Let me get this straight … somebody with a completely different first name, and an extremely common last name, is a stalking horse? Sounds to me like Coleman was just worried about coming in 3rd to Slay & Irene Smith.

Filing at the last moment? Yes, I would say she is. And in the extremely remote case that she isn’t, what does this say about her character? This woman came out of NOWHERE. She could have at least announced before the very end.

She is a plant, you can be sure of that. MAIDA Coleman did the right thing by pulling out.

Actually, it sounds like you’re playing dumb just to take a swipe and Maida. Obviously there’s something fishy here. Digging up another black woman candidate with the same last name just makes Slay look petty.

Maida Coleman came up with the so called stalking horse candidate. That way she has an excuse not to run as a democrat. Won’t work. People will know that she isn’t capable of running the or any other city.

who’s surprised? she talked big about running for treasurer four years ago and did nothing. she was going to run against susan montee for auditor and dropped out. she talked about running against mike mcmillan for collector and dropped out. she was angling for a payday like blagojovich and no one ponied up. she’s done.

Hopefully Watson-Wesley Coleman was paid in cash by the “leaders” of the Black community.

Anyone that thinks Slay would waste his time putting another candidate in the race should try out for the jester position on the court Maida is trying to create.

I bet Maida Coleman put Watson-Wesley Coleman in the race so she could get out and save face since she was going to lose badly!! She won’t file as an independent…..mark my words!!

I’m pretty sure Denise is not a Slay plant. She’s been thinking about running for some time now, and in the absence of any other major challengers decided to throw her hat in the race.

It takes Senator Coleman 20 minutes to walk through an open door because she balks at any forward step. Wasn’t she going to run for Missouri state treasurer? Missouri state auditor? And some city office back in St. Louis like license collector?

Now she says she’s running for mayor. Oh, wait, no she isn’t. Wait, it’s someone else’s fault. Girl, please.

Maida: All Talk. All Balk.

Slay will walk the walk.

I tend to agree with Insider, whatever/wherever he/she is inside. Slay is so strong I don’t think more or fewer African-American women in the race would make much difference, as there are two African-American women left standing and there would have been two African-American women in the race if the Senator named Coleman got in and the attorney who did file didn’t do so. I suspect Senator Coleman had something to do with the other lady named Coleman filing. Why? It is allowing Senator Coleman to portray herself as a victim and have gullible reporters buy into that, rather than see herself finish third in the April primary. Thoughtful people just won;t buy it. Maida Coleman is counting on the ranks of thoughtful people being extremely thin in the city. This is an insult to city residents of any race.

Maida Coleman is the embodiment of Winston Churchill’s admonition: “Wars are not won by evacuations.” Ms. Coleman comes right up to the precipice, and then she does not have the guts or the backing or the seriousness of purpose to run. Just more complaining and whining.

In Texas, they call it: “All Hat. No Cattle.”

In St. Louis, it seems more like Bull…

Did all you smart people forget to read to the end of the post? She is not deserting the race, she’s just not running as a Democrat. Which shouldn’t matter to thoughtful people, since being a Democrat in the city means nothing as far as devotion to party principles, it just means you have old school political ties.

Man, I never thought I would say this but I agree with Selwyn! Great summary of the likely turn of events. Several posters have hit on the same thing.

Coleman is never short on talk but comes up way short on accomplishments.

Coleman knew she had no chance to beat Slay and didn’t want to be embarassed as a democrat.

Coleman MAY run as an independent in which case she MIGHT come in second unless the green party people beat her which is a possibility. Either way she can claim that “it was a long shot to win as an independent but her integrity”, snicker, “just would not allow her to run as a democrat with the shennanigans she”, er I mean, “Slay pulled with getting stalking horses.”

OK, now this is strange because I am also agreeing with Selwyn, which may have never happened. I was listening to KMOX and the reporter named Kevin was totally taken in by Maida Coleman portraying herself as a victim of some bizarre conspiracy. If there is a conspiracy, I think Maida Coleman is behind it. In her bizarre thought process, this makes her look like she is taking the high road and “is above all this politics.” In fact she didn’t have support or a chance at the nomination. If she had been a serious candidate, she would have established a campaign committee. I know enough about Maida’s way of doing business to tell you this is typical behavior with lots of big promises and they all go flat.

All of the above postings about Senator Coleman’s REAL reason not for running for mayor may be true. However, I think Senator Coleman realized she would be exposed, as she is in this news story, as complicit in the Neal St. Onge scam to get himself a 60k per year state job as transportation king. This story shows Senator Coleman clearly signed off on this scam. She is playing games to get in tight with Republican crooks like Neal St. Onge and his gang. It is shameful and I hope the media keep on reporting about Senator Coleman’s role in perpetrating this scam. The citizens of St. Louis do deserve better. Transportation and highway projects are so important for our city and we do not need Senator Coleman and her Republican buddies ripping us off in this way. Read the story for yourself to see Senator Coleman’s confirmed role in this crookedness.
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20081229/BLOGS09/81229042/-1/RSS13

If Maida Coleman is part of the St. Onge taxpayer ripoff, she should be ashamed at a time when her constituents are dealing with the stress of Highway 40 closings and Metro’s problems. This kind of insider dealing is exactly why Maida Coleman would be an awful choice for mayor, as a Democrat or an Independent. She would bring these bad practices to a new level of corruption in our city and we cannot abide that. Thankfully the House speaker, a Republican from Joplin, Missouri, saw through her monkey business with St. Onge and is halting this corrupt insider deal. Maida Coleman has a lot to account for in this corruption. It is unfortunate we had to have a Joplin representative call her out on it.

You guys are just silly.

Funny thing, Antonio French is the only one doing any reporting worth a damn on this story, which everyone else just “conveniently” let slip through the cracks. Do I recall someone saying the press was out to get Slay?

From PubDef:
“Wesley Coleman, who briefly served as attorney for the Board of Aldermen, is rumored to be in consideration for a municipal judgeship, which is a mayoral appointment. We’ll be investigating that rumor as well as any other connections between Denise Watson-Wesley Coleman and Francis Slay.”

It would be nice if Jake or anyone at the Post knew what a stalking horse is. I’ve mentioned this before. Do I have to do everything around here myself? A rhetorical question the answer to which is obviously “yes”.
“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A stalking horse is a person who tests a concept with someone, or mounts a challenge against them, on behalf of a Third Party, who remains anonymous. It is a variant on the concept of testing the water(s).

If the idea proves viable and/or popular, the anonymous figure can then declare their interest and advance the concept with little risk of failure. If the concept is ’shot down in flames’, the anonymous party will not be ‘tainted by association’ and can either drop the idea completely or ‘bide their time’ and wait until a better moment for launching an attack.

Origin
The term stalking horse originally derived from the practice of hunting,[1] particularly of wildfowl.[2] Hunters noticed that many birds would flee immediately on the approach of humans, but would tolerate the close presence of animals such as horses and cattle.

Hunters would therefore slowly approach their quarry by walking alongside their horses, keeping their upper bodies out of sight until the flock was within firing range. Animals trained for this purpose were called stalking horses. Sometimes mobile hides are used for a similar purpose.”

No use of the way Jake always used it is mentioned. I’m not judging, just saying. Jake’s use may not be uncommon and no doubt may ultimately be accepted as an alternative meaning, for which no other suitable word (sobriquet?) currently exists to my knowledge. Peanut gallery?

I’m sure the other Coleman’s entry into the race right after Maida a total coincidence; totally! That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Probably decided to run after divine inspiration; I’m sure Slay and his had nothing to do with it. But I’m sure Blogoyevich had a role in it someplace. Not judging, just saying. Unbelievable!

What… Slay is running for re-election? Why? What, does he have some ideas or something? He’s had eight years, for god’s sake. Is something holding it in?

Oh man. I just don’t know what to think. I really think this is repulsive. I’ll probably be voting for Irene Smith now.