Justin's Political Corner

tothisandyou:

Many of you have become familiar with names in Missouri politics such as Todd Akin and Vicky Hartzler. Those that follow this state’s politics a little more closely know that Missouri, the “Show-Me” state, used to be a swing state. In recent years with the swift political swing to the right, we have all but lost our political moderation. We’ve acquired quite a reputation for crazy politics with our added discrimination protection for gun owners and our very own “don’t say gay” legislation. 

Another name you may be less familiar with is Billy Long. Congressman Long represents Missouri’s 7th House District. A little bit about Billy:

• He stood up for Todd Akin as a Senate candidate, even after Akin’s outrageous “legitimate rape” comments
• He voted for the Paul Ryan budget plan to privatize Medicare
• He voted for SOPA and PIPA
• His campaign funds have been used towards things like a trip to Vegas, and “office supplies” purchases from Bass Pro Shops
• In his first run in 2010, he said that his first priority was to “defund Obamacare” despite that the ACA has positively affected thousands of people in his district

Billy Long is not right for Southwest Missouri and isn’t right for the country. But he is not running unopposed. 

Jim Evans is running for MO-7 on the Democratic ticket. It’s an uphill battle. Southwest Missouri is notoriously Republican, with Springfield as home to the headquarters of the conservative Assemblies of God denomination and several affiliated universities tossing their political weight around. 

Jim is a champion of progressive causes in the greater Springfield area. He is a vocal advocate of a woman’s right to choose, while being dedicated to lowering abortion rates by making contraceptives more accessible. He has led town halls in favor of gay rights, environmentalism, single-payer healthcare, and higher education funding. 

In short, he is the perfect mixture of the traditional fiscal values of the Ozarks and the progressive ideas of the up-and-coming generations being educated at the many colleges and universities in the Ozarks.

With the election less than two months away, we’ve still got a long way to go. Billy Long has us outspent by tens of thousands of dollars, and has much of the political capital of a Republican incumbent in a Republican district.