Tags
2008 Democratic primary, Attorney General, Chris Koster, Jeff Harris, Margaret Donnelly, missouri
Before I give you the answers to this week’s question, I want to tip my hat to Representatives Jeff Harris and Margaret Donnelly, not only because they are participating in this forum, but because they have agreed to return all contributions over the reinstated fundraising limits. (From what I understand, Chris Koster has also now agreed to return all excess contributions, so he gets a tip of the hat, too. A source tells me that this is not quite correct – Koster is still waiting for more guidance from the MEC.)
And without further adieu, in the order received, the answers to this week’s question: “What job that you’ve held in the past has best prepared you for the job of Attorney General? Why?”
If you like either answer, or if you like both, please show some support to the candidate(s) with some cash. Representative Harris’ ActBlue page is here, and Representative Donnelly’s is here.
Rep. Jeff Harris’ answer:
Thanks again for allowing me to participate in this question and answer forum.
The experience I’ve had that best prepares me for the position I seek, Missouri Attorney General, was my last job – as Democratic Leader in the Missouri House of Representatives. When I made the decision to pursue a leadership position, I knew that building a broad coalition was key to success. My tenure as Minority Leader taught me how to reach out and bring together people with diverse backgrounds – urban, rural, minorities, gays and lesbians, trade unionists, and white collar professionals – and to speak with one voice against the Blunt agenda.
In the 2006 elections, under my leadership, the Democratic caucus articulated a unified message that resulted in the first Democratic gain in the Missouri House in 20 years and the largest gain since 1978. As Missouri Attorney General, and as a former Missouri Assistant A.G., I’ll tap that experience to build the best team in state government. My staff will be diverse and representative of the entire state. I’ll reach out to every community to understand their concerns as well as their hopes and dreams. My office will defend the defenseless, fight for the underdog, and most importantly, enforce the law – with integrity, fairness and humility. I humbly ask for your support in the Democratic primary election next August for Missouri Attorney General and in November 2008. Visit my website at www.electjeffharris.com to learn more about me and how you can help.
Rep. Margaret Donnelly’s answer:
I have practiced law for twenty years and spent thousands of hours in the courtroom and worked with average Missourians on tough legal problems. I believe this is a key part of my experience that has prepared me to be an effective attorney general. The attorney general is frequently called the “people’s lawyer”. It is the office’s job to take the problems of individual Missourians and fight for their rights collectively.
We hear daily jokes about lawyers, but it was in my law practice where I saw how lawyers can protect and even save a person’s life. I was regularly appointed as the attorney to represent children in child abuse cases and custody disputes. Many of the children I represented were horribly abused by their parents. I was able to use my role as an advocate to protect these children from further harm.
Keeping families safe and secure has been the focus of my law practice. I intend to take that same spirit with me to the attorney general’s office. I pledge to vigorously enforce our sexual predator laws, prosecute Medicaid fraud and abuse and those who steal health care from the neediest Missourians, and keep unsafe products out of our stores. I will be the people’s lawyer.
Chris Koster informed me that unfortunately he again could not participate, as he has not declared his intention to run for the Attorney General’s office.
As always, you can discuss their answers in comments and vote in our poll. Please try to focus on the answers, rather than rah-rah for the candidates.
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What do you think?
Jeff Harris had a variety of ways he could answer this question. He’s the former House Minority Leader, he’s a former Assistant Attorney General, and (in case you didn’t know) he was elected Democratic Whip after just one year in the House.
If all you want in an AG is an attorney, you might consider Donnelly, but I believe that the AG should be so much more than that. And that’s why I support Jeff Harris. He’s a great leader, a great legislator, a great person. He knows the issues better than anyone in the race right now. Simply put, he’s the right person for the job and his answer here displays that.
Enough with the rah-rah!
I’ll climb out of my ivory tower of “moderator” of this series to reveal my vote and reason for it. While if I was forced to vote tomorrow, I’d probably say Harris, I thought that Donnelly gave the better answer here. She had a clearer definition of what job she held and what she expects to do as Missouri’s Attorney General.
Moreover, Donnelly’s answer convinces me that she has definite goals as an Attorney General, while Harris’ answer leaves me wondering what he aims to do. Not that it was a bad answer; I do like the promise of a staff responsive to the needs of a diverse state.
Margaret Donnelley answered as an attorney. She’s make the best AG. She is all business and competency.
Jeff Harris answered as a legislator, strong on rhetoric. He seems better suited to serve in a legislative capacity, not to diminish him.
Two good public servants, both of whom we need to lead MO away from being more like Mississippi every day. Is there any way Jeff can run for senate?!
On behalf of MO children, who bear the brunt of Blunt, I am compelled to support Donnelley.
I do not necessarily disagree but I think it was an interesting choice for Jeff to say that the Minority Leader position best prepared him to be attorney general. I would have thought he would have said being in charge of one of the Divisions at the AG’s office. He is the only person in the race that actually has experience in that office and he knows everything about how the office works.
Jeff has been a highly successful Minority Leader who did a great job of keeping all the factions of the caucus together. And I think he is the biggest reason why Blunt is unpopular for his assault on kids, women, the elderly and children. If you view the AG’s office as leader of the state’s legal team, then maybe being a darn good leader of the caucus prepares you for that.
Thanks to the Show Me Progress people for doing this series.
Warning unsolicited political plug
For anyone that is interested Jeff’s bio can be found at
http://www.electjeff…
Well put, Brad. I think it comes down to this: Both Donnelly and Harris have experience as Attorneys, but Harris has broader, well-rounded experience that will be a great resource for him to tap as the next AG of Missouri.
To me the most important thing we can look at in an attorney general is what agenda she or he will set. There are MANY things the AG’s office can choose to focus on – what will be the priorities.
I like Donnelly’s answer not because she had experience as an attorney (they both are lawyers, they both will be fine) but because her experience shows her values in her response: protect and save lives, keep families safe and secure and focus on the most vulnerable people in society. And it shows specifically how this prior experience was used for those values.
Before all the Harris supporters jump all over me, I admit that Harris says these things at the end — but it seemed to be unrelated to the experience he was talking about. It seemed to be tacked on to his response as part of his canned campaign speech. He says that his experience as Democratic Leader will best prepae him because he knows how to build coalitions and so he’ll tap that experience to build the best team in state government. That’s good. I’m all for good teams – although building a team in this sense will mean HIRING people so I’m not sure where coalition building comes into it.
Speaking to both candidates – the opportunity to speak through a blog is the opportunity to have a conversation. I look forward to learning more about both candidates, but I admit that being from St. Louis I already know more about Donnelly than Harris. I know that their legislative voting records are virtually identical. But I want to know about THEM. The benefit of having a regional blog like this is to have a conversation. I don’t want to hear speeches. I felt like Harris’ response was a speech and not the direction that I’d like to see blog conversation go.
Finally – if Koster refuses to answer questions because he’s not declared then we should stop mentioning him in these posts. He’s not a candidate. Take him at his word and stop talking about him. He shouldn’t get free publicity without the corresponding obligation to respond to questions.
running a caucus is entirely different than running a state agency. Ironically, let me use Koster as an example. He tried to get his caucus to vote the way he wanted and he couldn’t. Caucus leaders cannot dictate. But the leader of an agency can dictate because the “team” works for the agency leader. So to me we’re talking about a different skill set.