Posted on 08/03/2015 3:20:10 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Depending on how things shake out, Missouri voters could face a bizarro world next fall: A former Democrat running as the Republican nominee for governor against a Democrat who used to be a Republican.
Eric Greitens is part of a crowded and growing field of Republican candidates who will face off next August. As he launched a statewide tour earlier this month, the former Democrat attempted to turn what could be a weakness in the crowded Republican primary into a strength.
“I am a conservative Republican, but I didn’t start out that way,” Greitens wrote in a Fox News editorial in mid-July.
Greitens, an ex-Navy SEAL turned New York Times best-selling author who has led the veterans’ advocacy group The Mission Continues, said Democrats tried to recruit him “several years ago” to run for a federal office.
An official at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told CQ Roll Call Greitens met with the committee ahead of the 2010 elections about running against Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, a Republican from mid-Missouri.
Ultimately, Greitens told the DCCC no. As he put it, “There was one rather large problem: As I got older, I no longer believed in their ideas.”
(Excerpt) Read more at atr.rollcall.com ...
Interesting, a former Republican possibly running against a former Democrat.
IMHO, the front-runner on the GOP side is John Brunner, who ran for the U.S. Senate back in 2012. He would have been a much, much better candidate than Todd Akin.
Here at FR, we say “Genuine converts welcome!”
I’m sure Mr. Greitens is every bit the sincere, committed Republican Mitch McConnell is.
Here, Here!!
A poll has shown LT. Gov Kinder is the frontrunner for the GOP nod.
http://www.newsmax.com/John-Gizzi/peter-kinder-missouri-governor-election/2015/07/21/id/658177/
I though him unlikely to run. He had some kind of “scandal” (don’t remember what it was about) but won reelection anyway, the only Republican to win statewide in 2012. He and Brunner are probably the strongest choices.
Crowded field, which I take as a good sign. I welcome this Greitens guy to our side but, come on.
I loathe that turncoat, Koster. He must lose.
Stopping Hanaway in the primary is paramount. She’s behind the shady group that led to Schweich taking his own life.
I hate mysteries, I wonder if we’ll ever know the whole story there. Schweich and one of his staffers too.
Anyway, Hanaway lost to spawn of Carnahan back in ‘04. And that year she was the only GOP statewide loser other than the guy that lost badly to the incumbent Jay Nixon for AG. So you’re right, to hell with her.
Very true.Basically intelligent and decent people,as they grow older,should be congratulated for coming to their senses.Of course when you go the *other* way...mental illness/moral collapse can be a horrible thing.
Luetkemeyer is my area Rep. I called his office to let him know that I was disappointed in him for his vote to approve Boehner as speaker and they basically told me to “go screw myself”
ANYBODY but our current jerk gets my vote!
Steelman was the only candidate who could have defeated Mother McCaskill. We'll never know now. Steelman was pro-NRA/GOA. Anti-taxer. Pro Right to Work. The StL crowd HATED her. They are the ones currently blocking RTW legislation in Missouri. Even Republican leader of the Missouri Senate, Demsey (St.Charles) voted against it!
Any Republican with a pulse could’ve defeated McCaskill, but Akin’s regrettable gaffe cost him (and ditto with Mourdock making the SAME mistake in IN - 2 seats it cost us). I heartily endorsed both men in those two states, but verbal gaffes as such are almost impossible to predict, and almost never hurt Democrats by comparison (as the media usually ignore their “gaffes”).
You are correct that the party establishment in MO hated Steelman, and in hindsight, we’d have been better off had she and not Akin been the nominee.
Problem is that there was no organized opponent to the Weeping Boner for Speaker, so that if they did vote against him, they’d be slitting their own throats (since Boner would retaliate by putting them in last position on the subcommittee for rectal prolapse). As frustrating as it is, you might as well have told your member to “fall on his sword”, and why you got the hostile reaction. Unfortunately, that’s the game in DC (and why it needs to be smashed to bits).
Have to disagree with you that any Republican could have beaten Ma. Otherwise agree with what you say.
Looking ahead, Pres Pro Tem Dempsey’s resignation offers hope for passage of RTW. Looks like Ron Richard of Joplin will replace him. A strong proponent of RTW.
There is a lot of behind the scene arm twisting going on. Come Sept 16, Nixon may get his butt kicked in terms of veto overrides!
Well, I say that because McCaskill is a very unpopular pol (who won only because her opponent managed to become more unpopular than her — a similar situation in FL with Sen. Bill Nelson, an unpopular Democrat, who lucked out by having THREE subpar opponents). IIRC, when Akin came out of the primary, she was trailing him in the region of 20%, but he got trapped on that rape comment, and that blew it to hell. Any competitive Republican coming out of the primary would likely have sat on such a lead and won by a 10-20% margin. I don’t expect McCaskill to luck out again next time (barring the GOP putting up a bad candidate in ‘18, which they’re not unknown for doing).
Here’s hoping MO gets RTW passed over Nixon’s veto.
Exit polling notoriously inaccurate. Recall all the experts had Romney winning.
But Akin did in fact, blow it. He refused a "coaching session" offered him by Roy Blunt and other Republican leaders. Jaco trapped him.
Mother McCaskill had the Black, Gay, Geezer, Girl, union, urban voters as well as ton$ of Hollywood $$ via her connection to Michael J. Fox.
I was an active fighter in the fight for CCW in Missouri, years ago. 97% of the land mass of Missouri voted FOR. KC/St.L voted NO. And we lost. Much as NYC controls NY State, KC/St.L controls MO. However, we have made significant inroads in the last couple of years. Republicans have Super Majorities in both Houses. They can and should override Nixon' veto next month. But will they? That is the Q.
Look for unions to begin the push during Labor Day parades. Then protests in Jeff City. Hopefully, non-violent. And not as destructive as were the protests in Madison.
I postulated a wide range on the possible margin of victory. The high end, however unlikely, but not impossible, could’ve seen McCaskill get 40% of the vote (and in August, that was where she was at), which is what Akin ended up with (39%). Ultimately, she got 54.8%, but a lot of angry Republicans went with the Libertarian, who got 6%, so the combined vote was about a 9.6% victory for McCaskill. Had Akin not imploded, there was no reason he couldn’t have won by the same margin that Roy Blunt did over Robin Carnahan (who was more popular than McCaskill and fresh off a gargantuan reelection victory), which was about 14-15%.
I’ll admit I stood by Akin AFTER his comments, thinking he could still manage a save (albeit with a diminished victory), but that if polling indicated he went below McCaskill, he needed to step aside (since Brunner narrowly took 2nd in the primary ahead of Steelman, it would’ve fallen to him, though I’d have preferred Steelman).
Here in neighboring TN, I know what it’s like to have two urban areas attempting to dictate to the rest of the state (I’m in one of them, Nashville). Like MO, we have supermajority GOP legislature (only 5 Dems in the Senate, 3 from Memphis and 2 from Nashville). Unlike MO, the Governor’s veto power is weak, since a simple majority can override it (the Gov is a RINO).
Anyway, waiting for the fireworks to start on Sept. 16.
Naah, she just lucked out. A leftist Democrat representing a heavily Republican state, she’s well out-of-whack with her constituents. Her unpopularity hasn’t gone away. If she retires in ‘18 and Nixon runs, I’d be just as sanguine about our chances. He should be toxic after how he handled Ferguson and would be easy to obliterate (and don’t forget, he’s already run twice before as the nominee, in 1988 and 1998, and performed badly in both).
Kit Bond likewise popular. Appealed to both sides as Danforth did.
Nixon is not well liked by NAACP folks. However, after all is said, Blacks will still vote for the Dem in overwhelming numbers. Ma can be defeated, but it will not be a push over. And never doubt for one minute the propensity of Republicans in Missouri to destroy one another.
Anyway, have not been able to find out if "extra" MO Highway Patrolman will be in Jeff City next month. Everyone seems tight-lipped about any planned "protests." Will be interesting to observe. From AFAR!!
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