By Daily Press staff
A young college professor — hoping to change politics in Washington — was in LA last week garnering support from the Los Angeles County Young Democrats.
Jeff Smith of Missouri is a young, Democrat running to fill Dick Gephardt’s congressional seat. He spoke to a group of young Democrats at a fundraising event at the Brentwood home of Dr. Lara Brown, a visiting scholar at UCLA’s Institute for Social Science Research and an education policy consultant. She also is a columnist for the Santa Monica Daily Press. The Los Angeles County Young Democrats helped co-host the event to highlight the importance of getting involved with politics.
Endorsed by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Smith is the underdog in the 10-candidate Democratic primary to succeed Gephardt. He’s up against state Rep. Russ Carnahan — the son of the late Gov. Mel Carnahan and former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan — as well as Sen. Steve Stoll.
But Smith, a political scientist, remains optimistic that he can beat both of them. He is rapidly raising money and spending less than his opponents. His campaign is at the grassroots level that puts the personal touch back into politics. On that front, he just held his 50th neighborhood coffee and aims to have 50 more in the final two months of the campaign.
When introducing Smith to the small gathering in her backyard, Brown said one of the things she liked about Smith was that he is a political scientist, something rare for a politician.
Since 2000, Smith has taught political science and public policy at Washington University and the University of Missouri- St. Louis. Smith, who teaches courses covering Congress, public policy, race in American politics, the immigrant experience and election campaigns, received the Washington University Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence in 2002.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Smith has consistently worked to better his community, with special focuses on improving public education and racial equality.
When speaking to the group in Brentwood, Smith said the one legislator that inspires him the most is Santa Monica’s representative, Henry Waxman.
“I thought it was great that Jeff said that Henry Waxman was his model as a legislator, and he said this without quite realizing that he was in Henry Waxman’s district, the Congressional District 30,” Brown said. “It’s about building leadership. Representation is in some ways national, not local, especially when Congress it is about (a) who has the majority, (b) who has the seniority, and (c) who has the ideas.”
Smith has a lot of ideas, and believes that it’s time to get the 50-and 60-year-old politicians out of Washington and let the young people have a shot at leading the country into policies that extend beyond the next election, which usually is the only thing on veteran politicians’ minds, he said.
Those interested in learning more about Smith, his campaign platform, or to lend support, log on to jeffsmith.com.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 29, 2004. Read the original PDF.