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BOWLING GREEN, Mo. After Missouri Democrats were routed in rural areas last year, the partys leaders promised to be more aggressive in fielding candidates for the legislative districts ceded to Republicans.

Accomplishing that goal may require them to promote and fund House and Senate aspirants with socially conservative views on abortion a strategy that makes some uneasy in a party that largely supports abortion rights. The talk also comes as the legislature holds a special session to strengthen abortion restrictions in Missouri.

This complicated dynamic was on display last week during a meeting of the Pike County Democratic Club, where officials from the statewide party took suggestions from the audience about building a platform. When the subject turned to abortion, Eolia resident Andy Young brought up the hostility candidates who are generally opposed to abortion rights face. Young pointed to how Omaha, Nebraska, mayoral candidate Heath Mello, who voted for some abortion restrictions while he was in the Nebraska legislature, lost his race after being excoriated by abortion rights activists.

I would like the national party and the state party not to come into places like this where we have not necessarily liberal views in all cases, Young said. Im very liberal. But these people are not necessarily all that liberal. And they have a right to be heard as Democrats as well. It shouldnt just be people who think like me.

Democrats dominated in northeast and southeast Missouri for decades, even though they tended to vote for abortion restrictions. Thats why some are thinking now that candidates who oppose abortion rights might have a better chance at beating Republicans at the ballot box.

The union that I worked at, we talked politics and I was the officer in the union, Herb Sisco, a retired union member who lives in Pike County. Basically, we were pretty much 100 percent Democrats. All of them were. Thats why its very hard for me to understand, other than a gun issue or an abortion issue, those single issues will prompt a Democrat to vote Republican. I dont know why. I wouldnt. But they do.

Internal debate over abortion rights has been going on for decades, Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Stephen Webber said. There have been a number of prominent Democrats over the years who opposed abortion rights, including former U.S. Sen. Tom Eagleton and former Gov. Joe Teasdale.

Its not a new fight, Webber said. Were the party of health care, of public education, of public schools, working families. We need to do a better job connecting on these issues in rural communities. And the candidates were going to be looking for are folks that are willing to work hard and communicate that with conviction.

Jalen Anderson, a committeeman from Jackson County who is leading the Missouri Democratic Partys effort to create a platform, said candidates should stand by their convictions on issues such as abortion rights.

But, he added: Democrats always love to focus on that one specific issue of abortion, but we never talk about the rest of womens health. The abortion issue is something that we have to focus on, because we are the party that believes in what the Supreme Court decided with Roe v. Wade and we believe that it should be protected. Because we cant go back to the archaic ways of hiding in shame.

A mixed record

In the past decade, Democrats who oppose abortion rights have a mixed record when it comes to winning legislative seats.

In 2006, former Sen. Frank Barnitz of Lake Spring, Rep. Paul Quinn of Monroe City and Rep. Tom Shivley of Shelbyville were able to keep rural districts in the Democratic column in 2006. But all three of those candidates were voted out of office by 2012, and there hasnt been much of an effort to win those seats back.

Meanwhile, a number of socially conservative Democrats, like former state Reps. Terry Swinger of Caruthersville, and Joseph Fallert of Ste. Genevieve failed at winning rural Senate districts over the past few election cycles. The last two Democratic candidates that captured GOP Senate seats, Scott Sifton of Affton and Jill Schupp of Creve Coeur, are fairly vocal proponents of abortion rights.

Socially conservative candidates arent the solution to the partys woes, NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri Executive Director Alison Dreith said, because Republicans are out and proud on their issues and not wavering depending on the constituency that theyre talking to and trying to paint a picture of somebody who they are not.

She praised the Democrats for the goal of running someone for every seat in the 2018 elections, but noted that the Democrats now have some rebuilding to do when it comes to trust. I wouldnt necessarily trust a party that was coming and knocking on my door or asking for money for the first time in a really long time.

Its worth noting that the last three Democratic governors, Mel Carnahan, Bob Holden and Jay Nixon, all hail from rural areas of the state. All supported abortion rights, with Carnahan and Nixon seeing exceptional support for two terms in rural counties.

On the Trail, a weekly column, weaves together some of the intriguing threads from the world of Missouri politics.

Follow Jason on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

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On the Trail: Democrats mull whether anti-abortion rights candidates would regain political ground - KCUR

A right-wing radio host dismissed the prayers Democrats offered after last weeks shooting during a Republican baseball practicein Alexandria, Virginia.

Why would you want to pray with the children of Satan? Jesse Lee Peterson said in comments posted online by Right Wing Watch. They serve a different God than you. Thats reality.

Last weeks attack left six people injured, including two lawmakers. One of those wounded, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), remains hospitalized after multiple surgeries and was upgraded from critical to serious condition over the weekend.

The violence led to numerous displays of unity among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including shared prayers.But Peterson said Republicans shouldnt join them.

What are the Democrats praying for? The Democrats are not of God, Peterson said. All of a sudden when Scalise gets shot, when they hear about the shooting, all the children of Satan are going to come together and pray? Please!

In the past, Peterson,who is black, has said he would like to take all black people back to the South and put them on the plantation so they would understand the ethic of working. He also said that giving women the right to vote was one of the greatest mistakes America made. His self-titled radio show has featured interviews with other divisive right-wing figures, including Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke and Rafael Cruz, the father of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Over the years, Peterson has also been a guest on Sean Hannitys show on Fox News as well as Hannitys radio program, where he once claimed that there was no such thing as racism. Hannity, it should be noted, disputed that.

Listen to Petersons latest comments, as posted online by Right Wing Watch, here:

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Democrats Are 'Children Of Satan,' Right-Wing Radio Host Says - HuffPost

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is launching digital takeover ads against three Senate Republicans and a governor to increase the pressure on the Senates health-care bill at a time when activists worry that the closed-door drafting process has granted it momentum.

The buy features The Price, a spot the DSCC began running when the American Health Care Act first moved through the House. In it, parents hock their valuables to pay for a childs hospital stay. The anonymous setting of the spot has made it easy to repurpose; in this case, its being aimed at Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Dean Heller (Nev.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.), and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R).

Heller is the one Republican senator up for reelection in 2018 from a state that backed Hillary Clinton for president last year. Flake, who narrowly won a first term in an increasingly blue state, remains a target. Scott, who has hinted at a 2018 run, is perhaps the most threatening self-funder who might seek a seat held by a Democrat. And Cruz is being challenged by Rep. Beto ORourke (D), whos seen as a long shot but has won fans in the national Democratic orbit.

If Senators Heller, Flake and Cruz, along with Governor Scott, get their way, hard-working Americans will pay the price while insurance companies and the rich get a tax break, DSCC spokesman David Bergstein said.

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Democrats target three Senate Republicans with health-care ads - Washington Post

Miami Herald

Big night for Florida Democrats ends in acrimony over chairman's racial remarks Miami Herald The Florida Democratic Party's big annual fundraiser ended in acrimony Saturday night after Stephen Bittel, the party chairman, dismissed anger from lawmakers who didn't get introduced on stage as a childish complaint from African-American legislators. and more »

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Big night for Florida Democrats ends in acrimony over chairman's racial remarks - Miami Herald

Serious political crimes arent the same as regular ones: They require not just punishment for lawbreakers, but also political fixes. Thats why the Democratic Party cant rely on the likes of Rosenstein and Mueller. In fact, since Republicans largely remain loyal to Trump, Democrats are the only ones capable of truly solving this crisisif theyre given the power to do so. They just have to convince voters of it.

Watergate is often seen as the zenith of modern political scandal. Yet there was only a minimal attempt by Congress back then to solve the problem of the imperial presidency. Instead, almost every subsequent presidency has gotten bogged down in legal quagmires, as Congress uses law enforcement as a Band-Aid, without grappling with the real problem of presidential power. To criminalize the political process is to evade checks and balances, and it has resulted in a never-ending tit-for-tat, where one party seeks revenge by scandalizing the other.

Gerald Ford poisoned his own presidency from the start by pardoning Richard Nixon, thereby setting a precedent for protecting executive branch lawbreaking. Ronald Reagans presidency nearly capsized because of the Iran-Contra affair, which stained his successor, too; George H. W. Bush pardoned many leading figures, including Caspar Weinberger and Robert McFarlane, which broadened the precedent by showing how a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy could be shielded after the fact. Bushs son followed this tradition by commuting the sentence of Scooter Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, who had been guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice. Democrats got a taste of the criminalization of politics with various ginned up scandals against the Clintons, ranging from Bill Clintons perjury during the Monica Lewinsky affair to Hillary Clintons use of a private email server.

President Barack Obama seems to have escaped this pattern, since his administration was notably squeaky clean. The public largely saw the Benghazi, Fast and Furious, and IRS controversies for what they were: Desperate, partisan attempts by Republicans to damage a popular president. Yet in a different way, Obama contributed to the larger constitutional crisis that has gone unresolved. Obama greatly expanded the power of the president to operate unilaterally, notably through drone strikes and executive orders on domestic policy. This left a dangerous set of tools to be abused by future presidents, beginning with Donald Trump.

In all the major modern presidential scandals, prosecutors and law enforcement officials have played a central rolefrom Lawrence Walsh to Ken Starr to Patrick Fitzgerald to James Comey to Robert Mueller. Its easy to see why both liberals and conservatives look to these lawmen as the solution to scandals real or imagined. They fit a familiar cultural pattern found in Law and Order and many other shows: the heroic prosecutor, often an overgrown Boy Scout with a crew-cut, who works relentlessly to put the bad guys behind bars. Prosecutorial liberalism is the dream that the messiness of politics can be replaced with the moral clarity of a cop show.

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Only Democrats Can Restore Faith in the Political Process - New Republic