Former congressman says GOP must be punished

Area Democrats got a dose of old-fashioned political oratory Saturday evening when they called on an old-style politician for a speech.

Former U.S. representative Bill Burlison, who recently returned to Southeast Missouri after 27 years of living in Maryland, didn't disappoint the gathering of about 75 party faithful for the annual Byrd Township Democrats' Truman Day Barbecue at Laborers International Union Local 1104 hall in Cape Girardeau.

Burlison, unseated in 1980 by Bill Emerson, told the audience that he's never voted for a Republican and won't, a conviction made stronger, he said, by watching the current crop of Republican leaders in Washington.

"The President Bush and Vice President Cheney and lobbyist Abramoff Republicans have smeared and inundated our great nation with their putrid caliber of corruption, fraud, deception and scandal that leaves us precariously vulnerable militarily, economically and morally," Burlison said.

The GOP must be punished for the failures in Iraq and on the home front, he said, but it is grassroots party workers who will make the difference.

The theme of building the Democratic Party was the subject of conversation and speeches throughout the evening. Until 2006, Democrats lost ground in Southeast Missouri, where they were once dominant. Where they once controlled almost every office, they now hold six of the 8th Congressional District's 22 legislative districts and one of the seven state Senate districts.

One Democrat who took back a Republican seat in 2006, state Rep. Steve Hodges of East Prairie, Mo., said he has been enlisted as a fund-raiser and candidate recruiter for House Democrats. "There are several candidates we are excited about," he said. "Term limits is turning over, so we are out looking for new people."

In 2008, 23 House members must leave office because of the eight-year legislative term limits. In 2010, the number grows to 70 members, more than one-third of the chamber.

One candidate who is already running is Michael Winder of Marquand, who took on House Speaker Rod Jetton in the 156th District in 2006. Jetton is not eligible to run for re-election. "We never stopped, and we are going to stay right at it," Winder said.

The big prize in the area, the 8th Congressional District seat held by U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, widow of Bill Emerson, will be the focus of a districtwide rally in Dexter on June 30. Art Cole of Poplar Bluff, chairman of the 8th District Democratic Committee, said the party must build an organization from local offices to the legislature that will make it competitive throughout the district. Emerson defeated the Democratic candidate, Veronica Hambacker, by an almost 3-1 margin in November.

"Our focus is pretty simple goals -- information, communication, organization and fund raising," Cole said. "We hope to use those goals to take back the 8th District."

In his speech, Burlison said President Bush and Republicans are making mistakes that will give advantages to the Democrats as the public becomes increasingly weary of the war in Iraq. The national message from the 2006 elections was that the war should be ended, he said.

By ignoring that message and sending an additional 30,000 troops, Bush is repeating past mistakes, he said. But Demcorats will build on their victories from 2006 only by working hard, he said.

"It is regular Democrats, not politicians, that must do the job for us," Burlison said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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