Ramblings from the Show Me State

An early happy Thanksgiving to my dedicated blog readers. I'm here in St. Louis for the family's annual trip to visit the in-laws and I'm blogging away at Starbucks. The political news generally back home seems quiet as folks prepare to settle in for the long holiday weekend so these comments reflect a random sampling of observations.

Here in Missouri the GOP Governor Blunt is trailing in the polls to the democratic AG named Nixon. The headlines point out that Blunt has bungled the Medicaid reduction issue and his legislation to replace it with some type of health coverage has not been well received. It's a long way to go until November of '08 but it looks like a struggle in the "Show Me" state.

Please don't think this is pandering to the N&O but the St. Louis Post Dispatch is a really mediocre paper compared to the N&O. Despite "occasional" disagreements with editorial and news coverage decisions by our local paper, you do get a real appreciation for the N&O 's overall quality compared to other large city papers. It might have something to do, however, with the lack of UNC coverage here.

Our campaign is really picking up speed thanks in large part to the willingness of Dave Woolf to come on board as campaign manager. There's nothing quite like a former infantry officer to shape things up and keep the troops marching. As long as his airborne roots don't start requiring me to jump out of airplanes, I'll be ok. Jumping in to the governor's race was a big enough challenge.

So with those random thoughts I'll probably not post again until returning to the Tar Heel state on Friday in anticipation of the Carolina - Duke football game on Saturday. Ok, I know that there aren't many folks left this season who really care about the game but I do. And it sure beats getting fired up over the Missouri - Kansas game even though it is a big one. Eat well, rest up, help someone in need and remember to count your blessings.