When Jeff Smith resigned from the Missouri Senate after pleading guilty to two felonies described by the FBI as “old-school corruption,” he exhorted the young people who had been energized by his feisty campaigns to keep the faith in an untainted political process that he himself had lost. This faith – if anyone, in fact, still kept it – faced another immediate challenge in the scrum to replace him in the Senate for the rest of the term, which would be decided (given the certainty of the outcome of the general election in a district that is almost entirely Democratic) by the 36 Democratic committeepeople in the 4th Senatorial District.
Nothing could be further from the quixotic, courageous figure of the political nobody walking door-to-door to outhustle Russ Carnahan – the Jeff Smith of his 2004 congressional campaign – than the chairman of the Democratic Central Committee in the city (Brian Wahby) presiding over a meeting in a union hall where 36 committeepeople elected the treasurer of the same committee (Joseph Keaveny) to become one of Missouri’s 34 state senators. To further rig the insider process, Keaveny was the only candidate with a vote on the district committee, so unlike most electoral contexts, he was the only candidate able to vote for himself. Since the committeepeople’s votes were weighted unevenly, based upon voter turnout in the most recent gubernatorial election, Keaveny in effect started both rounds of voting with a four-vote edge on his opponents. Given that the two committeepeople in almost every instance vote en bloc and he could count equally on the 28th Ward committeewoman, Keaveny effectively started each round with an unfair eight-vote advantage.
Those were the rules, and Keaveny and the muscle behind his candidacy – most prominently, Mayor Francis G. Slay and his main funder, the Republican financier Rex Sinquefield – were playing ruthlessly but by those rules. That is what makes this such a pathetic ending to the story of Jeff Smith in Missouri politics (at least as a candidate). Given that Smith himself, a presumed reformer, ended his political career in the clutches of this same clique – Slay, Sinquefield and Wahby – it’s fair to say he got what he deserved.
It is the people’s interests that were poorly served by this outcome. Given that we now know, from the FBI investigation, that Smith offered a shady operative a paid position on his Senate campaign staff if that operative would lie to federal investigators on his behalf, it is difficult to wish that Smith were still in the Missouri Senate, since it is impossible to know what worse decisions lie ahead for someone practicing such “old-school corruption.” But it is pathetic that the Democratic process, such that it is, and the many failures in leadership within the committee will send Keaveny to replace him in the Senate. When asked in a questionnaire why he is the “best potential nominee” for the Senate seat, Keaveny answered, “I have lived in the 28th Ward my entire life.” Not only does this voice no qualification for the complexities of steering legislation in Jefferson City, it still shows a ward committeeman thinking within the boundary of his ward. This defines “not ready for prime time in Jefferson City.”
This week’s Political EYE discusses in more detail, and with less restraint, what happened Saturday at the Carpenters Hall and why. But we leave the people who love St. Louis and Missouri and want to see its politics and economic viability improve to reflect upon what Sharon Carpenter said in defense of her candidate, Keaveny, who was so markedly less impressive in his public presentation than his final opponent, state Rep. Rachel Storch. Carpenter, a veteran committeewoman who also holds citywide office as Recorder of Deeds, said, “Rachel is brilliant, but we’re more comfortable with Joe.” We are? Really? How do we explain that to dedicated, smart, young people like Rachel Storch if we want them to stay here, remain involved and help us improve this place?