I am the very model of a modern day Rotarian...

When you're running for office you get invited to a lot of events. A lot of events. Today was no exception. I was a guest of the Downtown Rotary Club #13. It was your typical meet and greet type luncheon. Lots of name tags, lots of blue suits. Lots of handshaking and names I'll do well to remember half of. The speaker was former Senator Jack Danforth. I had never heard Senator Danforth speak before but I knew his reputation to be that of a fair and even minded public servant. Even some of my most liberal of friends refer to Jack as their "favorite Republican." What I heard from Jack today wasn't anything new to me. It was sobering though, to hear it described so eloquently. You see, Jack is sad. He didn't come out and say he is sad, but you can tell. Jack doesn't recognize the Republican Party anymore. His party. As he described it, the party of state and local control, a free market economy and a strong national defense. What he sees now is a party dominated by the christian right. A party bent on injecting religion into daily government. A party that seeks to keep power by demonizing the other side. He finds this disturbing, as I think most of us do. Senator Danforth longs for the days when Democrats and Republicans used to constantly work together. They had to. The Republicans were about 30% of the populace, the Democrats were about 30% of the populace, and the other 40% kept them in check and insured that they played nicely. It wasn't good versus evil. It was more like "we better get together and do some good or we'll all get sent home come election day." Jack didn't absolve the Democrats of pandering to their extreme base either. He just stuck to what he knows; or used to know; his party. He concluded with some Q&A from the audience including a not so subtle attack from a MO Right to Life advocate for his pro-stem cell research stance. He handled all questions with the poise and confidence of someone who knows he doesn't have to win any elections anymore. Jack still has faith that this country will swing back from the extremes and we can once again start working together for progress, instead of working against each other for political gain. I sure hope he's right.