Ed Martin’s next move: A run for Congress?
Ed Martin
Peripatetic Republican lawyer Ed Martin has served as former Gov. Matt Blunt’s chief of staff, an aide to the Archdiocese, leader of a push to keep Anheuser-Busch in American hands, and head of the St. Louis Election Board, not to mention his turn as a columnist for various local publications.
His next title: Candidate for Congress?
Last week, Martin formed a campaign committee to run for the U.S. House seat currently held by St. Louis Democrat Russ Carnahan.
In a letter to the FEC dated July 20, Martin said he is in the “testing the waters” phase of his candidacy. In a statement today, he said he took the formal step towards running after conversations with friends and neighbors.
“I have always stood up for what I believe in and I’m considering running for Congress to make a difference by standing up for our neighbors and fellow citizens in the district,” said Martin.
Martin, who lives with his wife in south St. Louis, has embraced the city with a convert’s zeal since moving from his native New Jersey. Among his many hobbies is running a website dedicated to getting former Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog into the Hall of Fame.
That might be easier, though, than getting elected as a Republican in the district represented for years by Democratic stalwart Dick Gephardt.
Martin will likely use the next several months to gauge GOP interest, and see if there are enough willing donors to fund a campaign.
Either way, Martin appears poised to tap into the angst directed at Carnahan by “Tea Party” followers and other conservative groups.
Martin has recruited as his treasurer Randy McArthur, who recently used the electronic marquee at his family’s bakery to target Carnahan’s stance on cap-and-trade legislation
I greet this news with mixed emotions.
On the plus side: “Rubberstamp Russ” Carnahan deserves to lose his seat to a Republican. (Congressional Quarterly’s presidential support ratings show that Russ has voted with Obama 100% of the time, more than any other congressman in the country, even Lazy Clay.) Martin qualifies as a serious, qualified contender.
The downside is the effect that a serious challenge to Rubberstamp Russ would have on MO’s US Senate contest. The 3d district is much more Democratic today than the district Gephardt represented. Toppling RR is a longshot. But a serious challenge would cause Dems to respond with a serious GOTV effort that would also hurt Republican chances of keeping Kit Bond’s senate seat. Adding to the Dems’ filibuster-proof 60-40 senate majority is worse than giving RR a pass for his house seat.
Besides, redistricting may take care of Carnahan before 2012. If MO has to lose a seat (as projected), it might as well be RR’s.
“moving from his native New Jersey”
Anybody know ‘What exit?’
I still don’t understand why we keep electing Russ Carnahan. He operates like a California Democrat, and I haven’t come across much in Jeff County that reminds me of people that would look for that kind of representation.
I haven’t voted for many Republicans in my life, but I just can’t vote for Russ Carnahan to represent me in anything- especially with the way government is behaving these days.
Randy
Why no mention of the $1.2 million in state tax dollars Martin wasted trying to defame an innocent state employee? Why no mention of the made up meetings he said he had with Ameren officials in an attempt to defame Governor Nixon?
Martin is a liar and a scumbag. If this is the best Republicans can do then Russ Carnahan will be Congressman for the rest of his life.
Rep. Russ Carnahan is CAGW’s July Porker of the Month
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) its July Porker of the Month. Rep. Carnahan, who was caught on videotape by a vigilant citizen blogger at a town hall meeting held at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, who posted the remarks on his website and on YouTube, grossly misrepresented the costs associated with the controversial healthcare reforms bills currently under consideration in Congress. His statements were so patently false that when members of the audience reacted with disbelief and loud guffaws, he instantly became the public face of those in Washington, D.C. who are willing to blurt out anything they think will mask the reality of this heinous reform plan to try to slip it by taxpayers.
Rep. Carnahan first stated that “The overall cost of the package has been estimated at about $1 trillion over ten years. About half of that comes from savings and efficiencies in the system,” a statement which drew derisive chuckles from a skeptical audience. He then compounded his verbal misery by asserting that “The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) most recently came out and analyzed the current plan and said that it was not only debt neutral, which has been one of the important factors of the President and congressional leaders, but also that over 10 years it would create a $6 billion surplus,” a statement which was both demonstrably false and elicited loud guffaws. In fact, on June 15, a month before these remarks, CBO estimated that the Kennedy-Dodd bill would increase the deficit by $1 trillion over 10 years. On July 16, four days before Rep. Carnahan’s comments, CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf told the Senate Budget Committee that every healthcare reform bill would increase costs, not reduce them.
Rep. Carnahan’s behavior seems to be part of a pattern. Democrats in the House seem to be willing to say anything to misdirect taxpayers. For example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the legislation’s head cheerleader, said during the week of July 10 that “all of the cost of the healthcare reform bill can come from squeezing more savings out of the system;” soon thereafter she came out in favor of a $544 billion tax increase to finance healthcare reform. The President has said that he would only support a bill that is deficit neutral, and that reforms should mirror “what members of Congress are getting through the federal employee plan.” Yet he seems to be pushing for a bill that would not meet any of those criteria.
For his memorable walk-on cameo appearance in this political Comedy of Errors and his significant contribution to the unbridled bloviation emanating from Washington, most of which has been long on spin and short on facts, Rep. Russ Carnahan is CAGW’s July Porker of the Month.
Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090729006010&newsLang=en
Ed Martin’s next move: A run for Congress
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Only in a Democrat’s dream
oink oink: Carnahan is dumber than a box of rocks, but lucky for him he is a Dem and the PD won’t cover anything he does. They didn’t cover FOPOCOCO or the Dave McArthur dust up. The PD is shameless. Gee, I wonder if they will be endorsing Robin?