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Should U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson follow the same path Florida Gov. Charlie Crist took and opt to run as an independent in her re-election bid for Missouri's 8th Congressional District seat? Several factors lead me to believe she should. For instance:

Emerson voted twice for spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the Obama Administration's misguided Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP);

Emerson voted twice in favor of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the so-called "Cash for Clunkers" program, another flop of a program pushed by the Obama Administration; and

Emerson voted in favor of the Obama Administration's pork-laden $450 billion omnibus spending bill.

These actions by Emerson, a seven-term incumbent in a district that includes the Boot Heel and much of Southeast Missouri, closely parallel the path taken by Crist during his race against youthful Republican challenger Marco Rubio for the Sunshine State's U.S. Senate seat. For instance:

On Feb. 9, 2009, Crist endorsed President Barack Obama's plan to stimulate the economy and bailout out Wall Street interests during a rally in Fort Myers;

During the months that followed, photographs of the two hugging during that Fort Myers event came to serve as visual evidence of Crist's poor decision-making;

By November 2009, the hug was being described as a "kiss of death" for Crist in his GOP Senate bid against youthful challenger Marco Rubio; and

Within a year, Crist had fallen so far behind Rubio that, in order to have any chance at victory, he had to drop out of the GOP primary and relaunch his bid for the Senate seat as an independent candidate.

I hope conservatives in Missouri's 8th CD consider carefully the implications of re-electing Emerson, a woman whose dossier also includes the following:

Her second husband, Ron Gladney, is both a Democrat and an labor union attorney for St. Louis-based Bartley Goffstein LLC;

Approximately 80 percent of her campaign contributions come from outside the 8th CD; and

According to the Federal Election Commission, she has received campaign contributions from a variety of union entities, including the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Other options for voters in the district include the following:

Tommy Sowers, 34, is a single Army veteran from Rolla who has no challenger in the Democrat primary and touts on his web site that he is currently completing his PhD in Government at the London School of Economics; and

Bob Parker is a husband, father and grandfather and lifelong cattle rancher from Raymondville, Mo., who believes in the wise use of natural resources, limited government, stewardship, pro-life and private property rights.

Choose wisely, Boot Heelers!

Jo Ann Emerson is a conservative. Don’t forget that Jo Ann voted against Obama’s stimulus, Jo Ann voted against Pelosi’s healthcare bill, Jo Ann voted against Barbara Boxer’s cap and trade bill in the House and Jo Ann has taken a conservative stance on illegal immigration.

Jo Ann is a Republican because she is a conservative.

Bob, I think you should do a piece on the battle between Russ Carnahan and Ed Martin down in Dickie Gebhardts old district. I hope like hell that Martin smokes Carny’s butt.