I’ve been taken aback by some of the harsh rhetoric in comments aimed at State Senator Chris Koster, with the epithets “Flopster” and “not a real Democrat” being the most commonly applied. The first thing I think when I read these comments is, “Are these people out of their freakin’ minds?”
Anytime you pick up a seat by a member of the opposing party switching sides, that’s good news. It means you have one more vote in the legislature for the issues that your party cares about, it means you didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars to pick up the seat, it means you have a credible voice arguing that the other side is just too extreme. I’ll applaud Chris Koster for helping us out like that, just as I’ll applaud any Republican who changes their mind about the direction their party has been taking the last decade.
The charge of opportunism strikes me in particular as a bit hollow. Yeah, Koster’s term-limited in 2012, but surely Koster could expect an easier opportunity to come along in the next six years than facing the House Minority Leader and a respected female attorney from St. Louis in a 3-way fight as a newcomer to the Democratic Party.
Now about that Attorney General’s race… more below the fold.
Obviously, the Attorney General’s race is the source of the anger. If Koster had no interest in the office, I doubt that he would have drawn criticism here, or I certainly hope that would be the case. And Koster does have some ‘splainin’ to do, as a Missouri Provote analysis of Koster’s voting record reveals. To even have a chance at my vote, much less my vocal support, in the AG race, Koster has got to explain why he voted against the way he truly believes and, if he changed his mind, how his thinking has evolved on some of these votes. All of this in addition to the baseline questions: “Why are you qualified to be Missouri’s Attorney General, and why should we choose you over the others running for the same office?” After all, he’s running in the primary against two candidates without that baggage.
In any event, I hope that Democrats around the state will welcome Chris Koster into the party AND give him proper scrutiny if and when he enters the AG race.
By all accounts, Chris Koster was a superb prosecutor (and administrator) in Cass County from 1994 to 2004 before he ran for and was elected to the senate.
I welcome Koster to the party, and I look forward to evaluating his voting record this upcoming legislative session.
But I’d rather not hand the AG nomination to a candidate with, at best, severely limited support of progressive issues. That’s why I’m supporting Jeff Harris for AG. He has proven to be a capable leader in the House–leading Ds to an increase in House seats for the first time in three decades–and consistently favors progressive ideals. One only has to look to the issue of CAFOs–so prominently displayed on this site lately–to see the contrasts between Koster and Harris.
Koster, I welcome you as a state senator to the Democratic party, but you have to earn your dues before you get a promotion. After earning our trust, there will be future opportunities available to you in 2010 and 2012, I’m sure.
I’m happy he’s joined us. But, as I told him myself, I’d like to see the Democratic party in Missouri be more progressive and I haven’t yet been convinced that he’s progressive on the issues. So I couldn’t support him in a primary for Attorney General.
I asked him where he stood on the abortion issue. (I purposely used that phrase so he wouldn’t know if I was pro-life or pro-choice) and after a lot words he essentially said he was for the “status quo”. A meaningless phrase imo. He of course voted in favor of the law that Planned Parenthood is now challenging with respect to surgery center status.
I asked him about efforts to push down voter turnout by measures such as the photo ID bill. He voted for photo ID and after a whole lot of words he essentially said he didn’t think having to present ID to vote was such a bad thing.
I asked him about the Missouri Plan (a softball question) and he disagrees with Blunt.
I asked him why I should support him for Attorney General. I said I was concerned since the priorities set by the AG’s office are so important and I would like those priorities to reflect my progressive values and, of course, I was concered that it’s a stepping stone to higher office and I’d like to see progressive Democrats move to higher office. He told me about his long experience as a prosecutor. I pointed out that the Attorney General doesn’t spend a lot of time in court – s/he allocates resources and sets priorities and, perhaps, strategy.
He then told me that he could beat Catherine Hanaway.
I think he was surprised to be question on his views on these issues. He told me I was his hardest phone call that day