Charlie Dooley and John Temporiti conducting business as usual?

In a rare treat for you today, we combine our picture of the day and quote of the day into one post for your enjoyment. Our political cartoonist did an excellent job of illustrating just what has been going on in St. Louis County for the last seven years. While Charlie Dooley is allegedly leading the county, the real boss -consiglieri John Temporiti – has been shaking down contractors and contributors for lucrative legal business for his law firm.

This perception that Mr. Dooley is basically Temporiti’s puppet is so widespread, that the St. Louis American inquired about it in a lengthy interview with Dooley senior policy advisor Mike Jones. The interview is also where we get our quote of the day. We have it highlighted.

 Charlie Dooley discussing the trash hauling lawsuit the county recently lost. (Mike Jones is in the background)

St. Louis American:

The American: How does this square with the common perception in politics that John Temporiti runs the office?

Mike Jones: People always write about the way they feel. If people feel that way, let’s not waste time arguing whether it is objective or correct or not. We have to deal with why people feel that way. My observation from working for county government is, from a black perspective, the political culture of the County is somewhere between hostile and indifferent. I don’t think we have done anything to change that culture or the perception of it.

Everybody knows I am a basketball junky. A professional player puts himself in a good position to win. In November, the question if you are black – or, not just black, but of moderate to low income – and this political culture is hostile or indifferent to you, then do you have a better chance of impacting that culture with a conservative white Republican and the ideology that goes with that, or with Charlie Dooley, who hires Gene Gordon and Delores Gunn, who operate against that culture?

Corrigan speaking to attendees at his African American Coalition kickoff event last summer

The American: His Republican opponent, Bill Corrigan, came to us. As a candidate he is not that bad.

Mike Jones: He seems like a nice guy. One thing I have learned is never personalize it. Politics is a contact sport, and your energy needs to be fairly mean – but not ugly and nasty. I draw the line at mean. He has the right to run, but in politics you have to be able to defend your turf. You have what you can take, and you keep what you can hold.

The American: There are some awful Republican candidates in this cycle, compared to Corrigan.

Mike Jones: Even if he’s Abe Lincoln, he is still a product of the Republican Party that is dominated by radically conservative to almost what I would consider fascist elements. People are a creature of who they run with. The people bringing him to the party are fundamentally the enemies of progressive social justice issues and enemies of the empowerment of black people. When they talk about wanting to take the country back, that’s what they’re talking about.

The American: There has been a tail-wagging-the-dog thing, with Dooley making announcements about achievements that are an obvious response to Corrigan’s criticisms.

Mike Jones: As a guy who has vanity in his communication skills, I think our communication strategy and deployment for the past four years have been mediocre to awful. I won’t defend that. It does look reactive.

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