Missouri Republicans have been warned by party leaders that they better get together if they want to accomplish their goals in this year’s elections. Republicans hope to hang on to their veto-overriding power in both houses of the legislature this year. And they hope their portrayal of the Affordable Care Act as a disaster propels them to control of the United States Senate. They already control the House.
At this weekend’s Lincoln Days gathering of party officials from throughout Missouri, the state’s newest Congressman, Jason Smith of Salem, said the mainline-ultraconservative division must end.
And Central Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer carries the same message, relating that a national pollster had told him the Democrats are imploding, but a divided Republican party won’t be able to take advantage of it.
But Senator Roy Blunt warned division could mean a continuation of a record that has seen Republicans win only four of the last thirteen statewide elections since 2008.
Democrats are taking any of this lying down. House Majority Leader John Diehl says Attorney General Chris Koster and Senator McCaskill are working hard to weaken Republican majorities in the legislature this year.
