Ego is a hell of a thing. It prevents people from seeing the world around them as it is. It has cost Missouri voters before and might just cost the nation now.
In 2016, most polls had Eric Grietens about where he is right now. Conservatives rallied to Peter Kinder, the Lt. Governor. Rush Limbaugh, John Danforth, Dana Loesch, and others supported him. John Brunner got the Gun Owners of America vote, Mike Huckabee, and Rand Paul. Catherine Hanaway got support from Kit Bond, Ann Wagner, and Nikki Haley.
Eric Grietens got a ton of support, but relatively little from big names or Missouri political powerhouses. On primary day in 2016, Grietens received 34.5% of the vote. 65% of Republicans voted for other candidates. But Missouri has no runoff.
The result is that Grietens became Governor after getting just 51% in the general election and had to be run out of office once everyone knew what Dana Loesch had long been pointing out to people — Grietens was a sociopath and a RINO.
Grietens actually took an anti-second amendment stance, echoing the talking points of the anti-gun group Moms Demand Action. He also had been a Democrat until he decided to run.
This year, Grietens is running again for the United States Senate.
Eric Schmitt, the state’s Attorney General who I think would be the best candidate, is battling for second place with Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, who Josh Hawley thinks would be the best candidate.
At this point, one of them has to go and support the other. I don’t care which.
Grietens is repeating his 2016 feat, even with his documented sociopathic reputation. Grietens has about a quarter of the Missouri GOP vote. Three-quarters want someone else. But with the field divided between Schmitt, Hartzler, and two other candidates who have varying levels of support, Grietens is using his hardcore base to win without a runoff.
Concurrently, former Senator John Danforth is rallying an independent candidate for office. John F. Wood is a lawyer for the January 6th committee and is a conservative who worked for Danforth.
Danforth is not happy that Schmitt and Hartzler have not forcefully come out against the stolen election lies. He is deeply unhappy that Grietens is running in first place. If Grietens is the nominee, a lot of Republicans might actually vote for Wood.
That only helps the Democrats and if the Democrats win Missouri, the odds of them keeping the Senate go up.
The Missouri Primary is August 2, 2022. They have some time. But in the next few weeks, if Schmitt and Hartzler cannot shake Grietens out of the top spot, they need to seriously consider whether they want to be responsible for a sociopath winning the race and potentially giving the Democrats a pickup seat.
One of them is going to have to step aside to stop Grietens unless fundamental dynamics change shortly. Grietens needs to be stopped. Sacrificing their own run to stop him might be necessary, but one of the two candidates will have to give up wanting power to keep that power out of the wrong hands.
It’s on them and the history of the Republican Party suggests neither will do what is necessary. Hopefully, history will be proven wrong. Grietens delenda est.
I listened to your heartbreaking description of the cowards at Uvalde and have the following question: even if the US Supreme Court blocks accountability for the police, couldn't people amend their state constitutions to require police to man up or face some consequences?
I concur. Yikes, that would be a disaster for MO.