Ed Martin

Ed Martin is running for US Senate, Congress, Governor Attorney General. Where does one even begin? 

On KTRS yesterday (FF to ~7:00), Former Sen. John Danforth had some choice words in describing his fellow republicans, especially those running for president:

I’ve been watching some of these republican debates and they’re just terrible. Terrible.  How many have they had?  Something like nine, ten, something like that, it seems like every week there’s a debate and, uh, and it’s embarrassing for me as a republican to watch this stuff.

Tell us, sir, what exactly has been so embarrassing about your fellow republicans?

What have been the big applause lines in these debates? Well, a statement that the governor of Texas is responsible for killing 234 people on death row.  Or that we favor torture. Or that we’re creating a fence on the Mexican border that electrocutes people when they try to cross it. Or when people show up at the emergency room at hospitals and they’re not insured don’t treat them. And that, I mean these are the big applause lines, people just hoop and holler when they hear all that.

Yep. I have to agree, those are some pretty despicable and embarrassing statements coming out of the mouths of your fellow republicans.  I'd be ashamed, too.  But by all means, do go on.

It doesn’t have anything to do with the republican party that I was a part of. This is just totally different. And all of these people who are saying this, y’know, and claiming that, y’know, they’re for all this stuff, they also sort of ostentatiously say, “Oh, we’re very religious people.  We really, we’re just very pious, Christian people.”  They were for torture, and electrocution of the people on along the border and all of that. That doesn’t have anything to do with, is contrary to the Christianity that I understand.

Let's just stop right there.

This isn't the party Danforth was a part of?  He didn't endorse Ed-Minuteman-Martin in 2010?  Pretty sure he did.

Instead of distancing himself from the republican party he claims to be embarrassed by, why doesn't Danforth start by calling out the extremists republicans in our own home state like Martin? Or Akin, who thinks that, "At the heart of Liberalism is a hatred for God."

Danforth claims later on that he dislikes divisive politics, but let's be honest, he's continually endorsed candidates who do nothing but spread fear and division across Missouri and our country.

Senator Danforth, start reforming your party with constructive criticism instead of continuing to endorse the same divisive republican politicians you claim to be embarrassed by. Show some leadership.

Sen. Jim Lembke wrote the following to the Draft Ed Martin for Governor Facebook group this afternoon: "We need a candidate for governor that embraces the constiution, knows the proper role of government and is not afraid to stand firm against the tyranny of the federal government. We need a leader at the top of our ticket that will take the fight to Nixon. This race is an uphill climb and will take a candidate that is seasoned, and has been around the block. I believe the right man for the job is ED MARTIN." 

As Ed Martin turns his attention to yet another office in November 2011, we remember what Ed Martin was doing in November 2007. 

TURKEY FREED, MARTIN AXED
St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial, November 21, 2007

It's difficult to believe that Ed Martin's tenure as Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt's chief of staff didn't even last 15 months. The 37-year-old St. Louis lawyer packed a lot of controversy into a very short time.

Mr. Martin was at the helm when the governor's office botched the private settlement over Agriculture Director Fred Ferrell's demeaning "show dog" comments about a female staff member. Mr. Martin wrote shirty letters to Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Laura Denvir Stith in the controversy over the judicial selection process. Spearheading Mr. Blunt's drive against illegal immigrants, Mr. Martin told a meeting of the Missouri Housing Commission that merely by driving by construction sites, "every friggin' developer can figure out who is illegal." And how could they do that? "There's a bunch of Mexicans out there, I guess some of them are probably not legal," he said.

Oops: "The memo, entitled simply, 'Dave Spence Background Research-Part 1,' was distributed anonymously Sunday evening by a group calling itself 'Missourians for a Conservative Governor.' But at closer examination, the PDF file appears to be authored by Steven Michael, political director for [Ed] Martin’s current congressional campaign."

The distributed document may be read below the jump. 

The Draft Ed Martin for Governor PAC. And it has money in the bank.

As FiredUp! has detailed time and time again, Ed Martin is a serial liar, especially when it comes to Health Care Reform.  With each of his statements regarding the Affordable Care Act, Martin seems to ramp up his scare tactics about what it's going to do once it's implemented fully.  From death panels to rationing, Martin's been wrong all along, though that doesn't stop him from one upping himself yet again.

I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised with today's latest in Ed Martin Lies About Obamacare:

Just, FYI, Ed, next time you want to talk about Obamacare, here are some facts to start you off on the right foot:

Former Representative Allen Icet, now the leader of Missouri's Club for Growth, is pushing Bill Randles campaign for governor. And Representative and Congressional candidate Jerry Nolte (R-Gladstone) graced a Draft Ed Martin event this weekend. 

Ron Calzone is worried that "a few patriots...have been suckered" by our posts on Ed Martin's most recent failure.  By "suckered," I think he means "made aware of  Martin's unethical and radical brands of politics." 

Ed Martin is trying to find votes for his flailing Congressional campaign with fringe Missouri Right to Life supporters:

In my role as president of Missouri Roundtable for Life, I have seen attacks on life in the Missouri legislature but nothing like this [MOSIRA]. To see Jay Nixon sign such a law is infuriating, though unsurprising given he would not even sign a ban on partial birth abortion. To see him sign a bill with Republican support is shocking. The Republicans who sent this bill to Jay Nixon are betraying years of pro-life efforts.

There's just so much to love about the Draft Ed Martin Facebook feed and this email pasted below from Ron Calzone's folks that made its way through the internets last week. 

Mr. Obama is not the first to try to “change” our Republic, but his change promises to transform the Great American Experiment faster and more radically than anyone in history.

He may have succeeded in starting something that just can't be stopped In just a few years we may no longer recognize what was once the American Republic.

For the last couple of years I have traveled around the state explaining how state nullification of unconstitutional federal edicts may be the only way to Restore the Republic. It's a call for state level officials to “interpose” when their people's liberty is being eroded by the constant wash of federal intrusion – things like Obamacare.

The prospect of stemming the tide of federal usurpation excites every crowd, but the politically savvy often ask, “But if the governor won't enforce legislative acts of nullification, then what?”

That's the one question that leaves me speechless – almost.

h/t Drebes

State capitol mainstay Ron Calzone is organizing an Ed Martin for Governor meet up. I am sure it will be a crazy party...literally.  The cookies sound tempting. 

This is an important opportunity to display support for Ed and the idea of him serving in the most important job in the state!

This will be very informal and last only about an hour. I may even talk my wife into bringing some of her great oatmeal cookies!

Talk about bottom of the barrel. Perennial candidate and conservative Ed Martin is now considering what seems like the 17th different office he has ran for in the past 4 years. 

Republicans familiar with the race note that Kinder hasn’t officially announced his bid — he’s getting some pressure not to run — and they expect an alternative candidate to emerge soon.

The question is just how good that candidate will be. Failed 2010 House candidate Ed Martin, who has been severely outraised by Wagner in the 2nd district race, is the subject of a draft effort by some conservatives.

Ed Martin gets no respect. He is being outraised and outworked by Ann Wagner, and his campaign has turned into a literal and figurative joke.

Ed channels Rodney Dangerfield in the following video. Although, I don’t think he is joking when he says Social Security is actually “worse than a Ponzi Scheme.” Check it out:

Somehow, Matt Blunt's former chief of staff Ed Martin is now "anti-establishment." I guess that is a nice way to describe a losing campaign. 

One thing is for sure, nothing screams anti-establishment like being photographed with Roy Blunt. Look at these wild-eyed radicals. 

During their recent forum, Ann Wagner and Ed Martin both took shots at unions. Wagner said public employee unions should not be able to collectively bargain, and Martin suggested that public employee unions should be abolished completely. Unfortunately, this is not surprising and is an example of how their positions aren't that different on most issues.  

Wagner said, "I do not support collective bargaining for public employees." She added that it also was "a disgrace" that the National Labor Relations Board has challenged Boeing Co.'s decision to move a plant to a right-to-work state.

"I would support a (national) right-to-work law if I was in Congress," Wagner said.

Martin said he believed that "right to work" was best handled on the state level, but that it should be done legislatively, not at the ballot box. "It's very difficult to pass right-to-work" in a statewide vote, Martin said, adding that's why Wisconsin and Ohio have sought to curb union clout legislatively.

"We need to abolish public sector unions,'' Martin said.

h/t @sarahfelts

Ann Wagner seems to be trouncing Ed Martin in the wackadoo primary if this picture is any indication. It's like a Christmas card from your aunt and uncle who forward you those chain e-mails using three different fonts all written in bright yellow. 

The problem is now she has to handle being associated with all the crazy postions they advocate for and espouse. For example, Jim Hoft recently pushed a report about the EPA spending $21 billion dollars on an expansion that Politico has said is untrue:

It’s a story too good to be true for the anti-Obama and anti-regulation crowd: The hated Environmental Protection Agency is looking to spend $21 billion per year to hire an additional 230,000 people to enforce greenhouse gas regulations.

One problem: It’s not true.

Should we expect anything less from a vitriolic blogger who blamed a reporter for a group of men beating and sexually assaulting her because is an "attractive blonde"?

It's hard to believe, but Ed Martin is still pushing death panel nonsense. 

FactCheck.org evaluated this sad attempt to keep the death panel lie alive in December post titled, "Let the distortions begin."

The Independent Payments Advisory Board was created to slow the growth of Medicare spending; it has no power to ration care.