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MO-GOV: I'm Liking Sarah Steelman More and More...

Submitted by Patrick Ruffini on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 21:22
in

Missouri's gubernatorial primary is August 5th, and it's pretty clear who the guys in the white hats are. Or in this case, gal. Meet Sarah Steelman, a Republican in the Jindal/Palin mode for Governor of Missouri: 

So bitter are House Minority Whip Roy Blunt and Sen. Kit Bond at Ms. Steelman's attack on their cherished spending beliefs that last month they rallied the entire Missouri congressional delegation to put out a public statement openly criticizing her campaign against six-term U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof. Joining them in their support of Mr. Hulshof has been the vast majority of the state Republican machine. Ms. Steelman is clearly doing something right.

Her sin is in fact to belong to that new mold of Republican - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sens. Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint - who know it's no longer enough to simply hawk lower taxes. In 10 years as a state legislator and treasurer, her target has been the slothful political favor factory that's led Republicans away from small-government principles and outraged conservative voters.

And, oh, the howls of misery. Ms. Steelman's Republican colleagues were livid with her attempt to strip them of comfy pensions, annoyed with her "sunshine law" requiring them to be more open in their dealings, furious at her attacks on their ethanol boondoggles, appalled that she criticized GOP state Speaker Rod Jetton for moonlighting as a paid political consultant. The final straw was her temerity to make her primary race about her opponent's Washington earmarking record.

Steelman's website is here, and you can contribute here. This is a race we'll be watching closely here over the next few weeks.

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Comments

Unfortunately I don't think Steelman has a chance

Submitted by simpson316 on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 22:15.

either in the primary or the general.

She has been vastly outraised by Hulshof. See here

Hulshof virtually has the entire political machine of the Republican party in Missouri at his disposal.  He has almost twice the cash on hand that she has.  One thing that I have learned is that cash is king when it comes to local politics.  I'm a very informed voter in St. Louis and if I wasn't actively seeking out information I wouldn't know a darn thing about Steelman.

She's got a huge hill to climb in the next couple of weeks if she is to stand a chance.

Don't think negative, simpson

Submitted by lagomorph on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 22:21.

This just came in today from Pat Toomey at CFG:

For all of the Club members who supported Paul Broun with a total of $96,570 in donations for his primary race in Georgia's 10th congressional district, please take a bow! On Tuesday, Broun won with a whopping 71% against Barry Fleming, the Republican Majority Whip in the state legislature. The huge margin of victory shocked the pundits -- Fleming had the GOP establishment behind him, raised nearly $1 million from special interests, and he ran over one thousand TV ads. What happened? Here's how Broun explained his victory to the Wall Street Journal's John Fund:

"Mr. Broun says his victory demonstrates that a Member of Congress can prosper politically even when he votes against any federal program that isn't explicitly authorized by the Constitution."

We agree! As Fund concludes:

"Dr. Broun will once again do battle with more liberal Members of Congress, many of whom no doubt view him as foolish or dangerous. The conventional wisdom in Washington is that someone in Congress who votes against federal spending that isn't in accord with the original conception of the Constitution will have trouble getting re-elected. Dr. Broun has just won an overwhelming endorsement from his constituents, despite being outspent and shunned by his party's establishment. Maybe there's a lesson there for other Members."

Anything is possible.  Just believe, and donate to her campaign. 

 

This is a test

Submitted by Patrick Ruffini on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 22:50.

I have seen the polls showing both Republicans well behind Jay Nixon in a general.

But I think the primary is a test. If Steelman succeeds with less money, and a powerful anti-establishment message, it will send a message that the Republican Party needs to change.

The wave of positive coverage that would accompany an upset victory like that could shake off those polling numbers in a way that an expected Hulshof victory couldn't. 

Remember that Sarah Palin ran against the vastly better known Tony Knowles in the general in Alaska in 2006.

Remember Jason Chaffetz, too!

Submitted by lagomorph on Sat, 07/19/2008 - 13:41.

Almost a month ago, underfunded political newcomer Jason Chaffetz helped forward the Republican Revolution in Utah.  This was published by the Deseret News:

A groundbreaking grassroots organization built by challenger Jason Chaffetz combined Tuesday with a growing storm of Republican discontent to sweep six-term Congressman Chris Cannon out of office.

Chaffetz handily defeated Cannon, earning 60 percent of the vote to land the Republican nomination for Utah's 3rd District seat in Congress, a seat held by Cannon since 1996.

"I got a nice call from Congressman Cannon wishing us all the best. That was a sweet call to take," Chaffetz said after 200 supporters greeted him at 11 p.m. with chants of "Jason, Jason, Jason."

Unhappy Republican voters stayed home Tuesday, and those who did vote expressed their frustration with $4 gas and other problems. Cannon termed it a revolution, a sign that the anger that swept Democrats to power in Congress had lapped up on Utah's borders.

Chaffetz agreed voters are frustrated.

"We have to get serious about $4 gasoline, fiscal discipline and the illegal immigration problem in America," he said. "This is just the beginning. I need your help. We need to take this all the way through November."

He'll clearly follow the same blueprint that won the primary.

"We did two things exceptionally," Chaffetz said earlier in the day. "First, we focused on policy and issues, because issues matter with voters. Second, we created a true, grassroots organization. It was very real."

Chaffetz pointed to his hundreds of volunteers and the demand for things like yard signs as proof of that support.

Chaffetz defeated Cannon at the Republican convention runoff, 59 percent to 41. But Cannon had lost at convention two years ago to John Jacob and then easily won the Republican primary.

Chaffetz maintained a perfect pitch to his campaign throughout, something Jacob couldn't manage, and volunteer campaign manager Jennifer Scott masterminded the grassroots effort.

Let me summarize in case John McCain and the rest of the downballot revolutionaries want to copy this simple recipe into their playbooks:

  • Focus on policy and issues, because issues matter.  In Utah, Americans are angry about the following issues:  Energy Prices and a lack of vision to address future energy policy; fiscal discipline, and illegal immigration.
  • Create a true, grassroots organization staffed with professional volunteers instead of hired guns who may not drink your Kool-Aid or share your passion.  Passion counts.
  • Maintain a perfect pitch throughout the campaign.  Stay on message and deliver it flawlessly, consistently, optimistically and positively. 
  • It's not about money, it's about the candidate's valuesand guiding principles on the issues that matter - assuming you can get the candidate known to the public. 

The organization built by Chaffetz and Scott overcame a large gap in campaign cash that grew in the final days before the vote. Cannon's fundraising machine raked in $86,000 in large donations over the last dozen days, according the Federal Elections Commission Web site. Over the same time period, Chaffetz gathered just $6,300.

The new cash put Cannon at nearly $740,000 for the two-year election cycle, with Chaffetz at just more than $170,000.

Chaffetz warmly embraced the financial gap, attacking Cannon for running his campaign in debt and managing his own without a single paid staffer and without providing food for events.

Here's my favorite part: 

The two camps watched election results six miles apart, with Cannon backers gathered in a hot, stuffy room on the third floor of the Historic County Courthouse in Provo and Chaffetz supporters just down University Avenue and I-15 at the Camelot Village Clubhouse behind the Springville Wal-Mart.

LoL - is the Springville Wal-Mart is the next best thing to a Sam's Club?  I betcha it is.  Shades of Douthat and Salam's Grand New Party!  I hope that Sarah Steelman and her volunteers follow the Chaffetz playbook and ride the wave of this momentum straight to victory.

Not seeing Bobby Jindal yet

Submitted by redstatemissouri on Tue, 07/22/2008 - 09:59.

When Hulshof decided to return fire, he used Steelman's support for public sector unions and opposition to tort reform. Her opposition to the ethanol mandate, as far as I can tell, occurred immediately prior to an ad flight about her opposition to the ethanol mandate. Her tax-cutting position is to increase deductions and exemptions ("Dole"), and not to cut rates ("Reagan"). 

The energy policy is keyed to promising to recruit an oil refinery to Missouri, plus tax credits for flex fuel cars. I assume she won't insist that Missouri's new refinery earmark part of its production for intrastate consumers, but I can't prove it.  I think tax credits are 100%  baloney. The seller captures the tax effect in the price, that's all. It's the same as a cash subsidy.

On the stump, Steelman's education program is to use the ACT for the public schools, not the Missouri test. Nobody I know can figure out why this matters much. If the Missouri test is home-cooking by education bureaucrats, at least it's given at mileposts below grade 12, when the ACT is given once, after the kid has spent 12 years in Education Land.

I haven't read the campaign website, but I have followed Steelman's stump message, and ALL of these positional comments are from Steelman on the trail.  I think talk on the trail tells more about what's up with a candidate, and I am not seeing Bobby Jindal yet, as you can tell, if you've read this far. With Dick Morris in tow, her campaign ads are pretty negative, which should help make up some ground,  but also, in a party primary, will have blowback.