. Without it, the future is less clear because there will be a few Republican defections, and I assume leadership would not be thrilled with removing a senator on a purely partisan vote.
Time for Hawey to Step Up Game?
While Attorney General Josh Hawley has so far done a god job of tying up national money and pushing out the bigger possible rivals, one Republican is nervous nevertheless…
“What is going to doom Josh is lack of a good political team, or any kind of competency, on the ground in Missouri….”
Hawley has a very good and very experienced media consultant: On Message, Inc. out of DC. “They do amazing work,” says this Republican. But who’s on the ground?
Meanwhile Republicans see a well-oiled Missouri machine revving up behind incumbent Claire McCaskill. “She has a manager, she has a top finance director, she has a good press team, she has an experienced team, and she knows what she is doing, just look at her quote on the voting snafu…” One of those fancy schools…
Hawley needs some help if he’s going to avoid unforced errors like the voting mishap, his accidental use of state social media for political posting, etc.
“Josh has got to put together a team to beat Claire. If everyone is now counting on him to run and win this, he needs to step up…”
Senate 30: Arthur Residency
With Rep. Kevin Austin saying he won’t run for Senate 30 race, there’s no home-grown candidate in the race yet.
Businessman Caleb Arthur is from Houston Missouri, and rumors of Rep. Sonya Anderson getting in would have her moving into the district as well.
One tipster sends in this bit that Arthur’s attempt at establishing voter registration in district has initially failed.
“In July 2017, Arthur attempted to register to vote in Greene County, listing his address as 2144 E Republic St, Apt 210, Springfield, MO; however, the voter ID card mailed to Arthur at that address was returned to sender. Pursuant to state law, the Greene County Clerk’s office deleted Arthur from the voter roll on August 10. NOTE: the Missouri Secretary of State voter registration tool confirms that Arthur is not currently registered in Greene or Texas Counties. The tool can be accessed here…”
Better Together on the March?
Over the weekend, Better Together sent out an email blast talking about the future of their plans to reduce the political fragmentation in the St. Louis region. “Thursday night our board member Joe Reagan, President and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber, spoke to a group of 800 St. Louisans at the Chamber's annual event, Game Changers. In his remarks, Joe communicated the
importance of Better Together's organic educational effort: The real Game Changer for St. Louis will be our decisions about local government unity. This is the defining issue of our time… . With the support of Mayor [Lyda] Krewson and County Executive [Steve] Stenger, Better Together has formed a task force to identify best practices and possible reforms to our current structure. The task force is made up of business leaders - Suzanne Sitherwood of Spire, Arindam Kar at Bryan Cave, and Dr. Will Ross at Washington University School of Medicine. After a yearlong outreach effort the task force will make recommendations for further discussion and hopefully, action…”
This comes directly on the heels of news from the House Republicans’ summer caucus where Speaker Todd Richardson apparently went Switzerland on the issue, declaring that any regional consolidate would be up to the two entities involved – St. Louis City and St. Louis County. One observer speculates that the forces for change have ramped up their efforts – and that led the speaker to feel the need to come out with a position.
But did his public comments serve to elevate the issue father and inject a bit of momentum to the movement?
We’ll see….
Bits
From Politico’s Score: EARLY POLLING DATA - GOP poll shows Missouri Republicans want competition for Hawley: A poll of Missouri GOP primary voters found 55 percent want Attorney General Josh Hawley to run against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, and 45 percent don't. Even if he does, 72 percent would like him to face competition in the primary and about 50 percent believe he would be vulnerable to political attacks focused on him using his position as attorney general as a stepping stone. JTD Strategies conducted the poll of 1,022 likely GOP primary voters, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
A recent poll says that there may be a Trump effect undermining support for charter schools. See it here.
eMailbag on Removing MCN
Do Republicans really want to set the precedent that saying something stupid or vile means you should be removed from office? Isn't that the whole point of the social fight going on right now at Google, on college campuses and with the President? Free speech may have consequences, but actually removing someone from office for a Facebook post, no matter how appalling, would set a new standard that none of these politicians will want to live by. Let the voters deal with it and if they're embarrassed…
$5K+ Contributions
Missouri Democratic State Committee - $10,000 from American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.
Local 41 Political Action Fund - $12,940 from DRIVE Committee.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc - $16,500 from Friends of Elijah Haahr.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $15,000 from Friends of Holly Rehder.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $15,000 from Dealers Interested in Government.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $15,000 from Anheuser-Busch Companies LLC.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $15,000 from Cheyenne International LLC.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $13,500 from Friends of Kirk Mathews.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from MOSFA PAC Inc.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from Enterprise Holdings Inc PAC.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from AGC of MO PAC.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from FEAPAC of Missouri.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $10,000 from RightCHOICE Managed Care Inc.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $5,400 from Committee to Elect Jean Evans.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $5,350 from Andrew McDaniel.
House Republican Campaign Committee Inc – $5,200 from Lynn Morris.
CLEAN Missouri - $50,000 from Advocates – The Political Arm of PPSLR.
Birthdays
Happy birthday to Glenn Burleigh.