It’s the game that’s sweeping City Hall — “NAME THAT POLITICO!”
It’s Friday afternoon. The boss has already left the office. Let’s play.

Today is the last day to raise cash in time for the April 15 campaign finance reports. Do you know where your candidate is? Probably hustling up some dough.

The day is significant because many campaigns have made last-minute pushes to raise money in an effort to make their campaigns look as strong as possible on the next quarterly report. Many campaigns have also been holding off on paying out money for the same reason.

Come tomorrow, political consultants and vendors will be lining up for those checks like it’s “chow time.”

State Rep. Sherman Parker (R-12) says he has sent a registered letter to Congressman Todd Akin (R-2) requesting a series of four debates prior to the August primary.

“With the primary taking place in a little over four months, the voters deserve to know how we stand on issues important to the second district and nation. I look forward to hearing from the Akin campaign soon,” said Parker.

Parker recently shocked many in his party — not once, but twice — by filing against Akin in the primary election, and then announcing that he had already raised over $100,000.

Mayor Francis Slay was joined yesterday by a group of elected and appointed officials from St. Louis City and County, along with representatives from Amtrak and Greyhound, to mark the start of contruction on the new Multimodal Terminal Building downtown.

“After much negotiation and planning, the Multimodal Center will now become a reality,” said Slay.

The home of the Amtrak train service for nearly three decades has been known as “AmShack” because of its small size and, shall we say, “less than grand” appearance to visitors arriving in St. Louis.

“All bad things come to an end and the AmShack is coming to an end,” said Board Pres. Jim Shrewsbury.

When the last train pulled out of Union Station in 1978, the “AmShack” was built as a “temporary” train station. After decades of planning and re-planning, The mayor said that bidding would begin on the necessary track modifications within 90 days.

“That’s a promise,” said Slay

EXTRA: Click here to play “Name That Politico!”

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In this week’s “Political Eye” column in The St. Louis American, the paper’s editors responded to observations we made last week about the relationship between political advertising and newspaper endorsements.

“Political ads in the Black Press… tend to be small and not very lucrative,” said the Eye. “Shredding one’s credibility over them simply wouldn’t be worth the meager payday, especially when there are far more steady and nourishing revenue streams.” (Click here to read the full column.)

We agree with this observation. We don’t think it’s worth it in the long run either. But the reality is that political season is for small newspapers (black-owned or otherwise) what Christmas is for retailers.

Publishers of small newspapers are often faced with this question: “Why back a loser?”

But the American is in a different situation. As one of the most successful black newspapers in the country, the paper’s publisher doesn’t face that question while staring at a stack of bills on his desk.

No, Dr. Donald Suggs, the publisher of the American, and the paper’s editorial board make the decision to boldly slant their coverage in support of one candidate over another in the comfort of the knowledge that their decision won’t mean the difference between being around next year or not.

When we say “slant,” we are are not talking about editorials. The editorial page is traditionally the free ground for opinion and wild ideas. We mean the week-after-week of non-stories that are manipulated into front page news.

Last week it was “Corporations with district contracts back the candidates that approved their contracts.” Is that really news?

This week it’s a headline about one alderman — albeit a popular one — endorsing these same candidates. Nevermind the numerous aldermen, state senators, state reps, local unions and activists that have endorsed their opponents.

If they choose to slant their coverage based on ideology, rather than profit, is that selling out?

Well, maybe not if the coverage was slanted in the favor of the poor and disenfranchised, which was the founding mission of the Black Press dating back over a century. But too often, that is not what happens at the American.

As we told editor Chris King in our “civil exchange of emails,” in our view, the American used to be the vehicle for black people to communicate with one another and the rest of the world. Now it is the tool with which the rich and powerful communicate their message to black people. The message used to go up and out. Now it flows downward.

One’s ideology tends to change when you are surrounded by elites. One’s point of view tends to take on the characteristics of those you socialize with and depend on for “nourishment.”

The new way is more profitable, if not as a goal then as a serendipitous consequence.

Whether the paper’s coverage is slanted in favor of the powerful out of ideology or profit, the end result is the same: black St. Louis has one less place to turn for fair, unslanted coverage.

Endorsements for Peter Downs

Maida Coleman, Missouri State Senator 5th District
Rita Heard Days, Missouri State Senator 14th District
Amber Boykins, State Representative 60th District
Juanita Head Walton, State Representative 81st District
Robin Wright Jones, State Representative 63rd District
Ester Haywood, State Representative 71st District
Jeanette Mott Oxford, State Representative 59th District
Yaphett S. El-Amin, State Representative 57th District
Suburban Newspapers
Pub Def Weekly
Mattie Moore, State Democratic Chairperson and 2nd Ward Committeewoman
Arthur (Chink) Washington, Committee Man 21st Ward Organization
Irene J. Smith, Former Alderwoman
6th Ward Democratic Organization
22nd Ward Democratic Organization
Kenneth Jones, Former Alderman
22nd Ward Committeeman James “Jay” Ozier
22nd Ward Committeewoman Fay Davis
17th Ward Democratic Committeeman Robert Hilgemann
18th Ward Committeeman Jesse Todd
15th Ward committeeman Greg Thomas
15th Ward Committeewoman Alice Nicholas
25th Ward Democratic Club
26th Ward Democratic Club
26th Ward Democratic Committeeman Joe Palm
26th Ward Democratic Committeewoman Pat Moss
5th Ward Committeeman Republicans Isaiah Hair, Jr.
Black Women’s Political Action Coalition
Retired Employees of the City of St. Louis
8th Ward Democratic Club
Steve Patterson
Percy Green
Jamala Rogers
John Curtis, Community Leader
Janet Becker
St. Louis Building and Construction Trades Council
St. Louis Teachers and SRP Union, Local 420
AFT 691 in Kansas City
St. Louis Area Labor Council
St. Louis City Labor Club
Operating Engineers Local 02
Laborers local 509
Workers for a Labor Party
Workers International League
Action Re Union 2006
Organization for Black Struggle
George Cotton
IBEW Local 1
Two Rivers Greens
Gateway Green Alliance
Progressive Party of Missouri
Veronica O’Brien, School Board Member
Bill Purdy, School Board Member and former President
Dr. Rick Bender, Former School Board Member
Dr. John P. Mahoney, Former School Board Member and President
Bill Haas, Former School Board Member
Harold Brewster, Former School Board Member and President
Dr. Amy Hilgemann, Former School Board Member
Dan Kinney, Former School Board Candidate
Citizens to Stop Eminent Domain Abuse
Carpenters Union
Ellen Todd, Student Body President at Harris Stowe University
Retired Employees of the City of St. Louis
Chip Clatto, Educator

Endorsements for Donna Jones

Maida Coleman, Missouri State Senator 5th District
Rita Heard Days, Missouri State Senator 14th District
Amber Boykins, State Representative 60th District
Juanita Head Walton, State Representative 81st District
Robin Wright Jones, State Representative 63rd District
Ester Haywood, State Representative 71st District
Jeanette Mott Oxford, State Representative 59th District
Yaphett S. El-Amin, State Representative 57th District
Suburban Newspapers
Pub Def Weekly
Mattie Moore, State Democratic Chairperson and 2nd Ward Committeewoman
Irene J. Smith, Former Alderwoman
John Curtis, Community Leader
Percy Green
Jamala Rogers
18th Ward Committeeman Jesse Todd
22nd Ward Democratic Organization
Kenneth Jones, Former Alderman
22nd Ward Committeeman James “Jay” Ozier
22nd Ward Committeewoman Fay Davis
17th Ward Democratic Committeeman Robert Hilgemann
4th Ward Democratic Organization
15th Ward committeeman
15th Ward Committeewoman
5 th Ward Committeeman Republicans Isaiah Hair, Jr.
Black Women’s Political Action Coalition
St. Louis Building and Construction Trades Council
St. Louis Teachers and SRP Union, Local 420
AFT 691 in Kansas City
St. Louis Area Labor Council
St. Louis City Labor Club
Operating Engineers Local 02
Workers for a Labor Party
Workers International League
Organization for Black Struggle
Action Re Union 2006
Steve Patterson
George Cotton
IBEW Local 1
Two Rivers Greens
Gateway Green Alliance
Progressive Party of Missouri
Veronica O’Brien, School Board Member
Bill Purdy, School Board Member and Former President
Dr. Rick Bender, Former School Board Member
Bill Haas, Former School Board Member
Dr. John P. Mahoney, Former School Board Member and President
Harold Brewster, Former School Board Member and President
Dr. Amy Hilgemann, Former School Board Member
Dan Kinney, Former School Board Candidate
Citizens to Stop Eminent Domain Abuse
Carpenters Union
Ellen Todd, Student Body President at Harris Stowe University
Chip Clatto, Educator

Sharon Stevens, Channel 5’s education reporter, has compiled a profile of the 5 candidates running for 2 seats on the St. Louis board of education next week. Click here to view it.

In their answers to what they think are the biggest problems facing the school district, James Buford and Peter Downs both focused on the violence plaguing the schools. “I think #1 is the violence that’s coming in from the community as a whole. That’s the reason I joined this board,” said Buford.

“Teachers can’t teach and children can’t learn if they’re dodging chairs being thrown at them or they’re dodging fights,” said Downs.

Most interesting was the response of Darnetta Clinkscale. Clinkscale, who has been a “lightning rod” in this campaign, said the biggest problem facing the district today is the “lack of emphasis on academics.”

“The focus must be academics. That’s the business of a school district, teaching and learning,” said the 3-year school board president. But despite observing a continuing failure to educate students, Clinkscale still voiced her strong support for Superintendent Creg Williams.

“I think he has matched my hope 100-percent,” said Clinkscale.

St. Louis City Recorder of Deeds Sharon Carpenter and Joe Edwards, the “King of the Loop,” announced their support today of Dr. Jeff Smith for State Senate.

“Jeff demonstrated his dedication to our City long before he decided to run for office,” said Carpenter. “Now, as a candidate, he has shown a tireless work ethic that will serve us well when he is elected.”

“Jeff will be a breath of fresh air in the Capitol,” said Edwards. “And he’s exactly what this City needs.” Smith said he hopes to be as innovative in Jefferson City as the businessman has been in the Loop expansion.

“Just as Joe Edwards has erased the line between St. Louis City and County in the thriving Delmar Loop, we are seeking to bridge the age-old divide between North and South in city politics,” said Smith.

“Ironically, after learning today that Jack Abramoff will spend nearly six years in prison, the Senate passed a lobbying reform bill that does little to change the culture that allowed him to abuse the system in the first place,” said U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today in a press release issued after the Senate passed a lobbying reform bill.

“The Senate has missed a once-in-a-decade opportunity to clean up the way we do business in Washington,” said Obama, who recently appeared in St. Louis at a fundraiser for State Auditor Claire McCaskill.

“This bill fails to create an independent enforcement mechanism to investigate misconduct by members of Congress. It fails to stop lobbyists from currying influence by flying lawmakers on private jets. And it does nothing to prevent members of Congress from negotiating for jobs with the very industries they’re supposed to regulate.”