Matt Tilden 1/24

I almost did a spit take on Tuesday while combing through the local news channels when I heard that Matt Blunt wasn't going to run again in 2008.  Given his filled coffers and seemingly endless feud with Jay Nixon, I had assumed his intention was to run for reelection.  And returning to Jefferson City on Wednesday, I knew that I would probably be covering the aftermath in some capacity.  

The great thing about Jefferson City reporting is that a reporter doesn't ever know what news is going to hit and while it's extremely intimidating at first, you don't really have time to cower in fear because when a big news story happens, it's often followed by aftershocks. And someone has to cover those stories.  In addition to my beat in Jefferson City, I look forward to covering the primary race and the effect that it might have on the General Assembly.  In my opinion, it could open up a lot of opportunities for The Missourian as a newspaper, especially if Kenny Hulshof decides to run.

My first story of the semester was about the Democratic (primarily Jay Nixon's) response to Gov. Blunt's announcement.   The story included the response from prominent Dems like party leader Jack Cardetti and House Floor Leader Paul LeVota and also some info about which Republicans may or may not run for governor.  The Democrats were on message, and that makes for a less-than-ideal political story because each response from a prominent Dem was almost identical.  It's good to get back in the Capitol and in the swing of things though.  I hope to be more in-depth than in was in J4450 in following stories though.

Progress Report: I was assigned my beat for the Capitol, health care. While I can't claim to be any sort of health-care expert, the issue will be exciting to cover because it will likely be the biggest issue of the session.  So basically, I need to start reading a lot of health care bills and information. I also wrote my first story.  So not bad for the first day.