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DEF is a non-partisan, independent political blog based in the
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Former U.S. Senator Jim Talent has sent an email to supporters reflecting on his loss and requesting financial aid in erasing his $85,000 of campaign debt.
"I've replayed the campaign more than a couple of times," Talent writes. "There were a few things I would have done differently, but they weren't many and they weren't major."
"I'm secure in my knowledge that we did everything we could to win. It was a great campaign. It just was not a great year," said Talent.
Talent requests donations from his supporter to go towards his campaign's debt.
"We can legally accept contributions earmarked to our debt as long as the individual has not already contributed the legal maximum of $2100 to our general election campaign," said Talent. He refers questions to his former National Finance Director, Steve Gordon, who he says remains his consultant.
In his email, Talent also says he has accepted an invitation to become a Distinguished Fellow at the conservative Washington DC think tank, the Heritage Institute.
SHE SAID WHAT? -- Following the our city's dubious distinction once again as the "Most Dangerous City in America", comes an interesting quote from one of St. Louis' paid cheerleaders.
Mary Hendrod, of the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, was quoted in Venues Today, an industry trade magazine, in their "Quote of the Week" section.
"It's a bad part of town, but every city has a bad part of town... Frankly the only reason anyone would go there would be to purchase crack cocaine," she said, reportedly referring to "a bad neighborhood of St. Louis."
Hendrod told PUB DEF this morning that the quote was taken out of context and was meant to be off the record.
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE -- Looks like Tower Grove Easter Christian Saller is joining Kacie Starr Triplett and Committeeman Patrick Cacchione in the race to succeed 6th Ward Alderman (and Aldermanic Presidential candidate) Lewis Reed. The Arch City Chroniclereports Saller, 43, made the announcement at a southside neighborhood meeting last night. We're also hearing there will be even more candidates joining the race before it's all over. Expect a crowded field.
FAIR-WEATHER FRIENDS? -- We emailed outgoing Republican State Rep. Sherman Parker this week to ask if we should read anything into his presence at Claire McCaskill's victory party last week. He did not reply.
But two other African-American Republicans called us over the weekend to let us know what they thought about former Congressional candidates Parker and Leslie Farr (who recently said he was re-joining the Democratic Party) partying with the blue team while the reds shed tears into their champagne glasses last Tuesday.
"Traitors" is about the least offensive word used that we can write here.
"After all Jim [Talent] did for Sherman?" one said, referring to Talent's early endorsement in the contentious 2002 primary fight that eventually led to Parker becoming the first African-American elected to the state legislature from St. Charles.
"They should know the lines are too long for them to ever get anything out of the Democrats," said the GOPer.
Two days before Election Day, then-U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill met with a small group of black elected officials representing an area of north St. Louis City and was asked to make some very specific promises.
First Ward Alderman Charles Q. Troupe, State Rep. Yaphett El-Amin and her husband State Rep.-elect Talibdin El-Amin presented to the ultimately victorious Democratic senate candidate a proposal that included these commitments to north St. Louis:
Secure at least 60% of funding for the expansion of Metrolink to north St. Louis
Secure $10 million in low to moderate income housing funds
Secure $5 million in HIV/AIDS outreach funds
Secure $20 million for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) for the uninsured and under-insured in north St. Louis
Secure $10 million to repair Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. and other major northside streets
Secure $5 million for employment training and assistance
Advocate local control of the St. Louis police department
Advocate diversity in state, county and local offices
Open a Senate office in north St. Louis
According to the three northside representatives, McCaskill agreed to these commitments, which represent hundreds of millions of dollars for an area that has long gone without its fair share of the pie of public dollars.
PUB DEF had a special correspondent of sorts at the Talent campaign's watch party last night. The always dapper Jamie Allman, co-host of "Allman & Smash in the Morning" on 97.1 FM Talk and a former reporter for Channel 4 News, gave us a special report and early Election Night analysis.
Let's just say it was informative and entertaining...
Claire McCaskill, the new U.S. Senator from Missouri, thanked a roomful of ecstatic supporters, volunteers, campaign workers, and elected Democrats in the Majestic Ballroom of the Renaissance Grand Hotel tonight.
"The great state of Missouri has spoken," said McCaskill. "They have said 'we want change'!"
"Missourians have rejected the politics of personal character attacks," said McCaskill as she reached over and kissed her husband, Joseph Shepard, who had been the target of several negative TV commercials.
McCaskill also thanked her mother, Betty Anne McCaskill, who she called the "star" of the campaign.
To the nearly half of Tuesday's voters that did not voter for her, McCaskill said she "will work hard to earn your trust and respect."
McCaskill will join at least three other new Democrats in the U.S. Senate. With the Senate race in Virginia likely taking several days to determine a winner, the balance of power is still in doubt.
What is not in doubt is that the Democratic Party had a very good night on Nov. 7, 2006 -- one that has changed the nation's political landscape and reintroduced two-party government to Washington D.C.
With 71% of the vote in, Sen. Jim Talent is leading challenger Claire McCaskill 50% to 47%.
The Democrats have already won control of the House of Representatives. With the balance of power in the U.S. Senate at stake, the eyes of the country are on Missouri...
Hundreds of people were standing in line this morning at the corner of West Florissant and Jennings Station Road in north St. Louis waiting to help flush out voters for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill.
There is some confusion among the potential workers in line just what they will be doing and how much they will be paid.
Some people near the back of the line think they are going to be paid between $300 and $250 for the day, while others closer to the front think the pay is around $9 per hour.
Some said they thought think they'll be working a poll. Others said they thought they would be going door-to-door. But all seemed to be clear on one thing: that they would be voting for the Democrat, Claire McCaskill, today.
Senators Jim Talent and Kit Bond rallied a roomful of volunteers and supporters at the Drury Inn in St. Louis County this morning, just 24 hours before Tuesday's election to decide if Bond will be joined in the Senate again by Talent or Democrat Claire McCaskill.
UPDATE: Bond reminded his fellow Republicans of his first Senate win 20 years ago. "That was the election in the 6th year of President Reagan's term," similar to this election, he said. "It's tough on Republicans in the 6th year of a Republican president's term."
"That was the year that seven incumbent Republican senators were knocked off," said Bond. "Right before the election, I was beind in the polls three percent and I had a knot in my stomach the size of a softball."
He said he won that race "not because I was so good looking or so smart" but because of the GOTV efforts of his party.
Also... Supporters of Senator Talent will be gathering on Election Night at the Frontenac Hilton, 1335 South Lindbergh Blvd.
UPDATE 2:Click here to see video of Claire McCaskill rallying her troops with Congressmen Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan Saturday in north St. Louis. And click here to see video of Sen. Barack Obama stumping for her on Sunday.
And as we reported last week, McCaskill supporters will be gathering on Election Night on the eastern side of the state in downtown St. Louis and on the western side of the state in downtown Kansas City.
In St. Louis, in the Majestic Ballroom of the Renaissance Grand Hotel, 800 Washington Ave. In K.C., in the Count Basie Ballroom of the Downtown Marriott, 200 W. 12th Street.
"The American people are not as divided as their politics would indicate," Senator Barack Obama told a packed house of Claire McCaskill supporters in St. Louis yesterday.
Obama, who has been jetting across the country to lend some of his popularity to Democrats in close races, spoke yesterday at the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park to more than 1,000 people who hope that come Wednesday morning, the Democrats will have taken control of the U.S. Senate and House.
For there to be a change of power in the Senate tomorrow, Democrats will have to pick up six seats. In the House, the number is 15.
After rallies with President Bush Friday in Springfield and Joplin, which the campaign estimates were attended by 11,000 people collectively, Sen. Jim Talent continued his trek across Missouri with stops in Perryville, Kennett and West Plains for "Farm and Ranch" rallies with Missouri Farm Bureau President Charlie Kruse.
Yesterday he began his 11-city "Missouri Values Tour" which will feature get-out-the-vote rallies in Jefferson City, St. Joseph, Kirksville, Hannibal, Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, Rolla, St. Louis, Columbia, Kansas City and Springfield.
We reported yesterday that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill pulled an "all-nighter" Friday and Saturday, campaigning 24-hours straight, hitting diners, firehouses and factories talking to voters working the late shift. Here's more from the AP:
"It's the last person you expect to see at Waffle House at 3 a.m.," said Tim Yazawa, 24, who was grabbing a middle-of-the-night snack with a friend...
...McCaskill's stops before midnight Friday included police stations, fire stations and the night shift change at an auto plant. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, her big blue recreational vehicle rolled to all-night diners, where patrons were often stunned to see the Senate candidate amid the burgers and shakes.
It was constant motion as McCaskill hopped on and off her RV, spending 10 to 45 minutes at each stop. Nursing a raspy voice with cough drops and hot tea, McCaskill said it was her idea to target people who work the night shift, though at many stops she was greeted by just a handful of police officers, waitresses or emergency workers.
"It may seem like we're not doing much, but these guys talk to so many people, it's the kind of thing that gets out," she said after stopping at a St. Louis police substation. "I'm trying to let people know the folks who work when the sun goes down do some of the most important work out there."
The McCaskill campaign will hold a rally at 4:00 today in Forest Park at the World's Fair Pavilion. The very popular Sen. Barack Obama will be there hoping to rally the Democratic base to come out strong for McCaskill.
Claire McCaskill rolled her blue campaign RV to north St. Louis today capping off nearly 24 hours of straight campaigning.
The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate stopped by an event hosted by St. Louis Congressmen Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan at the Gateway Classic Building near downtown. She said she had campaigned through the night, stopping at all-night diners, firehouses and factories talking to workers on the night shift.
"I listened and realized how much we have to do to make sure they have health care, that they have a living wage, that they have an opportunity to send their kids to college, that they have the opportunity to live the American dream," said McCaskill.
Several other elected officials were in attendance, including Comptroller Darlene Green, License Collector Gregg Daly, State Reps. Rodney Hubbard, Robin Wright Jones, Maria Chappelle-Nadal, Jamilah Nasheed, and Talibdin El-Amin, Aldermen Greg Carter and Jeffrey Boyd, former Ald. Irv Clay, Committeeman Joe Palm, and surely others that we didn't spot.
Mike Jones, aide to County Executive Charlie Dooley, spoke on behalf of his boss. And Gateway Classic founder Earl Wilson played host to the nearly 80 people in attendance.
Supporters of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill will be gathering on Election Night on the eastern side of the state in downtown St. Louis and on the western side of the state in downtown Kansas City.
In St. Louis, in the Majestic Ballroom of the Renaissance Grand Hotel, 800 Washington Ave. In K.C., in the Count Basie Ballroom of the Downtown Marriott, 200 W. 12th Street.
A report by the blog ePluribus Media outlines over $30,000 in campaign contributions from executives and political action committees related to UniGroup, Inc., a Fenton-based firm that owns some of the nation's largest moving companies and which has millions of dollars in federal contracts.
According to campaign finance reports, Richard McClure, the firm's CEO and the former chief of staff for then-Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft, has given $4,000 to Talent's Senate campaign. His wife, Sharon, gave another $2,000.
What's wrong with that? Well, according to ePluribus, the Senate Ethics Manual bars contributions from federal government contractors. Not exactly.
While the rules fordid contractors like UniGroup, Inc. from giving to candidates, its employees and executives are free to give as much money as is legally allowed for anyone else.
Now whether it's ethical for politicians to accept campaign contributions from people whose employers are affected by legislation overseen by those legislators is another deal altogether.
But if that was outlawed, who would fund all the citywide campaigns in St. Louis?
The very popular Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) will be in St. Louis again this weekend to support fellow Democrat Claire McCaskill in her very tight campaign against incumbent Sen. Jim Talent.
There will be a public rally at the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. Tickets can be requested from McCaskill's website.
Exactly one week before Election Day, a new CNN poll shows the race between Republican Jim Talent and Democrat Claire McCaskill tied.
Of 565 Likely Voters: Jim Talent - 49% Claire McCaskill - 49% (Sampling Error: +/- 4%)
Of the larger pool of 1,004 registered voters, McCaskill led with 51% to Talent's 43%. Click here to download the PDF of the 3-page report from CNN's polls of Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia voters.
The Associated Press is reporting that President George W. Bush will be coming to Missouri on Friday to stump for Sen. Jim Talent. Details are still not available, but such a public event would mark a shift from a perceived distancing from the president by the Talent campaign.
St. Louis Congressman Lacy Clay recently suggested Republican Sen. Jim Talent may be doing a better job than his Democratic challenger, Claire McCaskill, of addressing African-American campaign issues.
From a story in Sunday's U.S. News & World Report:
But some Democratic candidates are facing their own base motivation problems, with recent polls showing lower-than-normal black support for Democratic Senate candidates like Missouri's McCaskill, who wasn't cracking 50 percent black support in a poll earlier this month. Other polls show African-Americans more likely than whites to doubt that their votes will be counted because of voting controversies in recent years.
"I hear Talent really trying to address some issues near and dear to the African community," says St. Louis Rep. William Lacy Clay, a Democrat. "I don't hear the same drumbeat from the McCaskill camp."
While acknowledging McCaskill's ties to the black community, St. Louis NAACP Vice President Claude Brown says Talent "has done a tremendous job recruiting African-Americans." But, he adds, "people are really angry. If nothing else gets African-Americans to the polls, it's anger." If that's still not enough, perhaps a call from one of the two parties will do the trick.
Actor Michael J. Fox, whose commercial for U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill has been the subject of much discussion the past few days, discussed with Katie Couric the recent allegations made by radio host Rush Limbaugh and his ongoing battle with Parkinson's disease.
"I've replayed the campaign more than a couple of times," Talent writes. "There were a few things I would have done differently, but they weren't many and they weren't major."
