PUB DEF

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2008-02-19T13:31:00.002-06:00

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New Look Coming to PubDef

2008-02-11T11:05:00.000-06:00

Throughout the day, we'll be making some major upgrades to the site. Please be patient. We think you're really going to like the new site.

This old format will forever be archived at www.pubdef-is-dead.blogspot.com

UPDATE COMPLETED. SEE THE NEW SITE @ PUBDEF.NET

Obama Increases Delegate Lead

2008-02-09T22:50:00.000-06:00

According to David Plouffe, Barack Obama's campaign manager, by sweeping today's caucuses and primaries, Senator Obama more than doubled his pledged delegate lead over Senator Hillary Clinton.

Before today, Obama led Clinton by 27 pledged delegates (pledged delegates are those won through caucus and primary election wins, as opposed to superdelegates which are basically endorsements by officials. These superdelegates are not necessarily fixed and can change their alliances).

"In the four contests today, we estimate we won 103 delegates to Clinton’s 58 delegates for a net gain of 45 delegates," wrote Plouffe on the Obama website.

"The pledged delegate total through February 9 now stands at 1,012 for Obama and 940 for Clinton."

VIDEO: Kinder's Announcement (x2)

2008-02-09T17:56:00.000-06:00

Here's video of Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder's speech at yesterday's Lincoln Days in Springfield in which he announced he has changed his mind and will seek re-election rather than fight for the Republican nomination for governor:

And here's Kinder's message to Missourians:

KINDER NOT RUNNING FOR GOV

2008-02-08T20:37:00.000-06:00

BREAKING NEWS

A tipster reports the Lt. Gov Peter Kinder made a surprise announcement at the Republican Lincoln Days event tonight. Apparently in the interest of party unity, he will not be seeking the nomination for governor.

UPDATED: Here's Kinder's statement:

"I have taken on a cause as Lt. Governor to fight for the values I believe in - the values my mom taught me to believe in - faith, family, personal responsibility, service and keeping commitments to those who have sacrificed for this great nation.

"Missourians can be proud of what we have accomplished together in the Lt. Governor's office for the men and women in uniform who have given so much to this great country and who need an advocate who will fight for them, for the seniors who have worked and saved to build up this nation and who deserve our respect and a higher quality of life and for our workers and employers who deserve a state government that understands how to help Missourians create jobs and grow the economy.

"Working together we have delivered positive change that Missourians deserve and I want to continue keeping the change working for our state. It will take a combined effort of every Republican, ever Democrat, every leader and every Missourian to create jobs, advocate for our veterans, fight illegal immigration and deliver world class schools for our students and I want to continue being an advocate for change on these important issues.

"Since I was elected Lt. Governor in 2004 many Missourians have told me personally they would support me if I ever decided to run for governor. I never expected to make that decision this year.

"Since Gov. Blunt's announcement I have been overwhelmed by the support I have received from many Missourians who want to join my campaign for governor. After a great deal of thought and prayer over the last several weeks I have decided I will not run for governor this year, and will ask Missourians for their vote for Lt. Governor so we can continue our accomplishments for our veterans, seniors, workers and our shared Missouri values.

"This is a campaign I believe I would have won, but I also believe in my heart that this is the right decision. I hope it will help our Party unite so together we can tell Missourians a remarkable story of how together we turned our state around by turning a $1.1 billion deficit into three straight surpluses without raising taxes, ended the cuts to education while increasing funding for classrooms, transformed Missouri's health care system and helped bring nearly 90,000 new jobs to our state by supporting job-creating initiatives and investing in tourism as we did by bringing the Tour of Missouri to our state.

"I am enormously grateful and appreciative of everyone who supported me for governor. I know I can count on their support for my re-election. We must unite and let Missourians know how much is at stake in this election. We cannot afford to return to the failed policies of the past. We must elect a governor who will keep the change working for Missouri and that makes every dollar count."

Obama, Clinton Split MO Delegates

2008-02-08T14:42:00.000-06:00

From the Missouri Democratic Party...

The Missouri Democratic Party today preliminarily awarded 36 delegates each to Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton following their thrilling performances in Tuesday’s Missouri Presidential Primary.

By virtue of his 10,479-vote victory statewide, Obama won Missouri’s statewide delegates by a 13-12 margin, while Clinton won Missouri’s congressional district delegates by a 24-23 margin.

According to the Missouri Democratic Party delegate selection plan, Missouri Democrats award 72 of their 88 delegates proportionally based on how the presidential candidates perform in the primary. Of those 72 delegates, 25 are awarded proportionally based on statewide performance, while 47 of the delegates are awarded proportionally based on performance in Missouri’s nine congressional districts. Congressional districts with higher past Democratic performance receive a greater share of the 47 delegates. Candidates must meet a 15 percent threshold to qualify for delegates. Therefore, the percentages in the following chart do not include votes cast for candidates that did not meet the threshold. The delegate breakdown is as follows:

Click to enlarge

(* The statewide vote totals are slightly more than the sum of the congressional district totals because some local election authorities have not assigned absentee votes to their appropriate precincts yet. This should not affect the delegate totals for either candidate.)

The remaining 16 of Missouri’s 88 Democratic delegates are unpledged superdelegates, who are members of Missouri’s Democratic Congressional delegation, Missouri members of the Democratic National Committee, and distinguished party leaders. These superdelegates will cast their vote at the August Democratic National Convention in Denver for their favorite candidate, regardless of Tuesday’s primary results.

Shooter's Brother: "He Went to War"

2008-02-07T23:02:00.000-06:00

The brother of Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton, who allegedly walked into the Kirkwood city hall today and shot seven people, including the mayor, two city council people, and two police officers, told Channel 4 News tonight that he is "okay" with what his brother did.

"Let me put it in a context that you might understand," Gerald Thornton told the reporter. "My brother went to war tonight with the people that were of the government that was putting torment and strife into his life."

OBS: "All We Want Is Justice"

2008-02-07T23:00:00.000-06:00

The following statement comes from the Organization for Black Struggle:

"All We Want is Justice!"

That was the last statement made by Charles "Cookie" Thorton before he opened fire in Kirkwood City Hall. The tragedy in Kirkwood, MO where six people lost their lives is a result of the continuation of racial tensions that bubble and erupt.

The Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) is saddened by the preventable loss of life and the impending sorrow that will grip the affected families and community. We hope that the City will seriously begin to address the racism and deep feelings of disenfranchisement by African-Americans who reside in Meacham Park.

OBS Chair Jamala Rogers talked with Thornton last year as the trial of Kevin Johnson was underway. Johnson was on trial for the 2005 murder of Kirkwood police officer William McEntee.

"Cookie Thornton was adamant that he was not going to be intimidated, disrespected or dismissed by the City," stated Rogers, "and as a black man in America, that has consequences." Rogers encouraged Thornton to stand up to the injustices but also cautioned him to be careful. Most of Thornton's protest actions were solo including his interaction with the courts where he served as his own legal counsel.

OBS urges the Mayor and Police Chief to take some leadership and immediately bring the community together to resolve divisive and deadly issues which keep getting glossed over. Beefing up security in City Hall is merely a bandaid for a festering cancer in the City of Kirkwood.

KIRKWOOD CITY HALL SHOOTINGS

2008-02-07T22:07:00.000-06:00

According to a story published just today on FirstAmendmentCenter.org, Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton, who allegedly walked into the Kirkwood City Hall and shot seven people, including Mayor Mike Swoboda, had just lost a federal court case in which he claimed his First Amendment rights were violated after he was removed from Kirkwood City Council meetings for "repetitive, personal, virulent attacks" against council members.

From FirstAmendmentCenter.org:

A federal judge in Missouri has rejected the First Amendment claims of a man removed from Kirkwood City Council meetings for “repetitive, personal, virulent attacks” against council members.

Charles Lee Thornton had sued the city of Kirkwood after he was arrested twice (and later convicted) for disorderly conduct at two council meetings in 2006.

In May 2006, Thornton had the opportunity to speak during the public-comment portion of a council meeting that addressed the expansion of two businesses — a funeral home and a senior living facility. During the time reserved to discuss the funeral home, Thornton rose to speak about what he alleged was personal harassment of him by city officials, not the expansion of the business. He displayed a large poster with a picture of a donkey and made intemperate remarks about the mayor. Thornton then warned the funeral home owner that the city had a “plantation-mentality” and “jackass-like qualities.”

Thornton engaged in similar conduct after the presentation about the senior living center. He said the mayor was “sitting there looking stupid.” The mayor eventually ordered Thornton to leave the podium and called the police. When the police came to the podium, Thornton sat on the floor and refused to leave. He was arrested and later convicted of disorderly conduct. He has appealed his conviction to a state appeals court.

Similar events occurred at a June 2006 City Council meeting. During the public-comment portion, Thornton was allowed to speak, at which point he began: “Jackass, jackass, jackass … .” Eventually the mayor asked the police to remove Thornton, who again sat on the floor. Once again he was arrested and convicted of disorderly conduct.

Thornton later filed a federal lawsuit, contending that his First Amendment rights had been violated. U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry disagreed in her Jan. 28, 2008, opinion in Thornton v. City of Kirkwood. She applied a forum analysis, determining that the public comment portion of the meetings constituted a limited designated public forum that the city could reserve for certain groups and topics of discussion. She did not find the public-comment period to be a traditional public forum in which government restrictions on speech must pass strict scrutiny — the highest form of judicial review.

She noted that there was substantial confusion in the lower courts over the terms “limited public forum” and “designated public forum.” Perry ruled that a limited designated public forum is a subclass of a designated public forum in which restrictions on speech must be reasonable and viewpoint-neutral.

“As the meeting was a limited designated public forum, Kirkwood had the right to restrict the topic of discussion to the expansion of two businesses,” Perry wrote. Rather than addressing germane subject matter, “Thornton engaged in personal attacks against the mayor, Kirkwood, and the city council.

“Any restrictions on Thornton’s speech were reasonable, viewpoint neutral, and served important governmental interests,” Perry wrote. “Because Thornton does not have a First Amendment right to engage in irrelevant debate and to voice repetitive, personal, virulent attacks against Kirkwood and its city officials during the comment portion of a city council public hearing, his claim fails as a matter of law.”

Thanks to Bushido Hacks for the link.

Blunt on Kirkwood Shootings

2008-02-07T22:06:00.000-06:00

Gov. Matt Blunt has issued the following statement:

“Tonight our fellow Missourians in the city of Kirkwood were terrorized by a senseless and horrific crime at an open government meeting. We know at this hour that this crime has resulted in the loss of life and an investigation is under way.

“The men and women of Highway Patrol Troop C responded to the reports of the shooting and were on the scene to assist the Kirkwood Police Department and St. Louis County law enforcement. I have directed the Highway Patrol to provide whatever resources are needed to assist local law enforcement in response to this horrific crime.

“I join Missourians tonight in praying for the victims, their families and friends, and everyone in the community of Kirkwood.”

Coleman Slams Herschend

2008-02-07T15:58:00.000-06:00

State Senator Maida Coleman (D-St. Louis City) today voted against the reappointment of Peter Herschend of Branson to the State Board of Education. Coleman spoke against the nomination for more than 40 minutes in committee Wednesday and for nearly an hour on the Senate floor today before he was eventually confirmed by the Republican-controlled senate.

She released this statement afterwards:

“In the committee hearing yesterday, Mr. Herschend told me I should be embarrassed of my school district,” Sen. Coleman said.

“I think Mr. Herschend should be embarrassed that he has decided to play politics with the children of my district. He should be embarrassed that he callously disenfranchised the citizens of my district by turning control of the St. Louis School District over to the state.”

In March 2007, the St. Louis Public Schools lost their accreditation when the State Board of Education voted 5-1 to rescind the accreditation after concluding that the district had met only four of the state's 14 academic performance measures. Peter Herschend was serving as President of the State Board of Education when the decision to strip the school district of local control was made.

At the time the state board voted to classify the St. Louis Public Schools as unaccredited, several other school districts possessed 2006 Annual Performance Review ratings that were equal to or below the scores assigned to the St. Louis City School District.

“It makes me wonder why Mr. Herschend has taken no action to reclassify other low-performing school districts,” Sen. Coleman said. “There seems to be no apprehension by Mr. Herschend or the Board that they are disenfranchising the voters of a predominantly black city. We are still forced to pay taxes, so we have taxation without representation.”

Additionally, Sen. Coleman expressed reservations about any person serving such a lengthy term on a state board or commission. Peter Herschend has served on the State Board of Education for 16 years, and with his confirmation by the Senate today, will serve another eight years on the board.

“Is it a good idea to allow anyone to sit on what is arguably the most important board in state government for 24 years?” Sen. Coleman asked her colleagues on the Senate floor today.

“If someone were to serve the maximum amount of time in the General Assembly, they could only serve 16 years. If the citizens of Missouri think it’s a good idea to limit the terms of their elected representatives, surely the length of service of an unelected official should be limited as well, especially one who wields so much influence over our children’s education.”

Members of the Missouri Senate affirmed the reappointment of Herschend to the State Board of Education today on a voice vote.

Romney is Out [Updated]

2008-02-07T12:11:00.000-06:00

BREAKING NEWS

Looks like John McCain is going to be the Republican nominee for President.

Saying he wanted to clear the way for Republicans to fight both Al-Qaeda and the Democrats, Mitt Romney, who had a less-than-super Tuesday, has just dropped out of the race.

Romney pictured with Governor Matt Blunt, a supporter of his failed presidential bid.

Governor Blunt today issued the following statement on Romney's announcement:

"Obviously I am disappointed because I believe Governor Mitt Romney was the best candidate to bring conservative change to Washington. Governor Romney is a great leader and a tremendous competitor. I am proud to have supported his campaign.

"I have tremendous respect for Senator McCain. He is a revered hero at our shared alma mater, and, in fact, he was the commencement speaker when I graduated the Naval Academy. He is held up as a model of heroic leadership in the face of tremendous adversity.

"I also admire Governor Huckabee. He is an honorable man and a great neighbor to the south. He has obviously captured the aspirations of many, and we share a large number of supporters.

"Melanie and I have enjoyed campaigning with Governor Romney and his wonderful wife Ann. They are both great friends and patriots and we wish them the very best for the future."

Clinton Only Won 2 City Wards

2008-02-07T12:05:00.000-06:00

Here is a PDF of the ward-by-ward breakdown of Tuesday's election results in the City of St. Louis.

A few interesting highlights:

Clinton only won 2 wards in the city—the two most southern wards of 11 and 12
Obama defeated Clinton in Mayor Slay's own 23rd Ward
City's largest voting ward, the southern Ward 16, went for Obama (52-44)

Republicans Ready for Lincoln Days

2008-02-07T12:03:00.000-06:00

Starting tomorrow, Republicans from across Missouri will gather in Springfield for their annual Lincoln Days event.

All three announced Republican candidates for governor, current Governor Matt Blunt, federal, state and local elected officials.

U.S Congressman Kenny Hulshof, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder and State Treasurer Sarah Steelman will meet with attendees and share their plans for building on positive accomplishments made through Republican leadership.

The event is from Friday, February 8, to Sunday, Feb. 10. A host of approximately 20 hospitality suites will be open to the public beginning at 9:00pm on Friday & Saturday evening.

Check the website at www.MoLincolnDays.com for a full schedule of events.

Days, Jones to Lead STL Caucus

2008-02-07T09:54:00.000-06:00

State Senator Rita Days, a Democrat from north St. Louis County, and State Rep. Timothy Jones, a Republican from Eureka ("The home of Six Flags," he reminded us.), have been elected to chair and vice-chair, respectively, the St. Louis Regional Delegation (formerly, the St. Louis Regional Caucus) in the state legislature.

The mission of the bicameral, bi-partisan group is to promote and collectively push legislation to advance the St. Louis region.

VIDEO: Clay, Carnahan on Obama Win

2008-02-06T09:45:00.000-06:00

Congressmen Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan, both St. Louis Democrats and both early endorsers of Barack Obama, celebrated Super Tuesday election results with other Obama supporters and volunteers at The Moolah Theater in Midtown last night.

With over 95% of the Missouri vote in and Obama close to victory, Clay and Carnahan addressed the crowd...

4 Meetings on School Closings

2008-02-06T09:44:00.000-06:00

St. Louis Public Schools has scheduled four community forums next week to hear public comments regarding the preliminary recommendations for school reconfigurations and consolidations. Here are the dates and times:

Monday, February 11 at 6 p.m.
Lexington Elementary, 5030 Lexington Ave.

Tuesday, February 12 at 6 p.m.
Wyman Elementary, 1547 S. Theresa Ave.

Wednesday, February 13 at 6 p.m.
Walbridge Elementary, 5000 Davison Ave.

Thursday, February 14 at 6 p.m.
Blow Middle, 516 Loughborough Ave.

As part of the preliminary plan, the district is considering the closing of several schools. They are:

Mitchell (students move to Hamilton)
Gundlach (students move to Ford, Lexington and Laclede)
Wilkinson ECC (move program to Roe)
Shenandoah (students move to Wyman)
Simmons (students move to Hickey, Cote Brilliante and Farragut)
Lyons (students move to Blow)
Mark Twain (students move to Walbridge)
Meramec (students move to Monroe and Froebel)

The proposal also includes reopening Carver School as a pre-kindergarten to fifth-grade school.

Public comments may also be submitted online at www.slps.org, by calling (314) 331-6100, or by writing to: Operations Division, St. Louis Public Schools, 801 N. 11th St., St. Louis, MO 63101.

Sales Tax Increases in City

2008-02-06T09:12:00.000-06:00

The City of St. Louis will balance its budget with a tax increase. Sounds like everything Republicans say about our Democratic city is not all untrue.

While many different elected officials and editorials spoke out against the sales tax increase, there were no mailings, robo-calls or poll workers to spread that message to voters.

The half-cent sale tax, supported by Mayor Francis Slay and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, passed yesterday 55%-45%.

Moderation Back On

2008-02-06T09:04:00.001-06:00

I turned off comments moderation last night to allow people to post comments about the election results without waiting for me to review and approve them. Unfortunately, a few ignorant comments slipped through.

I'm not planning to go through each post and delete them, but I have turned moderation back on. So when you submit a comment it will not immediately post on the site. I have to review them before they post. That may be a few minutes or a few hours. Just depends on how soon I get to it. Thanks to my iPhone (the coolest gadget ever), I don't have to be in front of my computer to update the site. So be patient.

This may slow things down a bit, but hopefully it will make for more civil discussions.

Obama Won 62% of County

2008-02-06T08:09:00.000-06:00

St. Louis County Results

In Lacy Clay's 1st Congressional District (north St. Louis County):

DEMOCRATS
BARACK OBAMA . . . . . . . . . 62,264 (68.54%)
HILLARY CLINTON . . . . . . . . 27,323 (30.08%)

REPUBLICANS
JOHN MCCAIN. . . . . . . . . . 8,922 (38.40%)
MITT ROMNEY. . . . . . . . . . 7,639 (32.88%)
MIKE HUCKABEE . . . . . . . . . 4,994 (21.49%)
RON PAUL. . . . . . . . . . . 1,069 (4.60%)
RUDY GIULIANI . . . . . . . . . 217 (.93%)
FRED THOMPSON . . . . . . . . . 183 (.79%)

In Russ Carnahan's 3rd Congressional District (south St. Louis County):

DEMOCRATS
BARACK OBAMA . . . . . . . . . 23,600 (55.63%)
HILLARY CLINTON . . . . . . . . 17,888 (42.17%)
JOHN EDWARDS . . . . . . . . . 675 (1.59%)

REPUBLICANS
JOHN MCCAIN. . . . . . . . . . 8,988 (43.39%)
MITT ROMNEY. . . . . . . . . . 6,957 (33.58%)
MIKE HUCKABEE . . . . . . . . . 3,519 (16.99%)
RON PAUL. . . . . . . . . . . 840 (4.06%)
RUDY GIULIANI . . . . . . . . . 168 (.81%)
FRED THOMPSON . . . . . . . . . 134 (.65%)

OBAMA WINS MISSOURI!

2008-02-06T01:10:00.000-06:00

Call it the "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline of the 21st Century. The Associated Press called the state of Missouri for Hillary Clinton around 10:30 PM.

NOT SO FAST!

As more precincts came in it became clear this was going down to the wire. By 11:00, Barack Obama was within 5,000 votes. After midnight, results showed Obama winning by about 9,000 votes.

With 3,357 of 3,371 precincts reporting, Obama leads Clinton 403,343 votes to 394,566. That's 49.1% to 48.1% .

Wow.

Obama, McCain Win St. Louis City

2008-02-05T20:59:00.000-06:00

With 20% of precincts reporting, PubDef.net is projecting that Barack Obama (D) and John McCain (R) have won the City of St. Louis.

Now we're heading to the Obama Watch Party at The Moolah...

Missouri County Reporting Map

2008-02-05T20:32:00.000-06:00

The Secretary of State's office has gone all Wolf Blitzer on us.

Check out Robin Carnahan's cool new "Situation Room"-esque county reporting map (refreshed every 2 minutes, no less).

http://sos.mo.gov/enrmaps/

County Absentee Results

2008-02-05T20:21:00.000-06:00

12,803 absentee ballots were cast in St. Louis County. Here are the results:

REPUBLICANS
RON PAUL. . . . . . . . . . . 3.69%
FRED THOMPSON . . . . . . . . . 5.65%
MITT ROMNEY. . . . . . . . . . 25.22%
RUDY GIULIANI . . . . . . . . . 7.52%
JOHN MCCAIN. . . . . . . . . . 38.74%
MIKE HUCKABEE . . . . . . . . . 15.85%

DEMOCRATS
HILLARY CLINTON . . . . . . . . 41.83%
BARACK OBAMA . . . . . . . . . 46.16%
JOHN EDWARDS . . . . . . . . . 9.83%

8% In

2008-02-05T20:19:00.001-06:00

With 8% of the vote in in Missouri, Clinton is leading Obama 56%-38%.

St. Louis City and County have not reported yet.