St. Louis voters go to the polls Tuesday. It’s a no-brainer for Progressives to support Lacy Clay for re-election. Clay has led on police reform, writing parts of the Democratic bill that Moscow Mitch keeps sitting on. Clay also has never failed during the long struggle to enact what is now known as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Clay played a key role in attracting the new HQ for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to St. Louis’s North Side on the ancient ruins of the notorious Pruitt-Igoe housing project. It’s the most significant economic development the area has seen since World War 2.
Clay is challenged by former Sanders Campaign activist Cori Bush, who also ran against Clay two years ago losing by 20 points. Bush has plenty of energy and I don’t have anything good or bad to say about her. The problem is that she has run a divisive, wasteful campaign. In her TV ads she has blamed Clay for causing the economic decline of St. Louis. That is absurd. Bush also blames Clay for everything from police violence to high unemployment. Clay is supported by Planned Parenthood Action and virtually all of the major area unions.
There is a place for these sort of progressive challengers but St. Louis in 2020 is not the time nor the place for it. Bush has now run for Congress three times (including a long shot Senate bid) , risking becoming the Harold Stassen of the midwest. If she fails again it will be three strikes and in St. Louis that means you are out. 2020 could be a blue wave year with State Auditor Nicole Galloway running neck and neck against maskaphobic Gov. Mike Parson and State Sen Jill Schupp with an even chance to knock out pro-life single issue Republican Ann Wagner in the St. Louis suburbs. The last thing Missouri needs is a nasty internal fight when we need to field a United Team Against Trump. Lacy Clay needs your vote in Missouri.