We’ve all heard the saying, “With friends like that, who needs enemies?”
Readers are left with that impression after perusing several of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch endorsements for the August 7 primary.
Two in particular stand out: the newspaper’s respective endorsements of Democrat Russ Carnahan for the 1st Congressional District, and Republican Todd Akin for the Republican nomination for Senate.
The newspaper wrote a stinging review of Carnahan's and Clay’s years in Congress, basically saying that neither has done anything too impressive in Washington, D.C. What was more disturbing is the fact that the endorsement hinted that both were there because of their last names, not because they truly earned their seats in Congress.
When Mayor Francis Slay runs for yet another term in spring 2013, we’ll see if that last-name stigma is still part of the newspaper’s political judgment.
In a true lesser-of-two-evils approach to its endorsement, the Post sided with Carnahan but included a list of reservations—enough to make you consider a Republican candidate in the general election, quite frankly.
A Democratic operative not involved with either campaign tells me that tracking polls have Clay comfortably ahead in the primary.
Whether or not Carnahan’s endorsement from the city’s lone daily newspaper carries any weight will be hard to judge, especially if Clay does retain his seat, which is almost guaranteed if he wins the primary.
Clay responded to the Post’s choice by telling the St. Louis American that the Post editorial board has no African-Americans and no credibility, as a result.
In the tight battle for the Republican nomination for Senate, the Post gave its nod to Akin, not because its editorial board agreed with anything he said the day he met with its representatives or because of his actions while serving as a Congressman. The newspaper concluded that he really believes the stuff he says.
You know what you are getting with Akin? Something that the newspaper apparently could not bring itself to say about Akin's opponents, John Brunner and Sarah Steelman. The newspaper trashes multi-millionaire Brunner for trying buy the nomination, and it basically calls Steelman a political lightweight.
Akin seems to have won the Post's endorsement by default. We’ll see if he trumpets this event on radio or television commercials in the next week.
My predictions? I think Clay and Steelman will win the nominations. I also think the region was better off when there were two daily newspapers, and radio stations endorsed candidates as well.
Commentary by Alvin Reid
