Scott Eckersley would be the first Democrat to win Missouri’s 7th Congressional District seat since 1957, but he says he’s counting on the independent bloc and for at least some Republicans to “vote for the person and not the party” this particular November election.
Eckersley unofficially christened the new local Democratic headquarters at an open house event Saturday in downtown Neosho, stumping to a crowd of about 35 people as he worked to drum up enthusiasm for his political campaign battle.
Newton County Democrat Headquarters is now located in the Sterling Building, 126 S. Wood St., on the southwest corner of the Neosho Square. It will be open through November, 12-6 p.m., Monday-Friday.
Noting that most people know him as the “guy who blew the whistle on (former Missouri Governor) Matt Blunt,” Eckersley told the roomful of Democrats that he was looking to reach across party lines to win this election. Eckersley worked as an attorney in Blunt's administration before he was fired after warning the governor that his e-mails were public record.
His major nemesis in the Congressional campaign is Republican Billy Long, a professional auctioneer from Greene County.
“I don't see this election as being Republican versus Democrat,” Eckersley said. “...I think some folks are tired of ‘blue’ versus ‘red’. But I think the thing we can all agree on is that we want someone who will stand up, look you in the eye and say ‘I represent you.’ And I promise you I can say that.”
He said the character differences between he and Long can be seen by “pulling back the curtain” of the two campaigns. He accused Long of having “some of the most nefarious characters that exist in politics” working for him and named two by name.
“You find everything that is wrong with the system there,” Eckersley said. “...this (campaign) is ‘right versus wrong’ this is ‘good versus evil’, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to these types of political hitmen.”
Eckersley said he's met moderate Republicans on the campaign trail who say they're supporting him because they're “voting for the person and not the party” this election. He said when he speaks publicly in front of T.E.A. Partiers he usually gets “a lot of applause.” However, he openly challenged them to be truly politically independent and quit looking like “a toy the GOP found and unwrapped and is playing with.”
“Because it’s the independents who are really going to make a difference in this race,” Eckersley said. “That’s who we’re looking at to cross over and look at the person, not the party. Those folks are the first to say this country was founded on people with guts, who were willing to put their life on the line and take a bullet. That's the spirit I hope to bring back. I'm not a veteran, but I've been in a fight.”
He also accused Long of representing special interests and not being the total political outsider he claims to be.
“(Long) is ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss,’” Eckersley said. “You pull that curtain back, this fellow is ‘puppet-on-a-string establishment’ as they come. At the end of the day I can look folks in the eye and say ‘I'll serve you, I'll make the tough choices when presented and, when the rubber hits the road, I'll take the hit in order to stand up to the principle of a thing.’ I'm not beating my chest, I just swear to you that's who I am and that's what this campaign is about.”
Newton County resident Charles Compton, of rural Joplin, warned Eckersley to be prepared against being lumped with certain national Democratic leaders, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“I'm not Barack Obama,” Eckersley replied. “The stances I take are about representing the interests of this district. And those don’t match up entirely with some of the things the administration is doing right now. I'm interested in representing the collective interests of this district.”
Along those same lines, he said he and Long differ in their approach to Congressional earmarks. Eckersley said he would “fight like a bulldog” to get for Southwest Missouri the kind of appropriations like what paid for the Neosho National Fish Hatchery's new visitor’s center.
“My job is to go up there (to Capitol Hill) and bring home every federal tax dollar that we deserve,” Eckersley said. “...Because if we don't get those tax dollars, they're going to go somewhere else.”
David Page, of Seneca, told Eckersely that unless laws were changed to help prevent jobs from going overseas, the nation was on a “downward spiral” economically.
Eckersley agreed, but added that, in order to save jobs, something also needed to be done about the country's illegal immigration problem, specifically by getting tougher on employers who hire illegal aliens.
“Maybe it’s high-time that some of these employers start answering for their behavior,” Eckersley said.
While recognizing that, if elected, he would only be one Congressman out of 435, Eckersley said he has “a knack for making myself heard” and promised to “bang the drum” when the situation called for it.
“It's high-time that there be an issue and a solution, and there just hasn't been,” he said. “It's not rocket science, some of this stuff. And for us to pretend that there isn't an issue is just not having the guys with the guts to deal with it.”
