Hennessy's View

Two weeks ago, weeks ago, how many Missouri statewide offices did you expect to flip?  Be honest.

Yes, there are great people running for Governor, Secretary of State, and Treasurer.  And we already have a fine Lieutenant Governor Kinder running for re-election.

But numerous factors, like name recognition, experience, and Jay Nixon’s weird relationship with Republican House leadership, made a major upset unlikely. And no Republicans had stepped up to challenge Chris Koster for Attorney General.

Until Ed Martin jumped into AG race yesterday.

Now, we have a fight.

Ed’s statewide name recognition, familiarity with Jefferson City, and enormous respect among grass roots put every statewide office immediately in play.

But every race will be a dogfight.  Every race will be bruising.  Every candidate will need every possible vote.

That’s why I’m thrilled, giddy, jubilant, proud, and pantingly pleased that the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition has joined the nationwide Election Day Tea Party.

And I’m more thrilled, giddy, etc. that we’re kicking off election season with the 3rd Anniversary Tea Party PLUS 7 Events That Made America America with Dr. Larry Schweikart. 

Friday is Dr. Schweikart, author of A Patriot’s History of the United States.  Larry puts on one hell of a show.  We’ll provde hors d’oeuvres, a free drink, a cash bar, and an After Party.

Saturday is a full day of getting down and dirty with winning some friggin’ elections.  We’ll have training from local and national experts, inspirational talks from Bill Federer and Dr. Schweikart, caucus training, social media training for beginners and experts, and more. We’ve taken care of breakfast AND lunch, so you can focus on the fight.

With four statewide offices now totally in play, we all need to arm our minds with the most important facts to win in 2012.  But wait; there’s more!

In St. Louis’s reconstituted 1st US Congressional District, the indefatigable Martin Baker has a chance to flip a seat that’s been Democrat since the destruction of federalism was only gleam in FDR’s eye.

Plus, we have a Saul Alinsky socialist to evict from the White House!

Please get your tickets now. Tickets for Friday’s event are going very fast, and Saturday’s moving, too.  Once they’re gone, they’re gone—we don’t have room for more.

Remember, Friday and Saturday, February 24 and 25 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Clayton, MO.  Get your tickets here, today.

Still not ready to order?  Watch this.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Ed Martin Jr. of St. Louis has redirected his fire to the Attorney General race, and this is great news for everyone except Chris Koster.

Back when Ed Martin was talking about running for the Republican nod to take on Claire McCaskill, I had another thought.  Well, a bunch of people had another thought: Ed would make an outstanding Attorney General.

*********UPDATE*********

HUGE list of endorsements on Ed’s official press release. 

******************************

I guess I was right.

I wasn’t disappointed that Ed chose to run for Todd Akin’s US House seat. Ed would make a great conservative legislator.  And as I said before, so will Ann Wagner, who can now focus on  . . . whichever Democrat decides to give a concession speech at 7:01 pm on November 6.

But, at this pivotal moment in history, as Attorney General, Ed Martin will be Missouri’s general in the war on Washington abuse.  Here’s why.

First, Ed has used his law license for the good of society, to protect life, to defend the wrongly accused, and to advance his—our—conservative principles.  He’s not a lawyer who’s in it for the money.  I’ve met some of the people he’s helped, and I’ve heard their stories.

In these battles, including a nationally covered battle against Illinois’s criminal Governor Rod Blagojevich, Ed Martin was tenacious, principled, and victorious.

Missouri needs an AG who will fight for the right things. 

Second, Ed understands that the battle for liberty over the next 12 years will be fought between the states and Washington. The states—and only the states—have the Constitutional power and the economic leverage fight Washington and win. 

The Several States vs. US Government will be ugly,long, and painful. [Insert your analogy here.]  Most people will lose their stomach before it’s over. People—even good conservatives—will want to throw in the towel and heel to the Washington monster.

Ed won’t.  He understands that Congress, with its entrenched establishment and elitist snobbery, is as close to a lost cause as you’ll find.  He wants to be one of 50 state attorneys general who, with their governors and secretaries of state, beat Congress into submission.(I said “ugly.”) 

Ed Martin has a clear path to take on turncoat Democrat Koster in November.  That fight begins today. When Ed prevails in November, Missouri will have an Attorney General who actually has read and understands the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution—and a man who’s smart to know it matters.

Previously on Hennessy’s View about Ed Martin:

Give Me 5 Minutes, And I’ll Give You a New Friend

Name the One Tea Partier in the Race

11 Minutes of Exactly What We’re Talking About

Popularity: 2% [?]

When Jay Nixon decided to ignore the voters, ignore the Missouri Constitution, and ignore the power of the legislature, he spit in our faces. But why?

Maybe because his special session is failing. 

Maybe because, to save the centerpiece of that legislation, House Speaker Steve Tilley needed protection from the grass roots. 

Maybe because Jay Nixon is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg and doesn’t give a hoot about you, your state, your country, or the law.  (H/T to Ed Martin for pointing us to Kinder v. Holden, which makes Nixon’s action illegal.)

Maybe because Nixon believes he has no chance of losing re-election next year. 

Or maybe it’s a combination of these.

In this case, motives count. For that reason, I say we keep our focus on the Missouri legislature, demanding that Aerotropolis remain as the Senate left it. Here’s why.

Governor Jay Nixon is playing games with an Executive Order that would implement ObamaCare exchanges in Missouri without authorizing legislation. His timing seems intentional.  He wants to get the grass roots folks off Tilley’s back so that Tilley and restore Aerotropolis earmarks into the Economic Development bill pending in the Special Session.

This makes sense.  On Tuesday, we learned that Tilley was splitting the Republican House Caucus into 4 groups to use the persuasion of power over Aerotropolis.  (Apparently, Tilley likes to use some aggressive psychological techniques on Tea Party freshmen to get them to comply with his will—or, at least, the will Tilley’s donors.)  Tilley wants to shove into the bill the $300 million the Missouri Senate removed.   (If Tilley’s a conservative, I’m a Hottentot.) 

So, by overriding the Missouri Constitution (by violating Kinder v. Holden) and emasculating the Missouri legislature, Nixon gets $21 million in federal money to hand  out to friends, he gets Aerotropolis funding, and he gets a successful end to his Special Session.  Tilley gets even more mind control over his House reps and whatever goodies are promised to his campaign coffers from the Aerotropolis supporters. 

You and me? We get screwed, of course. 

Popularity: 3% [?]

Fill out this online witness form TONIGHT.

Read this if you have any questions.  Follow the links.

Missouri is considering surrendering its electoral votes to the whims of national popular elections.

STOP IT NOW!!!!!!

Popularity: 3% [?]

And, he’s back.

Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley (R-Perryville) has signed onto legislation designed to circumvent the Electoral College in presidential elections. Like his position on embryonic stem cell research and the national debt, Tilley seems far out of step with Missouri’s Republican base on this. And this guy wants to be Lt. Governor?  Please.

This might be old news to some.

I see that Big Government’s Josie Wales blogged about the national effort last August. But this is the first I heard of it in Missouri, and the first I’d heard that Tilley’s a co-sponsor (h/t Caroline Mueller). As Josie said:

Under the progressive-statist plan to eliminate the electoral college, a state’s popular will would be rejected for the national will.  I cannot think of anything more un-democratic than changing someone’s vote without his consent!  But this is the plan states like Masachusetts now encourage.

Make no mistake: on this issue, Tilley sides with the hardest of the hard left.

The movement’s goal is to get states to require Electors to vote according to the national popular vote instead of the according to the way residents of a state vote.

For example, in 2008, Missouri’s 11 Electors voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin because they won the majority of votes in the state.  Under HB974, which Tilley co-sponsored, those votes would have gone to Barack Obama because Obama won the popular vote.

If the law passed in all 50 states, the electoral college would always be a unanimous vote for the popular vote winner, making the body meaningless.

Direct democracy fails.

The U.S. Constitution guarantees every state a republican form of government.  And as conservative activist Caroline Mueller pointed out privately, if we’re going to do away with the Electoral College, the way to do it is through a Constitutional Amendment, not legislative slight-of-hand. (Caroline says she opposes such an amendment, btw.)

But let’s not do it at all.

Luckily, conservative floor leader Tim Jones (R-Ballwin) and other conservatives in the House will fight against this measure to make Missouri’s electoral votes meaningless.

Team Tilley strikes out again.

P.S.  On our end of the political spectrum, Ed Martin has a State Sovereignty page up.

Popularity: 3% [?]