If and when State Sen. Chris Koster runs for higher office, he only need to pull up tape from yesterday's City Council business session for quotes for his ads.
As the city's lobbyist was giving an end-of-the-session report, Councilman George Blackwood couldn't help noticing that the Harrisonville Republican had been mentioned half a dozen times. And he wondered out loud why would an out of area lawmaker warrant so many mentions.
That's when the lobbyist and seemingly half the council members each took turns lavishing praise on Koster and his commitment and concern for the city where he works as an attorney. They singled out his work on stem cell research and Medicaid fraud and compared him to State Sen. Charlie Shields, Republican of St. Joseph, for his commitment to Kansas City.
Even more striking was among among those lauding Koster were Democrats on the council like Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Brooks.
"He is bright and articulate," Brooks said.
Not to mention glowing white teeth that look good in ads.
Posted by DeAnn Smith at 5 p.m.
This shouldn't be any surprise. Koster and Shields have sponsored and promoted most of the city's legislative agenda for the last two session. The legislators from the city itself haven't done much or been very visible.
While you can blame some of that on the city's largely Democratic delegation, there are still several Republicans reps from KC and the immediate suburbs that could have done more for us.
Unfortunately too many of the local Republican reps are like Matt Bartle, more focused on idealogical agendas than local issues.
Posted by: eric | May 20, 2006 at 12:12 PM