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Texts from the Trail: Why Ron Richard should be president of MU

After much observing of the University of Missouri system the past year, and candidly being the first to point out the dumpster fire going on in Columbia, added to that the obvious fact that Middleton is looking more and more like he wont be a viable candidate to be the permanent president, we would like to suggest the perfect candidate: Sen. Ron Richard.

I know, why would he take the job, but think about it. The place is a wreck with a new controversy every week, and its currently being run completely by the professors, who live in a bubble of academia where reality and common sense are things to be scorned and pitied.

What they desperately need is someone who can speak clearly and candidly, make quick, logic-based decisions without being bogged down by debating societies, can communicate with the legislature and out-state Missourah, and perhaps most importantly doesn’t have a PhD and can make the tough choices that won’t be popular on campus but will ultimately save the university.

Is there anyone you know who fits that description better than the Senate Pro Tem?

Lets review a few of the current problems.

How many seconds do you think it would have taken Richard to fire Melissa Click? We’ll set the over under at eight.

Richard
Richard

What would he say if a professor wanted to be paid not to work, but to campaign? We’re betting he handles the situation in under 5 minutes, telling the professor he has to get off the wagon and push with the rest of us if he wants to run for office.

He is the only person in recent memory who has served as House Speaker and Senate Pro Tem, and as such he can communicate with the legislature better than anyone in recent memory. Being from Joplin (or as some now call it, Jobland) won’t hurt the university’s image off I-70 either.

Lastly, he can make a decision. He won’t need endless faculty committees and months of thoughtful deliberation to make some of the common sense changes that are now vital to the future of the college. Look how he handled moving the press table. He made a decision that he knew the press wouldn’t like, but he did it in a straightforward manner and stuck to it in the face of criticism. That quality seems like a dose of what MU needs.

In absence of taking our sage advice, they never have so why would they now, maybe its possible to get together a group of senators and the governor to appoint and confirm three reformers to back the few curators who see the problems.

Congressman Smith was impressive on This Week in Missouri Politics this week. He is rising like a rocket in Congress, being on both the Ways and Means Committee, as well as the very powerful Steering Committee.  He is going to Iowa tonight to represent Sen. Marco Rubio in Sioux City. We understand Missouri will be well represented as former Gov. Bob Holden is also in Iowa for Hillary Clinton.

As more and more people urge Congresswoman Ann Wagner to begin looking to a U.S. Senate run in 2018, the speculation is building as to who would run for her seat in west St. Louis County. Seems like Ed Martin is definitely running. Look for the list of others to start with those recruiting state Sen. Eric Schmitt.

Cover 2-1Brunner came out of the gate after being singled out by Democratic candidate Chris Koster with an ad not responding, but by reaching out to evangelicals.

 

Hearing a couple things coming out of the presidential race. One is that Donald Trump is likely to underperform in a caucus because there are some who are embarrassed to be publicly for him that would in a private primary ballot vote for him.

Two, that the Clinton email scandal is getting more serious. If she were to step aside, the party could reach out to Vice-President Joe Biden who shunned a run last year for personal reasons. It would be a truly American story and would be a the instant favorite to win.

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