Saturday, May 21, 2011

How to Defeat Lacy Clay

Let's be honest and face the truth, shall we. Lacy Clay cannot be beat using standard methods. With the new setup for the 1st district, everything leans heavily in his favor. That is, if you think inside the box. For the most part, when people think of trying to dispose Lacy as our representative, they think of an Independent or Republican going one on one in an election. Much like with his father, the results are always the same, Lacy walks away with a generous win.

If we want to change the way the 1st district is represented we must recognize a couple of things:

  1. Unless Lacy does or says something illegal or incredibly stupid, no Republican or Independent is going to beat him in an election.


  2. St. Louis City and parts of North County lean too heavy in favor of Democrats over a Republican.


  3. Lacy has a great support structure in that a majority of the townships and the city are run and controlled by Democrats who want and to a lesser extent need to be liked by Lacy Clay if they want Federal money.


If we want to beat Lacy, we have to do so strategically and recognize that it will take more than 2 years to do so.

The first thing you have to do is cut off his supply line. This can be done in two fashions:

  1. Boycott people that fund Lacy's campaign coffers. Granted a lot of his money comes from unions, but there is a decent share that comes from local corporations that want to stay in good standing with him. Begin boycotting these companies and let them know that you will not do business with a company that supports a politician like Lacy Clay


  2. Remove local politicians that support Lacy Clay and do much of his campaigning for him. This is probably the biggest and hardest part of this overall plan. It is something that will take more than a couple of election cycles, but can do serious damage to his support structure.


It all starts with school boards and city councils. If you are a moderate or conservative and want to see real change, you have to start with your local area and spread out. School board and city counsel representatives are more accessible to the populace. Because of this, they can get the message out in a much more casual and personal fashion than a Congressional candidate. And, they can do it quicker. So, the first thing that has to be done is to get more Republicans or even more anti tax and spend candidates elected into positions of local authority. As these people are in office and bringing about change, they will be able to spring board up as well as inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

Let me reiterate. This is the longest step in taking back control over our local government and eventually the 1st district. It is not something that can be done in 2 or even 4 years. It could take 8 or more years depending upon elections.

The second thing you have to do is keep Lacy honest. This means that we need to hold his feet to the fire every time he does and says something. God knows the media does it to just about every Republican and non line toting Democrat out there. If you know that Lacy is going to be giving a speech, go there and take notes or take video of them. Get it to me or another blogger like Gateway Pundit or Sharp Elbows to name a few. A lot of times candidates will say things that they do not want others to hear when there are no television cameras or reporters there. It is at times like these that you can hear a politician or candidate express their true opinions and that is when you can nail them.

The third thing is probably the hardest to swallow but can help weaken or even remove Lacy Clay and the dynasty he is creating. The third thing is to back a more moderate Democrat(s) while Republicans are found and put into those lower structures. I know it will pain some of you to hear this, but sometimes you can weaken a base more by splitting it. We see it all of the time on MSNBC and such when they try and split Republicans over disagreements on policy. They do everything they can to keep a big happy family for the Democrats because they know splintering the party works and leads to in-fighting and disorganization. So, the best thing to do is to swallow the hard pill support a moderate Democrat who can remove Lacy Clay. If you were to look at the last election primaries and take all of the votes for other candidates, Lacy got nearly 60% of all the votes. Now, imagine if everyone unified together and helped to support a moderate, Blue Dog Democrat. Lacy could be defeated in the primaries. From talking to friends and neighbors who are heavily involved in the local unions, they all express a dislike for Lacy, but support him because he is a Democrat and that is what they are supposed to do. If the unions had another option that they thought could win, many of the people I have talked to think their unions would hold off support until a clear winner is determined or one of their own runs.

Now, I know there are a lot of variables to this. I know that none of this is easy. I know it sounds better to try and throw good candidates up against Lacy but I must say, I hate seeing people like Martin and Robyn put their blood, sweat and tears into taking on this man and be swatted away like a fly. We must remain vigilant and look at this like a war. In war you have to cut off supply lines, have strategic bases, ground level leadership and sometimes make your enemies enemies your friends. If we do this, we can beat Lacy.

What do you think?

Monday, May 9, 2011

Homeschoolers - Do you know about Leftovers, Etc?

As many of my readers know, my wife and I ventured into homeschooling in the not too distant past. We love it. We love the way we have connected with the educational process with our children. We love that we can determine the time and speed our children need to grasp subjects. We love that we are involved in the day to day process of educating our children. We are not indoctrinating them, we are educating them. We are teaching them in the way we thing they should be taught and are able to adjust our schedule based upon their interest and how well they are understanding and retaining what is being taught. It was with great joy that my wife and I were referred to this wonderful place that caters to the homeschooling community.

Leftovers, Etc. is a wonderful place for homeschoolers. It is a non for profit 501C based out of St. Charles, MO. This place is dedicated to supplying children and educators many of the basics needed for creative learning by providing surplus resources. These are things donated by businesses, industry and individuals within the community that are committed to the development of children in the fields of education and the arts. Put basically, it is like the biggest thrift store that you will find with recycled items or all types that can be used for teaching. For example, you can find Styrofoam egg cartons that you can use for painting trays. Baby food jars and bottles that you can use for storage or to hold bugs for homemade bug colonies. There are a lot of other things and all at very reasonable prices.

It is not just great for the resource center, but it also great for their enrichment programs. Leftovers offers several classes, some of which are recurring, while others are monthly. An example of their schedule can be found HERE.

The other big reason that we really like Leftovers is because it is common sense green. As you all may know I am big into sensible green technology. This is just a sensible method of being green and practical recycling. Any chance to support being green and recycling, I think, is smart.

So, if you get a chance, check out Leftovers, etc. Even if you are not a homeschooler, they are well worth checking out. You can find more information on them including their hours, directions and much more by going to their website HERE.