Missouri’s top political candidates are being asked to go on record with their positions. Project Vote Smart is a national, non-partisan political database that tracks voting records and positions on issues. It has sent questionnaires to all candidates from Missouri running for the legislature, Governor, the U-S Senate and the U-S House. They have six weeks to put their positions on the public record. Executive Director Adeliade Elm says fewer than one-third of the candidates for the Missouri House responded last time and only 44% of the state’s congressional candidates. She says consultants are telling many candidates not to put their positions in the record. Elm accuses consultants of offering “cynical advice.”
Project Vote Smart’s board includes names such as McCain, Ferraro, Gingrich, and Dukakis. She says questions are carefully researched by conservative and liberal professors and politicians and are not asked unless political leaders from both parties agree they’re okay. Late next month or in early October, we’ll find out which of our candidates have gone on the record and which have refused to take part in the survey.
Project Vote Smart website
