Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Koster Misses an Opportunity to "Show Me"

Chris Koster needs to convince Missouri Democrats that he is really a Democrat if he is going to stand a chance in the Democratic primary for Missouri Attorney General. Many of us have adopted a "Show Me" policy, and are waiting to see what he can do over the next several months to atone for his years of vigorously opposing Democrats in our state capital.

One such opportunity came to him in the chance to support the Jackson County Democratic Committee. That Committee is hosting a fundraiser on February 7 to support increased activity in 2008. The theme is Make Missouri Blue Together! - what a perfect opportunity to prove that he's really one of us, really working to make Missouri a Democratic state.

He passed up the opportunity. Here's the list of supporters of making Missouri blue, and Chris Koster is not on it.

Jeff Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for the Attorney General position, appears prominently on the list of donors, even though nobody can doubt his Democratic credentials. (Margaret Donnelly is not on the list, but her absence is understandable, since she is running as the St. Louis candidate, and concentrating her campaign entirely within the I-270 loop.)

I know that Chris Koster has far smarter (and better paid) political advisers than me. He's even paid Jeff Roe for his advice, so he's had access to the full range of political input.

But it seems to me that if I were a candidate trying to prove that I am a real Democrat, and I have a real interest in Jackson County, I would have seized the opportunity to invest some of right wing Rex Sinquefield's money in this event.

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12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with you on this, Dan. Any real Dem who wants to show support for Jackson County's efforts should be on this list -- like 44th District candidate Amy Coffman is. Where are the other announced candidates for that race? More to the point -- where's the name of your choice for that seat -- JASON KANDER?

Sorry to be off topic, but those of us who support Amy in that race couldn't resist seeing how you might try to work around Jason's absence from this group in light of your criticism of Koster for the same thing.

1/30/2008 1:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow. I'm shocked that the pro-Coffman people would dare to bring that up. Responding is so darned easy!

1. Kander was on active duty with the US military during the time that sponsorships were being solicited. Really. What was Amy doing to defend our country during that time?

2. The organization that Jason formed to bolster democrats in the region is a sponsor - the HDA. What was Amy doing while Jason was forming that organization? "Chilling" in Alaska, or was she being a lobbyist at the time? Whichever, it certainly wasn't supporting Democrats in Missouri . . .

3. It's good that Amy realized that she needs to prove that she needs to show that she has a real interest in Jackson County. She doesn't have nearly the credentials that Jason has, does she?

1/30/2008 1:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Damn! I think that qualifies as a smack down.

1/30/2008 3:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anon 1:39 -- You're kidding us with this, right? Kander for State Representative was shut down while Jason was on active duty and he and Diana had no idea this event was on? Give us a break. Sounds like your only credible explantion for Jason's absence from this group of JCDC supporters is that HDA is a straw organization to shill for Jason's campaign -- thanks for the hot tip. We've known this since he got his rich uncle to bankroll it years ago. . . .

1/30/2008 4:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ask the candidates trained by HDA if it is a shell organization. Ask the CURRENT state reps and senators in rural districts who relied on an HDA ad campaigns to get elected whether it's a shell organization.

Ask the Eastern Jackson County Republican State Rep who keeps getting plastered in mailers by HDA whether he has ever even heard of Kander.

I don't have any thoughts on whether Kander's name personally should be on the invite (I don't care), but I've given time and money to this "shell organization" and it never had anything to do with a primary in Brookside.

I don't even see his name any where on the website anymore.

www.heartlanddemocrats.org

If you were a REAL team player Democrat, you'd separate the attacks on your opponent from attacks on a legitimate progressive group.

Or maybe you'd just enlighten us as to what your candidate has EVER done to assist Jackson County Democrats, other than promote her own campaign on an invite for a hundred bucks.

1/30/2008 4:44 PM  
Blogger Dan said...

Anonymous 1:39 was me, but the autofill didn't work. Sorry!

Anonymous 4:12 - Yes, when Jason Kander was out of town on active duty, I suspect that Diana had her hands plenty full of other duties. If you want to take cheap shots at soldier's families on behalf of Coffman, go right ahead. I doubt Amy Coffman would support your behavior, though.

But please be careful about putting words in my mouth. I made no claim that HDA is straw organization shilling for Jason, did I?

I merely pointed out that Jason has accomplished a lot working with and for other Democrats in the Kansas City area, for years. Coffman was up in Alaska and making money as a lobbyist while Jason was working with and for other Democrats in the KC area. That doesn't mean that Coffman's a bad person, but, to me, it means that Jason has accomplished a lot more for the Democrats of Jackson County than Amy has.

Certainly he's accomplished enough that you can cut him some slack for not staying up on every campaign duty while he's away on ACTIVE DUTY for the US Army, don't you think? Really?

Mind you, I'm not the one who brought Coffman into this thread. I merely defended Jason Kander after an anonymous Coffman supporter initiated an anonymous cheap shot.

1/30/2008 5:29 PM  
Blogger craig said...

Or.....
Maybe Koster has an aversion to crooked, dirty, underhanded, patronage politics that has been the signature of the Jackson County Democrats for generations. Or maybe he just didn't want to have to scrub the slime off of him after hanging around Jackson County Democrats.
Just a thought.

1/30/2008 7:06 PM  
Blogger Dan said...

Craig -

If he feels that way, I sincerely hope he has the integrity to come out and say it. That should help any fence-sitters complete their deliberations.

1/31/2008 6:04 AM  
Blogger craig said...

Dan,
I am pretty sure he won't come out and be as blunt as I am about the Jackson County Democrats. He is running for office, I am not. I can pretty much say what is on my mind.

1/31/2008 7:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

www.donnelly08.com

looks like she is getting around the state to me.

1/31/2008 10:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you guys sound like Dick Cheney in your defense of Kander. Who cares if he didnt sign on, he is still a great candidate. But this dont criticize a soldier is crap.

1/31/2008 10:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Let's see - Koster decides his time ain't right in the Republican Party and switches to be a Democrat. When there is a chance to support Democrats - to pay his dues - he passes. What the hell.

Koster - Go back to the Republican Party!

2/03/2008 2:23 PM  

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