Saturday, February 10, 2007

Former independent candidate addresses Nodler bill

Kim Wright, Joplin, who lost in her quixotic independent bid to win the 32nd District State Senate seat from Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, is speaking out against Nodler's spiteful legislation that would place even more obstacles in the path of independent candidate.
In an op-ed piece in the Sunday Joplin Globe, Ms. Wright says:

Independents do not have the status or support of an organized party. Often Independent candidates choose to run at the request of local voters who want a voice in their government. Sometimes they run in response to having undesirable candidates in the two major parties. Senate Bill 409 will likely limit voter choices in upcoming elections.



As far as I can tell, Ms. Wright's letter is the first mention the Joplin Globe has had of this legislation.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once again, the problem with Wright's argument is that she was a Democrat, with backing from the Democrat party, running as an independent. She misrepresented herself in an attempt to gain additional votes. If she was truly independent then why would she have accepted Democrat money?

Donations to Wright as listed in a Oct. 15, 2006, post by Randy:
Hillary Clinton Democratic Women's Club, Joplin, $325; Jasper County Democratic Committee, $300; Kevin Bussey, Neosho, $250; Missouri Federated Women, Springfield, $100; Dade County Democrats, Greenfield, $100; Shirley Bussey, Neosho, $250; Joseph Cowen, Joplin, $325; Sue Cowen, Joplin, $325; Elliott Denniston, Webb City, $500; John Fraire, Kirksville, $150; Dorothy Fulks, Webb City, $650; Herndon, Snider & Associates, Joplin, $250; Wendy Istas, Joplin, $140; Rob Lasswell, Neosho, $300; Janice Leeper, Joplin, $130; and Donna VanOtterloo, Joplin, $150.

In the end, she was pretty pathetic. She had the support of Democrats without the stigma of the party's tag, faced an unpopular incumbent and still lost. Big.

Anonymous said...

In other words, she was a phoney and quite possibly a fraud...certainly not an poor independent that doesn't have a main stream party to fund her.

Looking forward to the passage of that spiteful piece of legislation - SB 409

Anonymous said...

I don't understand your logic. Other party people, in history, have ran as independents, what's the big deal? A democrat didn't run, and that party supported someone that did. Get over yourself. The Independent party isn't a huge money grubbing batch of sociopaths whose current representative is Nodler. The Independent party may not have won, but the battle FROM OUR END was fought ethically and responsibly and we are proud of that.

Kim's letter was dead on, and if you didn't feel so threatened by it, Mr. Nodler-lover, then you would not blog in at all. You only prove the point every time you blog. Normally, I try to ignore you, but I will just say this. The difference between Kim's list of supporters and Gary Nodler's list is this: Kim had INDIVIDUAL people who believed in what she was trying to do and Gary Nodler had businesses trying to buy his vote. Thanks for providing the list, you proved my point for me.

Anonymous said...

The Globe is usually just a PR platform for Blunt, Nodler, Reustman, Richards, and Hunter. Notice how they refuse to investigate special interest connections, yet newspapers in Columbia, Springfield, St. Louis, KC, and around the state have no problem seeing these conflicts. Randy seems to find them while holding down another job. I guess the Globe staff are just the GOP's butt boys.

Anonymous said...

Dear Anonymous 2. This is Anonymous 1. I don't like Nodler and I wish there had been a real alternative. "Independent" isn't a party. It means "unaffiliated." Unaffiliated candidates should not be given an advantage over candidates from parties. Just as candidates from parties should not be given preference over those without.

And candidates who are backed by a party and share the beliefs of a party should not run as an independent in an effort to gain votes. Wright obviously thought she could gain an advantage from running without the Democrat tag.

Anonymous said...

You are correct and the Independent is not a party. Further evidence as to why this bill is inappropriate. The arguement about Kim Wright is over and done. The true issue is what Nodler is trying to accomplish with this bill.

I re-read Kim's article in the Globe and it doesn't say anything about her as a person or a candidate. Address the issue at hand and let the past lie where it may.

Anonymous said...

She was not running as a Democrat. The Democrats sat on their hands and ran no one. I really doubt that the Hillary Clingon Women's Democratic Club would have been giving money to Nodler.

And, as far as being pathetic, she gave Nodler a good run for his money (and he had a LOT). She entered the race late, had little cash compared to Nodler's corporate sponsors, did very little advertising and still made a respectable showing.

Next time she'll win.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with the last blogger.