@BlogKCWhat’s a brainy dude from the whitest suburbs of St. Louis doing schmoozing with black leaders in the urban core of Kansas City? The answer is that he’s shoring up support in the face of a strong challenge from Claire McCaskill. While she lost her bid for governor last year, she pulled in more urban votes than any Democrat in a generation and was already outpolling the incumbent Senator before the race even started.
It looks like Senator Talent is following the game plan that’s served his colleague Kit Bond well over the years. Salon and The Pitch have both examined this unlikely symbiosis. While urban core and black leaders in St. Louis are generally solid Democrats, their counterparts in KC are more open to schmoozing and generous helpings of tasty federal pork.
Some of Talent’s recent initiatives include a cold case squad for civil rights crimes, a Harry Truman statue for Union Station, and a national designation for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. A recent podcast with Buck O’Neil shows that this formula has yielded yet another KC Democrat with close ties the Republicans, joining the likes of Rep. Cleaver, Mayor Barnes, and Katheryn Shields.
And this explains why the Democratic Party won’t be picking up a Senate seat in Missouri for a good long time. KC Democrats need to learn party unity is more important than selling your support cheaply (for a Harry Truman statue, WTF?!).
And if Cleaver, Barnes or Shields ever aspire to higher office, they’ll no doubt be shocked and disappointed to see Talent and Bond endorse and campaign for the Republican.
just thought I would give you a heads up that you got mentioned on the hotline’s blogometer today 11/29
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