Race for the 44th Ends Peacefully

One of the underlying themes of the Kander/Coffman campaign has been the issue of dirty campaigning. Who would do it, when, and how much? Like the wired boats floating in Gotham City harbor in The Dark Knight, each campaign has sat there, feeling vulnerable, wondering if the other will be quicker to act.

No movie spoiler here.

In this case, at least, it appears that neither boat triggered the other's bomb. Neither Amy Coffman nor Jason Kander launched the kind of attacks that we all feared. Bravo to them both.

That is not to say that there aren't quibbles that may fuel post-election conversations. Jason Kander's mailer contrasting his and Amy's positions on lobbyists was a strong piece, and left no doubts in anybody's minds about which candidate was closer to lobbyists. From the other side, Amy Coffman's treasurer falsely claimed that Jeff Roe (to carry the prior metaphor one step further, Jeff Roe is the Joker) had endorsed Jason Kander, and Tony's KC repeated the exaggeration.

In the grand scheme of things, though, this has been a pretty darned good race. Any of the three candidates would be a fine representative for the 44th District, and each of them kept their dignity throughout the campaign. Whatever the vote totals are at the end of the day, I hope each of them is glad to have participated in the process.

Now that the primaries are over, let's run the table in November!

Expose' From Inside the Kander Campaign - What I've Learned in Working With the Kanders

Sorry, friends and readers, this is going to be a long post, so either click to another page or settle in for a few paragraphs. The primary votes will be cast in 10 days, and I suspect that what I type here will be too late to either show up on a campaign post card or change the minds of anyone who reads it. So this post is not an attempt to sway voters or to impact a campaign. This one's for me.

When I first spoke of supporting Jason Kander to seek Jenee Low's seat when she was "termed out", several people cautioned me against it. A political insider told me I would be wasting my time, because the "insiders have found a lobbyist they like". An old friend assured me that the Kanders would run a dirty campaign. Several people told me that the Kanders had an awful lot of enemies, and it would be unwise for me to associate with them. One person emailed me and told me that they would try to destroy my life if I crossed them.

My own experience, though, suggested otherwise. I had met Jason a couple times, and he was bright, straight-shooting, and honest. Where he disagreed with me, he asked questions to make certain he understood where I was coming from. When I pushed him on topics, he didn't candy coat his perspective or try to be all things to me. He promised to work hard and run a clean campaign, and he looked me in the eye. I believed him.

Was I getting scammed by a smooth politico? If so, it wouldn't be the first time that someone I admired turned out to be something less than what I thought he was. As an enthusiastic delegate for Gary Hart, I've learned that you cannot judge politicians by looking at them.

I also had some experience with Jason's wife, Diana. Diana worked for Doug Gamble when he ran for City Council against my friend, Beth Gottstein. Diana and I had several conversations throughout the campaign, and, even though we both strongly wanted the opposite side to prevail, she was always respectful, thoughtful, and honest. I once posted something that I mistakenly attributed to the Gamble campaign, and when she telephoned me to point out my error, she was calm, accurate and professional. She impressed me as intense but absolutely fair and upstanding.

The campaign was a tough one, though, and the lowest point, in my opinion, was reached by a campaign piece that I thought was anti-Semitic. A lot of people attacked me for making that accusation, and many local politicos thought I was being oversensitive, but I call them the way I see them, and that was definitely the way I saw it. After the campaign, I had an opportunity to discuss the matter with her. She is a Jew who fled Odessa because of anti-Semitism, so I wanted to know the background. Our conversation was confidential, but I can say that I walked away from it satisfied that her integrity was beyond reproach.

So I volunteered my time to help Jason Kander on his campaign.

This may seem an odd choice to some. Why would I volunteer to work to elect a guy I didn't know incredibly well, when my friends were telling me he was bad? Why would I affiliate with a guy who the "insiders" weren't supporting?

Those are fair questions, and they get to the very heart of why I blog and why I am interested in local politics. In a nutshell, I think a lot of local politics is controlled by a relatively small group of not-incredibly-bright insiders, and they are accustomed to getting their way. Second, I think that reputations are often completely unearned, both positive and negative. Reputations, by their very nature, reflect mob mentality. Third, the whole reason I blog is to stroke my own ego and perhaps have a positive impact on my corner of the world. As such, the Kander campaign offered a no-lose opportunity for me.

If I got involved early for Jason, and I was right about him, I would have the opportunity to support a great, hard-working candidate who has the determination and skills to be HUGE in Jefferson City. I win, and the citizens of the 44th win.

But, if I got involved early for Jason, and I was wrong about him, I would have an opportunity to make a huge impact by loudly breaking with those evil Kanders. I am not one who believes that bloggers generally have much influence on anything, but I'll flatter myself and say that if I loudly denounced the Kanders and wrote about bad tactics they had employed, after having loudly been on their side, it would have had a major impact on this local race. The local insiders would love me, and I would help cut short the career of an up-and-coming slimeball. I win, and the citizens of the 44th win.

So, my little win/win scenario dancing through my head, I called up Jason and told him I'd like to help on his campaign.

Since then, I've gotten to know both the Kanders a lot better. I've stuffed a few envelopes, filled out a few postcards, made a few phone calls, put up a few yard signs, and hosted a small neighborhood event. I've participated as a volunteer - not a great volunteer, or a spectacularly dependable one, but I like to think I've helped. I've traded emails with the candidate on a couple policy issues, though not too much of that (he's better thought-out than I am, and needs my input like he needs another tour of Afghanistan), and I've been around at the end of long days in the unguarded moments when exhaustion and camaraderie allow you to say whatever you want to say.

(Let me interject here what I have not done. I have NOT served as a mouthpiece for the campaign. I have NEVER allowed Jason or Diana to write anything for me, and they have not even suggested what to write about. I have never offered them an opportunity to review what I write before I post it, and they have never asked me to edit my pieces. I suspect, as some commenters have surmised, that they have occasionally wished that I would shut the heck up, since I have certainly provided those who oppose Jason plenty of opportunity to dish out whatever anonymous abuse they want. The ONLY time that I received a request from Jason regarding my blog was one time he called me up and directed my attention to a comment that described a local politico in nasty homophobic terms, and he requested that I delete the comment. I did so, and felt awful that I had missed the comment when it was made.)

So here's the news, folks. Jason is running a squeaky-clean campaign, and he really is as bright, sincere and hard-working as he appears.

A campaign presents thousands of temptations, and it takes a person of remarkable character to avoid them. It's a weird phenomenon, but campaigns attract the attention of nutcases and scumbags from all over. I've seen it as a blogger in past campaigns, when people send me "shocking" info about some candidate's minor arrest from decades ago, or claim that the candidate is having sex with someone s/he shouldn't be, or that they cheated on their 4th grade math test. It's even worse in a campaign, because people who have grudges from anywhere along the person's life feel compelled to call the opposing camp and report all kinds of transgressions, minor to allegedly major. And, in the heat of a campaign, it's tempting to spread the word about some of them. But a great candidate says, "Really, I'm not interested in hearing that. I'd rather talk about why I am running." And that is how Jason has handled those calls, and I admire him for it. My friends who told me about how dirty Jason is would be shocked. Or disappointed.

(It occurs to me that in the crazed world of blog commenters, someone could think that I wrote the above paragraph to sneakily hint that some awful facts about Jason's opponents have come to the campaign, and that I'm trying to plant that seed without making a real accusation. No. Simply no. I have heard nothing about either of Jason's opponents that is both credible and major. Nothing. So, if that seed has been planted, please douse it with Roundup, okay?)

So, while commenters here have been telling us all that Jason is a lying sack of sh*t and that he and his wife are the local versions of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney, I've been witnessing something quite different.

One would have expected that the complete absence of negative or dirty campaigning by the Kanders would silence the complaints about negative or dirty campaigning by the Kanders. Unfortunately, such an expectation would be unjustified. Instead, it has only turned the complaints louder and more unhinged.

Tony's Kansas City did a post yesterday about the gossip attacks on the Kanders. The KC Blue Blog did a follow-up post responding to the bogus nature of the attacks and busted out the red letters for an "easy" endorsement for "Democrat and Veteran Jason Kander for State Representative."

Rumor has it that the next ten days will see some negative pieces sent out to trash Jason and his wife, Diana. I hope the rumors are mistaken, but the figure of $20,000 has been attached to them, allegedly at the absolute insistence of a local elected official. Who knows? Again, this stuff is circulating at the rumor level, and may have exactly the same lack of credibility that I have seen were behind the accusations of the Kanders engaging in underhanded campaigning.

So, here I am, nearly at the end of my little experiment in local democracy. The people who were shrill in attacking Jason at the beginning of the race for being an underhanded campaigner have shown themselves to be the ones engaging in negative tactics and underhanded campaigning. The rumor-mongers and spreaders of hate, it turns out, have not been in the Kander camp.

When this campaign got started, I thought there was a chance I could be writing a huge expose' today about slimy tactics, lies, rumors, and underhanded campaigning. Instead, I find myself writing about a candidate I admire more than when I started. When people at the doors have been mean to him, he has been polite in response, and respected their views. When I have been angered, he has been calm. When cheap shot opportunities have presented themselves, he has refused them.

I don't know how the votes are going to come in next Tuesday. Amy Coffman and Mary Cosgrove Spence have run good races, and they have been supplemented by an enormous amount of gossip and nastiness directed at Jason Kander. Amy's years of lobbyist experience have paid off in lobbyist money and endorsements. Mary Cosgrove Spence has some wonderful volunteers and supporters who are refreshingly enthusiastic and positive. All three of them are good Democrats who I hope to support in future elections.

As for my expose' - well, I'm just awfully proud and happy I didn't get to write one this time.

Gone Mild Endorsements for August 2008

Two weeks from today, the primary season of 2008 will be completed. The Star will start issuing its endorsements this week, so I thought I would beat them to the punch with my own. I'd hate for anyone to think that the Star's analysis influences me . . .

I'm tempted to put in a cautionary note on the difference between endorsements and predictions. Sometimes, the better candidate doesn't really stand much of a chance, but, in this cycle, I'm feeling pretty confident that each of my favorite candidates will win his or her respective race, so these are both predictions and endorsements.

In order of the ballot:

FOR GOVERNOR
Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon - By no means is Jay Nixon my favorite Democrat, but he's the best candidate in the governor's race by a long shot. He has the ability to win the general, and the experience to be successful in the Governor's Mansion.

FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Sam Page - Sam Page may be one of the nicest people I've met in politics, and his sincere desire to serve the public as our Lieutenant Governor is exceeded only by his qualifications. He should win the primary easily, and then the real race begins. Look for Sam Page to oust Peter "Crooked Cash" Kinder from the office of Lieutenant Governor.

FOR SECRETARY OF STATE
Robin Carnahan - She's served us well, and will win the general in November, too.

FOR STATE TREASURER
Clint Zweifel - This is going to be an interesting race. I like Andria Simckes a lot, but Clint has the edge in qualifications and savvyness. Either would be great in the office, but Clint has had a sharper campaign team.

FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL
Jeff Harris - No surprise here for regular readers. Jeff has experience, integrity, and a willingness to outwork his opponents. As a result, he has better poll numbers without selling his soul through unethical campaign finance shenanigans. Jeff is just plain solid - a great guy with a good sense of humor and an outstanding sense of himself. If you want to see Missouri's Attorney General's office function as one of the best and most ethical AG offices in the entire nation, then vote for Jeff Harris.

FOR U.S.REPRESENTATIVE
5th District: Emanuel Cleaver, II - He's had a couple surprisingly bad votes (favoring the credit card companies over his constituents was particularly egregious), but Emanuel Cleaver is one of our best, most dedicated public servants. I hope he serves a long time.

FOR STATE REPRESENTATIVE
40th District: John Patrick Burnett - This is not my district, but I cannot understand why Rizzo would try to unseat John Burnett. John is smart, hardworking and effective. He deserves to retain his seat.

44th District: Jason Kander - This comes as no surprise - I've admired Jason as a person of integrity and serious purpose since I met him before he went to Afghanistan. When I started this campaign, I thought he was a great candidate running against two good candidates. I haven't changed my feeling one iota - Jason's integrity and class have proven to be exactly as I thought they would be. Less importantly, but still persuasive, is the fact that he is precisely the kind of straight-shooting, dependable, competent, hard-working, thoughtful leader who will stand out in the legislature. He doesn't waffle, he doesn't flinch, he doesn't whine. He will get things done in Jefferson City, and he will be a spark for the entire Democratic team in our Capital.

FOR PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
Jim Kanatzar - Jim is a fine prosecutor, and will continue to serve us effectively.

FOR SHERIFF
John Bullard, Jr. - John Bullard is simply the kind of guy you want in the Sheriff's office. Law enforcement is what he thinks about when he wakes up, and he stays on point all day long. He has great plans to increase cooperation among the local departments, and he has the credibility to pull it off. He will also make the Sheriff's office more accessible and visible.

DEMOCRATIC COUNTY COMMITTEEMEN
8th Ward, Stephen Bough - Stephen Bough is fair-minded, has solid values, and is the hardest working politico in Kansas City. We disagree often enough that I know my endorsement isn't solely due to lockstep agreement - he's just a great volunteer, and belongs on the County committee.

DEMOCRATIC COUNTY COMMITTEEWOMEN
8th Ward, Mary Frances Weir - Mary is a solid Democrat with a solid grounding in social justice. In 2006, she received the prestigious Tiera Farrow Community Award from the UMKC Association of Women Law Students for her work on behalf of victims of domestic violence.

More Republican Fundraising Shenanigans - Kinder Cheats on Money Coming In and Going Out

As regular readers know, Chris Koster has run into a whole lot of trouble for his shockingly underworld system of fundraising/money-laundering through third-party committees. Leading Democrats, like Jason Kander, have condemned these kind of tactics.

Peter Kinder, Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor, on the other hand, has managed to build upon those tactics. Not only is he funneling excessive contributions through third party committees he controls, he is actually paying his staff through those same committees! He's even paying his rent through the committee he controls!

To read the whole story, visit Fired Up! Missouri.

Vote for Sam Page for Lieutenant Governor.

Follow-Up on Koster's Money-Laundering - Will Coffman and Spence Drop the Ice Pick?

When Chris Koster got caught orchestrating a money-laundering scheme, many people began focusing on the ugly role that "third party committees" play in Missouri politics. While Chris Koster has pushed the envelope for their corrupt abuse in an unprecedented and probably illegal fashion, political insiders know that third party committees are nasty little tools that can used in several slimy tactics - mostly in launching ugly, usually false but always despicable attacks on opponents without having the candidate's name attached. They are the ice picks of Missouri politics - dangerous tools with few legitimate uses in today's world, other than inflicting damage.

Long before the light of day was shone upon the depths of Koster's corruption, Jason Kander was already providing leadership on this important facet of campaign finance. On, June 3, Jason Kander issued a press release pledging not to use the third party committees to circumvent the law, the way that the Koster campaign has.

"I will not take contributions above the $325 limit from committees or use third party committees to criticize my opponents. I hope that my opponents will also follow the letter and spirit of the law," said Kander.

So far, Amy Coffman and Mary Cosgrove Spence have remained silent about third party committees. Now that Chris Koster has refocused attention on the corrupt uses of third party committees, will they join Jason in his simple pledge? Will they agree to not take contributions over the $325 limit from committees, or use third party committees to criticize their opponents?

Now is the time when they can either put down the ice pick or start using it to get nasty in the final weeks of the campaign.

Amy Coffman and Mary Cosgrove Spence - will you join Jason in putting down the ice pick, or will you resort to third party committees like Chris Koster?

(As soon as I receive word that Amy Coffman and Mary Spence join in the pledge, I will happily post their press releases.)

Welcome Veterans for Kander!

In looking over the hit counts for this blog recently, I noticed a lot coming from a site called VetVoice.com. Upon further research, I learned that VetVoice is a blog run by VoteVets.org, which is an organization supporting candidates they feel will support veterans.

Impressively, they have identified Jason Kander as one of their "emerging leaders" - a group of twelve state and local candidates who served in Iraq or Afghanistan and who are seeking to serve in elected office. It's a great tribute to Jason's service to our country to see him on that list.

The hits to Gone Mild, however, came from a post in the VetVoice blog about the nastiness which has shown up in the comments attacking Jason for his service. In "Afghanistan Vet Running for Office Smeared for His Service", the author quoted some of the baseless attacks and responded to them.

Fortunately, early in the comments section of the post, the author clarified that the attacks were not done by Gone Mild, but by commenters. Even so, I wanted to put a post up welcoming the veterans who are visiting this site, and thanking them for their service. I apologize for the swift-boat-style anonymous attacks you'll find on this site, but I know you fought for the freedom of people to speak freely.

UAW: "Jason Kander is a man of honesty and integrity . . ."

It's not at all surprising that the UAW of Missouri has endorsed Jason Kander in his run for the 44th district - Jason is the kind of leader our district and our party needs in Jefferson City.

Lacking Kander

Under the cover of dark on Tuesday night, anti-Kander activists lurked through my neighborhood and stole Kander yard signs from each of 6 houses on my block. It was the first time in all my years of managing the famed "Yard of Power" that anybody has sunk so low as to steal a yard sign from my lawn.

Meanwhile, Jason continues to run a great campaign and is even having a little fun with it.

Kander Shows Leadership on Campaign Finance Reform

Campaign Finance Reform lies at the heart of good government. It is also, unfortunately, one of the most difficult areas for even the best-hearted legislators to accomplish meaningful change. Money is kind of like toothpaste in a tube - if you press down on it in one spot, it rises in another.

Jason Kander understands the issue well.

He knows that even where campaign limits are in place (as they are through the primaries in Missouri), they can be easily circumvented through third party committees (look at Koster's scheme to fatten his coffers with Republican donations). Jason has pledged not to resort to such tactics, and has called on his opponents to do the same. "I will not take contributions above the $325 limit from committees or use third party committees to criticize my opponents. I hope that my opponents will also follow the letter and spirit of the law," Kander said in a press release.

As alert insiders know, this is not one of those meaningless gestures that typify campaign reform discussions. Jason received some very large donations early in the campaign, and he returned them. I'm confident he could get them again, and funnel them through committees just like Koster did.

By refusing to play such games and calling on his opponents to do the same, Jason Kander is demonstrating the same kind of leadership by example that will make him a powerhouse for the 44th District in Jefferson City.

As soon as I receive word that Amy Coffman and Mary Spence join in the pledge, I will happily post their press releases.

An Alternative Space . . .

Over at this posting, the comments had evolved into a wide-ranging examination of whatever crept into the minds of a few anonymous commenters. A few who purport to be Amy Coffman supporters had gone pretty far astray discussing a car she drives, and, finally, Amy Coffman herself visited to address some of the nonsense.

She wrote a rational and calm comment, never disagreeing with any facts that I laid out. I responded with a couple clarifying questions, and decided to keep the comments there free of further commentary so that her dialog could progress without being buried or distracted. She indicated she wanted a higher level of debate on blogs, so I asked her a giant, substantive softball of a question, and I (and a bunch of pro-Amy, pro-Jason, neutral and one pro-Spence person who have emailed me) are eager to see the dialog progress.

Apparently, though, my attempt to create a space for a respectful dialog has upset some who prefer to make anonymous allegations. So, here is a space for whatever comments you wanted to post under that thread, where I will continue to delete comments that aren't Amy's. She deserves a space of her own, and I'm willing to foster intelligent debate. Apparently, there are those who feel I'm required to host their nasty ranting, too, so here's the space for that. Enjoy yourselves . . .

Should I Be Feeling Guilty? Because I'm Not Feeling it . . .

This morning, I did a post about an email that my friend Beth Gottstein sent to the Executive Committee of the CCP to urge that committee to reject the findings of its own selection committee, and endorse Amy Coffman for the 44th District instead of Jason Kander.

It appears that my post may have upset Ms. Gottstein.

I just read over the post again, and I'm kind of at a loss. Nothing in my post is inaccurate. Nothing in my post is slanderous. Nothing in my post criticizes Amy Coffman (whom I genuinely like) or Beth. I did say she was trying to hijack the process, but it's obviously accurate that she was trying to change the result at the last minute. Maybe hijack was a strong word, but not as strong as the words I've had directed at me this evening . . .

Now, that said, I do feel a little sheepish that I asked whether the Executive Committee would "follow Beth's endorsement, or support the work of its own screening committee". I should have mentioned that the third possibility is that they could vote their own opinions, which was the flamingly obvious course they in fact chose. It turns out that Amy Coffman won the support of a majority of the Executive Committee. (I did not arrive at the meeting in time to vote.)

The real CCP endorsements come after the entire membership votes in June. The CCP has a solid process - I look forward to seeing how this all works out.

Will the CCP Executive Committee Do Beth's Bidding?

Here's an interesting little micro-drama that will run its course today.

In the wee hours of this morning, Beth Gottstein wrote an email to the Executive Committee of the CCP, expressing her opinion that it should ignore the work of its own candidate screening committee. That committee, composed of volunteers without ties to any candidate, chose to endorse Jason Kander for the 44th District. As readers here know, Jason is a great Democrat with a long history of Democratic involvement in the Kansas City community, and I support him enthusiastically.

Beth offers no real reason to ignore the work of the screening committee, other than noting that she met Amy Coffman when Amy moved to Kansas City from Alaska. Beth alludes to the fact that Amy is a woman, but fails to explain why those who prefer to avoid Y chromosomes should not support Mary Spence.

It's a confusing little note, and the fact that it got sent out in the wee hours of this morning suggests it is a sort of last-minute hail-mary attempt to hijack the process without allowing adequate time for a response. Beth's fellow councilwoman, Jan Marcason, is supporting Jason Kander, but apparently isn't choosing to campaign for him at 3 in the morning.

The CCP Executive Committee gets to decide this evening if it will follow Beth's endorsement, or support the work of its own screening committee.

Which will it be?

Candidates, Slander, and the 44th

My humorous extended metaphor on baseball box scores and quarterly campaign finance reports ignited a surprisingly bitter round of accusations and attacks. The simple facts I pointed out from Coffman's campaign finance report (fewer dollars, non-union t-shirts, and donations from pro-voucher lobbyists) triggered accusations that Kander's wife does my writing, though I do Stephen Bough's writing, and hints that Kander's military service to our nation in Afghanistan means that he is some kind of war criminal.

Once again, the partisans are turning out to be worse than the principals.

The three candidates in this race, Jason Kander, Amy Coffman, and Mary Spence are fine people. And I don't say that as a simple nod to polite political conversation - I've talked to each of them, and I like each of them. I know their supporters, and their supporters are good people supporting a candidate that they think would served the district well. I hope all three find their way into public office in some role.

My rosy view seems to be shared by the candidates themselves. I've talked a fair amount with the Kanders, and I've never heard them say a negative word about any of the others. I've chatted a little with Amy Coffman, including a conversation about the tone of the race, and she is 100% in favor of a clean race. While I haven't discussed the topic with Mary Spence, those supporters of her I know would react with disgust at the sort of slander spread in the comments of my Tuesday piece.

And by no means do I want to single out the attacks on Jason as being the only ones worthy of condemnation. Some anonymous creep over at the BlogCCP posted a horrible comment attacking a candidate's physical appearance.

There is a huge distinction between fair and unfair partisanship. For me the test is whether it is relevant and whether it is supported by specific facts. If I say that Candidate X is corrupt, that's an unfair attack. If I say that Candidate Y is corrupt because he has taken bribes, and I can back up that claim with specific facts, then that's a fair attack.

As I look back over my own political involvement, I can see where I've used both, so don't misunderstand my commitment to fair partisanship as a "holier than thou" pretense. For example, I think my approach toward Chris Koster provides examples of unfair name-calling, but also examples of well-supported and well-deserved criticism. Looking forward, though, I am going to condemn what's unfair, and invite anyone to call me out on any unfair attacks I might make in the future.

Play Ball!! Quarterly Campaign Finance Reports Time!

Political geeks like me love campaign finance reports. A baseball box score reveals secrets of strategy, individual performances, and key statistics, but only a tiny portion of the success of the season. Similarly, quarterly campaign finance reports provide enough hard facts to fuel gossip and speculation, but only a tiny part of what it takes to have a successful election season.

In the 44th District, for example, Jason Kander once again defeated Amy Coffman in an extremely close contest, continuing his sweep of the series. (Both defeated Mary Cosgrove Spence, who appears to be a shoo-in for Rookie of the year, but thus far has not shown much potential for the play-offs.) It was a tight battle, though, with Jason Kander edging Coffman out $16,110.15 to $15,075.00.

One troubling sign for the Coffman team is that they had to resort to their bullpen awfully early. As a lobbyist, Coffman was obviously going to resort to her lobbyist friends and their easy cash sooner or later, but I, for one, didn't expect her to call up the farm team in Jefferson City as early as March. But there it is - including campaign funds from the lobbyist dream team of school voucher flamethrowers, Flotron & McIntosh, LLC. Honestly, that is like throwing spit balls in a Democratic primary, but maybe she felt like she had to pull out a late-inning miracle.

Another curve ball from the Coffman side was a purchase of T-shirts from non-union CheapesTees.com, in Burlingame, California. Her website (which is a very nice one, by the way, now that it's up), claims that

I think we can agree that personal security begins with stable, well paying jobs for Kansas City’s working people. A healthy economy, strong labor unions and a vibrant business environment help families reach their economic and professional goals.

I know I agree, but it appears that some may be a little shaky on that one.

All told, it's only one box score, and this week's stats don't tell us what's going to happen in the World Series. The rookie could catch fire. Any of the teams could commit a crucial balk. The umpire could toss someone out for throwing bean balls, though all sides seem to be pitching strikes at this stage. Amy Coffman has attracted an impressive group of fans, including the current officeholder, and my favorite City Councilwoman.

To carry the analogy one final step, in this local race with three fine candidates, the ultimate winner may be decided by which one takes the most walks - door to door.

Campaign Reports: Kander Cruising

Back when Coffman had a disappointing October report, her supporters assured us that it was only because she hadn't gotten around to launching her campaign until after the quarter started. It sounded like a kind of lame excuse at the time, since she had a nice kick-off party co-hosted by a fellow lobbyist in that quarter, but I'm a generous guy and always willing to cut someone some slack.

Yesterday, the new quarterly reports were filed, and Coffman is reporting a surprisingly modest $10,015.00, which is actually a reduction from her shortened first quarter. By way of comparison, Jason Kander added another $14,235.50 to the $81,430.00 he had already raised. The result of all this is that Coffman now has $13,174.51 cash on hand, while Kander has $44,991.07, more than three times Coffman's amount.

Money isn't everything, but it certainly is something. For Jason Kander, it's a sign of strength and support.

Kander Newsletter

Jason Kander has another newsletter out. He's running a good, solid campaign, and I'm looking forward to him representing the 44th District in Jefferson City.

Amy Coffman's Website

It's finally up! Our long wait for information about Amy Coffman's positions is finally over . . .

To be fair (as always), it is a perfectly adequate page. It doesn't have nearly the depth of Jason Kander's, and it does have a few minor typos (close that quotation on Senior Dignity!), but it does take a bold and shocking stand in opposition to Janis Joplin - "I refuse to believe that 'freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.'” There goes the hippy vote . . .

I don't dare say anything more, for fear that her sister will accuse me of tearing apart a webpage that Coffman is "completely happy with", after her sister has "seen personally the work she is doing diligently on this highly anticipated website and frankly her detail to attention is what should be expected, not condemned.." So, go browse and see whether you agree with me that Jason remains the best candidate in the 44th, both in person and on the web.

(Update: It should be noted that Amy's first political attack was on Kris Kristofferson, the writer of the "Me and Bobby McGee" - Janis Joplin was only the performer.)

Shark Week for Politics

Quarterly finance reports have been filed in most state and federal races this past week. 99% of the population does not even know what that means, and could not care less. For the 1% of the population that is fascinated with the minutiae of electoral politics, though, this has been like shark week - an orgy of downloaded pdfs and posturing and "shocking" news. The spin cycle is on hyperdrive.

It's really all kind of funny.

Here are a few random observations . . .

Koster got himself caught up with a Republican money-laundering scheme. He is not a Democrat, and he has no respect for the law. He cannot be taken seriously as a candidate in the Democratic primary. It is a prime example of his self-promotion taking precedence over his integrity.

Amy Coffman has some wonderfully creative and resourceful people on her side. Having raised barely half as much during the quarter as Kander, thus falling even further behind, and having fallen even further behind in the number of donors, they are proclaiming that they have the advantage. Good for them! I admire their pluckiness. I also admire their resourcefulness in using the comments section of this site to try to get their news out, since they don't have a website up yet, a month after we were told we would have one. (In all seriousness, the $10,000 Coffman raised shows that she's a credible candidate, and the creativity and resourcefulness of her people shows that she might be able to stretch her limited dollars.)

Has Grisamore given up? He only has a hundred dollars in the bank, and his adventure in Jefferson City has put him in debt to the tune of $8500. Maybe he's just going back to his handsomely-paid nonprofit gig.

Kander Returns Excess Contributions, Still Rolling

As reported here a while back, Jason Kander has returned the contributions made to him that exceeded the cap reinstated by the Missouri Supreme Court. (Some commenters had asked whether he would do so, and, when I provided the answer, they claimed I was trying to give him excessive credit for simply following the law - you just can't satisfy some people!) It should be noted that faux-Democrat Chris Koster and several of his Republican colleagues, including "Bad" Sam Graves, have refused to return the money.

The good news for Kander is that he's doing quite well in raising small donations. According to a press release I received early this morning (get some sleep, Jason!), he raised over $18,000 in the most recent quarter, and has over 250 donors. That's an impressive showing when the election is 10 months away.

Being a fair-minded, equal-time kind of person, I went to Amy Coffman's website to see if she had any similar success to report, but she continues to limit her site to a "coming soon" promise, now more than three weeks after we were told to expect an informative site. After my last post pointing out that her site was pushing an event that had already happened, though, she did finally update her site to remove the notice. (Yes, I do promise to post a link here when she finally does post her website - the suspense about what this long-overdue website will be when it is finally posted is building!)

Coffman still Stumbling at the Starting Gate?

Back in early September, I did a post about Amy Coffman's candidacy for the 44th district, and mentioned that she, a political new-comer to town, had stumbled at the starting gate by not having a website to let us know where she stands before she sent out invitations to her campaign kick-off.

My wise and gentle observations touched off a bit of a firestorm of comments, spilling into a second post. In the second round of comments, her treasurer visited and commented -

Amy will have a website at www.amycoffman.com that will provide a great deal of information about her, and that will hopefully be of use to people who want to know more about her and what she will bring to the job. I expect that website will be up either contemporaneously with her kick-off event, or shortly thereafter.

As of this morning, though, we're still stuck with a "coming soon" notice, pushing an event that happened two weeks ago. The expectation of an informative website contemporaneous or shortly after the kick-off event has not been met. It seems like a fairly reasonable expectation, and one that could and should have been met.

Now, really, it's just a website for an election that won't happen for over a year. I don't mean to make a huge deal out of the website itself. When it is finally posted, I'm sure that it will have nice pictures and maybe even a few word-smithed position statements designed to avoid offending anyone. I'm sure that, in plenty of time for the election, we will get a perfectly adequate website from Amy Coffman.

Here's why I even mention it, though - the 44th District is a strongly democratic district, and we ought to be sending a genuine leader down to Jefferson City with a can-do attitude who demonstrates competence and energy. A campaign presents an opportunity to show who you are and how you'll operate in office, and one campaign is stuck on "coming soon" and not meeting expectations, while the other one includes a job evaluation by the U.S. Director of Intelligence in Afghanistan - "Second Lieutenant (2LT) Kander is an outstanding leader and a superb intelligence officer … his hard work directly resulted in arresting enemies and saving lives … leading by example". Sounds like he exceeds expectations.

Influence Ratings . . .

Those blogger influence ratings come out on Sundays, don't they? I wonder who is rated as the number 1 most influential political blogger in the state of Missouri?

My influence must be why Funkhouser is so popular, and Amy Coffman has done such a great job of updating her website, as her campaign said we could expect, after her campaign kick-off . . .

Kander Returns Excess Contributions

In a couple recent threads, commenters were wondering whether Jason Kander was going to return contributions he had received in excess of the recently reinstated caps. I agreed that was a good and legitimate question, and promised that I would ask the next time I spoke with Jason. Turns out I didn't have to wait that long.

One of the benefits of having a good website is that it eases communication on issues like this. I looked at Jason's website this morning, and it provides all the information I wanted. On his issues page, he sets out his position quite clearly: "I support the current limits on campaign contributions. I also support the decision of the Ethics Commission to make the limits retroactive." On his news page, there's a quotation from an AP article, including Diana Kander's statement, "We're excited about the limits being reinstated," said Diana Kander, the candidate's wife and campaign treasurer. "We think it's better for the campaign process."

It's great to have a candidate out there letting you know where he stands.

Being a fair-minded, equal-time kind of person, I went to Amy Coffman's website to see if she had any similar pronouncements declaring her support of the campaign process. She doesn't.

Sorry for the Delay in posting

All the action is in the comments . . .

Stumbling at the Starting Gate

I finally received my first invitation to an event for Amy Coffman, who is running against Jason Kander in the Democratic primary for the Missouri House's 44th District. As I've written here before, Jason is the best candidate for the position. He's incredibly smart, and his military background gives him a toughness that will enable him to stand toe-to-toe against anyone on the Republican side of the aisle. Simply stated, he's who we want representing us in Jefferson City.

For the past couple months, though, Amy Coffman has been rumored to be running for the position. While Kander has straightforwardly announced his candidacy and has been out there working for the honor of representing us, Amy has been quietly reacquainting herself with Kansas City politics after her sojourn in Alaskan politics. The suspense has been building - when she finally starts running in public, will this bright northern light dazzle?

Apparently not.

After at least two months of preparation, here is her website. Not exactly the kind of can-do, effective work that's going to carry a lot of weight in Jefferson City.

After at least two months of preparation for her campaign kick-off, she's kicking it off with a fundraiser sponsored by . . . a lobbyist for a health insurance company famous for denying coverage to dying cancer patients. Hmmm.

The 44th District is one of the most reliably democratic districts in the Show-Me State. Jason Kander will be a competent and highly effective progressive voice representing us. Already, the choice looks pretty clear.

All Politics is Local

Yesterday evening, the my lovely spouse and I hosted a neighborhood get-together at our home for Jason Kander. I put hand-written notes on the invitation I delivered up and down my street, and was pleased to see the turn-out of neighbors who at least wanted to meet this liberal who had volunteered for Afghanistan.

Politically, Jason hit it out of the park, as I knew he would. He's a polished speaker and you can tell he really enjoys meeting and listening to people. I'm pretty sure that when I put his yard sign out next year, it will have several twins on the block.

It was great to hear and see my neighbors, though, and their issues. The woman across the street is frustrated by Governor Blunt's mishandling of the fee offices for auto licensing. The Republican from down the street thanked Jason for his service. We all had different issues and concerns, and we discussed them freely over drinks and snacks.

Personally, I wouldn't want to run for office, and expose myself to all the negativity that comes with even a "clean" campaign. I'm not quick enough or clever enough to jump from discussing license offices to education to Medicare to the intricacies of energy conservation.

I'm really glad that Jason Kander is willing to do it, though, and that he does it so well. And I'm glad that my neighborhood came out to meet him and see for themselves who he is and what he believes. Politics last night was as local as it gets, and it kind of gave me goosebumps to see democracy working.

Jason Kander - Brookside to Afghanistan to Jefferson City

I met Jason Kander a couple years ago, and was immediately struck by his intensity and intelligence. Since that time, I've bumped into him every now and then, and shared a couple meals with him, and I remain impressed with his sincerity and involvement. We have disagreed on several issues, and he has always been exactly the sort of person I should emulate - respectful, informed, rational, and focused on finding common ground.

As I have noted twice in the past (1, 2), Jason Kander went to Afghanistan as a member of the military, and served our country with distinction. In his powerful final post, he wrote one of my favorite quotations describing the consistency of being a progressive in the military:

I'm a Progressive Democrat, so when I get into debates about the war with ill-informed, indoctrinated regressives who don't know me well, they generally throw Rush's talking points at me, insinuating that I love my country and support the troops just a bit less than them. Whether you've served or not, love of country isn't about blind faith. It is not about a piece of cloth that I wear on the shoulder of my uniform, but about an idea, about Americans themselves. I have little patience for those who claim to love America but clearly can't stand the majority of Americans. As a progressive, my beef with President Bush isn't that he's fighting a war, it's that he's doing it wrong. I want to win every bit as badly as he does, if not more, but I believe that means the symbol of America can't just be a soldier with an M-16.

Jason Kander's eagerness to live a life of service is now leading him to seek elective office, and I am pleased to be one of his early endorsers. He is seeking election to the 44th district of the Missouri State House of Representatives - the seat which will be vacated when Jenee Lowe leaves office next year. That seat represents Brookside, Waldo and a good chunk of the poltically-active Ward Parkway corridor. His interests reflect those of his district - he is particularly strong on health care, education, and the environment.

Normally, I resist endorsing candidates until I know who else may be in the race. I don't have that hesitation in this case - I am confident that no other candidate will approach Jason Kander's intelligence, integrity and determination. Kander has the leadership skills and the knowledge to win against any challenger, and, more importantly, to be effective in Jefferson City. Simply stated, Jason Kander has the Right Stuff to represent me and my district in Jefferson City.