Tomorrow, we vote. Or rather, those of you lucky enough to have the requisite age requirements do. We've got impressive slates of candidates in a long list of important races. The choices made by the small group of passionate citizens make up the DFL primary electorate will have potentially huge implications on our communities, on our station and on our nation. But out of all those races I'm most excited about the chance to elect Rena Moran as the DFL nominee for State Representative in 65A.
Like most of the races tomorow this is a race to choose between multiple good DFLers. This one we won't even have to take into account electability, the winner would have to intentionally try to lose the race in November. Tomorrow will be about picking the best possible representative for the fine people of 65A. I believe that person is Rena Moran.
As many people have, I have been following Tom Emmer's statements about reinstating a tip credit (penalty, actually) and the resulting frenzy that followed. Especially after watching the town hall meeting as best as I could (the stream on the Uptake video which is unfortunately no longer available was a little choppy when I viewed it, but I stuck in to hear as much as I could), I noticed a few things that I don't believe I have seen addressed.
... "A Peek Through The Flaps Of The Small Tent Party"
Part 1 is here; Part 2 (with pictures!) is here. And I know I'm a day late with Part 3, but I thought last Saturday's post about the Strib leaving out Emmer's offensive quote ("I don't think you can call yourself a freedom-loving American and be a Democrat." -- Tom Emmer, 9-26-09) was too important to ignore. The Strib has a long history of carrying water for GOPers; Strib Reporter Repeater Kevin Diaz bein' the most notable of late.
It's important to note that at Sloganville (the GOPer State Convention), up was down, war is peace, and George Orwell was spinning in his grave at the trash the GOPers spewed. For instance, as noted by Big E, GOPers are continuing the long-debunked "Normie wuz robbed!!!" meme - and because of the pounding of that meme by GOPer Blowhards, the "base" actually still believes that.
Emmer ran through the pre-endorsement process as an "outsider" taking on "the establishment" even though his campaign staff was filled with plenty of "insider" staffers, such as former Bachmann Political Director Jack Tomczak. And Emmer's pick for running mate - Annette Meeks - is the ultimate insider, as noted earlier today by MPP's Joe Bodell.
... "A Peak Through The Flaps Of The Small Tent Party"
Part 1 is here. In part 2, we'll talk briefly about Day 2 (more, next Monday) - plus, there's some pictures below the fold!!!
On Friday, Tom Emmer was working the delegates over by Vendor Row; he saw me and said: "Hey, TwoPutt!" - which explains one picture (below the fold!). I've talked to Emmer several times over the last many months; like at last October at the Veterans Protest outside of the GOPer Trial-Run Convention in St. Paul; in the "Spin Room" after the Minnesota News Council/League of Women Voters Guv Debate in January; at the GOPer SD-42 Caucus in February (where I met his wife, Jacquie); and those are just off-the-top...
The thing about Emmer, is - just like Wellstone; just like Ventura; hey - just like Tommy Rukavina!!! --- when you ask Emmer a question you get an answer. You may not like the answer, but you get one and it's NOT an answer based upon what you want to hear -- it's based upon what they think.
And a LOT of voters like that, in a candidate.
That said, Emmer also - often! - says some really, Really, REALLY polarizing things, such as:
"I don't think you can call yourself a freedom-loving American and be a Democrat." -- Tom Emmer, 9-26-09 (MarshallIndependent.com)
So, can a guy like Emmer, saying stuff like that, really, Really, REALLY get elected?
"Children who are victims of failed personal responsibility are not my problem, nor are they the problem for our government." -- Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty, April 2001 - as quoted in the Aitkin Independent Newspaper
More, on Monday, and enjoy the pics below!
Oh - and the slogan of the day, at Sloganville, was:
During the race for Governor it is easy to forget that there are two very important Constitutional Races in progress too. At this weekend's convention the GOP has endorsed Dan Severson for Secretary of State who will challenge Mark Ritchie.
In addition to Dan Severson's determination to make college student's ineligible to vote he also has a position about the process that got Al Franken to his position as a United States Senator. See his solutions below.
Initiate Bar-coding and a central processing center for absentee ballots.
In the last recount election huge disparities in training and standardized procedures brought to light a fundamental question that remains to this day. Is the top vote getter actually sitting in the Minnesota senate seat? Some will certainly point to the Supreme Court decision for their verdict but close scrutiny of the decision reveals that the justices refused to hear augments regarding the uniformity or handling of the absentee ballots. This was a major factor in the final count that pushed Al Franken over the top.
Creating a central processing center with an in person issuance requirement would first ensure that ballots were legally attained and then that they are handled in a uniform manner to ensure equitable treatment.
Mandate a run-off election for close elections.
If the election is within .05%, it triggers a runoff election to be held for the top two vote getters and that it be held in December following the initial vote. With the millions that were spent on the Coleman - Franken case and indecision that remained for months after the November election, a re vote would help create a clearer picture of who is the people's choice by focusing on the individual race within the district or state wide race.
... "A Peak Through The Flaps Of The Small Tent Party"
I'll start this post out dealing with the Fear Factor! As expected yesterday, Minnesota's GOPers weren't gonna give the ol' TwoPutter Media Credentials. But, that's no surprise; they didn't credential The UpTake, either. As a matter o' fact, the MN GOP is none-too-keen about letting "just anyone in" to see the goings ons o' their party; no one - and I mean NO ONE - can wander on in and watch how The Small Tent Party conducts their business, without bein' approved to do said watching.
One wonders what would happen, were a teacher to bring a coupla kids down to the Mpls Convention Center, for a teachable moment about democracy - GOPer Style. I'm guessing it would be a real teachable moment; GOPers refusing school kids to watch 'em in action!!!
Compare/contrast with the DFL's "Open Door - Open Look" policy in Duluth...which explains a lot about the difference between parties. Well, the average DFLer's "Open Mind" and average GOPer's "Closed Mind" does, too.
Here's the tweet, about my exchange with MN GOP Communications Director Mark Drake concerning my Media Credentials:
Drake: "U didn't rgstr in time" Me: "What was deadline?" Drake: "Didn't u get my memo?" Me: "U r a funny guy, Mark"
#mngop10 #Stribpol
about 14 hours ago via web
We'll post a whole buncha more tweets, down below the fold!
Getting back to Sloganville - apparently, judging by the "speeches" by GOPer Candidates and almost all of the Delegates and Alternates I talked with, the main qualification for elective office is "who loves freedom and liberty and hates tyranny more" and who hates "the direction our country is headed" the most. They all want to "cut gubmint spending" and "shrink gubmint" - although the GOPer Sloganeers don't talk much about what they'll whack once they get back power. Presumably, everything is on the table. Well, except Defense, I guess, because they're all "strong" on National Defense.
Pretty hard to be "strong" on National Defense whilst whacking a National Defense Budget that spends more than....well, probably the rest of the world combined. Nope! Can't whack that!!!
And Veterans, apparently, can't be whacked either. Here's a snippet from that notoriously liberal/leftist/socialist America-hating dam-near commie rag, The Moonie Washington Times:
On last Tuesday, I called the MN GOP to get Media Credentials for their State Convention; the nice person that answered the phone told me to talk to Mark Drake and gave me Mark's email and patched me through to Mark's voicemail. So, I left a message and sent an email. Didn't hear back. So I called and emailed again yesterday - and didn't hear back. So I emailed and called again today - and haven't heard back.
So, will the GOPers give the ol' TwoPutter media credentials?
Well, if The UpTake is any indication, don't bet on it!
Take a look at what The UpTake.org posted earlier today:
This weekend 1,300 some delegates will gather in Duluth to select the DFL endorsed candidate for Governor of Minnesota in 2010. They've got a big decision to make. The stakes could not be higher.
Minnesota has not had a DFL governor since 1990. I wasn't even born the last time a Democrat was the governor of my state. All the Democratic candidates are vastly better than the reactionaries the Republicans are putting up. The differences between the DFL and the GOP could not be bigger, we need to win this election. We can't afford to continue with the Pawlenty way that have hurt our state.
All the contenders are DFL side agree on most things, they are all fine people and all fairly progressive DFLers. There are some disagreements between them and some differences in the issues they focus on. But the big question delegates should be thinking about is this:
Howard Dean has done many things. Implemented near universal public healthcare in Vermont, brought thousands of new people into the political process during his presidential campaign and led the DNC's 50 State Strategy that helped Democrats take back Congress and the White House. And recently he came out in support in R.T. Rybak for Governor of Minnesota.
And in this critical final days before the DFL Convention Dr. Dean came to Minnesota to rally the grassroots for Rybak. Why? As Dean said "Everyone I talks to says that R.T. Rybak is the Democrat who can win." As one of the most successful DNC Chairs in history, he should know.
A packed crowd crammed into Rybak's campaign HQ, including a fair number of undecided delegates.
When R.T. took the stage he talked about his history organizing for Dean in 2003 and how we need to work as hard as possible over the next week to win this endorsement by making as many friends as we can and spreading the message of this grassroots campaign and why we support R.T. He also reminded everybody that ultimately we are all DFLers and we need to remember that even as things get intense in Duluth. Then he introduced Dean.
Dean talked about his experiences as Governor and DNC Chair and why he believed R.T. was the candidate who could win and most importantly the candidate who has the skills to govern effectively as a progressive Democrat. He talked about how R.T. is part of a new breed of politicians like Rep. Tom Perriello of Virgina who practice conviction politics: Standing up proudly for progressive values and asking everybody for their vote without running away from our values.
It was an inspiring call to action at a critical time for this campaign. We are in the final stretch. As Dean said, we could find out who is going to be Minnesota's next governor in a week. And we need that to be R.T. Rybak. There is still time to get involved.
We only have a short time left and we need every volunteer we can get to step up and make their voice heard. The only way R.T. wins is if we hit the streets and tell our stories to delegates and tell them why we are for R.T. Sign up here and the campaign will get in touch. Lots is going on in the final day. Get involved, don't regret it. You'll meet some amazing people, maybe even me!
And this grassroots operation isn't free. To go up against the better funded opponents R.T. needs all the grassroots small donors he can get. Doesn't matter if you can only spare $5 or if you can give $50. Do what you can. Donate.
The time is running out. Don't look back and wish you did something. Do something. Leave it all on the road and let's win this thing.
Today Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak formally jumped into the race for governor at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. The event is the first stop on his statewide announcement tour. Hundreds of people packed in to the Varsity to kick off the campaign. Here is a short video from the campaign of his speech
I'll post full video when I can find it.
The event was very high energy and I spotted several elected officials in attendance, signaling he should be able to put up a strong showing on the Superdelegate Tracker soon. I also saw top staffers from a few other DFL gubernatorial campaigns as well as the Minnesota Republican Party's Michael Brodkorb and Mark Drake. The MNGOP seems to be taking Rybak pretty seriously, Brodkorb was working the press hard and shooting off snarky tweets during the whole event. I try not to pay attention to his ilk, but I haven't seen this level of attention from the MNGOP attack machine on any of the other candidates. Sadly, the press paid attention to them and printed Brodkorb's childish word plays.
"R.T.," he said, stands for "Raise Taxes," Brodkorb said
If that is the best they can come up with I'm looking forward to 2010.
The Star Tribune also reported another interesting tidbit.
The mayor, in Washington for a Democratic Governors Association gathering, and his campaign manager were meeting with West Wing staffers when Rybak said he was told: "There is somebody downstairs who wanted to say hi to you."
The mayor, an early and ardent Obama supporter, was led to the Oval Office. There, Obama and Rybak ate apples -- Galas, which the mayor said are not as good as Minnesota Honeycrisps --and the president asked about the governor's race.
Rybak is closely identified with Obama and got a huge boost in name ID and goodwill campaigning around the state for him in 2008. While I doubt Obama will give him a public nod at least until the primary Rybak's relationship with him should give him a big boost. And during the general election or maybe even the primary Obama could be a huge asset if he put his weight behind Rybak in a big way.
Rybak will no doubt attempt to milk that connection during the campaign and will try to run a grassroots campaign as Obama did, he made that quite clear in his speech today. Additionally he doesn't seem shy about his record and is ready to run on it. He had a good line about how he has proven you can be a strong manager and be a strong progressive, an appeal that is likely to be at the core of his efforts to persuade suburban voters.
But so far the campaign seems to be going well for him. He's got a strong base of support, high name ID, a record to run on and lots of enthusiasm from his suporters. It remains to be seen if he can turn that into victory on caucus night.
If you want to learn more or find out how to get involved you can check out his newly launched website, designed by the designers of Barack Obama's site, RTRybak.com.
Full disclosure: I was on the executive committee of the Draft RT Rybak for Governor campaign and am now an active volunteer with Rybak for Governor.
We still have 531 days until the 2010 election but the race for governor in Minnesota has already been underway for months. Seven major candidates have entered the DFL field and I continue to hear buzz about five more. Tim Pawlenty remains publicly undecided about if he will run for re-election to a third term or not.
With all that in mind KSTP commissioned a poll from SurveyUSA pitting 9 current or potential DFL candidates against Pawlenty. All announced candidates minus Steve Kelly and plus R.T. Rybak, Chris Coleman and Margaret Anderson Kelliher. It has a fairly small sample size of 552 and doesn't take into account potential IP or other third party candidates but it's still interesting to political junkies like me (and probably you if your reading this). It has very good news for R.T. Rybak and Mark Dayton.
In addition it's very bad news for Tim Pawlenty. When a incumbent is under 50 percent they are considered vulnerable in politics. Three candidates hold him under that mark.
Thanks to twitterer MSPdude we've gotten our hands on what I think is the first direct mailer of the 2010 gubernatorial race. Dayton takes a very aggressive, progressive tone in both this mailer and an e-mail he recently send out (below the fold) and recent speeches. In them he attacks "turncoat" Democratic senators, touts his opposition to the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, his vote against Condi's confirmation and higher taxes for the wealthy. He says he's running for governor beacuse that's where real progressive change can happen.
(Click on them for full size. Very large images)
In addition he's been taking the same tone on the campaign trail. Here's what he said at a recent Beltrami County DFL event:
"The wealthy have gotten away with armed robbery," says former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton. "The wealthiest 10 percent pay less of their incomes in state and local taxes than the next 60 percent."
....
That Pawlenty won't raise taxes "even one penny," Dayton said, "is a disgrace."
This weekend 1,300 some delegates will gather in Duluth to select the DFL endorsed candidate for Governor of Minnesota in 2010. They've got a big decision to make. The stakes could not be higher.
