“Pretty please, we still want to be the gatekeepers…”

Today the stenographer weighed in on Eric Greitens’ (r) probable run for governor in 2016:

Steve Kraske: Remember the name Eric Greitens

By STEVE KRASKE

The Kansas City Star

03/28/2015 10:19 AM

Eric Greitens didn’t call me back.

And that’s a surprise, because Greitens is from St. Louis and apparently wants to run for governor.

In other words, he needs name ID now in Kansas City, and I thought he’d grab an interview with gusto….

….But all those guys lost.

That’s a problem. Because they reached so high so fast, their states were robbed of their special talents that might have been put to good use if they had run for a more, shall we say, attainable office.

Who knows? Maybe Greitens proves me wrong. A good way to start would be to return my call.

He doesn’t need to return your calls.

Uh, the world has changed. As much as some people hate the fact, old media isn’t the gatekeeper for political viability anymore. Nor should it be.

Uh, you do know that Eric Greitens (r) has been a featured speaker at Missouri Boys State for years, right? You know, that program with close to a thousand young men every year from all parts of the state who have also pledged to be active in their communities? Yeah, they know who Eric Greitens (r) is.

Oh, and by the way, Eric Greitens (r) has raised at least $434,502.00 in a little over a month.

Okay, Eric Greitens is a republican (probably) running for governor. There is that.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: There is another? (February 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: a little bit more (February 26, 2015)

Campaign Finance: A new bandwagon? (March 6, 2015)

Campaign Finance: but wait, there’s more (March 10, 2015)

Campaign Finance: that’ll help finance a whole lot of exploring (March 12, 2015)

Campaign Finance: it’s going to be a good quarter (March 16, 2015)

Campaign Finance: still exploring (March 17, 2015)

Campaign Finance: gone quiet (March 21, 2015)

Campaign Finance: not quiet at all (March 25, 2015)

Campaign Finance: eat mor chikin (March 26, 2015)

It’s been a while.

In the universe of political stenography you can ignore a candidate’s behavior because it’s not quite as outrageous as that of someone else.

Yesterday, at the Kansas City Star:

Steve Kraske: The money in politics is out of control

By STEVE KRASKE

The Kansas City Star 01/30/2015 5:19 PM 01/30/2015 5:30 PM

….On Thursday, Republican Tom Schweich kicked off his campaign for Missouri governor attacking what he considers the whacked-out money culture in Jeff City.

“You can’t get anything else done until you clean up the corruption,” he said.

Voters, for sure, are weary of all the talk of big money gobbling up government. They think the whole game is rigged. They’ve disengaged.

It feels like the system is coming unhinged. Government isn’t just for sale, folks. It’s been sold, and folks like Rex Sinquefield have the receipts.

[emphasis added]

On that same day State Auditor Tom Schweich’s (r) gubernatorial campaign committee took in over $360,000.00 from twenty-eight individuals and entities. There was one campaign contribution of $50,000.00 from one individual and a total of $75,000.00 in two separate contributions from one couple. All of those twenty-eight contributions were over $5,000.00 and were required to be reported within forty-eight hours.

Tom Schweich (r) ain’t exactly the poster child for campaign finance reform and single source fundraising restraint.

You think that would be worth a mention?

Previously:

Sorting it all out (January 12, 2015)

Campaign Finance: the giant chess piece in the room (January 15, 2015)

Tom Schweich (r) versus Catherine Hanaway (r) in 2016 (January 28, 2015)

Campaign Finance: kings to pawn $361,506.00, check (January 29, 2015)

Campaign Finance: trickle in (January 31, 2015)

Campaign Finance: keeping up with the Schweichs (r) and Hanaways (r) (January 31, 2015)

There’s a blurb by the stenographer on Attorney General Chris Koster and some fallout on Amendment 1 in the Kansas City Star:

Steve Kraske: Chris Koster hits his first speed bump on the road to Missouri governor

By STEVE KRASKE

The Kansas City Star

08/08/2014 3:42 PM

….In recent days, two longtime party leaders – former lieutenant governor Joe Maxwell and former state senator Joan Bray – have questioned Koster’s bona fides for the state’s highest office….

….Bray and Maxwell, known for his work on elderly and children’s issues, pointed to Koster’s public support of the controversial “right to farm” amendment that appears to have narrowly passed. Critics, including Maxwell, called the amendment a sellout to corporate and foreign interests.

Koster backed the “right to bear arms” amendment that passed with National Rifle Association backing but that many Democrats opposed. Koster has long enjoyed NRA support….

Bad Democrat, bad, bad Democrat.

Dude, the speed bumps have always been there.

Here’s the thing. As one Democrat told me a long time ago [paraphrased], “There are maybe eight thousand party activist Democrats who vote in the primary. There are several hundred thousand other voters who cast ballots in that same party primary.”  

Interestingly, the stenographer didn’t bother to mention this:

4:15 pm Fri August 1, 2014

Kander Joins Koster In Backing ‘Right To Farm’ Amendment

By Jason Rosenbaum

Secretary of State Jason Kander is throwing his supporting behind the so-called “right to farm” amendment. Friday afternoon Kander’s office sent out a statement indicating that he will vote for Amendment 1….

….”I served with Jason in the Legislature, and expected more from him,” said [Wes] Shoemyer, the president of the anti-Amendment 1 group Missouri’s Food for America….

Here’s another thing. The Democratic Party statewide candidates we get are not always the Democratic Party statewide candidates we want. In the end the choice in November 2016 is probably going to be between the Democratic Party nominee we have and a right wingnut republican. I may not be particularly thrilled about it, but I know how I’ll vote.

Heads or tails? In the universe of political stenography all stupid ideas or concepts have the same value as anything else.

A few days ago:

KRASKE: Forecasting all the big races, including Akin-McCaskill….

….Predictions: Obama (yeah, I’m a flip-flopper. I picked Romney in January), McCaskill, Nixon, Peter Kinder for lieutenant governor and Chris Koster for attorney general (Koster instantly becomes the 2016 gubernatorial frontrunner). KC’s own Jason Kander, a secretary of state candidate, and fellow Democrat, treasurer Clint Zweifel, get swallowed up in the pro-Romney tide in Missouri and fall short.

The cigarette tax passes….

Well, Kansas City also has the Royals and the Chiefs. Nope, the cigarette tax didn’t pass, Jason Kander (D) will be the new Secretary of State, and Clint Zweifel (D) will continue as State Treasurer.

Previously:

Too damn close, but we’ll take it (November 7, 2012)

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D): have we got a poll for you… (November 7, 2012)

Welcome to the party late:

….Hartzler does stumble occasionally. At a town hall meeting last month, she initially expressed doubts about President Obama’s birth certificate.

“You know, I have a lot of doubts about all that,” she said.

She also said something curious about China embedding microchips with detection or tracking capabilities in products sold in the United States.

“We need to have a new 007 James Bond movie with China as the bad guys,” she said, according to The Sedalia Democrat….

Yep, really late to the party.

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): the black helicopters will be dropping microchip infested toasters on us (April 8, 2012)

The stenographer continues:

….But Hensley will have to demonstrate that she stands with gun owners….

Done.

So much for stenographers doing their homework.

….or has major problems with Obama’s health plan….

And that worked so well for Ike Skelton (D) in 2010?

Never take political advice from a stenographer.

….Hartzler is a hustler. Something tells me she won’t be caught off guard.

Did a republican operative spin that to you? Just asking.

Democrats: President Obama heading to Osawatomie Tuesday

2 hours, 26 minutes ago

Steve Kraske

@stevekraske

A leaked e-mail to Prime Buzz states that the president will be in Osawatomie – of all places – on Tuesday.

Why Osawatomie? And why Kansas?

We’re scrambling to find out.

But note this from Wikipedia…

[emphasis added]

That prompted these responses:

@annievangsnes Annie Montemayor

Citing Wikipedia? Good job Midwest Democracy Project. Sometimes being a journalist means picking up a phone.[…]1 hour ago

@annievangsnes Annie Montemayor

@stevekraske @smontemayor Better question: Why do you think a tidbit from Wikipedia makes a good hypothesis for his visit. 1 hour ago

That left a mark.

And who is Annie Montemayor?:

Annie Montemayor

@annievangsnes Paola, KS

Graduate of William Allen White School of Journalism at KU. Reporter/photographer at the Miami County Republic….

Okay.

Update:

Oooh, we’re mean.

It turns out that President Obama will indeed be in Osawatomie, Kansas on Tuesday.

Heh. We’re still mean.

We never get out of junior high school:

A silent sojourn by Palin puzzles KC

By STEVE KRASKE

The Kansas City Star

News flash: Sarah Palin was in town Monday.

You didn’t know that? I didn’t know it until the next day. Turns out, nobody knew it….

We’re not puzzled by the former half term governor, she’s just a grifter pulling a long con.

@RobertaSaidThat Deborah

Redneck-goatee-sporting-whats-his-name-Palin-husband admits his wife quit governorship to make more money, saying she had “bills to pay.” 16 hours ago

From Rachel Maddow – Todd Palin and a self-identified Alaska resident at the Iowa State Fair:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640

The stenographer is, oh, so predictable, the weather isn’t.

It snowed yesterday in west central Missouri.

Yesterday the stenographer had a thing or two to say about Senator Claire McCaskill’s plane issue:

In political circles, that’s not the sound of a leaky faucet. It’s insider lingo for a bad-news story that won’t go away….

….The classic example: Woodward & Bernstein’s coverage of Watergate. The burglary….

….And on and on it went.

Drip, drip, drip.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, is in the midst of one of those cycles. It’s a place where no self-respecting politician wants to be….

False equivalence? Check. Let’s see, apparently, in the stenographer’s mind a wide ranging conspiracy and the resultant cover up is equivalent to the failure to pay property taxes on a plane which was self reported by a politician and accompanied by that politician’s immediate mea culpa.

Contrast that instance of taking responsibility with another politician in Missouri, who, by the way, won reelection.

Then, there’s this little gem:

….The recent stories open the door for reporters to go farther….

You mean you don’t dig around unless prompted by someone else? Just asking.

That’s what I thought. As useful as a lawn full of plastic flamingos.

Chicago isn’t the only big, blue city with a mayoral primary tomorrow, Kansas City has one, too, in which about 15% of us will go to the polls and decide which two candidate of the six in the primary will appear on the general election ballot in April.

For me, tomorrow morning and the polls opening can not get here fast enough, because voting for someone NOT named Mark Funkhouser will be, for me, an act of redemption. I literally wrote a post* on November 8, 2006 laying out a case that if he didn’t run, the people of the city should draft him. Then I busted my ass to get him elected.

I quickly learned that he was in over his head and I have spent the last three-plus years apologizing to Alvin Brooks, who I knew personally, professionally and politically long before that election, for backing his opponent four years ago. He has long since forgiven my transgression, but I can’t forgive myself until I vote against that arrogant sumbitch. I am fully expecting the heavens to open up and a choir of angels to sing when I put my ballot in the optical scan machine tomorrow morning. I have had one standard line that I have used for about three-and-a-half years whenever anyone asks me about the mayor: “Ugh. Please. Funkhouser was the biggest political mistake of my life, and I voted for Dukakis…in the primary.”

With the primary tomorrow, all six candidates gathered today at the Plaza branch of the Kansas City Public Library for a live debate/candidate forum that was moderated by Steve Kraske, political reporter for the Kansas City Star and host of KCUR’s Up to Date for a special 90-minute edition of the show that broadcast the forum live, as it was conducted in front of a live audience of about 250 people. (If you missed it, but live in KC and want to listen before you vote, you can do so at the link.)  

They had the press sequestered over by the wall, but the person in the audience closest to me takes her civic responsibilities seriously and took great notes.

With the polls opening in less than twelve hours, I don’t have time to do a transcript of a 90-minute broadcast, so I will just give my overall impression of the five candidates challenging the incumbent — Sly James, Jim Rowland, Mike Burke, Deb Hermann, Henry Klein — and let my remarks so far stand on their own as what I think about him and his leadership of the city I love and call home.

I really wanted to like Deb Hermann and muster some support for her, but today’s forum just left me cold. Before the event got underway, they drew names, with the intent of asking a question of the opponent whose name they drew. When Kraske asked her whose name she drew and to ask her question she informed the room that she drew Mayor Funkhouser’s name, but since she has been on the council and asking questions of him for three-and-a-half years and she would just pass. Hmmm. So will I…

I get a definite Dennis Kucinich vibe off of Henry Klein. He says the right things, he’s bright and charming and engaging, gives a damn about public safety and local control of our police department, knows the issues cold…and is probably only going to finish fifth, just in front of Funk, when the votes are tallied tomorrow.

Mike Burke is a development attorney and definitely a top-tier candidate. He has a long history of service to the community, including serving in the administration of the much-loved and missed three-termer Dick Berkley, who served from 1979 to 1991. His experience and his history of service make him a solid choice that you wouldn’t regret voting for all day every day for three-plus years when he proved to be in over his head, because he wouldn’t be.

Jim Rowland is a civics teacher by training, he has served on the city council and he oversaw the rehab of the Truman Sports Complex and there was no drama, labor disputes, scandals, kickback schemes, accounting chicanery, cost overruns, missed deadlines…He joked during today’s event that maybe he should have messed up just a little in order to get his name in the paper and raise his name-recognition a bit.

And finally, Sly James. Sly is a retired Marine, a trial lawyer and a community activist. When we tried to recall Funkhouser a little over a year ago, he is who we wanted to replace him. He has the legal background, the leadership experience and the vivacious personality, quick wit and oratory skills to make a great mayor for our city.

I walked in with an “anyone but Funkhouser” feeling, and I moved Deb Hermann into that category about thirty minutes in. I got the same feeling off her that I get from Funkhouser — they seem to think they are doing me a favor by offering their services. I wanted to tell them both not to do me any favors — we’ll handle it ourselves and not trouble you poor vexed and put-upon souls.

When it was over, those two were out of there like a shot from a gun, it was as if they couldn’t get away from the rabble fast enough. The other candidates were shaking hands and talking to the people who came out to hear their ideas in a 90 minute forum on the Plaza, knowing that those people will sure as hell take five minutes to go to their neighborhood polling place and vote tomorrow.

Sly James and Jim Rowland — the two who act the most like they actually want the job, talking with voters in the hallway after the debate. As long as there were voters with questions, they were there to listen and answer.

* Unfortunately, the post in question, which appeared on the original Blue Girl, Red State blog was lost to the ether during an upgrade of the Blogger platform, so I can’t link back to it.