Bell wins over Bush in MO-1.

Effectiveness Matters

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell appears to be the winner in MO-1.  Bell is holding Bush almost even in the City of St. Louis and leads in St. Louis County by almost 20 points.  From a St. Louis perspective the race was about effectiveness not Gaza, not race and not the constellation of Squad loving interest groups on the east & west coast.  Peace in the mid-east was not on the ballot.

Bell is seen as someone who is actually interested in governing first and chasing cameras only around election time.  Cori Bush is (in the words of Jesse Jackson) “a tree shaker, not a jam maker.”  In St. Louis our trees have been shaken enough.  We need somebody to work with others in Washington, DC on our behalf.   Bell, a lifelong progressive, will do well and serve for a long time.  He is not the type to have a scandal.

Much will be made of the role of AIPAC spending, something like $8 million on behalf of Bell.  That buys a lot of ads in Missouri.  Bush, however was not drowned by money.  She had robust fundraising and matched Bell ad for ad, although with increasingly shrill charges.

Cori Bush will go on to be a very effective organizer for something good and great.  She remains a powerful voice who will be heard far and wide.  For St. Louis we needed a different style of Representation based on priorities in our metro area.  Wesley Bell will help get things done even if he gets less publicity.