Bye-Bye Bond: Kit, Not James

I agree about having balance, but in order for a Republican to gain my support for that seat (I'm a Missouri resident as well), they would need to show that they're a true conservative Republican, unlike these hawkish neo-cons we've been electing for years. As long as the party makes marriage and abortion issues their rallying points, they will continue to make themselves irrelevant and unelectable, and I say good riddance until they come to their senses and decide to expand their tent once more.

Groopaloop -- despite my post, I tend to agree with you, which is one of the reasons I wish Koster had remained a Republican -- he was one of the "big tent" R's before he left to join the D's.

Pete,

Back in the day I was able to vote for Bond for governor. But he went along with the national party leadership in terms of pandering to the Religious Right and on other issues as time went by and that ended. The plain truth is that there is not one Republican candidate in Missouri that I can vote for any longer. They all belong to the radical right side of the party and will stay that way while the rural and southern parts of the state maintain their dominance of the state GOP. Heck, I can't stand the loon that "represents" me in the state senate, Matt Bartle.

When you have one party that is centrist and another that is very far right there is no balance in equal numbers.

Problem is that the Missouri Republican Party has been taken over by the Ashcrofts and Blunts. The Danforths of old who street common sense, main street moderate conservatism have been ejected from the party.

And I don't see that changing soon. The main voting base for the GOP these days is not West STL County or St. Charles but Southwest Missouri and vast rural base stretching from the Bootheel through the Ozarks, Little Dixie (central Mo) and on to northern counties. The exceptions are Iron County and the college communities near Columbia and Rolla (and partially Springfield). To get nominated, Republicans have to win over the Assembly of God voters in SW MO. That means more culture war crap.

And with Robin Carnahan sowing up STL County and Jefferson County, she can pick off votes in Little Dixie, SE MO and do well in the KC area.

Somehow I suspect Kit Bond's decision to retire may have something to do with this: Trevor Blackann, 34, a former aide to [Sen. Kit] Bond (R-MO) and Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), pleaded guilty Thursday to making a false statement on his 2003 tax returns by failing to report thousands of dollars in illegal gifts he received from lobbyists associated with Abramoff. Blackann worked for Bond during the period in which he is accused of accepting illegal gifts… In return, Blackann obtained a letter of support from Bond for someone seeking a political appointment to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, court documents allege.

According to an AP report of the same vintage (11/20/08), He [Blackann] also said that the things he is pleading to “does not include all of the facts known to me concerning criminal activity in which I and/or others engaged.”

Oh, ow. Of course, that's not to say Blackann has anything on Bond, but if he does and it turns into an indictment, it might complicate the chances of whoever the GOP contender is -- especially if it's Blunt.