Tommy Sowers is a fourth generation Missourian, a decorated war veteran and he raised $205,000 in his first quarter. At first appearance he has the makings of a contender, but closer inspection reveals a remarkably duplicitous candidate and a political disaster just waiting to happen.
For reference: Jo Ann Emerson out-raised him in Missouri by an almost three to one margin.
Warning Sign #2: The Big Populist Contradiction
Sowers has claimed at various points that he’s running because of the poor economic state of the 8th District. He doesn’t have any solutions, but apparently his brand of populism is very popular with New York financiers.
Sowers raised $51,575 from investors and bankers. Add another $17,750 from realtors and developers and another $13,465 from lawyers.
Sowers claims he’s trying to run for the ‘common man’, but his campaign is being bankrolled by wealthy out-of-state donors. There’s a major disconnect here that’s beyond explanation, and it’s reason number two to start thinking of him as Tommy Two-Tones. Sowers isn’t even trying to reach out to people in the 8th District, does he really expect them to vote for him?
For reference: In the last four elections, Jo Ann Emerson won with more than 70% of the vote. If he doesn’t understand why she’s so popular, he doesn’t understand the district, or its voters.
Warning Sign #3: Where Are the Policies?
His campaign is uniquely light on substance: he hasn’t articulated a single policy since starting his campaign. At some point he might have to get around to doing that, but based on what we know so far we’re not looking forward to it.
In October, he told the Rolla Daily News he was going to take thirteen months to study Cap-And-Tax. In other words, he isn’t going to form an opinion on one of the country’s most important legislative issues until after the election.
We’re all for studying the issues (who isn’t?) – but if you can’t keep up with the legislative process, what good are you? At his pace he’d never vote on a single piece of legislation.
All we know is that his New York financial industry donors have a major interest in seeing Cap-And-Tax passed. As Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recently told the Wall Street Journal, if passed Cap-And-Tax “could quickly become the world's largest commodities market, growing to as much as $3 trillion by 2020 from just over $100 billion today."
Apparently they know something the 8th District doesn’t, since they were willing to give him over $50,000. The song Sowers is singing to them must be very different than the one 8th District voters are hearing.
Tommy Sowers has a serious political identity crisis. The guy doesn’t even have any policies yet, but whenever he claims to stand for something, he turns around and does the opposite. Tommy Two-Tones it is.
Our thoughts? If he doesn’t want to deal with the 8th District and its voters, he should move to New York where all his supporters are.
For something to listen to while you read, we recommend this:
Warning Sign #1: Anemic Support in Missouri
Sowers, a Democrat, has tried to emphasize his Missouri heritage and attack Jo Ann Emerson for being more attached to D.C. than the 8th District. It looks like a conventional, if uninspired, strategy right until you see his fund-raising numbers. Then it just looks crazy.When Tommy Sowers went searching for donors, he didn’t go to the 8th District or even Missouri. He only raised $36,200 from Missouri residents. Compare that to nearly $60,000 coming from New York.
The Sowers campaign had the audacity to brag that it raised money in 37 states. For a candidate who is stumping on his Missouri heritage and being a ‘political outsider’, why is he spending so much time fund-raising in New York City? Add all the time he’d have to spend in D.C. as a Congressman and it’d be a wonder if he ever came home at all.
For reference: Jo Ann Emerson out-raised him in Missouri by an almost three to one margin.
Warning Sign #2: The Big Populist Contradiction
Sowers has claimed at various points that he’s running because of the poor economic state of the 8th District. He doesn’t have any solutions, but apparently his brand of populism is very popular with New York financiers.
Sowers raised $51,575 from investors and bankers. Add another $17,750 from realtors and developers and another $13,465 from lawyers.
Sowers claims he’s trying to run for the ‘common man’, but his campaign is being bankrolled by wealthy out-of-state donors. There’s a major disconnect here that’s beyond explanation, and it’s reason number two to start thinking of him as Tommy Two-Tones. Sowers isn’t even trying to reach out to people in the 8th District, does he really expect them to vote for him?
For reference: In the last four elections, Jo Ann Emerson won with more than 70% of the vote. If he doesn’t understand why she’s so popular, he doesn’t understand the district, or its voters.
Warning Sign #3: Where Are the Policies?
His campaign is uniquely light on substance: he hasn’t articulated a single policy since starting his campaign. At some point he might have to get around to doing that, but based on what we know so far we’re not looking forward to it.
In October, he told the Rolla Daily News he was going to take thirteen months to study Cap-And-Tax. In other words, he isn’t going to form an opinion on one of the country’s most important legislative issues until after the election.
We’re all for studying the issues (who isn’t?) – but if you can’t keep up with the legislative process, what good are you? At his pace he’d never vote on a single piece of legislation.
All we know is that his New York financial industry donors have a major interest in seeing Cap-And-Tax passed. As Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recently told the Wall Street Journal, if passed Cap-And-Tax “could quickly become the world's largest commodities market, growing to as much as $3 trillion by 2020 from just over $100 billion today."
Apparently they know something the 8th District doesn’t, since they were willing to give him over $50,000. The song Sowers is singing to them must be very different than the one 8th District voters are hearing.
Tommy Sowers has a serious political identity crisis. The guy doesn’t even have any policies yet, but whenever he claims to stand for something, he turns around and does the opposite. Tommy Two-Tones it is.
Our thoughts? If he doesn’t want to deal with the 8th District and its voters, he should move to New York where all his supporters are.
Tommy picked the wrong year to run. If you go back through his campaign site, you see he bought the domain in 2007, and it's being hosted and run by bluestatedigital, the Obama campaign's digital firm, and now a big provider for many Democrats.
If you wanted to make a clear statement that you're a tool of Democrats who were looking for a soldier to run in a red congressional district, you couldn't be more obvious.
Posted by: Jim Durbin | October 26, 2009 at 01:51 PM
Also according to his website, he's currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. This is one of the elite groups who are determined to plunge our nation even further into socialism and a "New World Order" of total globalism and loss of sovereignty and freedom.
I'm no fan of Emerson since she voted for that banker bailout last year, and a slew of other bad bills before and since, but this guy is very bad news.
If you're interested in maintaining your freedom and liberty in the 8th district, check out Bob Parker at http://www.electbobparker.com/ He'll be running against Emerson in the republican primary. He's the real deal for a Constitutional candidate.
Posted by: Lewis Hall | October 27, 2009 at 02:29 PM