Rove Notes Donation to Blunt

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Republican strategist Karl Rove celebrates a "stellar" class of GOP U.S. Senate candidates for the 2010 cycle and notes that of the two Republicans he's contributed financially to, one is Roy Blunt.

"Republicans have also recruited good candidates for their open seats. New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte is competitive, as are Ohio's Rob Portman and Missouri's Roy Blunt," writes Rove.

"Republicans in Florida have to get through a primary fight, but either Gov. Charlie Crist or former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio will likely hold the seat. (I've donated to Messrs. Blunt and Rubio.) ," he continues.

Read Rove's entire piece HERE.

SOS: Group Pushes Amendment to Keep Secret Ballot

A statewide group is pushing to amend Missouri's Constitution to require secret ballots for union elections.

It's in response to pending federal legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize.

WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 10 REPORT HERE

At issue: Impact of the Employee Free Choice Act

"Ten union organizers show up at your 10 employee's house all in one night. It they can get five of them to sign a card, by the time you come to work the next day, you are a unionized company," said Save Our Secret Ballot's Tim Mooney. "This is bad stuff. It ought to be awfully scary to you. You pass this in a dozen states, with the kind of numbers we have in our poll, and it will kill this idea."

"Shame on them for choosing this way to tip the scales. That is an absolutely offensive, brazen, cynical tactic," said Missouri Save Our Secret Ballot Chair John Loudon.

So far the group has said its raised $100,000 and landed 40,000 signatures for the ballot initiative that would force unions to hold secret ballot elections.

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Clark Brown, the SEIU legislative liaison in Missouri:

"I can very confidently say that workers are intimidated," Brown said about how companies delay and stall union elections under the current system. "The act we're looking at is wanting to put that choice in hands of the workers, whether they have a private election."

Said he's sure EFCA would grow unions in Springfield But notes . . . "The Employee Free Choice Act does still entitle secret ballot elections, but it makes it the choice of the workers."

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ALSO: The Missouri Chamber of Commerce held a separate meeting on a similar topic with GOP strategist Karl Rove. Ky3 requested an interview with Chamber president Dan Mehan or Rove, but did not receive a call back. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who was billed as the headliner for the SOS event, instead cancelled to attend the Missouri Chamber event with Rove. That event was not open to press.

When I asked Loudon why the Mo. Chamber president Mehan would schedule a similar event on the same day, he replied, "You'll have to ask him."

"The Missouri Chamber of Commerce has opposed civil rights, the 40 hour work week, the 8 hour work day, OSHA safety regulations and the 2006 increase to the minimum wage. And now they're bringing in George W. Bush's old friend Karl Rove to raise money to fight against the Employee Free Choice Act," said Brad Stokes, president of the Springfield Labor Council.

Kinder, Rove Compete For Card Check Audience

ROVE EVENT DESIGNED TO PRESSURE MCCASKILL

Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder and political strategist Karl Rove are holding separate meetings within hours of each other in Springfield Wednesday on the ramifications of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Kinder's meeting is part of a statewide tour to promote a ballot initiative designed to protect Missouri from passage of the legislation. The meeting is sponsored by Associated Industries of Missouri and the Southwest Area Manufacturers Association, and is slated for 4:30 p.m. at the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. There is no charge for the event, but pre-registration is required.

Karl Rove is speaking to an invitation only crowd at the Loren Cook Company at 2:30. That meeting is sponsored by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. "We will be using a number of methods to get the attention of members of Congress who are important swing votes on this matter -- and making our opinions ring as clear as a bell," wrote state Chamber president Dan Mehan. In a letter to invites, Mehan said a group of business organizations in the Midwest will be using a 527 to communicate their message through TV, radio and newspaper ads. "It is our intention to become the 'point of the spear' in the American business community's efforts to defeat these onerous new labor laws," Mehan wrote.

Former State Sen. John Loudon, who serves as chair of the "Save Our Secret Ballot" tour, said the two events are unrelated. Loudon told The Notebook that Kinder's event "is a Missouri ballot issue, theirs is designed to lobby (Sen. Claire) McCaskill to change her vote."

Loudon said that Rove's event was scheduled after the ballot initiative tour, and that "a lot of people are confused."

Karl Rove in Springfield Wednesday

Former presidential aide and Republican strategist Karl Rove will be in Springfield Wednesday to speak to conservative business leaders about the Employee Free Choice Act.

According to an invitation obtained by The Notebook, Rove will speak at 2:30 p.m. at the Loren Cook Company at the invite of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce.

The gathering is invitation only, but no contribution is required.

Missouri Chamber President Dan Mehan writes: "As you know, our Congress is now debating legislation that calls for the most egregious changes in labor laws proposed in more than a half-century. Cynically named the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), it is often referred to as 'Card Check.' No matter what name it goes by, this effort by union bosses is nothing more than a blatant attempt to reverse a declining union membership through draconian measures that threaten the very underpinnings of American freedom, by:

• Requiring binding arbitration on a first contract between the union and employer;
• Increasing penalties on employers;
•Eliminating parameters regarding the size or scope of employers who may be the subject of unionization; and
• Eliminating the right of employees to make a decision on unionization in a private ballot election."

Rove Credits Roundtable Chair Sauer For McCain Win in Mo.

During a conference call with the Missouri Roundtable for Life, Karl Rove says John McCain was able to to squeak out a win in Missouri because of Chairman Fred Sauer.

"John McCain eeked out a victory in Missouri by 3,000 votes and the truth be known, the guy who was probably most responsible for that victory, is the guy who spoke to us first on this call, because Fred went out and raised several hundred thousand dollars to make certain that National Right to Life had the funds necessary to make the phone calls and get out the mail pieces and do the grass-roots activity to alert Missouri voters -- Democrat or Republican or Independent -- who shared the commitment to the life cause," Rove said on the call.

Sauer is a Navy veteran and is said to have a great personal affinity for John McCain

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In the call with Sauer and Roundtable President Ed Martin, Rove also urged the anti-abortion movement to ramp up its efforts for 2010.

"This is not an issue that we're fortunate to have the national media with us," Rove told the conference call.

ALSO CALLED MISSOURI AMERICA'S BATTLEGROUND -- EVEN IN MIDTERMS:

"We cannot exchange Kit Bond, who has been very good on this issue in Washington, for somebody who would not be good," Rove said.

"They didn't like losing the state by 3,000 votes. I bet you a dime to a dollar you'll see plenty of President Obama and Vice President Biden in the coming months and they're going to do everything they possibly can to sway this Senate seat in their column," Rove warned.

AND: Rove noted that statistics show that young people are more inclined to be anti-abortion than previous generations of their age.

ADDING: "We've got to find a way to talk about our commitment to life in a way that is comfortable to young people and is appealing to people who's commitment to life doesn't spring from a deep, sustained religious faith."

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In their opening comments, Sauer said the Roundtable is attacking Amendment 2 (the embryonic stem cell initiative passed in '06) on "every front."

Martin said the Roundtable has made contacts with around 50,000 voters. Added that he's glad to be joined in the "field of battle" with Planned Parenthood in the group's ballot initiative fight. Martin also warned that term-limits in 2010 will replace an entire crop of legislators.

"We need them to recognize and be responsive to the pro-life effect," Martin said of new incoming lawmakers in 2010.