A key thing that all of these endorsing groups have in common is that they have integrated constituencies and/or focus on issues common to progressive voters without regard to race. Every candidate except Gambaro would have probably qualified for an endorsement if not running against the other 3. Reasonable people could differ on the decision, but these reasonable people didn't. They all picked Jeff Smith.

Oracle,

Wow! Finally, another voice of reason. I'm sure you join me in asking that now, with the divisive politics aside (I haven't seen any divisive posts from those camps in the last few days), can we finally have a serious debate about the issues?

Oracle and The Reem man--I concur wholly! These endorsements pretty much now sum up Jeff's strong support across demographic lines in the 4th senate district. The debate today at the RCGA should be interesting as Jeff enters with a whole lot of momentum. Seemingly, one can begin to hear the bells toll for the other candidates. Also, I hear that the documentary about Jeff at the Silverdocs Film Festival in Washington, DC was one of the best received films of the festival. I can't wait to be at the premiere here in St. Louis just a week and a half before the primary.

Bubba, I actually heard it won best picture at Silverdocs.

Looks like it won the Audience Best Feature Award, not the jury selected Best Picture Award.

The Reem Man? What, I'm a superhero now? Mild-mannered REALTOR by day....

WHEN YOU SUPPORT PALM… YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS!!!

Joseph “Mighty Joe” Palm, Committeeman of the Mighty 26th Ward SNAGS 28TH WARD ENDORSEMENT!!

Joe Palm won the support of the Democratic Ward Organization for State Representative – 57th District over candidates Talibdin El-Amin, husband of current State Representative Yaphett El-Amin and Karla May, daughter of City Register Parrie May. May also ran for Committeewoman of the 1st Ward against Yaphett El-Amin in August of 2000.

The 28th Ward held its endorsement meeting for the August 8th election last Thursday. Residents came out to cast ballots for the candidates of their choice. The smooth, sound Joseph Keaveny was on hand to facilitate the process.

Other endorsements were
Susan Montee, Missouri State Auditor
Russ Carnahan-Congressman, 3rd Congressional District
Greg “I really see great things in your future” Daly, Collector of Revenue
Susan Carpenter, Recorder of Deeds
Mike McMillan, License Collector
Mariano Favazza, Circuit Clerk
Jeff Smith, State Senate 4th District
Rodney Hubbard, II – State Representative 58th District

Palm continues to make head-way in an election he is not obviously taking for granted…WAY TO GO JOE!!!

After all… NiaKnows

Not to interrupt the superhero fantasy, but it would be a big mistake to assume that the momentum from these endorsements hands the election to Smith on a silver platter. Nothing loses elections like overconfident supporters not bothering to vote. And trust me, August primary elections have a long history of people not voting, and the current atmosphere of bipartisan scandal will only depress turnout even more.

These endorsements have hardly any impact on African American voters, who comprise 40-43% of the district's registered voters. Many of them believe that it is important to their representation that their senator be a member of their race. If one of the three African American candidates emerges as the consensus "great black hope" and wins an overwhelming majority of African American votes, that candidate will be the favorite to win this election.

The result will depend on which candidate is best at turning out her/his base of supporters. Jeff Smith proved a master of this in the high-turnout congressional primary in 2004, but the low-turnout state senate primary of 2006 is a different animal. The African American contenders all have loyal, patronage-enhanced GOTV machines of their own, and the contest will be exciting to watch unfold.

As best I can tell, Jeff Smith is NOT overconfident. The question is how successful he will be in communicating the sense of urgency to a non-patronage-dependent base whose demographics do not favor frequent voting.

Goodness, Nia, you used to post things like that about Amber Boykins in the 4th senatorial. Your post above touts Joe Palm for state rep while casually noting the ward's endorsement of Jeff Smith over Amber Boykins and others in the senate race.

Also, Nia should know that the first name of the city's long-time Recorder of Deeds is Sharon, not Susan. And while Daly's first name is Gregory (with one g), he stylistically adds a second g to casual moniker Gregg. (But good work on spelling both of Mariano Favazza's challenging names correctly! I often screw that one up myself.)

Endorsements=$$ and volunteers. My hope for Jeff is that he can turn to them in the coming weeks for volunteers and money to get his message out.

Also keep in mind that we will start seeing the other larger races putting their first pieces out- hell Blagojevich is already on tv!- so this race may get lost in the shuffle so its imperative to GET THE VOTE OUT- that goes for all of the candidates in all of the races

Oh wise Oracle,

You are absolutely right, about the weakening power of over-confidence. What I found interesting, though, was while, unlike Bill Clinton, Jeff Smith rightfully does not refer to himself as a black man, Derio Gambaro refers to all his opponents as being African-American, including Jeff Smith.

And, while Jeff Smith has done great things for the entire city, including it's black residents, it is insulting to those residents for Mr. Gambaro to make light of their race and culture in this way. So, I wonder why Mr. Gambaro doesn't make the same claim of himself.

Travis, I appreciate your kind words towards me, and we usually agree, but where did you get this stuff about Gambaro claiming that all of his opponents were black? And if that were true, why would he be tempted to make the same claim of himself? Unless I'm missing something, it doesn't follow.

I open to being proven wrong, but I think it highly unlikely that Gambaro made any such statement. I oppose Gambaro's candidacy because I believe that his conservative views are not representative of the district he seeks to represent (or of me personally), but not because he's a bad guy, which he isn't.

Travis and Oracle, Jeff Smith is running for Missouri Senate, not alderman. Jeff can be energetic, well-meaning, verbal and committed to his ideals, but the number of people in the Missouri Senate who agree with his extremely liberal positions on the issues could fit into a phone booth. We deserve real representation from someone who can fight for St. Louis City through negotiation and compromise (ugly words, but a political reality).

I have attended candidate forums and feel that either Derio Gambaro or Yaphett El-Amin has the best chance of making the needs of St. Louisans heard in Jeff City. Amber Boykins' record of absenteeism and no-shows weakens her as a candidate, and I have no clue if Kenneth Jones is really serious. Jeff Smith is a good guy who simply would be ineffective in the legislature we have now.

I just had to wipe my soda off the computer screen! El-Amin more able to negotiate and compromise than Jeff Smith? From what I've seen of her, she's ready for a fistfight the moment she's challenged. I challenge Corolla to highlight one policy position that El-Amin or Gambaro share with Jeff that's more likely to pass with them versus with Jeff as a state senator. Besides that, there's the obvious problem of the two candidates Corolla has highlighted being very different in their politics. Sure you want someone who can effectively fight for St. Louis, but it makes a big difference what they're fighting for.

The main point however is who do yo believe in? If you think Jeff is too liberal for you, you're absolutely justified in not voting for him. But if you do believe, as I do, that he advocates good policies, and that he's "energetic, well-meaning, verbal and committed to his ideals," as you put it, you have no reason not to vote for him. This is my district. I'm not going to let my vote be determined by the wingnuts that Southwest Missouri sends to Jefferson City.

Oracle:

Mr. Gambaro made the 'Jeff Smith is a black candidate' remarks to an individual, not an open forum. Those are as great of details as I feel comfortable giving at this time. I'm sure you understand. And, the reason he should have not made the comment was because it is disrepectful to black residents of the city to make light of their race and community to reduce their race to a stereotype of certain activities that Jeff Smith shares interest in, such as basketball.

Corolla:

With the Republicans to take a diminished lead in the State House and State Senate, as expected, now is the time to put progressive democrats, like Jeff Smith, in office to reduce the effectiveness of the Republican agenda that Derio Gambaro, and to some extent Rep. El-Amin, support. But, I would agree with your assessment of Rep. Boykins record of absenteeism being inappropriate for a representative of the people, especially in the minority party when we need every vote against the Republican agenda.

Uh, agreed there Clark. If anyone's going to be able to reach across lines on Democratic issues I'd say it's most likely Amber or Jeff.

I have no doubt Derio would work across party lines, but only to further his right-wing agenda.

El-Amin is too confrontational to get anything done- ask around Jeff City and that's the consensus.

Clark:
You may know Yaphett El-Amin much better than I. She and I have spoken a few times, and I have seen her at a candidate forum where many who attended felt that although they did not agree with her (as I do not) on the issues, they thought she was very straightforward and professional in her presentation.

Maybe Jeff is a great negotiator, but his positions on many issues simply are not in line with Jeff City the way it is now, and he will have to face either compromising or being ignored by the majority party. It is beyond unlikely that he will be able to swing many Republican legislators over to his way of thinking on any of the major issues.

Knowing how financially and emotionally expensive politics can be, I respect Jeff Smith and those who believe in him enough to be his advocates. However, he is just too liberal for me, and therefore I cannot support him. My beliefs (pro-life, pro-voucher/tax credit, in favor of using only adult stem cells for research, against gay marriage, and for capital punishment in some cases, for example) would in your eyes probably classify me as one of the "wingnuts." I, on the other hand, would just say to you, "You are entitled to your opinion, and good for you for taking the time to at least think about the issues."

Travis:
Don't count the Republicans out yet. St. Louis may be the bastion of liberal Democrats, but it is only one small part of the whole state. Outstate Missourians have different priorities, needs and values--and, unfortunately for the Democrats, they also have the right to vote.

"My beliefs (pro-life, pro-voucher/tax credit, in favor of using only adult stem cells for research, against gay marriage, and for capital punishment in some cases, for example) would in your eyes probably classify me as one of the "wingnuts."

Your beliefs put you to the right of a significant portion of Republicans, i.e. right in line with Mr. Derio Gambaro. Obviously you haven't looked at the other candidates, since Jeff, Amber, Yaphett, and Kenny would all be quite distasteful for you.

Don't hate on Jeff just cause he's the frontrunner.

Oracle:

You underestimate my level of intelligence and objectivity. I am not a blatant supporter of any one candidate. I share this political information because I am a generous person.

By the way, thanks for the correction of Sharon Carpenter's name. That was an oversight.

I've never known Daly to spell his first name with two g's. *It doesn't appear as "Gregg F.X. Daly" on the door of License Collector in downtown's City Hall.

Thanks for the info, though. I like being "in the know--and knowing the know"

After all...Niaknows

travis reems:

One must note that Rep. Boykins does not have a "track record" of high absenteeism. As a matter of fact, that was one of the reasons Boykins decided to run for state representative in 1999; she knew that she would be present to vote and commit to the responsibility that the office demanded.

It is illogical and unethical to take an isolated incident and perpetrate it as the "norm".

Rep. Boykins' mother was very ill and in the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit. Rep. Boykins’ mother is a heart transplant recipient and a breast cancer survivor missed votes in 2005 because she was at the bedside of her mother.

Approximately 15 years ago, former Alderman Kenny Jones missed numerous days at the Board of Alderman because he was the primary caretaker of a brother who later succumbed to cancer.

Derio Gambaro left the state house to be by his wife's side while she was fighting cancer.

Holly had to fight hers as well.

They all fought their fights. I respect each one of them for that alone and the tenacity to go on with life with their heads held high speaks volumes.

However, when little jeffrey couldn't beat the big, popular guy he just left the city... or did he simply go HOME.

Character, Integrity, Compassion, and Experience these are the qualities that I am looking for in a State Senator as a registered voter in the 4th Senatorial District.

After all…Niaknows

Nia- your excuses for Amber's absenteeism are transparent and cheap. Amber has consistently missed votes throughout her career, not just when her mother was sick. I would say that's quite different from Derio and Kenny's experiences.

And your take on Jeff Smith is laughable and clearly cribbed from Ms. El-Amin, which is unsurprising given that she is the superior Northside candidate in this race. Jeff didn't "leave" St. Louis, he got an amazing job opportunity that only a fool would turn down.
I'm pretty sure that he has done more for the city of St. Louis, along with the other candidates, than your candidate ever will do.

Margot:

Rep. Boykins does not have a record of high absenteeism--a liar may figure; but the figures don't lie. I refuse to get into a back and forth with you on the sickness concerning the loved one of anyone (or themselves). I would not relate to the serious illness of anyone as cheap...especially for the sake of a political campaign.

Jeff has some insensitve, ill support out there...Birds of a feather, flock together. Follow the money...forget the "people"!

The political race for 4th Senatorial District is not about race, who lives North nor who lives South. The 4th Senatorial District is diverse. This divisive--let's split the Northside vote---rhetoric and form of politics is abominable.

And if my allegations of Jeff Smith are laughable than why aren't you laughing instead of being angry?(smooches)

No need to answer...Niaknows

I am so happy that I have not had the pleasure to meet any of the candidates on a personal level. However, I read well and intensively.

I question myself concerning my opinions. Why do I like El-Amin in this race, why I have never even met her? Her record speaks for itself.

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