Despite the 80-ton anchor that is Donald Trump weighing them down, the increasingly fractured Republican Party still has a real chance to hold or even expand their tenuous majorities in the US Senate and House Fifteen months from now in the 2018 mid-term elections. it is imperative that we not allow that to happen. The survival of this Republic and the future livability of the planet hang in the balance. That might sound like hyperbole - but it isn’t.
If we don’t take immediate steps to check this pResident, preserve the 1st Amendment, stop Dark Money, reverse Republican Gerrymandering, and minimize the effects of Climate Change — we not only risk becoming a permanent minority political party — we may find ourselves living in an increasingly dystopian and endless nightmare — a place I’ll call Trump’s America — or Trumpmerica.
To dodge that future, we must field the most electable slate of Democrat candidates possible in 2018 - in every single race in every state - and we then need to work effectively and relentlessly to help those candidates. It is not yet too late but time is short.
In my adopted home state of Missouri —despite a recent brush with cancer, US Senator Claire McCaskill is running for reelection. She will face a tsunami of well funded opposition. No matter who her opponent is, they will have plenty of money and an army of outside spin doctors and image consultants working against her.
We desperately need to retain Claire McCaskill in the senate — because she is a voice for clear and sensible public policies that actually help people — and a crucial vote holding back the insane tide of the Trump agenda. Claire’s voice is one we must retain — now more than ever, we need some Claireity in Washington, so we must help reelect Claire McCaskill. Jason Kander could really help with that.
Had Jason Kander received just a bit more support in 2016, he might have been elected as Missouri’s junior US Senator, rather than the odious Mr. Blunt. That didn’t happen. I’m not sure what Kander’s long term political plans are — but I don’t think we can afford at this moment in history to have any of our best and brightest candidates sitting on the sidelines waiting for the future.
I’d like to see Kander run for Congress in 2018 — and be a leader of a new young Democrat House majority that can counter Trump’s agenda and set things straight — beginning with the impeachment of DJT. We need to put this country and the world on a sustainable trajectory, Kander could help lead that effort.
Kander is a veteran and his “best fit” district appears to be the Missouri 4th — home to the US Army’s Ft. Leonard Wood and US Air Force Whiteman AFB. In the last election, Kander got 220,000 votes from people who also voted for Donald Trump — and he didn’t do that by pretending to be a conservative democrat www.washingtonexaminer.com/.... The Mo 4th District is now represented by the feckless R-Vicky Hartzler republicinsanity.tumblr.com/… - but in the not too distant past (1977 to 2011) the 4th was represented by D-Ike Skelton - who for many years was the chairman or ranking member of the Armed Services Committee. A veteran Democrat like Jason Kander could win and hold this seat again.
Kander is a 5th generation Missourian whose family is from the Kansas City area. However, when he was elected Secretary of State in 2012, Kander became a Columbia resident. Columbia is home to the University of Missouri and a bright blue island in northeastern part of the 4th Congressional District.
One way we can help reelect McCaskill is by fielding a strong and attractive slate of Democrat candidates in 2018 — that could begin with Jason Kander running in the 4th Congressional District.
Kander is probably aiming higher — he would be a fine president some day, but if there is a single lesson to learn from the Trump presidency - we should be leary of anyone who doesn’t prove themselves by raising through the ranks and earning the public trust by demonstrating themselves capable of administering the office they seek. Service in the house could do that for Kander.
So my plea is for Jason Kander to run for Congress. I ask you to join me in this effort. If we don’t turn things around in 2018 — the future looks decidedly bleak. Yes, we need more than half clever turns of phrase on bumper stickers, but we also cannot afford to wait, we cannot sit and watch from the sidelines and we absolutely cannot field a weak slate of candidates and hope to win in 2018.
Kander joined the military after 9/11 because he needed to do something to respond to that horror. He’ll answer this call as well — someone just has to dial the right number.
The future hangs in the balance — all of us are now in harm’s way.