Twelve years ago, Republicans took over Congress, but this year there is a promising opportunity for Democrats to regain power. National polls suggest Democrats are poised for big gains, largely because of the public’s disenchantment with Iraq, jobs and the economy.
However, there are uncertainties at the 11th hour because of the GOP’s vast financial resources, massive get-out-the-vote apparatus, stranglehold on conservative Christians and the party’s willingness to distort candidates’ records and manipulate the language around campaign issues.
The outcome of the Missouri Senate race between the Democratic candidate Claire McCaskill and Jim Talent, the Republican incumbent, is considered (along with the Virginia and Tennessee races) to be key to the control of the Senate. Conventional political wisdom says the Senate race in Missouri is incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Talent’s to lose, because Republicans have won most recent close races in Missouri. The GOP might be disappointed, because this year’s election could be part of a major national shift that could lead to Democratic control of the U.S. Senate as well as the House.
Less than a week away, the campaign for the Senate is still a dead heat whose outcome will depend on which candidate is more effective in bringing out its base and the impact of last-minute negative personal attacks. The GOP strategy is to focus on wedge issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, while ignoring the broader issues of poverty, injustice and access to health care – issues beyond personal morality that include broader questions of public policy.
As a practical matter, McCaskill, aided by a persistent disapproval of President Bush and the Iraq war, has been able to keep the race close with a dogged challenge to Talent in the rural areas, where Democrats are usually swamped. Desperate, Talent has sought to make some inroads into the African-American community because African Americans represent at least 20 percent of the Democratic vote in this state. That factor makes a high black turnout absolutely critical if McCaskill is to succeed.
The modest attention paid to African-American concerns by Talent is merely a fig leaf to obscure his acquiescence to the Bush administration’s harmful policies, here and abroad. These policies have harmed the nation as well as the African-American community. There is no question that McCaskill is the better choice to represent our concerns and the nation’s vital interests in the U.S. Senate. For us, the choice is clear. McCaskill would help break the damaging Republican stranglehold on Congress. She deserves our overwhelming support. We offer our strongest endorsement and urge you, your family, neighbors and friends to vote to SEND CLAIRE MCCASKILL TO THE U.S. SENATE.
Despite the complexities of stem cell research, there are some indisputable facts.
If your faith convinces you that personhood exists from the moment a sperm fertilizes a woman’s egg cell, then you believe destroying the five-to-10-day-old blastocyst is intentionally taking a human life. Moreover, if Amendment 2 fails next week, the research using embryonic stem cells will be curtailed in Missouri, but not elsewhere in this country and abroad, where scientific inquiry will continue to work to find cures, save lives and reduce suffering.
While we respect those whose views are shaped by their personal religious belief, their position based on their faith is disputed by other people of faith and should not be able to dictate policy in an area where there is so much dispute over their guiding thesis.
Opponents of Amendment 2 have resorted to fear and blatant distortion, when the truth is that this amendment would serve to guarantee that therapies permitted by federal law would be available to all Missouri citizens and has nothing to do with exploiting women, cloning human or making excessive profits. Amendment 2 bans any attempt to clone a human being and establishes boundaries for responsible stem cell research in this state.
We align ourselves with hope for the new frontier in medicine offered by embryonic stem cell research – the most promising stem cell research – as well as adult stem cell research. We join more than 100 patient, faith and civic organizations as well as the thousands of individuals that enthusiastically support the stem cell initiative to counter the past proposed legislation that threatened to criminalize stem cell research and cures in Missouri. VOTE YES ON AMENDMENT 2.
While city officials are scoffing at the latest study ranking St. Louis as the nation’s most dangerous city, the fact remains that many crimes are committed in the city by youths. From felonies to nuisance crimes, idle hands truly are the devil’s workshop in St. Louis.
Many of these crimes are committed immediately after schools adjourn and at night. If more young people had more constructive and fun things to do, many would not turn to crime.
St. Louis voters have a chance to fund two new recreational complexes and improve five others by passing Proposition P. The 1/8 of a cent sales tax would provide funding for a new complex on the city’s North Side and another on the South Side. They will cost $38 million to construct and furbish, and the sites “will be comparable to the Rec-Plexes in the suburbs like Richmond Heights and Clayton,” says supporter Mayor Francis G. Slay.
While we are not thrilled with the possibility of their being a new “black” rec center in North St. Louis and new “white” rec center in South St. Louis, which could further polarize the city, voters should vote YES ON PROPOSITION P.
The fact that Sandra Thomas, Republican candidate for state auditor, feels compelled to state in campaign literature that she is “100 percent pro-life and 100 percent pro-second amendment” speaks volumes for her real goal in winning her race against Democrat Susan Montee.
Abortion rights and conceal-and-carry laws have nothing to do with the responsibility of the office of auditor. Thomas is more interested in serving the ultra-conservative agenda of Gov. Matt Blunt than truly representing the best interests of Missourians.
Unlike Thomas, Montee says she will use her knowledge as a CPA, attorney and Buchanan County auditor to be a watchdog over state spending and financial irregularities in state government.
Montee has campaigned in St. Louis, met its leaders and confirmed her interest in serving this region and the state – not just the majority party in Jefferson City. Should Thomas be elected, who would defend voters from Blunt’s questionable financial moves, such as selling off MOHELA and placing drivers’ license bureaus in the hands of political cronies?
It is a clear choice in the race for state auditor. We strongly endorse SUSAN MONTEE FOR STATE AUDITOR.
Missouri has one of the highest rates of adult and teen smoking in the country and spends less on smoking prevention programs than any other state. Given these facts, a proposal to increase Missouri’s tobacco tax on cigarettes from 17 cents to 97 cents, with a 20 percent increase on all other tobacco products, in order to fund tobacco cessation and education programs is an indisputably good idea. Amendment 3 will also provide funds to community health clinics and emergency/trauma departments and increase access to primary care physicians for the most needy. We urge that you vote
YES ON AMENDMENT 3.
The last time Congress increased the minimum wage was 1997. Proposition B offers voters the chance to vote on raising the minimum wage in Missouri from $5.15 to $6.50. Given the relatively stagnant wages in the state, the sub-poverty minimum wage and the reluctance of lawmakers to oppose big business by raising the federal or state minimum wage, we urge a vote of YES ON PROPOSITION B.
November 7 could be a defining moment in U.S. politics – a major agenda change could follow if Democrats regain one or both houses of Congress. At this important time, in the absence of any egregious wrongdoing on the part of a candidate, we think Democrats running for Congress deserve our support. We endorse WM. LACY CLAY, RUSS CARNAHAN and GEORGE D. WEBER FOR THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.