#23 Scott…..People find time to do the things that are most important to them regardless of whether it’s going to their kid’s ballgames, their friend’s wedding, to church, to a party, etc., or VOTING. Anyone trying to justify why they haven’t voted for 13 years is simply making excuses…..nothing more, nothing less. I don’t believe Olivo made any excuses but…………why should I vote for him considering the fact that he hasn’t taken the time or cared enough to vote EVER.

Maybe all of a sudden he has “saw the light.” Well, I’m from Missouri…..show me. Start voting and taking an interest in our political process and I’ll consider him after he has proven himself. He has not earned my vote. Even though I am an avid Mizzou fan(my son graduated from Mizzou in ‘98), that has no bearing whatsoever on his running for congress.

i guess my main complaint about this blog post is that there is no mention of the man’s political affiliation. i no longer live in stl, but check the ’spatch regularly, so i didn’t know who he was or that he was running for the house seat.

nick, first time I’ve ever agreed with you about anything. Russ Carnahan did have experience before lucking into Congress–but that doesn’t hide the fact hat he’s a total dimwit.

As a (R) I take a lot of offense to Olivo running for Congress without ever having an interest in politics before now. I know there are a lot of (D)s posting comments on this, but you have to realize that Danie Moore has more experience and a better base than Olivo at this point. If he really wanted to be a part of the political process he would have at least voted municipal election in the past year, the non-voting is inexcusable. He doesn’t have the credentials, the records, nor the support of a good portion of the (R)s in Mid-MO. This is a non-issue with an individual who thought that being a Congressman would be cool, nothing more and nothing less. He will be out of the election by Mid-June, tops.

I would never vote for someone who has never participated in the process. Obviously Vaughn would vote for a red dog as long he is a republican. What are Olivo`s credentials beside being a has been football player. All glam and no glitter.

I really don’t care either way about his not voting. I don’t live in the 9th and can’t vote for him anyway.

I do know that the guy has traveled a great deal, even living abroad for several years. That may not be a good enough excuse, but it explains why he may not have voted.

In Jake’s story, he mentions that Olivo was attending a funeral in Arizona the day before the primary. Don’t know if he intended to vote or not, but I don’t think he had any control over the timing of Larry Smith’s death. Being a journeyman NFL player doesn’t lend much consistancy to where you live either. Many college students don’t vote either.

I find it ironic that the same folks that are up in arms over “football star” Olivo running were the same ones tickled to death of the thought that Corby Jones might throw his hat in the ring as a Democrat.

Again, I don’t care one way or the other whether the guy voted once or 100 times. It’s up to the voters in the 9th to decide if that is important to them.

To Scott or anyone else that thinks that voting doesn\’t matter:

I am a 21 year old and in 2006, when I could vote for the first time, I jumped at the opportunity. This is the first presidential election in which I can participate and voting in the primaries was maybe one of the most fulfilling things I have done. I watch and read the news constantly, keeping myself up on the issues, and because I honestly care, I would never THINK of not voting. I would be able to name several issue that would be key to my platform and Olivo has yet to name one… shameful. I take my citizenship seriously and it\’s sad that someone would ask for my vote who, at 10 years my senior, has only recently embraced its meaning. Get real, Brock.

Once again, Amazedbythelunacy, doesn’t get it. It’s not a democrat or republican thing. It’s so much larger than that. For the party hacks it is nothing more than a democrat or republican thing. Great posting, Liz. It’s because of young people like you that I believe there is hope for our country!!

I live in the 9th and will not be voting for Mr. Olivio. I have a few simple questions to ask the candidates;

1 What is your position on Trade Agreements (NAFTA, CAFTA, FTAA etc.)? Do you think it’s fair that China is allowed to put a 25% tariff on cars imported to China from the USA, while we only put a 2.5% tariff on cars imported to the USA from China? Do you think it’s fair that Korea sold over 700,000 cars and trucks in the USA in 2006 while the entire rest of the world sold less than 6,000 cars and trucks in Korea?

2 What is your position on Employee Free Choice Act? Shouldn’t workers be allowed to use the same democratic process to vote for the right to have collective bargaining that this nation was founded on?

3 What is your position on health care? If national heath care is ok for Iraq and every other industrialized nation, not to mention every member of Congress and the Senate why is health care not good enough for every American?

4 One last question, what is your position on illegal employers? For every illegal worker there is an illegal company that hires them. Do you have any plans to stricly enforce laws to protect legal American workers from these illegal employers?

The Olivio thing is embarrassing.. for further embarrassment, check out the youtube clip of Brock doing an interview with Jason Rosenbaum of the Columbia tribune. This is sure to be a classic, with BO saying he’s a “republican for now” who is qualified for the seat because “I took a government class.” Oh, and just wait till you hear his “platform”.