Today Judy Baker, a great progressive running for election in Missouri's 9th district, was endorsed by the publisher of the Columbia Tribune, the district's most widely-circulated newspaper. Columbia is Judy's stronghold, but the paper is distributed throughout much of the district, most of which is rural, excluding a few small towns and part of St. Charles County, the suburbs of St. Louis.
The article mainly focuses on Judy's tough primary race and the Right-to-Life nuttery of her opponent, Blaine Luetkemeyer, who is so far right he won the aforementioned group's endorsement against a primary challenger (not Brock Olivo) who tried to criminalize doctors informing their patients about abortion. (Judy, of course, is firmly pro-choice.) More after the jump.
The article soft-sold her progressivism, probably to broaden her appeal to our district's many moderate voters who typically vote Republican but will support whomever makes the best claim to supporting her interests. (Check out her very low negatives among Republicans in the latest independent poll). Speaking as someone who's canvassed for her well over a dozen times (I'm not on staff and am doing this as a volunteer, by the way), I can say she's running a campaign based on sound progressive populism:
- Universal health care for all children, followed by a plan to insure all Americans (she has 25 years of experience in health care admin. and would be a great asset to our next Congress in planning policy)
- OUT OF IRAQ as soon as safely possible
- Tax cuts for the middle class while raising taxes on those over $200k and businesses that outsource jobs
Those are the three main talking points I tell everyone whose door I knock, and I've literally only heard one person who has a problem with any of them (she thought we needed to stay in Iraq, but was still considering Judy for her economic policies).
In closing, while Judy has been doing well in fundraising, beating all her opponents, Democratic and Republican, in the primary, as you can see from the last poll her name rec is still quite low compared to her opponent, with 39% having no opinion, and even 33% of Democrats! She needs all the support she can get, especially the netroots, to get her name out there. This is an eminently winnable race, but it won't be in two years if Luetkemeyer wins and gains incumbency. If he does, we'll have completely unreasonable pro-lifer in Congress most likely until he gives up the seat, or at least until Missouri loses a district (probably) after post-census redistricting. Thanks for taking the time to read about this (likely) far-away district, and if you can, please do more by tossing her a few bucks over at her ActBlue page