what about Jim Guest for 2010?

[invisible]

For all the talk about drafting various people to run in the upcoming 2010 and 2012 elections, I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned Jim Guest from MO. I had never heard of him until seeing him give an introductory speech for RP in Des Moines in June 2007. Although I admit that I do not know a whole lot about him, I do know that he has been outspoken on privacy and real id, and was the founder of Legislators Against Real ID. He also endorsed RP during the primaries, and campaigned on his behalf on IA during 2007 (I ran into him again at a fundraising appearance in Des Moines in October 2007) on more than one occasion. Now here he is again, introducing the political profiling bill in MO. I wonder if the rest of his record is as impressive. If so, perhaps the time has come for him to be elevated to the national level as a legislator. He seems to be regarded well in the MO GOP. I'm curious as to others' take on him. Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Dripping Rain]

Jim Guest deserves a big Thank you. Hes a very good man and yes. Jim Guest for Congress 2010
lets contact PEAC and ask them if they can make a website in his support

 

[trey4sports]

Jim is a great guy, definetly needs to be thrust onto the national scene

 

[Dripping Rain]

heres some info about PEAC
http://www.schiff2010.com/about/

heres how we can contact them
http://www.schiff2010.com/contact

lets tell them that Guest is a Ron Paul Republican who stood up for us in Missouri and introduced a bill that passed cutting off any money from MIAC the organization that labelled Ron Paul supporters libertarians and conservatives as domestic terrorists

 

[hotbrownsauce]

Jim Guest is at least one of Missouri's most freedom philosophy believers.

Jim Guest was very concerned about the MIAC report and was planning action. He also supported the sovereignty bill in Missouri.

 

[invisible]

I did a little poking around, and found a few interesting tidbits. According to wikipedia, he has both an internet radio show and a youtube channel - he evidently realizes the power of the internet in getting the message out. Nothing found on his voting record, but I'm sure it's on votesmart.org (is that the correct name of the site?), haven't looked yet. Looks like he cares about his constituents on a personal level, if you read the comments on his website. A few quotes from his website, www.jimguest.com:

This nation was founded on Liberty and as we address legislation, Missourians and legislators must stand ready to educate themselves to understand and stop intrusions to the civil rights. Liberty is always easy when it is something for you. The real test of liberty is when you it is something you don’t agree with.

What ever the issue, it is important to stand on the right of freedom. There are so many things I can see that would be beneficial to law enforcement if put into law, but in order to catch one person they violate one thousand Missourians and that is unacceptable. Freedom is not easy but it is truly American and to retain our freedom we must all join forces to protect the rights of all, not just the people we like.

Typos aside, it almost sounds like he's quoting RP, dosen't it?

I have just been elected for my 4th two year term and my last term as a state representative. Term limits restrict anyone from serving more than 8 years in the House and 8 years in the Senate

So while yes, we certainly DO need people in our corner in our state legislatures, it IS time for him to take a step up. He's been re-elected as much as he can be to his current position, which means that he does have popular support and can WIN elections in his district. It looks like he could very well have a better shot than some of the conservatives who have attempted to run in liberal districts. He might very well be convinced to run for Congress if he knew he could successfully tap our support base for fundraising. All in all, he seems like an excellent prospect if the rest of his voting record stands up to the type of scrutiny considered typical here (if he campaigned for RP in IA and probably MO, that is almost a given). I note that although there aren't many who have commented here, no one seems to have anything bad to say about him yet. Gonna have to check out votesmart and his youtubes next. Does anyone on the ground in MO know how closely the boundries of his district for the state legislature correlate with his Congressional district? How strong is his support from the party at the state level? What does his current potential opposition look like? Would he (best case) be running against a weak incumbent dem, or would he (worst case) be challenging another strong and popular traditional conservative in the primary?

 

[invisible]

Ok, took a look at his record on the votesmart site. Seems to be strong on pro-freedom and privacy legislation as well as illegal immigration, but perhaps not quite as fiscally conservative as we'd like. However, the budget and appropriations bills he has voted yes to all seem to be things that would be "proper" for the states (as opposed to the federal government) to spend money on. Therefore, it would be important to get a feel for if he would vote for spending money in the same areas at the federal level. Seems to be willing to accept incremental moves towards freedom, rather than voting against a bill because it didn't go all the way: an example of this is voting for a bill that removed a motorcycle helmet requirement for those over 21, rather than voting against the bill because it was less than a total repeal of a helmet law. Did not answer the political courage test. Seems to potentially be a mixed bag (but certainly a lot better than most of our Congrescritters), we would certainly have to find out where he stands on spending and budget items at the federal level, and foreign policy. Seems to be friendly to both business and consumer / taxpayer interests at the same time. Looks like I'll check out his youtubes next. I wonder if ladyjade has met him, and what she thinks. Any further thoughts from those of you on the ground in MO?

 

[invisible]

Any reactions from those who saw him speak at the convention this past weekend? Any video?

 

[hotbrownsauce]

Jim Guest is, in every way I've seen so far, on our side! Missouri has just enacted term limits.... after this term Mr. Guest will have to run for a different office. I heard many fellow Missourians at the Conference talk about supporting him for Missouri State Senate.

 

[Imperial]

He spoke at the C4L thing in Missouri not that long ago.