McCaskill, Temporiti for Simckes?
State Treasure candidate Andria Simckes (D) is raising some eyebrows in Springfield.
According to KY3 Political notebook, at a small gathering of with lawyers Simckes said she’d “received the unofficial tap from Sen. Claire McCaskill, and John Temporiti.”
“They are quietly supportive of me,” quotes KY3.
But the blog shoots down that claim writing that an unnamed, “highly placed” Democratic source said Simckes is way off base.
A Democratic operative with close ties to the party said that’s not true. “Claire McCaskill and John Temporiti have not made an endorsement in this race. They are aggressively neutral,” the operative said.
When I asked if either had suggested to Simckes at any time that they supported her privately or in any other way, the source replied, “never.”
“If there was only one candidate, of course they would’ve been supportive. But they never said, you’re the person. If they were encouraging here before, that didn’t mean they endorsed her. When different circumstances came out, then events changed. That’s how this works,” the operative added.
“I just need to stress that they are totally neutral,” the Democratic source said.
Simckes is among four Democrats vying for the treasurer nomination. Also in the hunt are Mark Powell, Rep. Clint Zweifel of Florissant and Charles Wheeler of Kansas City.
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Comments
The irony is that Simckes is actually a very qualified candidate. She seems to be working hard because I see her everywhere. Maybe the Black establishment can get it together and not leave her on the vine like they did to Alan.
Poor Andria, seems she now has problems with her campaign reports. She didn’t list any employment info on any of her contributors as required under the ethics law. She doesn’t seem to be getting very good advice from her consultants.
Poor Andria? I don’t think so. She told a group of lawyers in Springfield that she supported the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative. That initiative bans affirmative action for women and minorities in public employment, public education and public contracting. When asked to clarify she issued a statement saying she believes in equal opportunity but not denying that she supports the ban on affirmative action.
Democratic insiders recruited Simckes when Sarah Steelman was still seeking reelection (i.e., before Blunt’s withdrawal from his own reelection campaign) and before Barack Obama had emerged as the presidential frontrunner. They wanted to throw a crumb to their African American base in the form of nomination of a black candidate to a statewide office, but a statewide office the party figured it had no chance of winning. They did the same thing in 1994, the only other time MO Dems ever nominated a black for statewide office, when Alan Wheat was the sacrifice against John Ashcroft for US Senate in the year Republicans won Congress.
But then Blunt withdrew and Steelman switched contests, leaving state treasurer an open seat. A few days later, Obama won MO’s Super Tuesday primary (and lots of other states experts hadn’t expected him to win) and emerged as the presidential frontrunner. Democrat insiders figured Obama would fill their “black quota,” so there was no longer any need for Simckes to be their token on the statewide ticket, especially since the treasurer’s contest had become one the Dems had a chance to win. In spite of Obama’s primary win here, Dem insiders don’t believe a black candidate can win statewide, so they’re backing off their earlier commitment to Simckes. Clint Zweifel is now the defacto establishment choice, but upset 2004 nominee Mark Powell will probably win the primary without establishment support (again).
The Democratic Party establishment is only willing to give the appearance of giving African Americans the seat at the table to which they are entitled, but not really. Simckes will be left hanging out to dry. It is up to black and progressive Democratic ward organizations to seize this nomination for Simckes, because in a field as divided as this, they can do it, without any help from the establishment. But they’ll have to work.