Today’s Kansas City Star reports that Congressman Emanuel Cleaver endorsed Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for the Democratic Party nomination.

Cleaver discusses his support for Sen. Clinton [tiny URL]

…Cleaver decided recently to throw his support to Clinton. In fact, Cleaver has decided to serve as co-chairman of Clinton’s presidential campaign in Missouri….

Here’s the campaign press release:

8/21/2007
Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II Endorses Clinton
Cleaver Will Serve as Co-Chair of Missouri Campaign, Faith Steering Committee

The Clinton Campaign today announced the endorsement of Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, and named him Co-Chair of Hillary’s Missouri campaign and a Co-Chair of her national Faith Steering Committee.

“Americans are ready for change, and Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to deliver,” Congressman Cleaver said. “Hillary can restore America’s role as a moral leader at home and abroad.”

Cleaver is in his second term in Congress and serves on the exclusive Financial Services Committee and on the Speaker’s Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Cleaver is also an ordained Methodist Minister and still serves as Senior Pastor at St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City.

Prior to his election to Congress, Cleaver served two terms as Mayor of Kansas City, focusing on economic development and job creation. In recognition of his work, Cleaver’s peers chose him as President of the National Conference of Black Mayors for two terms.

Cleaver was first elected to public office in 1979 as a City Councilman in Kansas City. During his 12 year tenure, he served as Mayor Pro Tem and was an active Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Committee.

“Emanuel has dedicated his life to lifting others up and expanding opportunity for his constituents,” Clinton said. “I am delighted he will help lead our efforts in Missouri and across the country.”

Steve Penn, in the Star continued:

….It was an aggressive and savvy move by Clinton to lock down Cleaver’s support now. It shows that Clinton and her strategists are closely analyzing the political map. They have a big circle around Missouri.

Clinton is well aware of just how much weight Cleaver carries in this part of the country. In fact, his endorsement might be the most crucial of anyone’s in this area.

Clinton realizes that having him guide her politically in Missouri is a huge favor to ask. But if he comes through, his loyalty will be rewarded….

With a February 5th presidential primary Missouri is bound to see some public polls any day now.

Phyllis Sheakes of Cass County and DFAGKC reports:

Since I was the only Missouri person present at the DNC American Majority Partnership Summit last week, I want to give you a few highlights of the three days in Las Vegas.

The first day was devoted entirely to the Women’s Political Caucus. The dynamic speakers all day were women. I cannot convey how powerful they were in their passion, message, and delivery, but  I can say the essence of the message is: All issues the Democratic Party cares deeply about are women’s issues. Since women make up more than half of all voters and heavily influence the rest, we need to be  stronger in our activism and organizing, plus run for office.  As the United States laws and practices affect people around the world, from family planning, to hunger relief, to war and genocide, we must be strong in standing for careful and caring laws and regulations.

On Friday, the African American, Hispanic, and LGBT Caucuses met separately to discuss issues particularly concerning their groups. I sat in on parts of the Hispanic and African American Caucuses. They were strong in their representation from other states and are especially interested in matters such as quality education, fair and considerate immigration, universal health care, and seamless integration into the Party.

We had a  very nice banquet at day’s end. Howard Dean introduced the guest speaker,
Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie of the 13th Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church. We had heard powerful speakers previously, but Bishop McKenzie was the epitome of powerful speaking. If you ever have the opportunity, she is worth traveling far to hear. She can raise any roof going. She certainly raised our enthusiasm for getting ourselves into the action and making a difference.

Saturday we heard Parag Mehta tell about the new VAN and plans for getting our Democratic Party better organized in all the states. I hoped that someone else from Missouri might have learned about this in other meetings, so we could be further along in getting it together than starting from scratch.

Governor Dean gave the keynote address at lunch.  One thing he said was that the DNC 50 State Strategy worked in 2006 to gain seats for Democrats at all levels. Now we have paid workers in all states and a newly invented VAN, we should have great tools to make more gains in 2008, including taking the presidency. The Governor had many supporters of his prior candidacy for president in the audience. We appreciated his mention of the ice and snow duty some of us did for him in Iowa, but he did not give us the afternoon off. We went back to work and practiced organizing a community precinct.

I think all who attended the summit are highly energized and ready to get busy.
If we do not have a working coalition of minority groups in the Democratic Party in Missouri. someone needs to put one together. If we have a structure going, we need to publish the message about who, where, and when so we can find the wheels to put our shoulders to. Let me add that Mark Jones is doing great work with his new daily message bulletins.

  Some states have a well organized structure already in place. Missouri is better than when I first tried to find a piece of the action, but, from my viewpoint, we are not as coordinated as we need to be to get the job done efficiently and perfectly. We need lots more organization from the top to the bottom to cover the blank spots and eliminate duplication. When we build one, it needs to be permanent so we do not have to re-do it every four years. Get ready everyone.

“WE ARE THE PEOPLE WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!”

Phyllis Sheaks
Cass County Democrat
Precinct Committeewoman and Captain
DFA Group Organizer

The Democratic primary for the Attorney General promises to be a lively race in the coming year, so we decided to take a page from Blue Hampshire with a Straw Poll series. We’ll be asking the AG candidates every couple of weeks to respond to a question, and when the deadline is up, we’ll post the answers together in the order we received them. You’ll then be able to cast a vote for the best answer, as well as discuss in comments who you believe had the best answer.

The rules are simple:

1) Answers must be 250 words or less.

2) Answers must be received by noon on Wednesday.

This week’s question: What would be the first issue you would tackle as Attorney General? Why and how?

Oh, and as an added bonus, we’ll put up a link to each candidate’s ActBlue page every time they respond. Feel free to suggest future questions in comments.

If you’re going to appoint someone to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court, why ask that question?

It appears that Missouri Governor Matt “baby” Blunt probably hasn’t read the U.S. Constitution, or the Missouri Constitution, for that matter. When it comes to the Missouri Supreme Court his “activist” agenda trumps everything else.

The United States Constitution states in Article VI:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

Missouri Constitution, Bill of Rights, Article I:

Section 5. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person shall, on account of his religious persuasion or belief, be rendered ineligible to any public office or trust or profit in this state, be disqualified from testifying or serving as a juror, or be molested in his person or estate; but this section shall not be construed to excuse acts of licentiousness, nor to justify practices inconsistent with the good order, peace or safety of the state, or with the rights of others.

The Appellate Judicial Commission got it right. From the Appellate Judicial Commission questionnaire:

14. Affiliations and activities outside of legal profession:

“baby” Blunt got it wrong. From Blunt’s questionnaire:

26. What groups or non work-related organizations have you joined, including non-profits, community groups, religious, secular or other organizations? Please list dates of service and offices held and describe each organization’s mission and purpose.

So, if you’re not supposed to use the information, why ask the question? Just curious.

Further, is there any question that the republicans’ 2008 campaign wedge issue is immigration?

You’ve got to love the answers to these questions asked by Blunt:

37. Have you or your family ever employed an illegal immigrant or a company that employed illegal immigrants?

38. Have you or your family ever worked for companies or been affiliated with
organizations (non-profit or other) that employ or provide services to illegal
immigrants?

Judge Nannnette Baker responded:

37. My immediate family includes me and my husband. I am without sufficient information to answer this question regarding extended family members. Based on the information family members have supplied me, they indicate they have not employed illegal immigrants.

38. To the best of my knowledge, no organization has provided information to me that indicates that they employed or provided services to illegal immigrants. However, I believe that my employer, the State of Missouri may provide services to illegal immigrants.

Judge Patricia Breckenridge responded:

37. No.

38. I understand that my employer, the State of Missouri, has employed a company or companies that employed illegal immigrants. I am told that Mattie Rhodes may provide services to illegal immigrants.”

Judge Ronald Holliger responded:

37. Not to my knowledge.

38. I work for the State of Missouri which I believe may have employed and provided services to illegal immigrants. In addition the Jackson County Juvenile Court may have provided services although I am not aware of any specific instance. You have not defined the term “family”. My brother has been president of a company of thousands of employees. He advises me that his company has never knowingly employed illegal immigrants. My sister is a Registered Nurse in a pediatric office and advises me that she feels certain that some patients and families may not have had legal status. My other sister is a retired U.S. Marshall. What she provided illegal immigrants I do not believe you mean by the word “service”. Otherwise the answer is no to my best knowledge and belief.

Can “baby” Blunt and his administration have a more transparent agenda? Go. Read the entire questionnaire and responses.

There will be all kinds of speculation about what comes next and what lasting damage Gonzo’s done to the DoJ.  But for now, let’s just enjoy it.

( – promoted by hotflash)

Back two years and some change, Richard Byrd (R-Kirkwood) died suddenly right after the end of the year’s legislative session.  Deb Lavender, a Kirkwood resident, took note of the news report because, for a couple of years, she’d been wanting to run for state office, wanting, as a Democrat, to have a worthwhile impact. 

So she called Valerie Starr, her committeewoman to ask about the process, and Starr asked her an appropriate question:  “Who are you?”  At the time, Deb had never even helped with a campaign, much less run for office.  Oops. 

Jane Bogetto got the nod instead and surprised everyone by winning the special election, the first Democrat to win that seat in fifty years.  Then last fall, Bogetto lost the seat.

Meanwhile, Deb had been gaining experience, both in campaigns and even as an intern at the statehouse.  She worked for Jane, Gen Franks, Judi Parker, Claire McCaskill, and Barbara Fraser, doing everything from making calls and canvassing to stuffing envelopes, looking up phone numbers, and entering data. 

In 2006, as Representative Fraser’s intern in Jeff City, she responded to constituents and did research.  Along the way, she learned what a painfully slow process it is to shepherd an idea to a signed bill. She saw how hard the Democrats in Jeff City worked:  in their offices, on the floor, at evening events and in additional hours spent networking and researching bills. 

They were, she said, “extremely available and very gracious with their constituents.”  By way of contrast, she remembers hearing a local man talk about being in D.C. and trying to get in to see his Republican representative, Todd Akin.  On the third try, he was getting frustrated and Akin’s secretary said, “Don’t take it personally.  He never sees anyone.”

Deb can’t wait to earn the privilege of returning constituents’ calls and working hard for them.  She now has the nod to try to unseat the Republican incumbent in district 94.

 She’ll have to work hard campaigning if she wants the privilege of working hard in Jeff City.  That Kirkwood seat, that’s a tough one to take.  But Deb says she’s always been a high energy person.  She’s a single parent for her twelve year old nephew and she owns her own physical therapy clinic, but she vows she has the energy to handle those responsibilities, run for office, and–she hopes–spend three and a half days of every week from January through May in Jeff City.  She is already busy networking and fundraising.

She’s the kind of Democrat progressives will want in office.  Her main concern is health care issues.  As a physical therapist she sees how many people are without coverage, sees the rising costs and the dwindling coverage to providers.  Deb notes that most people aren’t aware that health insurance companies have even higher quarterly profit margins than oil companies.

Education is the other issue close to her heart.  The discrepancy in the quality of schools for the rich and the poor saddens her.  Too many of us, she says, “are jaded to the phenomenal discrimination that happens in our educational institutions.”

Deb has always been pro-choice.  She respects the sincerity of those who believe life begins at conception but doesn’t feel they have the right to impose their morals on everyone.  She wants them to realize that we’ll get no decrease in abortions by limiting women’s birth control options or by denying children accurate sex education.

As for the new push to overturn the amendment providing protection in this state for stem cell research, Deb is dumbfounded by the arrogance of ignoring what the voters just settled last November.

If Deb Lavender sounds like someone you want to support, she’s waiting to hear from you.  So far, she has an army of two volunteers.  Needless to say, she’s looking for more.

To get in touch with Deb, call:

314-496-3323
314-821-6006

And then there’s money.  If you want to give her a financial lift right now, you can snail mail her a contribution:

Deb Lavender
P.O. Box 220571
Kirkwood, MO 63122

Otherwise, you can wait till her website goes up in a week or so.  I’ll announce the website address on this blog.

We’re running a regular series here at Show Me Progress highlighting Republican officeholders who don’t yet have a likely Democratic challenger.  In this edition of Who the Hell’s Going to Run Against…, we’ll be looking at Roy Blunt in Missouri’s 7th Congressional District (the Fightin’ 7th!). It’s important to field good candidates everywhere, because as we’ve seen in districts around the country (such as in CA-11, OH-18, TX-22), when a scandal hits a politician or their political allies, a decent challenger can take advantage. And as we’ll see, Roy Blunt is likely as anyone to get hit with a scandal. Unfortunately, we’re still wondering who’s going to face him next November.

More below the flip.

Roy Blunt was first elected to Congress in 1996. He ascended quickly in the Republican House leadership quickly, becoming Chief Deputy Whip after a single term and rising to Majority Whip in 2003. After the Republicans lost the House in 2006, Blunt easily won election as Minority Whip (he had lost a bid to succeed Tom Delay as Majority Leader in early 2006.) His positions on all the major issues are ultraconservative – he has a lifetime 94% rating by the American Conservative Union and a 92% rating by the Christian Coalition. Just like his son Matt, Roy Blunt has a knack for working a little too closely with lobbyists and corporations, earning him a post on CREW’s “20 Most Corrupt Congressmen”. After divorcing his wife of 35 years, Blunt later married his tobacco lobbyist girlfriend, and infamously slipped a provision directly meant to benefit her client, Philip Morris, into a 475-page Homeland Security bill hours before a final vote. To be fair, it’s not clear whether it was the influence of Blunt’s then girlfriend, his son Andy (also a lobbyist for Phillip Morris), or the sizable campaign contributions from the tobacco company (at over $200,000, his largest contributor) that led him to take such an unusual measure.

And then there’s Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay. Blunt and Abramoff were so tight that Blunt had “Friend of Owner” free meal status at Abramoff’s swank DC restaurant, Signatures. Delay and Blunt shared staff members and swapped PAC contributions; Blunt even gave $20,000 to Delay’s legal defense fund to aid him against money laundering charges. Investigations of Delay and Abramoff are still ongoing, so it’s possible that we’ll see even more dirt on Blunt in the next couple of years.

So, who’s going to face Roy Blunt in the race for MO-7? Despite all of the stink surrounding Blunt, Democratic challenger Jack Truman (great-nephew of President Harry Truman) only managed 30% against Blunt in 2006. He underperformed McCaskill by 5-10 points in every single county that comprises the 7th District. Will Truman run again and hope to improve his numbers dramatically in 2008? Or will someone else step forward to challenge Blunt? It’s worth noting that there is currently only one Democrat from Southwest Missouri serving in the Missouri Legislature – Sara Lampe.

Russ Carnahan is offering his constituents a chance to talk to him about health care issues.  Here’s your chance to urge him to co-sponsor Conyers’ Universal Health Care Bill, HR676.

Carnahan’s office sent out this announcement:

To Healthcare Leaders in the Saint Louis Region:

I would like to invite you to join me on Wednesday, August 29th, as I tour various health care facilities in the 3rd Congressional District.

 

As your United States Congressman and as someone who has worked in the health care profession, it was a great honor for me to support H.R. 3162, the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act (the CHAMP Act).  This bill reauthorizes and improves the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and also strengthens the Medicare program.

Please join me on Wednesday, August 29th, as I discuss this important legislation.  You are welcome to join me as your schedule allows throughout the day.  The itenerary is as follows:

1:00pm  Tour of Family Care Health Centers; 401 Holly Hills Ave,Saint Louis, MO

2:30pm  Press Conference/Availability with Children’s Hospital Location; TBD

3:00pm  Tour of Nurses for Newborns Facility; 7259 Landsdowne Saint Louis, MO

5:30pm  Ribbon Cutting at Lemay Childhood Center;  9828 South Broadway St. Louis, MO

7:00pm  Children’s Healthcare Town Hall meeting, Murphy Elementary School Cafeteria, Northwest School District, 2101 Valley Dr, High Ridge, MO

Please RSVP to Anna Jinkerson, my Congressional Outreach Coordinator about this event.  She can be reached by phone at (636) 937-8039 or by email at anna.jinkerson@mail.house.gov.  I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, August 29th.

ACORN is being haunted by the ghost of Bradley Schlozman.

Last week, ACORN and other groups sent a “letter of intent to sue” to the Missouri Department of Social Services for failing to enforce the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).  That law requires states to provide opportunity for voters to register at public assistance offices.  But a report just released by Project Vote demonstrates that the voter registrations at public assistance agencies:

“have dropped from 143,000 in 1995-1996 to just 16,000 in 2005-2006.” …

“Although hundreds of thousands of citizens in Missouri remain unregistered, many of them low-income citizens, the number of people the state is registering in agencies is one-tenth what it once was.”

As soon as their letter of intent was public came the refrain they expected:  You’re the scum that got sued last fall for faking registrations.  The second half of Jo Mannies’s article had to recapitulate that old news.

That refrain is part of the legacy that Schlozman left to the Missouri Republican Party, a gift that keeps on giving in the ongoing GOP effort to keep po’ folks from voting. 

Republican Vote Suppression:  Think Ohio 2004.  Think Florida every even-numbered year.  Think Voter I.D. laws. Think Bradley Schlozman.

Our state is a high priority battleground for Republicans.  That’s why they sent Schlozman here in 2005 to replace U.S. Attorney Todd Graves in western Missouri.  Graves, a Republican–but with ethics–had already peeved the DoJ by insisting on pursuing civil penalties against a convicted cross-burner.  But then he really stepped in it at the Department:  he refused to sign a letter to Robin Carnahan threatening her with a lawsuit unless she did more to remove unqualified voters from the registration lists.  (For “unqualified”, read “poor blacks”.) So D.C. sent in its hit man to replace Graves. 

Schlozman, of course, pursued the suit against Carnahan. A federal district judge recently threw out the suit, ruling that Carnahan was taking all reasonable measures.  But, with Schlozman long since gone from Missouri and now even from the DoJ, the spirit of their hit man lives on (in Blue Girl’s phrase) at “Just Us”.  They’re appealing the district judge’s ruling.

They’re doing what any politicized Justice Department would do:  pretending to ferret out voter fraud while they’re busy suppressing those no-count po’ folks.

The Carnahan suit hasn’t panned out so well, but Schlozman scored a coup by tarring ACORN right before the ’06 election.  ACORN played into his hands by not checking every new registration its workers collected, and Schlozman salivated when he caught some of the paid workers submitting bogus signatures.  Instead of doing what U.S. Attorneys have always been instructed to do, waiting until after the election to file suit in order to avoid politicizing an election, he splashed it all over the headlines five days before the vote.

That was the hit man’s gift that keeps on giving to the Republican party.  Naturally, ACORN fired the workers who cheated and it began checking every registration before submitting them, but it was too late.  Now, every time ACORN moves its little finger, Republicans scream, “You’re those vote fraud criminals.”

Schlozman and his mentors in the Gonzales group are smirking as ACORN squirms. 

MaryB, your question has been answered. We will do without 3 Missouri legislators for another 6 months (longer actually – the elections will still have to be certified.) Ostensibly, this is to save the state money, since February 5th is the next date already scheduled for Missourians to head to the ballot box. But Blunt had no qualms about calling a special session to ram through a bill loaded with special interest giveaways (including his own brother’s client) after vetoing a similar bill a couple of months ago that wasn’t as narrowly tailored to his liking.  Blunt also had no problems calling for a quick special election to replace State Senator Chuck Gross (R-St. Charles.) Gross resigned on May 31st, and the election to replace him will take place on September 4th.

Speaking of special elections, Ed Appelbaum is facing Republican Tom Dempsey in the special election just nine days away to replace Chuck Gross. Appelbaum has committed to stopping the revolving door between St. Charles Republicans and lobbying interests – he has pledged to serve out his full term in office. Please drop him some cash to turn this seat blue.