13 Comments so far

1. Dr. Kenneth Noisewater on February 28, 2007 11:57 am

   Great post. I think this is exactly what Barnes is thinking – start building the case against Graves by his going after his goon Roe. I don’t think Barnes has the kind of statewide network for a run at the governorship, but given the amount of money she will raise and the demographics of the 6th, she could at least scare the crap out of lil’ Sammy Graves.

2. patrick on February 28, 2007 2:05 pm

   Becky Nace hurt Becky Nace. Did she offer anything substantive to the race besides anti-Riederer/Funkhouser ads and robo calls? Jeff Roe may have arranged the mailings, the phone calls and set up the dummy commitees. But you’d think if any of that was at all objectionable to Nace she would have stopped Roe’s nasty tricks. She is after all his boss and has the final say on how her mayoral campaign was run. Had she done that the worst campaign misstep she may have made was walking past a downtown strip club.

   Barnes may try to “neutralize” Roe in a congressional or gubernatorial race, but so what? Sam Graves will no doubt attract a campaign staff that breaks the rules and plays nasty with or without Jeff Roe. There’s no shortage of wannabe Karl Roves in the GOP.

   If anything the mayoral primary shows how sloppy and ineffective a campaign manager Jeff Roe is. Cookie-cutter direct mail ads and a phone campaign that was so poorly executed it’s funny. Nace wasn’t even a strong contender in the Northland, which everyone expected Roe to deliver. He may be able to beat a series of weak Democratic opponents in a heavily Republican district. But when his campaign has real competition he falters badly. If this is a typical Roe performance, what’s the big deal?

3. Dr. Kenneth Noisewater on February 28, 2007 2:54 pm

   patrick,

   You’re right about Roe – he is a mini-Rove in that his specialty is a direct-mail-centered campaign in a Republican-leaning district against an underfunded Democratic opponent. When any of these elements are missing, he can’t close the deal, and usually gets embarrassed, even (see: Becky Nace, DeStefano/Grill race, Todd Graves, Sandra Thomas, JOCO soccer, Casey Guernsey, Chuck Ahner, etc.).

4. Aaron Knight on February 28, 2007 4:14 pm

   If one thinks Becky Nace hurt Becky Nace then it is obvious they completly ignored the issues of this campaign. Becky was the only candidate with true ideas on how to resolve the E-tax issue and the aging sewer system issue. It is ashame that the voters of this city let the political hack job of a newspaper (KC Star) ruin such a good persons political career. Becky is a good women with good values. I know her personally. Everyone you hear on these posts have never even met her. They just know what the biased KC Star reported about her. When will Kansas City get a true newspaper. One that cares more about us than who they want in office. People forget 5 candidates in this race wanted Roe. But no one else was held responsible. People are not intelligent enough to think for them selves when it comes to politics they just believe the hype. Now Kansas City will have to pay the price. For that I am truly sorry .

5. Anthony on February 28, 2007 4:24 pm

   Cry me a river about Becky Nace – she hired a dog & got fleas – big surprise.

6. SK on February 28, 2007 5:25 pm

   “Barnes is considered likely to challenge Roe patron Sam Graves for his seat in Congress… And then some are starting to speculate Barnes could run for governor instead of Congress.”

   She might take her reign of stupidity further? Oh please NO!!! I certainly hope Missourians are not as naïve as Kansas Citians were. We still need to redeem ourselves from our “red” mistake in 2004!

7. KCPolitico on February 28, 2007 6:38 pm

   What are the chances Pat Gray brings Jeff Roe into the Al Brooks camp for help in going negative on Funk?

8. patrick on February 28, 2007 8:11 pm

   Aaron,

   It’s clear you didn’t read my previous comment beyond the first sentence.

   Simply put: Becky Nace was the candidate. Therefore, Becky Nace ultimately bears responsibility for going negative in such an incompetent fashion. The only person to blame for Becky Nace’s poor press in the last two weeks and her defeat yesterday was Nace herself.

   And I’m sure you’re right. On a personal level, Becky Nace is probably a decent person. However, she demonstrated a profound lack of judgement in the primary. It’s too bad she decided to end her city government career on such a sour note.

9. Joe Medley on March 1, 2007 9:10 am

   “Did the hiring of Jeff Roe doom Becky Nace?”

   I wonder if that’s what cost her the WPC endorsement.

10. Dr. Kenneth Noisewater on March 1, 2007 10:21 am

    That is exactly what cost her the WPC endorsement.

11. politicalpal on March 3, 2007 7:07 am

    patrick got it right with this statement:

    “If anything the mayoral primary shows how sloppy and ineffective a campaign manager Jeff Roe is. Cookie-cutter direct mail ads and a phone campaign that was so poorly executed it’s funny. Nace wasn’t even a strong contender in the Northland, which everyone expected Roe to deliver. He may be able to beat a series of weak Democratic opponents in a heavily Republican district. But when his campaign has real competition he falters badly. If this is a typical Roe performance, what’s the big deal?”

12. politicalpal on March 3, 2007 7:09 am

    Riederer’s campaign beat Nace up North and he was only in the race for 7 weeks. That doesnt say much for Roe’s “targeting”.

13. Aaron Knight on March 5, 2007 12:10 am

    Actually Nace received more votes north of te river than the mayor did in the election 4 years ago. So to say she was not expected to deliver in the northland is not true.