I am not sure if those words in the title require a dash, but that is not why I write and edit video.Here is an overview of my imperfect year of covering politics in Saint Louis and Missouri. Checkout the rest of the blog if you would like. I am now going to semi-regularly write and video blog onSTLstreets.com and lofistl.com. Enjoy!

The Barack Obama rally in Columbia, MO, last evening was intended, originally, to begin at roughly 10 p.m., though onlookers were already pressing at the gates of the Carnahan Quad at 5:30 p.m., queuing up for the closest views possible of the candidate. But as luck would have it, the event actually began a bit earlier, at roughly 9:30 p.m., which left hundreds of University of Missouri students and other interested observers scrambling to get into the quad on time.

As they (and, okay, we) r...

The Missouri Homefront hit the streeets for the nation’s largest ever rally for a presidential candidate ever last Saturday in Saint Louis Missouri where 100,000 people gathered under the Gateway Arch to hear Barack Obama speak along with Missouri State Democratic candidates and officials. We took to downtown Saint Louis on bicycles to avoid the crush of people filling the riverfront but still found access rather difficult.  After failing to negotiate the media access with ramped up and heightened security we jumped into the area just south of the arch where the official security did not forbid the bags in which held the cameras. 

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If you’re looking to get a read on what campus conversations are taking place, there’s still a good starting point: the school newspaper. Though campus-based blogs and other forms of new media may be taking the shine of the campus paper’s hegemony in shaping collegiate discussions, there’s still value in seeing what editors, columnists and guest commentators are writing about the election, with only 18 days to go until many of these folks cast a Presidential ballot for the first time.

We read around for some interesting and notable bits of recent vintage, including…

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Washington University Vice Presidential Street Report

So the Missouri Homefront headed out to Wash U with little hope of securing a press badge, but under strict orders to cover the event. After some finagling and fast talk, I got past the lockdown of Police that surrounded the campus.  I never did score that press badge, but I was able to cover the circus that came to the Wash U campus in the form of the Vice Presidential Debates.

The quad was a mess of activity.  Chris Matthews from CNN's Hardball had a sound stage set up with what felt like a live action circus. Students joined in on the carnival atmosphere by holding up real political signs of who they supported for President to more signs of what they really felt saying they wanted to take a nap.  While the VP debate was one of the most important events that will effect the youth's future, the reaction was an odd and humorous site.

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Jesse Irwin’s a known commodity in certain circles of St. Louis, Missouri. For most folks, he’s most thought of as the singer/guitarist of the Dock Ellis Band, a group committed to both classic country songs and the showmanship needed to really bring them to life. It’s not for nothing that the local alt-weekly, The Riverfront Times, recently referred to his “1,000-megawatt smile and a magnetic, charismatic personality.” He’s charmer, humorous and witty, with a comeback for any occasion. 

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As November’s election increasingly comes into focus for all voters, it’s probably a good idea to check in with the newest set of participants. College freshmen are, obviously, taking an active part in the process for the first time and we’ve checked in with a group of them at Webster University.

The suburban St. Louis liberal arts college represents a reasonable cross-section of the region, with students usually from within the immediate, 100-mile radius of the Webster Groves campus. That said, the group we surveyed – adjunct professor Thomas Crone’s Introduction to Mass Communications class – is not an exact demographic representation of the school. This group, for instance, includes 20 US citizens, and only three non-citizens, on a campus where foreign students do flock. The group was also predominantly white, with a smaller percentage of students who are African-American or other ethnicities.

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Next weekend – on Saturday, August 23, to be precise – Dana Smith, a self-taught St. Louis artist and young father of two, will debut his multi-media show, “In Money We Trust.” The idea is inherently political, playing with various notions of what the influence of cash has wrought on the political process in America.

Found at the Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, at 3151 Cherokee in South St. Louis, “In Money We Trust” will bow with a unique event. It’ll be worth attending the opening, especially considering that the work will hang for only a short stretch, until September 1.

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