Lloyd Smith is one of the brightest GOP strategists in the state. He needs to clean house of the Matt Blunt lackeys currently at the helm in the Missouri Republican Party. Blunt’s ineffective legacy needs to be erased from the MO GOP. Smith is the guy to do it.

It is time to purge the party of hacks, drivers license bureau clerks and 24 year old snot-nosed wannabes. Kinder should recruit real world conservatives who have experience in leadership positions. Being willing to wear silly hats and particiapte in the “trained dog acts” on election night shouldn’t be quaiifiers for leadership positions. Clean house, Peter.

Now that Doug Russell is finally stepping down as Missouri Republican Party chairman, perhaps he can start doing his duty in good conscience as a member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators without viewing every university decision as partisan political and acting accordingly. Doug Russell has done great harm as a Curator to the constitutional independence and long-term well-being of what should be Missouri’s finest public research land grant institution. The appointment of Doug Russell and his fellow Matt Blunt appointees John Carnahan and David Wasinger, who have done all they can to undermine the institution and especially UMSL, is among the most shameful of Matt Blunt’s legacies as governor.

Rich Aubuchon needs to refund taxpayers the money we spent on his legal defense in the Eckersly hit job. Pete Kinder needs to demand this. He will have zero credibility if he doesn’t.

As for Lloyd Smith I hope he gets the job. He ruined Jim Talent and Kenny Hulshof’s careers and I’d love to see him do the same to Pete Kinder.

Old out of touch guys who can’t win the big ones. Keep it up MO GOP!

Their is only one item about Mr. Smith being in charge of the Missouri Republicans that may signal a positive trend. Rep. Emerson has a solid history of taking the best interest of SE Missourians above politics. I am not sure what side of any arguments or discussion was on as her chief of staff. He obviously had the good sense to keep any disagreements with her quiet and private. The Republicans have their work cut out for them. They have been able to scare and fool a lot of people for the past fifteen years. That trend is coming to a slow but necessary end.

I am an old-school Democrat. However, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Lloyd Smith over dinner in St. Louis many years ago when he worked for the late Bill Emerson. Mr. Smith was delightful company in our mixed-politics group. What I liked most was his honesty. He could critique both his own party and the Democrats with equal fervor. Still he never gave an inch in the belief that the Republican way - this was in the Reagan era - was the correct way. He did this with extreme courtesy. He also did not put on a lick of pretense. I felt he had abundant common sense and was immensely likable, even if we might cancel out one another’s votes come November (or perhaps not). That Mr. Smith would break bread with a table that included many Democrats sets him apart from so many of his viciously partisan Republican brethren, who many times will not even say hello.

Is this the best photo you could come up with. It looks like he is ready to burst into flames.