What a beautiful morning in the 5th District of Missouri as the sky lightens and the stars blink out one by one. Even the neon of Sonic joins in the colorful display as I fill the car’s tank for today’s campaigning. It is an honor to be running at such a time in our nation’s history for this Congressional seat. Donna and I have been honored that so many of you, the regular folks, have come alongside us in a cause of the people. As the days wind down on our bid to bring a voice from the people to Washington DC, we feel good about where we are on the road to victory. With 8 days until election day, we are closing the gap and will do all in our power to find the remaining votes we need.

All that is necessary for us to win is for voters in the 5th District of Missouri to know what our opponent, Reverend Emanuel Cleaver, has been up to in Congress and what we believe.

We believe in traditional marriage. Reverend Cleaver is a tireless fighter for gay marriage.

We believe in protecting innocent life and in protecting women from the abortion industry. Reverend Cleaver earns his 100% rating from the NARAL, the leading abortion rights advocate in America today. He failed to protect young girls being taken across state lines for an abortion..

We believe a Congressman should take his duties seriously and protect the interests of the working man, union and non-union. Reverend Cleaver was laissez faire in watching the mortgage industry and then voted to give over a trillion of our dollars away in corporate bailouts for rich CEO’s and all our jobs have suffered because of him.

We believe taxes are to raise money for the government to run. Reverend Cleaver believes taxes are to redistribute income.

We believe our 5th District Representative needs to use his bully pulpit to call to account the political leaders of Kansas City on the killings in the streets, the deteriorating neighborhoods, the failed Kansas City School District. Reverend Cleaver says not a word of criticism and goes along to get along.

We believe it is the job to meet with voters in any venue, forum, or just on the streets of our District. Reverend Cleaver shows no respect for his constituents ducking every forum, not showing up to community meetings he does not control, avoiding the streets like the plague. He spends more time with his congregation of St. James who pay him only $24,000 a year than he does with the voters who pay his salary of over $168,000.

It is time for a Representative not controlled by the political machines of Kansas City to give a voice to all of us. Events outside our control, sky high gas prices earlier, Cleaver’s hand in ruining the economy now, have given us the opportunity for victory. There is an old saying that timing is everything in politics and our time is now.

Together we will win. Step out your door today and find us one or two more votes. Then, do the same tomorrow and the day after that until finally at 7p on November 4th we take a breath while waiting for the verdict of the people. Your efforts make our victory possible.

Politics must change. We are the change.

At the start of last night’s forum, a representative of the Diocese announced they had contacted Reverend Cleaver’s office multiple times in the weeks leading up to last night’s forum and had offered multiple dates for Cleaver to attend. They even asked folks who knew Cleaver personally to urge him to come all to no avail. Reverend Cleaver refused to come and be accountable to his Catholic constituents. Reverend Cleaver ran for cover all the way back to Washington, DC though everybody is out of town campaigning.

This is not only a lack of respect and an affront to voters in general, it is a slap in the face of every Catholic parishioner in the 5th District of Missouri. Whether or not you agree with Reverend Cleaver’s pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-euthanasia agenda it is inexcusable for our elected Representative to make himself unavailable to such an important constituency. If he will not listen to your concerns and answer your questions 2 weeks before an election, Reverend Cleaver will never respond to you, an ordinary citizen. Only special interest groups like the financial services concerns that have donated 10’s of thousands of dollars to his campaigns will get his full attention and his donation of our trillion dollars in bailouts Cleaver has voted for. Reverend Cleaver must be fired.

If we keep doing what we have been doing, we will keep getting what we have gotten.

Reverend Emanuel Cleaver is now the angry candidate preaching venom and hatred. His speech at the Obama rally at the Liberty Memorial Saturday was full of vindictiveness as Cleaver lashed out at the same folks he supported in giving our $700 billion plus $150 billion in pork to the haves. He used a rendition of his ‘TAINT GOOD ENOUGH!’ stump speech while he attempted to deflect voter anger from himself while shielding himself behind Senator Obama, a candidate he did not even support until it became politically expedient.

Here is a voter rewrite of Cleaver’s ‘Taint Good Enough’ speech:

38.2% of abortions in this country are performed on black women who only comprise 13.1% of the population. Taint Good Enough!

21 homicides in August of this year, a new record. Kansas City is on its way to another record year for killings in the urban core. Taint Good Enough!

100’s of billions of our dollars for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Over $100 billion for AIG to party with our money. Over $700 billion for billion dollar corporations and their rich CEO’s with a little pork of $150 billion thrown in to sweeten the deal for the fat cats. Taint Good Enough!

Pushing policies that have ruined our economy and put our families in financial ruin the whole 3 ½ years Cleaver has been on the House Financial Services committee with Barney Frank. Taint Good Enough!

Accepting 10’s of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the corporations Cleaver just gave our billions to. Taint Good Enough!

The Kansas City School District failing our children for the entire 24 years Cleaver has been a leader in Kansas City politics. Taint Good Enough!

Deteriorating neighborhoods while Cleaver ensures the haves got billions for their ivory towers. Taint Good Enough!

Cleaver voting against defense budgets where 70% of the jobs are union. Taint Good Enough!

Federal jobs leaving Kansas City. Taint Good Enough!

So next time, Reverend Cleaver points his finger elsewhere and yells ‘TAINT GOOD ENOUGH’ at you make sure you point right back at him.

Fire Cleaver. Hire Turk. November 4th.

Politics must change. We are the change.