Kraske: Can Obama win Missouri?

every state thinks they're the best bellwether. on top of that, every politician who stops in a state reinforces the myth locally.

let's check back after obama and mccain have had a chance to debate or even formally secure their respective nominations and choose running mates.

I was at the debate and not a single person thought Koster won. So you just totally throw it out that he won because he has a distinctive voice and is nice looking.

The man is a Republican who voted to kick 100,000 people off health care. He had a chance to restorre health care for those folks last year and didn't do it. He voted for photo id, MOHELA, banning the teaching of sex ed in schools, and Blunt's foundation formula which cost the Kansas Coty school system millions of dollars. He was against stem cell research for he cashed out from the stem cell industry. He lied to you when he said he didn't get Molly Williams in the race. But, he does have a great voice.

I think any two bit attorney in this state knows that the attorney general has very little to do with criminal matters. Nixon, Danforth, Ashcroft never were county prosecutors. Does that make Jay a failure. The essence of his candidacy is a charade but of course he won the debate because he has a great voice. Did I mention that he is good looking.

Please be a resposible journalist.

Not a great account of the A.G. debate, Steve. Were we watching the same one?

1) Koster didn't win the debate. He was on the defensive for his Republican voting record, he showed no passion or vision, and he didn't stick around afterward because no family/friends/staff were there to support him - in his own backyard. He ran to his shiny Navigator while Donnelly and Harris shook every hand in the joint. Harris was surrounded by loyal family/friends/staff, and it sounded like several endorsements for him were in the works.

2) He may have a lot of money, but from what I hear, he's going to need it, and still may not have enough. Something tells me that he'll have a tough time defining himself with Harris and Donnelly letting voters know the truth about him...all over the state...from now until August.

3) Have you heard/seen any polling? Oh really - you haven't? Okay then. Enough said.

4) Missouri Democratic Primary voters are smarter and more informed than you or Koster are counting on.

Koster won the debate on substance. He was far and away the most knowledgeable candidate giving specific answers.

Harris and Donnely are nice folks, but if they expect the win the race on why Koster is bad, they should save their money.

People are tired of negative campaigning and neither have enough money to run a statewide negative race and still run a positive mesage to beat the other.

Koster had lots of friends and supporters at the debate. Did you not see Victor Callahan and the other 20+ people wearing Koster lapel stickers?

This is typical Harris & Donnely tactics. It costs very little to send their blog armies out to do the only thing they know how, launch negative attacks.

No matter what you say we will not vote for someone that voted with Matt Blunt to kick 100,000 off health care.

As long as we have closed and narrow-minded voters who base their vote solely on wedge issues, like abortion and stem-cell research, and out-of-touch, delusion voters who vote solely on race, Missouri will continue to be identified as a racist, mostly segregated state. We will constantly be reminded we were the last state to abolish slavery. Based ob that, there is an expectation that Missouri will, once again, "go red". Just consider this, what the heck will all those "bellwether" hacks do if by some miracle Sen. Obama is elected President? Why is it when a Democrat switches to the Republican party, it is viewed as them having some sort of "awakening" and they are embraced by the Repubs, but when a Repub switches to the Dem party, they are mistrusted and have to go through some "dues-paying, proving process. It is so refreshing to have the freedom of being an independent. Sarah Steelman's political ad is laced with so much code and buzz language I have totally dismissed her as a viable candidate. Her ad appeals to that "bellwether" base that is never going to vote for Sen. Obama in the first place. I'm just glad we won't have another term of Baby Boy Blunt. He should probably concentrate his energies on staying out of prison.

As long as we have closed and narrow-minded voters who base their vote solely on wedge issues, like abortion and stem-cell research, and out-of-touch, delusion voters who vote solely on race, Missouri will continue to be identified as a racist, mostly segregated state. We will constantly be reminded we were the last state to abolish slavery. Based ob that, there is an expectation that Missouri will, once again, "go red". Just consider this, what the heck will all those "bellwether" hacks do if by some miracle Sen. Obama is elected President? Why is it when a Democrat switches to the Republican party, it is viewed as them having some sort of "awakening" and they are embraced by the Repubs, but when a Repub switches to the Dem party, they are mistrusted and have to go through some "dues-paying, proving process. It is so refreshing to have the freedom of being an independent. Sarah Steelman's political ad is laced with so much code and buzz language I have totally dismissed her as a viable candidate. Her ad appeals to that "bellwether" base that is never going to vote for Sen. Obama in the first place. I'm just glad we won't have another term of Baby Boy Blunt. He should probably concentrate his energies on staying out of prison.

Koster won the debate? He was the only one on stage you could reasonably say didn't win the debate. I thought Donnelly slightly outperformed Harris, but both made compelling arguments. Koster displayed a depth of knowledge? What about judgment? It's a pretty big error in judgment not to realize Blunt's health care cuts were a bad idea. It's a pretty big error in judgment not to realize which party represents your values. As Attorney General, you don't get the luxury of saying "oops, sorry" when it comes to issues such as enforcing the death penalty. I'm glad he came to his senses and that he's on the right side now, but Chris Koster needs to make up for years of disastrous Republican policies that he helped enact before he can even think about asking for a promotion.