This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: Name: Jeff Roe
Party: Republican
Age: 42
Job: Founder, principal, Axiom Strategies, a Kansas City-based political consulting firm.
Education: Northwest Missouri State University
Clout: Called by some “the Karl Rove of Missouri,” Roe set up his consulting business in 2005 after serving as chief of staff to Rep. Sam Graves of northwest Missouri. He helped Missouri Republicans take over the General Assembly and worked for a series of successful congressional candidates. He began managing races in other states, opening an office in Washington D.C. in 2008 and in Texas this year. In 2008, he entered the presidential arena, working for Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s campaign in several states. This year, he did national direct mail for Rick Perry’s campaign.
Current campaign work: He is a consultant to the U.S. Senate campaign of Richard Mourdock of Indiana, who defeated Richard Lugar in the Republican primary. He’s doing media strategy and messaging for “Super” PACs in Arizona, Maine and Wisconsin; and working on campaigns for House seats from Florida to Arizona and points in between. In Missouri, Roe has five of the six Republican Congressional seats, including Ann Wagner’s Second District race; on the initiative front, he’s working for Prop A (local control of St. Louis police) and against Prop B (cigarette tax increase).
The (first) Debate: “I think Romney did a great job. The story is how poorly Obama did defending his policies. He was trying to preserve his likeability regardless of the price, a flawed strategy. When he gets more aggressive, he runs the risk of going too far the other way. Now Biden has to stem the damage.”
I know I’ve done a good job when …: “When the margin of victory lets your opponent know you were the difference.”
Beyond November: Taxation in Missouri has to be addressed to keep pace with neighboring states that are lowering taxes and attracting new business. “For a state that’s stagnant, it’s a real threat to business. We are falling behind other states … Our tax policy penalizes people who are trying to stay here, keep jobs here.”
Biggest political disappointment: Huckabee’s loss to John McCain in the 2008 South Carolina primary. Roe still remembers the margin of defeat: 14,743 votes.
Political hero: Teddy Roosevelt.
Most important race: The presidency. “The country’s on the complete wrong path. Our government could be split; we (Republicans) need the presidency.”
Underrated race: Missouri Secretary of State. “It’s a critical race. The activism of the current Secretary of State (Robin Carnahan) has been unbridled,” especially on ballot language. “We just need an umpire to call the balls and strikes.”
Biggest primary surprise: “Rick Perry – how quickly we both ascended and descended in the polls.”
Akin prediction: “Akin and McCaskill were hurtling through the political universe and found each other. They each found the only person in the political worlds they could beat. I don’t think it’s over by any stretch. Romney is going to win Missouri by 300,000 votes; McCaskill has to find 300,000 people who would vote for Mitt Romney and for her.”