In Missouri, Swing Voters Will Play Key 2004 Role

[Panono]

The candidate who carries Missouri has won the White House in every election in the last century except in 1956, when the state backed Democrat Adlai Stevenson over the winner, Republican Dwight Eisenhower.

The urban areas of St. Louis and Kansas City are heavily Democratic and more rural regions lean Republican, leaving Missouri's suburbs as the ultimate toss-up. Bush narrowly carried Missouri by three percentage points over Democrat Al Gore in 2000.

Both campaigns and their supporters have plastered the state with political ads and are working to build organizations to get out the vote in November.

"Missouri has a little of everything, it's where the East meets West and the North meets South," said David Robertson of the University of Missouri in St. Louis. "And it's dead even right now just like the rest of the country."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=615&ncid=696&e=8&u=/nm/20040711/pl_nm/campaign_missouri_dc

[Art_from_Ark]

1. One reason why bu$h carried the state in 2004

was because of all the screw-ups they had in St. Louis and Kansas City which kept thousands of people from voting.

[Racenut20]

2. Is it St Charles county?

Just outside St. Louis? Would determine Missouri, and thus determine the election?

[Leados]

3. St. Charles County

Is big, but I think the suburbs as a whole will DEFINITELY decide Missouri's color on the ol' map. Luckily, the "I hate gay people" amendment (gay marriage amendment) is on the ballot in August, NOT November. Most of the conservatives I know from Missouri don't like Bush either. I think there'll be a significant number of them staying home on election day; possibly enough to swing the election.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. I don't know if it occurred in St. Charles Co., but

I remember seeing pictures of people in the inner cities of KC and StL who had been waiting for hours to vote but were turned away, after some screwy ruling that said it was more important to close the polls at 7:30 (or whenever) than to let people vote.

You can be sure that the Dubya votes in those crowds would have been few and very far between.

[catmandu57]

4. Take heart people,

I know of many people who are registering and voting for the first time in their life, just to get the moron* out of office. Also, I know many people who voted for the idiot* in 2000 who feel awfully bad now, they won't be making the same mistake twice.
The burbs around KC have been hit hard by layoffs, these farmers up here I've written off, but I do them every election, they play follow the leader, joe shmo has 10,000 acres and good ole joe votes reptile, so the little guys do as well. Afterwards, ole joe comes out pretty good but, they get screwed, so cheney them, they get what they deserve.

[TahitiNut]

6. July 8: 46% Kerry, 48% Bush*, 4% Nader

Survey USA Poll
http://www.electoral-vote.com/

[Terran]

7. The Kerry campaign is non-existent in conservative Mid MO

I see lots of Bush-Cheney stickers here, but Kerry stickers are a rarity. I called the State party here in the Capitol last week to see if they had any bumperstickers to give away and they didn't, and moreover seemed downright apathetic about it. Those morons piss me off so much...it takes ordinary Dems us to get anything done.

[MadHound]

8. Its not quite as bad as all of that dirk

Here in Columbia, we have a solid bastion of liberal voters and politicians for Kerry. Word has been getting out, signs are on the streets, and once again Boone County will go for the Democrats. Out in the surrounding counties, disgust with Bush could very well mean either a bunch of conservatives staying home, or voting Kerry. I live in Callaway County(very conservative, only rejoined the Union ten years ago), and many of my normally conservative neighbors are going to be going for Kerry. Disgust with the borrow and spend tactics of the Bush administration, plus the disgust with the Patriot Act is prompting a lot of people to reacess their support of the boy king.

[Trajan]

9. In Springfield ....

an AMAZING thing: Kerry stickers outnumber Bush stickers TEN TO ONE ! ...

I moved here from CA last december, and expected SOLID republican support, but the Democratic party scene in Springfield is vibrant and quite potent ... just last week: one of my neighbors was out scraping his old 'Bush/Cheney2000' bumpersticker off his pickup, and did not replace it with a new one .... There are NO Bush/Cheney yard signs anywhere ....

[MadHound]

10. Wow! That is amazing

Considering that Springfield is a solidly conservative area, in the Ashcroft sense of insane conservatism. That's great news, hopefully the follow through will be there in November.

I spent four years in Springfield in the mid-80s, and have been back a number of times since. Always been rabidly right wing due to the hold the religious institutions have on the town(world headquarters of Assemblys of God, etc.). To see it start to swing left is great news, and long past due. Perhaps it is because of the influx of out of towners such as yourself. Lord knows, that town has grown beyond all bounds, urbanized all the way down to Nixa and Wilson's Battle Creek:eyes:

Keep it up down there friend, if the Dems control all four big cities, this state's going Dem in '04!

[catmandu57]

11. REALLY

Damn, thats assmunch country down there. I spent some time down there in the eighties and hated it, they're the chenying bible belt buckle there.

[Terran]

13. I find that hard to believe

Not disputing what you've actually seen, but unles some really amazing transformation has taken place, Springfield is RW Central. I know there *are* progressives down there because I have contact with some of them via my job, but overall, I think they are still in the minority.

[Trajan]

14. I can only relate what I have seen ...

And I have seen TEN TIMES as many Kerry stickers as Bush stickers ... hardly scientific, but 'reliably' anecdotal ...

[Terran]

12. Columbia is a given for the Dems

But it's a liberal island in a sea of conservatism. I can't speak for the surrounding counties, but I don't see much pro-Kerry swell in Cole county among republicans. This despite the fact that the state had to lay off hundreds of employees last year, an unprecedented event.

All I'm saying is, the state Dem organization, at least here in Jeff City, is lackadaisical and incompetent. The guy I talked to really didn't sound like he gave a crap about the national election.