No question the Springfield Labor Day parade and picnic is a Democratic event.
I haven't been to previous rallies, but this year's brought out tons of union workers and the hard-core party faithful. A thousand? Maybe. But I'm admittedly bad with counting crowds (especially ones that are moving), and I don't ever trust the organizers feeding the media the numbers.
Either way, Labor Day is historically the beginning of the homestretch in campaign politics . . . and it's starting to feel, and even smell like crunch time.
64 days and counting . . .
Here are the leftover nuggets I picked up from this uber-political day as I roamed the parade and picnic . . .
*Two women wearing Missouri State gear watching the parade wave to Claire McCaskill as she rides by. One then asks the other, "Who's in the Senate now?" The other responds, "I think it's Blunt."
*Republican legislative candidate Steve Helms in the #138th district rides up in his Segway to say hi. "I don't think they allow many Republicans in this parade," Helms says to me.
*Rep. Bob Dixon is the only Republican seen in the parade. He has quite a large entourage, but is the last float in the parade. Many whisper that he's already running for Sen. Norma Champion's State Senate seat.
*Democratic Congressional candidate Jack Truman approaches me with his arm in a sling. Truman is running against Rep. Roy Blunt. When I ask him why he's not walking in the parade, he says he found out about it with too short of a notice. Ouch!
*Several Democrats come up to me and rib me for my recent post about "Claire's Lefty Problem." "You're not talking to the right people," says one. "Robert Brantley isn't the leader of the progressives," adds another.
*40%. That's the number Claire McCaskill has to hit in Greene County to win the whole shabang. That's according to Greene County Democratic chair Craig Hosmer. He tells me McCaskill needs 40% of the Ozarks' support to beat Talent. "That's usually the magic number," Hosmer says.
*Buzz on the local Dem challengers with the best chance to win? In order from best chance to worst . . . Charlie Norr (#137), Jamie Schoolcraft (#139), James Owen (#136).
2 comments:
It's amazing Republicans are still allowed in the Labor Day parade... we were able to participate, a couple of years ago, but we won't be back. For some reason, the local union types don't like the Libertarian Party.
If I were a Democrat, and lived in the 137th, I'd have voted for Brantley.
Post a Comment