Why I Support Jane Dueker for the Democratic Nomination for St. Louis County Executive (with zero reservations)
Why I Support Jane Dueker for the Democratic Nomination for St. Louis County Executive (with zero reservations)
I want a zero-percent chance of another term for the evil Doctor Pagelove
There are two reasons to support Jane Dueker in the Democratic primary.
Jane is not Sam Page.
I like Jane.
That should be enough, but I realize some people need more convincing. So I’ll expand on each point.
Sam Page Is Evil
Sam Page followed the Davos playbook to a T, shutting down thousands of small businesses for no reason besides the obvious: small business owners are hard to control. And Sam Page wants to—craves to—control every human being.
Remember these headlines?
We knew then as we know now that lockdowns do nothing to slow or stop Coronaviruses. (If an idiot like me knew this, you know an esteemed physician like Sam Page knew it, too.) But Page ordered you to stay in your home INDEFINITELY.
Sam Page is who Thomas Jefferson had in mind when he wrote the best line in the entire Declaration of independence:
“[He] sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.”
Page sent the St. Louis County Police to shut down gymns, hair salons, barber shops, churches, and (in a personal assault on me) taverns. He drove hardworking people out of business like a bloody, two-bit tyrant.
But you know what a scum-sucking killjoy Sam Page is. Why would Democrat Jane Dueker be any better?
Jane Dueker Could Have Gone to Epiphany
I graduated from Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Grade School. Epiphany was located on Ivanhoe Avenue in southwest St. Louis, between Smiley and Scanlan Avenues. It was a blue-collar parish of mostly Irish, German, and Italian ancestry sandwiched between The Hill, Dogtown, and Dutchtown. My friends’ dads were union carpenters, pipefitters, machinists, electricians, and sheetmetal workers. The moms who worked were mostly nurses, secretaries, or business managers. And the 63139 zip code, which Epiphany anchored, was about 97% Democrat.
I liked just about everybody who went to Epiphany. I was the weirdo Republican who never felt the slightest disdain or contempt from the hardcore, union Democrats I grew up with. As I aged into my late teens, they saw me as something of a curiosity, but they treated me with almost undue respect. I was sort of their token Republican.
Except for the primacy of unions and whether or not Ronald Reagan would blow up the world on a whim, the Democrats of Epiphany and I disagreed on very little. They were law-and-order, pro-military, and pro-family. They detested illegal immigration, sex outside of marriage, and drugs. They thought Vietnam was a mistake, but that no patriot would say so in public so as not to dishonor the veterans who served there—many of whom where their sons. And, by 1984, most of the adults in my old neighborhood were what we call “Reagan Democrats.”
That’s Epiphany. What about Jane?
I first met Jane in about 2015 when I was invited to Mark Reardon’s “Reardon’s Round Table.” I’d known of Jane long before. Among Republicans, Jane was anathema: ruthless, connected, a vicious lawyer married to a judge, and, according to someone, “Missouri Democrats’ secret weapon.”
With this in mind, I approached the KMOX studios with trepidation. I would be the only conservative panelist facing off against Jane Dueker and another liberal. And Jane is a skilled lawyer. And “vicious,” according to friends of mine. Being a radical Tea Party rabble rouser, I assumed Jane would treat me like a mutt at an AKC show.
But Jane treated me like a long-lost classmate from Epiphany from the moment we walked into the studio. She was kind, friendly, familiar, and complimentary. Jane didn’t go to Epiphany—she’s from the county—but she could have, if you know what I mean. She reminds me of the people I grew up with. She might have been a grade school classmate who made something of herself, as most of my classmates did.
Yes, Jane countered my points on the air. I countered hers (when she’d let me.) That is the point of the Round Table. Two cons (Reardon and guest) and two libs debating or discussing (usually just discussing) issues from differing perspectives.
That was my first appearance. Maybe Jane was just being cordial and she’d kick me to the curb on all future appearances.
Nope. My subsequent appearances received even friendlier welcomes. She knew me and seemed happy to see me. She never held back on disagreements, but she never gave me the impression I was a bad person, in her eyes, for disagreeing. In fact, I suspect Jane would have little to do with a conservative who lied about his beliefs just to appease her. Jane doesn’t need that kind of affirmation. She’s content with disagreeing.
So, I like Jane. I disagree with her on MANY things, but I have no fear that she would send the County Brownies to harass me just because we disagree on an issue. And I have evidence I’m right.
Jane was one of the leading opponents of Page’s lockdowns. She represented businesses who were harmed by Sam Page’s tyranny. She assisted legislators in passing state laws to limit the County Executive’s power. And that it is very telling about Jane’s character.
Jane wants to be County Executive after Jane helped limit the County Executive’s power.
Think about that.
Most Democrats—most Republicans, for that matter—want more power. Jane Dueker wants an office with diminished power. Like Washington refusing to run for a third term, or William F. Buckley saying his first act as mayor of New York City, had he won, would be to “demand a recount.” As a conservative, I like that about Jane.
Jane Dueker has an interest in St. Louis County’s thriving. Though she’s been in politics awhile, but she’s not a career politician. I don’t see her striving for ever-higher office. She’s a realist who knows Democrats in Missouri have a low ceiling. Jane really wants to make St. Louis County better, and that’s a helluva platform, in my view.
I will oppose many of her ideas for how to make St. Louis County better, but I am confident Jane will not impose mask mandates, lockdowns, or other symbols of her power and your impotence.
Finally, I support Jane for the Democrat nomination because I want zero chance of Sam Page. I’m not saying I’ll vote for her in the general election. Rather, I believe that a choice between Jane Dueker and Shamed Dogan would be a real choice with a real win for St. Louis County regardless of the final outcome. St. Louis County—especially St. Louis County business—needs a boost, and either Jane or Shamed would provide one. Another term of the Page would make St. Louis County look like San Francisco without the nice weather.
If you must pull a Democrat ballot on August 2, vote for Jane Dueker for Democrat nominee for St. Louis County Executive. You will give yourself two better choices in November.