Looking back at our 2010 coverage, we decided to pick five stories that we thought were the most memorable - not necessarily the ones that were the most popular, but the ones we thought best represented some of the political trends of 2010. Not surprisingly they all have to do with some kind of Democrat fail.
Top Story: Ike Skelton
Skelton's political downfall is ultimately a story of a statesman who got out of touch, made a lot of bad votes, and turned into just another politician. Skelton really showed his political stripes when he came up with the worst excuse for voting for cap and trade we've ever heard. As far as out of touch, you can look no further than his plans to attend a state-subsidized film festival featuring alcohol, prime rib and pan seared salmon.
And now the rest, in no particular order:
Tommy Sowers
Tommy Sowers raised a ton of money, got a lot of national attention and completely failed at the polls. It was so bad that ethical questions were raised after the election about whether he misled his donors into thinking he had a shot at winning. But if we had to pick one moment that epitomizes the monumental waste of resources; Sowers was running ads that were virtually identical to a candidate in Tennessee. In the end he wasn't much more than a fraud.
Regional Growth Consultants
In late 2009 we welcomed Regional Growth Consultants to the Missouri political consulting community. From the very beginning, it was clear that they were destined for fail. Their biggest 'oops' moment was messing up Luke Scavuzzo's mail and probably costing him the election as a result, but if we had to pick one story it would be their 93% loss rate.
Robin Carnahan
Sometimes a big campaign fail can be encapsulated in just a tiny moment - like visiting a local business as part of an earned media opportunity, and never bothering to see if the local business owner supported her. Carnahan was a shrill and bitter candidate, and her disappointing behavior after losing showed why Missouri voters made the right decision in rejecting her.
Jason Grill
Jason Grill's epic defeat at the hands of Ron Schieber was one of the most well deserved election outcomes in Missouri. In early 2010, we wrote a story about Grill's terminal case of narcissism, which we think captured his personality just about perfectly. A bonus for post-election fun was hearing about a creepy Jason Grill t-shirt being sold in a thrift store, a poetic and fitting end to his political career.
Jason Grill sent a mass e-mail to the entire staff of Park Hill School District. It was filled with excuses that he only lost by 70 votes and it was the voters fault that he lost. He went on about how Republicans voted for him and how bi-partisan he was. He had a reputation for hitting on the teachers at Park Hill just like after election night at O'Dowd's in Zona Rosa. His first election he won in the 06 Democrat landslide - 08 no competition. Plus Kick Ass Tony KC helped put a nail in his coffin. What a tool - Jason Grill - Good Bye!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Guy White | December 31, 2010 at 12:38 PM
The fraud that is Sowers should be all top five stories. An excellent resume does not an honorable human deing make.
Posted by: lbj | December 31, 2010 at 09:01 PM