Roy Blunt visited the Republican campaign headquarters this morning here in Clay County. Attending as well was the other US Senate candidate, he who shall not be named by the Republican establishment unless we really have to, Chuck Purgason. My wife and I attended as Chuck Purgason supporters. I am not going to rehash the reasons I am supporting Chuck. You can read that on my endorsement post here on this blog.
I wanted to comment on some specific things. First, this was the first time I have ever heard Mr. Blunt speak in person. If he wins the primary here in Missouri in the Republican party I can and will vote for him. I do have my reservations, but right now, as it stands, I feel there is a candidate out there that would better represent me in the Republican party. The reality is this, if Blunt wins, the choice is between a conservative who has made a few, but critical mistakes, or another vote for Obama with Robin Carnahan. Not my words, that’s what the President said. Mr. President I have had enough of your leftist agenda and you need to be put under control. America and Missouri can’t put up with another Democrat shape shifting Senator like Cousin Claire.
Second, kudos to all Republicans in attendance. There were many faces from politics in the area. As a whole people were very respectful, Mr. Blunt and Mr. Purgason were civil and polite towards one another. Mr. Blunt went as far to say in his short speech that he would support all Republicans in this election. I interpret this as, if he is beat he will get behind Mr. Purgason. I would fully expect, and get the impression that, if Mr. Blunt wins the primary Mr. Purgason will get fully behind Mr. Blunt. I also want to recognize Clay County Central Chair Ben Wierzbicki, he handled the event well and as a supporter of Mr. Purgason’s I felt welcomed into the campaign HQ.
Third, I had the ability to talk with Mr. Blunt one on one about an issue that is important to me. That issue is education. As a teacher I am fully fed up with the involvement of the Federal government inside of our classrooms. No Child Left Behind was something that Mr. Blunt voted for and I have a major problem with that. I first asked him why there was nothing on his website about education. I must admit I made a mistake here, it had been some time since I had last checked his website and somewhere along the way it has been added. You can read it here, Blunt on Education.
It’s the small things that people do some times, and one thing Mr. Blunt did really irritated me. Early in our conversation he attempted to kind of put the whole issue of education to rest by saying that there is a group out there called teachers for Blunt. No offense, but I don’t care. Last time I checked I was an individual and had my own opinions, I do not look to others of my own profession to determine how to think politically. As a matter of fact I don’t do this with anything, I arrive at my own opinions based upon thought and further research. Anyway, I further pushed on Mr. Blunt about NCLB and he did admit that his vote for NCLB was something he regretted and wishes he could go back and change. Ah, if only politics worked that way. He did also say that he was for more local control in education, and that some of his votes reflected this after the passage of NCLB. I have seen one vote for sure that supports this, I would suspect that he is being honest about this. The fact remains the Arne Duncan and Barack Obama education agenda is toxic to public schools in America and we need politicians that are willing to express their concern about Federal involvement in schools. Mr. Blunt seems to agree, I just wish he was more passionate about it. I do appreciate his time and willingness to answer my questions about this issue.
Finally, kudos to KSHB 41 for showing up with a cameraman. It was the only TV media presence in attendance. I don’t have high hopes for the report, but it was nice to see one camera there.