Notes from lunch with Shoemyer
Had the pleasure of meeting with Wes Shoemyer last week.
Shoemyer with Rick Johnson is leading the House Democratic Campaign Committee.
Their goal is to take back the state House. They say they can do it, but factor out the cheerleading and it appears to be a very unlikely scenario.
Presently the Democrats are down 17 seats (90-73). To retake the majority, they need to win 9. The HDCC is monitoring 30 races and targeting 15. They are giving candidates a very specific plan heavily focused on voter identification and turn-out.
Shoemyer claims that technology has changed the way that these efforts are going. Candidates and their teams has palm pilots and are going door-to-door to identify voters. They have specific goals for how many ids they do each day, week etc. Candidates that aren't hitting the goals will be dropped and one of the other monitored races will be substituted.
Technology means that where you used to hit a precinct that voted 80% Democratic and try to turn as many folks out of that place as possible, and ignore the precinct that only voted 20% Democratic, now you hit them both because with your palm pilots, databases etc you can actually find that 20% and target them for get out the vote efforts.
The battleground is out-state. The themes they plan to run on are education. Many out-state districts saw tough cuts in education funding. And health care.
Republicans usually try guns and babies (read: abortion) as winning issues, but that this year they're trying gay marriage instead.
Shoemyer says that the gay marriage constitutional nonsense will actually help Democrats since it will occur in August and help them identify more voters. Perhaps CDL (fighting the amendment) will share their database with the HDCC?
I asked him what could go wrong that might keep the Democrats from winning the House. He said the only way they won't win back the House is if the candidates don't follow the plan. The worst answer he had all day.
The so called plan to take back the Mo. House for by the Democratic Party, obviously has been designed by Republican operatives steering the show and never intended to take back the Mo. House for the people, working class Missourians. Real people, real Democrats could care less about the survey the so called leaders want demanded. People are hurting and interested in issues not dumb surveys. If there were a plan to take back the Mo. House from the self serving thugs who control it then, all Democratic Party candidates for office would be treated equally and NO Mo. House nor Senate DISTRICT nor voter nor non voter would be declared a lost cause.
Similarly why has Holden refused to debate McCaskill thus far? Simple answer---he knows Blunt will rig the election so he wins the primary, but he has no intention of helping stop vote fraud nor ultimately keeping Blunt out of the governor's mansion in the fall election.
In real balloting the Mo. House District 133rd COULD very realistically vote Democratic and should never have been written off by the so called Democratic Party "leaders". There are enough unregistered voters in the 133rd to WIN an election.
If the "leaders" had any intention of really taking back Missouri government, including the Mo. House, for the people, they'd be helping register and motivate those who do not vote to get them to participate this year. The winning edge for the Democrats is in SW, Missouri, but the sleeping giant will not be awakened through writing off anyone. The Democratic Party is supposed to be the party of the people, working class Missourians; the party that cares. Why use a plan that focuses on who should be written off? Except to help the Republicans one political party system, of course.
Striving to make a real difference for the 133rd, in spite of the vote fraud, and lack of party leadership,
Marvalene Pankey,
Democratic Party nominee
for Missouri House District 133 and
co founder of Citizens for McCaskill
417-876-4626
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