If you were ever looking for a politician who is a sensible, knowledgeable, caring person and doesn’t have to rely on compromising her values for the sake of deep-pocket, monied interests to finance her campaign, meet Trudy Busch Valentine, one of several Democratic candidates running for U.S. Senate to fill the position of retiring Republican Senator Roy Blunt.
She is a member of the storied Anheuser-Busch family, the daughter of Gussie Busch.
In talking with delegates at the June 21 St. Louis Labor Council meeting, punctuated by almost a dozen rounds of applause, Valentine, in a soft-spoken, sincere demeanor not often seen from politicians, outlined her goals if she survives the August primary and is elected to Congress in November:
- Lowering the cost of basic necessities like gas, groceries, housing, and prescription medication.
- Better, affordable health care.
- Supporting families struggling with the high costs of child care and elder care.
- Raising the federal minimum wage and passing legislation to protect unions.
- Stronger voting rights.
- Holding companies accountable.
- Getting a grip on the opioid epidemic that killed one of her six children.
- Improving public education and encouraging trades schools.
- Making sure that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.
THE KEY QUESTION
Without flinching, she asked the key question on people’s minds: “Why can I help when I come from a family that’s had a lot of wealth and lived an incredible life because of it?”
She answered: “Because I know that money doesn’t buy love, doesn’t prevent the losses and sadness and struggles, the things we all go through.”
Her background makes that point: Having lost her husband to cancer when he was 49 and suffered the death of her oldest son from an opioid overdose, she made it clear those tragedies impacted her view of life.
“I worry about the people who worry about those things. The reason I became a nurse was because I wanted to be with people, to understand their needs, help them more.
“What I want to bring to the Senate is the heart of a nurse, someone that really cares about people, someone that wants to make changes for people. We have so many lawyers in the Senate … that we don’t get anything done.”
It was her closing thought that brought the final round of applause: “We should choose people by the contents of their character, with integrity, honesty, who are respectful, who can work across the aisle to negotiate for something that’s for the good of people.”
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