LETTERS: SOUNDS LIKE SORE LOSERS

To the editor:

The Southeast Missourian seems to be having trouble accepting the results of the recent election.

Peter Kinder still rails against House Bill 380 which reformed and improved education across the state. He, other Republicans and the governor all made the election a referendum on the issue. The governor won. Exit polling on this particular issue across the state showed that 60 percent of the voters approved the education bill and the taxes levied to pay for it. A margin of 60 percent is a landslide.

On Tuesday and again Wednesday, the paper attacked Bekki and the secretary of state's office. Point by point, the paper is wrong on the issues.

First, you complain about the election of the House speaker two years ago. Bekki did no vote in that election. Her opponent made this question his main issue in the election. The people rejected the argument.

Second, you still complain about a state law that kept filing for Emerson's seat from re-opening. Bekki did not vote for the bill that forced her to not reopen filing. Sen. Peter Kinder did vote for it. So did Rep. Mark Richardson. The proof that Bekki's ruling was right is that the Republicans did not file a court challenge. Clearly, this was the view of the people in the election.

Third, you complain that a primary election number was misreported. You say the secretary of state's office designated the wrong candidate as the winner. This is absolutely factually inaccurate. A wrong number came into the secretary of state's office from a county clerk and was on the Internet for about three hours. This was a phony issue in the election, and the people did not buy it.

Lastly, you complain about a delay in certifying Jo Ann Emerson's election. Mrs. Emerson asked for a special favor from Bekki to certify her election before the regular process of certification. She asked for a favor and got it. She was certified early and out of order. Bekki was happy to do the favor that was requested. And now you complain about it. Unreasonable.

You are, very simply, retrying issues that were tried and lost in the election. The campaign finance reports show that the publisher of your paper gave $1,500 to Bekki's opponent. The associate publisher gave $1,000 to her opponent through his campaign committee. You folks sound like old-fashioned sore losers.

JOHN L. COOK

Cape Girardeau

EDITOR'S NOTE: John L. Cook is the husband of Secretary of State Bekki Cook. Wally Lage, the publisher of the Southeast Missourian, didn't contribute to the campaign of John Hancock, the Republican candidate for secretary of state in the general election. Gary Rust, president of Rust Communication, did contribute to Hancock's campaign.