A Procedural Point

Sen. Amy Klubuchar flanked by Sylvia and Sam Kaplan

at the home of Brian Melendez, this evening

In the Third Congressional District, every other year precinct caucuses are held and delegates are elected to the senate district conventions. For CD3 Democrats, almost all of the 220 precincts have more senate district convention slots allocated than they have people willing to fill them--so almost everyone who wants to be a delegate to their senate district convention can go. The senate district conventions then elect delegates--about 130 in the entire CD3--who, along with about twenty superdelegates, serve as delegates both to the congressional district convention and to the state convention.

The key order of business at the congressional district convention, generally, is who should receive the DFL endorsement for US Congress. At the 2000 CD3 convention, no one had yet come forward, and the decision was tabled until several weeks later, when Sue Shuff volunteered for what even party insiders then called, soto vocce, 'the sacrificial lamb' position. In subsequent political years, weeks prior to the congressional district convention, the 150-or-so delegates delegated an important task to a much smaller group of delegate volunteers, called the Endorsements Committee. The Endorsements Committee interviewed prospective congressional candidates. On the day of the congressional district convention, the Endorsements Committee's recommendation was announced to the delegates as a whole. Any eligible person was free to take her case to the delegates as a whole, who then generally endorsed the candidate recommended to them by the Endorsements Committee with nearly North Korean unanimity.

The higher-ups in the party generally had their favored candidate. What was the purpose, then, of the Endorsements Committee? Given that selecting the best candidate for Congress was the main task assigned to the delegates, why would they farm out the process to a tiny subset? I think that the Endorsements Committee increased the difficulty factor for any insurgent candidate and helped enforce party orthodoxy. (I interviewed for the endorsement in 2002 and 2006.)

In 2008, there is no need for an endorsements committee. The delegates will already be focused on the choice for US Congress. The candidates will be working overtime, in the weeks leading up to the convention, to talk to any delegate who might want face time.

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The statewide DFL web calendar listed a party tonight at the home of Brian Melendez--'DFL CD5 First Quadrennial Dessert Tasting and Silent Auction.' I wanted to meet people and get some sense of the awareness level, among the DFL rainmakers, that a real contest is now occurring in CD3. Alas, I only had twenty minutes or so to spend at the party. Chatted with a dude who assured me that Mike Ciresi will come in third, in Rochester, after Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. I snapped the photo above on the way out.

Bonoff at Billy's in Anoka

A group of liberal Coon Rapids DFL women meets each month for dinner at Billy's Bar and Grill in Anoka. A messy afternoon snowfall slowed traffic to a crawl after work today, and I arrived late for this evening's meeting where Terri Bonoff was attempting to win their support. After Terri and her staffer left, I spoke for awhile with the four remaining club members, most of whom expected to support Madia at their senate district convention.

Over the past few months I've attended many campaign events and have spoken with many activists. My sample is unrepresentative; of the thousands of CD3 residents who have been elected delegates to their upcoming senate district conventions, most have not attended a house party, open house or debate. The straw poll on this website is, needless to say, unreliable. Still, I think Ashwin Madia is far in the lead now, based on a few indicators.

Most of the groups I've seen seem to be tilting Madia. The debate last night showed that Madia had many volunteers who were willing to nail their colors to the mast for him--many people wearing his t-shirts and standing out in the cold ready to jump, shout and wave their sign for any passing car.

In a political contest, when you're down you attack; when you're up, you employ the above-the-fray tone (when you don't care or you've given up, you sleepwalk). 'Attacking' is a very difficult, delicate political maneuver; it's extremely easy to botch. You have to lay the rhetorical groundwork before you can start contrasting your own candidacy with another one. Yesterday and today, Terri has been trying to contrast herself with Ashwin. It's not working.

Before the contrast is drawn, one has to prepare the audience. You'd have to first try to somehow bring the Madia-leaning audience to the point where they're willing/'able' to entertain another viewpoint, or at least feel that contrasting oneself from one's political opponent is an entirely legitimate form of public discourse. Instead, I'd hear Terri engage in clumsy contrasts. She told the ladies she 'had issues' with a candidate starting his political career with a run for Congress. This line of attack, in which Ashwin's name wasn't mentioned, was as unsubtle as could be. 'I can't imagine the learning curve,' she went on. Ouch.

She also tried to contrast herself with Ashwin on Iraq. Ashwin wants to leave 10,000+ troops there, for a variety of military reasons, after removing most of the US forces. In short, Terri's position is the position of most DFL activists--to get out of Iraq quickly and completely. On Iraq Ashwin is advocating an unpopular viewpoint, in DFL circles. If Terri could gain traction on any issue, you'd think it would be this--but Ashwin's having served in Iraq inoculates him on the issue. I've seen almost no swaying or fluttering taking place, among listeners, when Bonoff attempts to draw contrasts on Iraq. People have made a personal judgment as to whom they feel the greater personal affinity with. That's a very difficult grip to dislodge, and it doesn't even make much sense to begin the effort with a discussion of any specific position, once you acknowledge that the delegate's candidate selection process is a much deeper and more personalistic process than Bonoff's current strategy presupposes.

For example, Team Bonoff scoffs at the notion that a 30-year-old who's never been elected to political office could successfully take on Erik Paulsen. But in speaking with a number of activists, including four of the Coon Rapids women this evening--two of whom have served in the state legislature--many consider 'Iraq War veteran' to essentially close the stature gap, both in their own estimation and in their prediction of how a DFL nominee Madia will be welcomed by the public. Ashwin has leaped over this hurdle--the stature gap has been closed. I'm not sure it's possible for Terri to reopen it.

Bonoff has cards she can play. She's raised a lot of money; the time to spend it is now. She's said to have a real pro on her team now, in Franny Starkey. And I think aspects of Ashwin's economic pronouncements might be vulnerable to cross-examination. But you'd have to till the field first, prior to diving into the various specific-issue discussions.

One of the Coon Rapids women this afternoon thought she'd received a 'push poll' telephone call from Team Bonoff. Before I arrived, Bonoff apparently explained to her that the polling call she'd received was not a 'push poll.' Trouble is, a number of Madia backers seem to have reacted the same way to the telephone calls; the impression appears to have been left, whether justified or not.

The CD3 DFL senate district conventions take place over a period of weeks (here's the schedule). This Saturday there will be just one--my own Senate District 42 convention. If last night's debate was any indication, Eden Prairie Democrats are very positively disposed toward Ashwin Madia. A Madia win in the selection of congressional district convention delegates this Saturday could begin a snowballing process, just as one state's precinct caucuses or primary can impact the next state's, at the presidential level.

Interviewing the Coon Rapids women this evening after the candidate left, I told them that a number of smart feminist bloggers have argued quite forcefully that Hillary Clinton has been on the receiving end of a considerable onslaught of media and cultural sexism. (The Coon Rapids women assented.) Bonoff too? No, they didn't believe so. I explained that when Sen. Clinton came to the Twin Cities to rally her supporters at the beginning of this month, I remember hearing that quite a number of mothers made a point of bringing their daughters to the rally--that this was for some a breathtaking leap forward for the status of women in the USA. But I'm not seeing any similar response to Terri Bonoff's congressional candidacy. And they agreed--the response has been quite different. Minnesota (though not CD3) has elected women to Congress already. Do DFL women consider Terri Bonoff a good feminist? Yes, they said, completely, no question about it. The enigma stands.

375 Dems Pack Heritage Room at EP City Hall

Click on photo above for more pictures

Turning in toward Eden Prairie's City Hall tonight, I was surprised to see a dozen or so Madia supporters framing the entrance, waving signs and hollering delightedly. Then there were more supporters near the building's door, some for Terri Bonoff but most for Ashwin Madia. By the time people got settled, the Heritage Room at EP City Hall was overflowing.

It was a decidedly Madia-leaning audience. In the previous debates I don't recall such lopsidedness. A Madia-backing Eden Prairie mom told me Al Franken's people told her that when they are finding Franken supporters in the Third Congressional District, more often than not these people like Ashwin Madia too. At the senate district conventions, some 130 or so delegates will be elected. In addition, sitting DFL legislators who represent districts inside CD3, Democratic National Committee people and perhaps a few more--totaling perhaps twenty--will be superdelegates to both the Third Congressional District DFL Convention and the DFL state convention. Most of the superdelegates' names already appear among the Bonoff endorsers. An observer of this evening's event might predict a CD3 DFL convention in which the zealous, newbie Madia rabble collide with the lace-curtain Bonoff-backing party-insider establishment. There will be blood! Damn I love politics!

After the senate district conventions we'll likely have a much clearer sense as to the composition of the 130 [roughly] elected delegates. If they're leaning strongly Madiaward, are the superdelegates really going to be willing to go to the mat over this? Superdelegate groups are great for swatting the occasional fly, but if three weeks down the road we learn that Madia has strong support among the elected delegates and the superdelegates stand firm, then we'll go into the congressional district convention and fight it out. If then the newbie zealous Madia rabble lay low the Bonoff party insider crowd, it's going to make the Ruzich/Hoffa scramble (last cycle's hubbub) look like a tea ceremony.

If Madia and Bonoff disdain each other they hide it well. Madia likely thinks he'd be a stronger candidate against Paulsen because he's served as a marine, he's an impassioned speaker and he's more knowledgeable about federal issues [in his assessment]. Bonoff likely thinks that to beat Paulsen, we need a candidate who has held political office and has real experience taking down Republicans in hard-fought, real-world elections--and that of the three candidates Ashwin might be the least likely to actually be able to take down Paulsen in a real election.

The candidates spoke well tonight; they've all improved a great deal. You could handicap the candidates' positions and statements; I think people form some evaluation of the person. Bonoff has the flatter, less emotion-laden delivery. If you didn't speak English and you observed tonight's debate, you might conclude Bonoff is a seasoned, self-confident educator; a person who knows her subject matter very comprehensively. But if you needed someone capable of sending troops into battle (a somewhat sexist-leaning metaphor, I grant you), you'd be looking for the voice able to ignite the collective moral compass. There's a slightly chiding quality to Terri's rhetoric; there are more hues in the Madia vocal template--in addition to the self-confidence and competence there's also some moral struggle, pain and a bit of outrage. The people want a symphony, not a tuning fork.

When I've heard Ashbackers unleash with full zeal, they occasionally put forth the fetal remains story (a state senate thingamabob in which some Ashwin-supporters think Terri was insufficiently pro-choice) or the [again very thin, imho] claim that Bonoff used push-polling. But really I don't think it's issue positions or specific political acts that motivate the passions of most Bonoff and Madia supporters. Indeed, I think Bonoff's position on Iraq might be a bit to Madia's left, though Madia supporters likely view their man as the leftier of the two. Ashwin's supporters have been won over to him by the fire more than the positions.

Perhaps it was an unrepresentative sampling, perhaps many of the people attending this evening's event were from outside of CD3, perhaps most attendees tonight aren't even senate district convention delegates. We've never had a better Goliath than Terri Bonoff and we've never had a David in Ashwin Madia's league. A draw goes to Goliath. To win, Ashwin is going to have to enter the CD3 DFL convention with overwhelming strength and/or have a plan in place for winning over Jim Hovland's people.

Ramstad Named to CASA Board

Rep. Jim Ramstad has been elected to the Board of Directors of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, known as CASA. CASA's statement praises Ramstad with the standard blue-ribbon-commission mumbojumbo; there's really no serious claim that Ramstad is anyone's expert in this field.

Ramstad's election to CASA's board is unusual for a few reasons. First, Ramstad has a history of claiming to serve on boards that in fact never meet. For a long time prior to his retirement announcement, Ramstad had the following sentence posted on his website:

"He currently serves as a board member of Minnesota D.A.R.E., Lake Country Food Bank and the Violence Against Women Coalition."

I researched this claim and found no one who had seen Jim Ramstad attend any recent board meeting of either Minnesota D.A.R.E. or the Lake Country Food Bank. Worse still, I learned that there is no such thing as the Violence Against Women Coalition. When I brought the falsehoods to Ramstad's attention, he removed the sentence from his website. He has never issued an apology for these very recent false claims of community involvement.

Ramstad's election to CASA's board is also unusual because Ramstad has long believed himself to be exempt from AA's Eleventh and Twelfth Traditions. For years Ramstad has publicly identified himself as a member of AA to journalists. [An AA member whose credibility I trust 100% informs me:] Were you to begin attending a local AA meeting and notified your fellow members that you considered yourself exempt from any two of AA's traditions, you would be read the riot act. And while your fellow AA members may allow you to continue attending their meetings, you absolutely have no hope of ever of getting elected to CASA's Board of Directors.

(For a more extended discussion of these matters, please see my speech 'Good Riddance, Jim Ramstad: The Case Against A Congressman's Beatification.')

Given the above, Joseph Califano, why did you elevate Jim Ramstad to CASA's Board of Directors?

JNP with Daniel Ellsberg in Wayzata

Daniel Ellsberg, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, Gavin Sullivan

Team Madia's Senate District Convention Training in Edina

Frank Kroncke of the Minnesota Eight, at left

Fred Kaplan and Robert Wright had a conversation recently, well worth a viewing:

Wright: There are two views of how we got into Iraq, or at least two views: One sees it as the culmination of a single very coherent neocon movement and the other view sees it as a confluence of influences that included the neocons.

Kaplan: I'm a confluence guy.

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Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, candidate for US Senate, was introduced this evening by Daniel Ellsberg at a house party at Koni Kogan's in Wayzata. About three dozen people attended, including a few members of the Minnesota Eight. Nelson-Pallmeyer gives a scintillating full-bore lefty speech. He is quite critical of Al Franken for having supported the war. Nelson-Pallmeyer is a smart guy; still, I have a criticism or two.

Jack is the anti-confluence guy. He believes that Bush and Cheney knew just what they were getting into, in launching the Iraq war, and that events in Iraq have unfolded more or less as they expected. JNP believes Bush launched the war to steal Iraqi oil and construct gigantic military bases to advance his strategy for global hegemony.

I think that Bush believed WMDs would be found in Iraq, justifying the intervention. I don't believe that Bush's goal is/was to steal Iraqi oil. And I think Bush thought once Saddam's yoke was taken off the Iraqis they would revert to the 'natural' human state of 'freedom.' [Thanks Fred Kaplan.] In other words, I think Bush is a conventional popularity-seeking politician who catastrophically failed. In his heart of hearts, Bush likely has had moments when he can admit to himself, 'Damn, this sucks.' When people you dislike get power and then screw up, there's a psychic need to attribute intention to their failure. But I'm a confluence guy; I don't think Bush ended up where he wanted to be.

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer adamantly opposed the first Gulf War too.

Nelson-Pallmeyer is nice; you can disagree with him and he'll put his best arguments forward with complete civility. And he has many views I find completely commendable: He's for dumping ethanol subsidies and he wants us to reduce our oil imports by 85% within a decade--hooray! The hell we couldn't do it!

Ellsberg's son Robert was Nelson-Pallmeyer's editor at Orbis Books; Ellsberg père and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer appeared to be just meeting tonight, prior to the speechifying. Daniel Ellsberg introduced Nelson-Pallmeyer and spoke briefly after Jack's speech, reiterating his complete approval. Ellsberg too believes that the war was launched on a pack of lies and that if only a few high-level officials had had the guts to disregard careerism and go to the media and the public with the goods, this war could have been prevented.

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After the Kogans' party for Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, I drove over to the Edina Library where Team Madia was conducting a senate district convention training session. Madia Field Director Laurie Pryor and Mary Lou Belisle were just wrapping up, and several participants chatted about upcoming political events. {Word to the wise: Get to Wednesday's debate early, if you want a seat.} The new people are gung ho.

Open House at Bonoff HQ in Wayzata

An open house was held today at Terri Bonoff's campaign headquarters in Wayzata. I didn't hear the entire speech; when I arrived the room was packed and Terri was standing on a table, responding to questions. She was contrasting her position on Iraq against Ashwin Madia's (without saying 'Ashwin Madia'), saying she wanted all US troops out while her opponent wanted to maintain some 10,000 US troops there. This seems a pretty flimsy comparison, as it doesn't examine a variety of potential consequences that might emerge during and after a US pullout. Were all US troops removed and a conflagration to ensue, who would be responsible? What if a full-scale civil war erupts in Iraq, leading to the establishment of an ultra-radical state? I ask these questions so as to get a fuller picture, in order to determine whether there's a real distinction to be made between Terri and Ash's positions on Iraq. Foreign policy is an immensely complicated field; I'm somewhat put off when candidates propose simple solutions without acknowledging that a variety of consequences might occur, were their policy proposal to carry the day--and that we must have plans in place even for unpleasant outcomes.

The senate district conventions start in less than a week, beginning with [my own] Senate District 42 convention on Saturday. The gloves are starting to come off a bit, between Ashwin and Terri. Reade Bailey, a prominent DFLer and strong Bonoff supporter--present at today's open house--just slipped a letter-to-the-editor to the Eden Prairie News taking Ashwin Madia to task for an article Madia wrote over 11 years ago, as a student. Pathetic, Reade.

That irritation aside, the diverse crowd was enthused for the Bonoff candidacy; a good time was had by all.

Joe Bodell has more on keeping the contest clean.

1,000+ Hennepin County Republicans Meet in Medina

Today's Victor: Jeff Johnson

More Photos

Hennepin County Republicans had their endorsing convention today at the Medina Ballroom. This event is not to be confused with the Republicans' Third Congressional District Convention, April 19 at the Thunderbird, where Erik Paulsen will formally be endorsed as the Republican candidate for US Congress. Paulsen addressed the crowd today, briefly.

At the lectern, Erik Paulsen averred, 'I will not be out-hustled in this race;' he now utters this sentence in every public appearance. The sentence recalls the psychic environment of a junior high basketball game or a type-A father's halftime pep talk, circa 1980. The phrase also seems to predict an issues-free political contest in which Erik's zip and bounce-pass will be pitted against the DFL candidate's. I didn't get a chance to chat with Paulsen today.

Have you noticed that Paulsen's website doesn't include any reference to the fact that he is a Republican? It's fascinating, imho, that in his party Paulsen isn't catching flack for this. At today's convention, MN GOP Chair (and Mike Huckabee-fan) Ron Carey bragged that he'd earlier today punished a sitting MN GOP legislator for failure to stick with the GOP caucus on the transportation bill. And Limmer and Johnson were clearly locked in a competition over who'd be perceived as the pro-life conservative purist. It's weird then that Paulsen isn't required to throw serious red meat to the GOP activist base. Carey went on to rant against the evil liberals' goal of secularism--and raised not a peep of objection.

Today's convention had one showdown: Delegates had to choose between Jeff Johnson and Sen. Warren Limmer for the Republican nomination for Hennepin County Commissioner. Johnson had much more money and flair; many people at the event sported his t-shirts and stickers.

Sen. Limmer looked like the more rock-ribbed conservative. Johnson had the flair battle won by a mile. When the candidates spoke, one noted Johnson's sunny disposition while Limmer emitted somewhat Nixonion vibrations. At the lectern Limmer was quite nervous and didn't get the response Johnson did. Then a video was played of Michele Bachmann, bête noire of the Minnesota liberal, strongly endorsing Limmer. Around the time of the second ballot, Johnson mentioned to me he didn't think the video format had much impact, and I completely agree with him. If Bachmann was in the room, she'd be putting much more on the line, but the video endorsement certainly only had a fraction of the impact a live appearance might.

After Limmer spoke, he happened to come down and speak to a guy standing right next to me--and he was still shaking; he even said to the political ally 'I shake more after the speech than during it.' No diss to Limmer, in fact I have the same problem in speech-giving; he was the candidate today, however. Limmer's candidacy was also doomed by a certain backward-looking quality; he also had a sheet of paper put in front of every delegate that suggested an alternative in which Johnson would be made candidate for state senate. It showed a misunderstanding of the contest; 1,000+ people had devoted their Saturday to making a political choice. They didn't want to examine technocratic proposals for candidacy-juggling; they wanted to be excited and energized by their candidate. Johnson accepted the delegates' conventional understanding of today's process and succeeded. Limmer tried to re-frame the process but failed to persuade enough delegates that such a reconceptualization benefitted their interests.

I spoke to many delegates today and identified myself as a DFLer and a blogger. Almost all were extremely nice and enjoyed discussing the issues of the day. There was an old guy who kept referring to Obama as Yomama--which he found extremely witty--but in fact it is humanizing to observe the political meetings of one's less-favored political party. And for that I thank the Republicans for being nice to me today and not even complaining when I snapped a few shots on the convention floor (technically a no-no).

Click on the photo above to see a bunch more photos from today.

Sarvi House Party at the Marthalers'

James and Yvette Marthaler met in Lesotho, where they served as Peace Corps volunteers. They've lived for a decade or so in Faribault in a house built in 1888. They send their sons to the local Catholic school and have a dog named Max that's about the size of a Geo Metro. Tonight they hosted a party in support of Steve Sarvi's candidacy for US Congress in Minnesota's Second Congressional District. About two dozen people showed up.

If you ran the DFL and your goal was to pick up congressional seats, Sarvi might be a reasonably good choice for your congressional candidate. Coleen Rowley (last cycle's CD2 DFL candidate) came across as too far left--joining hands with Cindy Sheehan, campaigning on bridges, etc. Sarvi served in both Iraq and Kosovo; he comes across as a moderate, likable, hard-assed military guy who has a sense of humor.

If your path crossed Sarvi's in a dentist's waiting room and you chatted for a few minutes about yesterday's Vikings game, and then were forced to bet your life on your correct guess as to his party affiliation, Javier Bardem would airgun-waste you in the following scene.

When he spoke to the crowd, he was best relating his personal experiences in Kosovo and Iraq. 'I've lived in fractured societies,' he said, supporting his view that America is strongest when Americans pull together.

He did not speak at length on health care, he said almost nothing about education and he seemed completely unaware of the central importance of tailoring messaging to reach soccer moms. He doesn't have a dramatic or enthused delivery or a strong sense of where he's trying to take the audience. And he doesn't appear to have had great success in fund-raising. He's authoring his own candidacy and on some issues I think he's smart--he expresses real, common-sense unwedgy concern about ending illegal immigration, but he also argues (moderately) on behalf of making English the country's official language, which seems idiosyncratic.

At a house party, the candidate's job is to electrify those in attendance. We liked Steve, but our spines never tingled.

When David Schultz spoke the other day, he theorized that the smart Democratic political money is going to look at Minnesota's three Republican-held congressional seats and say 'let's concentrate our efforts on one of these.' El Tinklenberg has been running a mediocre campaign up in Michele Bachmann's district, Schultz noted. (His website doesn't show campaign events and features an unflattering photograph of the candidate, while Bachmann has over $1m on hand.) Steve Sarvi's fund-raising isn't succeeding enough to put him in real contention with incumbent John Kline, but with his current political talents, his messaging could easily be twice as honed, targeted and 'call to action'-focused as it currently is. So the party will probably focus resources on CD3, where the likelihood of a pickup appears highest.

TC Peaceniks Prepare for GOP Convention

This evening the peaceniks convened at Hennepin Ave United Methodist Church. About two dozen of them; the average age perhaps around 70, as polite as can be. The event took place in a beautiful old meeting room in the church with a fireplace and decorative carving. We listened to Dick Bernard, Marie Braun and Dennis Dillon present on their preparations for various actions surrounding the Republican National Convention set for Sept. 1-4, 2008 in St. Paul.

At around the inception of the Iraq War, I took a regrettably sanctimonious attitude toward Marie Braun, WAMM and the rest of these folks. As you might guess, they're not exactly filled with embarrassment and regret for having viscerally opposed the war for five years now. A considerable amount of literature was distributed. Afterwards, it was nice getting to say hello to the various attendees. I'd expected more people to be in attendance and some younger people, but it was pleasant nonetheless.

CD3 Central Committee Meeting

About fifty people assembled at the Minnetonka city council chambers for this evening's CD3 DFL Central Committee Meeting, chaired by Rick Nelson and Marge Hoffa. The assembly gave two minutes to each congressional candidate who wanted to speak, and Jim Hovland started.

Hovland mingled briefly before yesterday's David Schultz speech, though his wife stayed for the whole event and clearly they discussed it afterwards, as Hovland put emphasis this evening on his ability to win and hold the seat by getting the support of women. Time was limited and Mayor Hovland didn't have time to buttress this assertion. But he sounded fine and has improved his speaking noticeably over the campaign.

Terri Bonoff was up next. One might note that Bonoff and Hovland both dress for the job they want; Terri was in pinstripes and pearls tonight and very much looked the part she seeks. She hit on the big issues--ending the war, restoring the economy, education and health care--though at minimal depth. But she gives a very presentable speech, her gestures are pitch-perfect and she connects with the audience well.

Ashwin Madia was a no-show tonight. Late in this evening's meeting, Ashwin's campaign manager Laurie Pryor spoke on his behalf. '[Ashwin] embodies our hopes and dreams.' 'He represents change.' In my reading, Madia wants to play Obama to Bonoff's Hillary Clinton, using messaging particularly aimed at folks new to the process with a dollop of U2ish messianism, contrasting this with Team Bonoff's supposed apparatchik unhipness. Bonoff might fairly object to such a characterization: She has generously supported Obama's campaign, both before and after she announced her congressional candidacy, albeit in part because her son works for the Obama campaign. By contrast, Ashwin Madia even now declares he is undecided between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. And Bonoff has only been in the Minnesota state senate for three years; she's hardly a gasbag old-timer.

There are many newcomers among the 4,000 or so DFL senate district convention delegates in CD3. The senate district conventions will thin out the 4,000 down to the 190 or so who will actually decide who gets the party's congressional nomination. Historically, in my observation, the congressional district convention is very challenger-unfriendly forum. But we've never had three energized teams hell-bent on maximizing their representation among the 190.

I noticed yesterday a bit of mutual admiration being expressed between the Bonoff and Hovland surrogates. This evening still more affection was on view between Teams Hovland and Bonoff, as they engaged in friendly chitchat outside of the council chambers after they orated. Ashwin Madia should have attended tonight--and he too should be sending peace offerings to Team Hovland--this appears to me to be a strategic oversight.

David Schultz addresses Edina Dems

The Edina/West Bloomington Democrats met this evening at the Cafe at Jerry's Foods in Edina. Chuck Prentice convened the meeting and then Barry Bonoff (Terri's dad) spoke on behalf of Terri Bonoff and LaRae Ellingson spoke for (her husband) Jim Hovland. Madia had no surrogate to speak on his behalf, but there was a Madia button or two, in the audience of two dozen.

David Schultz then addressed the group on 'Democrats' Prospects in November.' This was the perspective of a partisan political analyst, looking at the various races. He had interesting insights on Obama v Clinton, why Pawlenty won't be McCain's vice presidential pick, why New Hampshire went for Clinton, etc. Shultz is an amusing, quick and insightful speaker; the audience was transfixed and the Q&A went on and on, maintaining our attention.

Schultz believes that the key swing voter is the 'soccer mom.' Schultz talked about the strategic excellence of Sen. Klobuchar's 2006 campaign, saying that Klobuchar's second television spot--entitled 'Guaranteed'--was particularly successful in winning over soccer moms. I never strongly warmed to Klobuchar during the '06 campaign; I found her delivery by turns wooden and pseudo-folksy, the schmaltzy Gear Daddies references grating. But during the campaign my liberal, politically inactive sister spoke of Klobuchar--very positively--as 'Amy.' The mystical Oprah-istic bond had been sealed for life. Brilliant.

When Schultz first thought about who Democrats ought to run, once Ramstad announced his retirement, he thought of Melissa Hortman and Judi Dutcher--the soccer moms' category killers. He wouldn't draw contrasts among Hovland, Madia and Bonoff, apparently in the interest of domestic tranquility. The lesson for CD3 Democrats is 'nail down your base and win over the soccer moms.' The smart issues are education, health care and personal security and not abortion and gay rights, advised the pro-choice, pro-gay marriage political analyst. Obama at the top of the ticket significantly improves our congressional candidate's prospects.

If the crystal ball told CD3 DFLers 'one and only one of your three candidates can win this election--and I won't tell you who'...who would be our best bet? Determine which candidate has the greatest ability to campaign forcefully on the central mainstream Democratic issues--health care, education, the economy, and specifically which candidate has the brightest prospects among independent and Republican-leaning 'soccer moms'. That's your candidate.

We're Not All Keynesians After All

This evening Ashwin Madia was interviewed on the Mark Heaney Show, on Air America Minnesota. The interview is not available online.

Heaney asked Madia what he thought of Bush's economic stimulus package, in which most taxpayers will soon receive $600 rebate checks. Ash--alone among the CD3-DFL congressional candidates--opposes the measure. Heaney asked if Madia favors some alternative economic stimulus package, and while Madia said yes, none of the measures he suggested could be considered 'a stimulus package'--a swift injection of liquidity into the economy. Ashwin views the economic stimulus package as wasteful and politically motivated. At a time when the Fed chief himself has testified before Congress endorsing an immediate injection of liquidity into the economy to prevent or soften a recession, Ashwin's Bush-skepticism might be getting ahead of sound economics. Ash's deficit-hawk instincts are generally commendable--deficit spending is usually harmful. But when the Fed chief himself blesses it, that's a different matter.

In the same interview Ashwin advanced another of his central economic positions--that he is going to bring back American manufacturing by instituting a number of massive subsidies and tax incentives favoring green industry, offset elsewhere by spending reductions or tax increases, apparently, to retain revenue-neutrality. It would be great if Ashwin could provide clarification as to the size of his green manufacturing program. Once we start doling out massive green subsidies, there's going to be an enormous temptation to hand them out not to the most promising technologies, but to the noisiest, best-funded, best-organized political lobbies. As a test of Madia's grit on this subject, I ask him: At present, do we subsidize ethanol too much or not enough?

Concerning Ashwin's green manufacturing subsidies and tax incentives, how will they primarily benefit US production? Will the incentives be available solely to US producers, even if a foreign producer comes up with a greener product?

Furthermore, Ashwin Madia has promised that the jobs created by his green manufacturing program will be union jobs. Why?

In selecting our next congressional representative, we know we can't really have an interesting discussion about the reality of being a freshman in the US House. So we radically simplify the discussion by having the candidates explain what they'd do if they were running Congress. The suggestion that a Congressman Madia, in his first term, is going to spearhead a massive new [revenue-neutral!] system of subsidies and tax breaks big enough to reverse the decades-long decline in US manufacturing is, needless to say, ludicrous. But I'm willing to accept the conceit--answers, Team Madia?

The Darryl Stanton Candidacy

Darryl Stanton

A slow day indeed on the blogging front; time to discuss Darryl Stanton.

When I attended my precinct caucus in Eden Prairie in 2000, I became acquainted with Darryl Stanton. Later I learned that he was challenging the endorsed CD3 DFL congressional candidate, Sue Shuff, in the primary. Stanton used some local access cable TV spots to get the word out; I don't recall any issues-based rationale for his Sue Shuff challenge. If you're a nobody and you challenge an endorsed candidate in the primary, you're generally sentenced to a few years' pariahhood, unofficially speaking, in the DFL. Stanton suffers from no failure in the ego-formation department; he returned in 2002 not as a pariah: The DFL gave him the nomination for US Congress, where he got clobbered, worse even than expected, by Ramstad. At the congressional district convention in 2002, I remember Gregory Gray, the DFL-endorsed candidate for state auditor, endorse Stanton and slam folks who challenge endorsed candidates in primaries--apparently unaware of the irony.

I never learned why Stanton didn't try again, for Congress, in 2004; with the name recognition he got as the endorsed candidate in 2002, you'd think he could have got somewhere on that. Instead, Stanton opted for the remotest political hinterlands, staging a weird, hopeless, nakedly ego-driven challenge to Amy Klobuchar in the 2006 primary. You'd see his car drive by, in Eden Prairie, with a gigantic Stanton for Senate sign taped on one side; it was unusual. Now he's taking on Franken, Ciresi and Nelson-Pallmeyer for this year's DFL endorsement for US Senate. Stanton has no chance whatsoever; he has articulated no issues-based distinction from the existing field of candidates. It will be interesting to see if he can build on this.

Erik Paulsen on Health Care

On Erik Paulsen's website, here is the candidate's entire statement on health care:

Ask any worker or business owner today, and they will tell you the skyrocketing cost of health care is taking a distressingly large bite out of their pocketbook. Health care is too expensive. It has been for sometime and things are only going to get worse unless Congress acts decisively and intelligently.

Consumers need more choices, and more freedom so they can take greater responsibility for their health care. Universal government-run health care is not the answer – it will stifle quality, hurt creativity, innovation and cost more.

The health care system is over-regulated. Physicians and hospitals spend far too much time on paperwork, and hiring staff to handle paperwork, than on patient care. Our providers should be focusing on patients – not pushing paper.

In other words, Paulsen views the health care issue entirely from the perspective of corporate management. Not only does he have no plan for achieving universal coverage--he doesn't even acknowledge the problem. He doesn't mention SCHIP (which Ramstad has supported); he expresses no concern at all, not even for America's ten million uninsured children.

Ramstad's goal, with regard to mental health and addiction treatment 'parity,' has been to attempt to impose a regulatory mandate to increase coverage. Erik Paulsen has publicly stated that he will continue fighting on behalf of Ramstad's position on this issue ('I would absolutely like to take up that landmark legislation.' 'I would carry that banner forward'). In his health care position statement quoted above, Paulsen asserts that the entire problem in health care is one of over-regulation. So we should try to get Paulsen's explanation on why more regulation is needed to improve this situation, as regards mental health and addiction treatment parity, and why this doesn't then disprove his overarching 'statement of principle,' that over-regulation is the fundamental problem.

Public Financing of Congressional Campaigns?

Fifty-seven days from today, we will know for certain the CD3 DFL nominee for US Congress. Many here are quite excited about this campaign, believing that we have a real shot at winning the MN-CD3 congressional seat for the first time in a half century.

I've followed the candidates on the campaign trail and have heard people express shock and exasperation at the amount of money required to seriously contest this seat. The CD3 DFL congressional candidates all support 'campaign finance reform' and the public financing of congressional elections. But I haven't heard any candidate describe a credible plan for the implementation of public financing of congressional elections. Good.

Let's say we need to raise $1.5 million to give our candidate a meaningful chance at winning. The district has about 600,000 residents; our congressional representative has approximately 1/435 control of a $2.7 trillion budget. So the average congressional representative drives more than $6 billion dollars in annual federal spending. When a political party or candidate spends $1-2 million on such a race, that's not at all disproportional.

Having been in the wilderness for so long, many CD3 DFLers assume incorrectly that we will always be unable to compete effectively for political contributions.

What if Congress put in place a system of public financing for congressional campaigns? It would not prevent an expensive intra-party battle such as the one now occurring in CD3 among Bonoff, Hovland and Madia. But it's difficult to say whether this intra-party fight is damaging our prospects for winning the seat. Yes, the candidates have been required to enter a 'bidding war,' aggressively courting the party's traditional uber-liberal interest groups. But the competition has also generated some interest which might not have been attracted had we only one serious candidate in mid-February in an even-numbered year. I've spoken with quite a number of participants in this process and have yet to hear anyone decry our current disunity.

If we had public financing, would it be difficult for a rich person to influence a congressional election? No, it wouldn't. In a competitive election, it is likely that one compelling, credible, factually accurate article, website or video clip slamming each candidate could be found, or, if need be, produced. A rich person then would only need to sign up for Google Adwords and bid on the enemy-candidate's name. Then you'd just write your little anti-enemy-candidate haiku:

Erik Paulsen

No friend to the unattended billy goat
http://www.erik-paulsen-is-a-weasel.tv/
[purely hypothetical, the above]

Thereafter each person who Googles 'erik paulsen' would be directed to the most damning anti-Erik Paulsen article, website or YouTube video our liberal aspiring Richard Mellon Scaife could find or make.

If the rich person believes positive campaigning to be more effective or moral, she could just do a similar Adwords buy on the favored candidate's name, directing web traffic to positive information on the angelic candidate.

In the example above, I referred to 'a rich person;' in fact, the Internet has vastly reduced the cost of spreading vote-influencing information to highly targeted audiences. If the government decreed congressional campaigns to be entirely state-financed--as Madia, Hovland and Bonoff appear to favor--there will remain many unregulated speech forums in which even a person of middle income might be able to sway significant swaths of targeted public opinion.

Yes, fundraising is a pain in the ass. But that's not going to change anytime soon. The public financing of congressional campaigns won't work.

SD32 Central Committee Meeting

Sen. Terri Bonoff addressing SD32 leaders

Headed up to Maple Grove this evening for the SD32 Central Committee Meeting at the Maple Grove Government Center. In addition to those pictured above, there were another dozen or more people. I only stayed for the candidate speeches. (The SD32 DFL doesn't apparently have its own website.)

Before the meeting got started I asked Terri Bonoff about Ann Lenczewski and Melissa Hortman and she acknowledged that they haven't endorsed any candidate for US Congress in CD3. Neither has responded to my emailed inquiry concerning their preference, either. (I heard elsewhere that Ann Lenczewski has been on good terms with Jim Hovland for some time.) [In other words, I was wrong, earlier, concerning the 'unanimity' of the intra-CD3 DFL state legislators, concerning their preference for a congressional candidate.]

Terri Bonoff arrived first and was allowed to address this inner-core party audience first. She has a major-key message, she smiles, she looks the audience in the eye. She doesn't quite fire up the base the way Ashwin Madia can do. She seems now to want to avoid an arrogant attitude toward the other candidates--she now acknowledges their presence in the race, tonight saying 'We do have three great candidates.' She spoke about helping a constituent on food stamps.

The chair clearly wanted brevity, but Bonoff also managed to emphasize her key political strength--having won two elections in a district long perceived to be Republican-leaning. She told the audience 'I know how to run in a tough election.' She's implicitly telling people considering Ashwin Madia, in effect, [my mind-reading, not Terri's words] 'Don't risk it. I'm the known quantity. You can count on me to run a winning campaign--I know how this is done and I'm in this thing to win.'

Jim Hovland spoke next. He makes a number of sensible points, though I still don't see how this thing can break his way. 'You can call me Mr. November' was his best line tonight.

Katie Rodriguez then rose as Ashwin Madia's surrogate tonight, giving a very brief, subdued pitch. Maple Grove is said to be ground zero for Madiamania, but the people who attend their monthly senate district central committee meeting on a chilly Valentine's Day aren't given to noise-making and ovations.

Front Runner meeting at the Humphrey Institute

This evening I attended the Front Runner meeting at the Humphrey Institute. Front Runner is an incubator for getting more women into elected office. A dozen women were in attendance, all liberal. After arriving I learned that Rep. Debra Hilstrom and 58A-seeker Peggy Flanagan would present on their political histories and aspirations. (I'd learned of tonight's event here.)

Hilstrom's father ran a towing operation; the Brooklyn Center city government got on his case as they didn't permit commercial vehicles to be parked in front of residences. Debra dealt with city hall in attempting to resolve the conflict. Pursuing a resolution, she and her father were treated shabbily here and there; in the process, a seed was wetted. She got on a commission and later ran for state rep.

In seeking the 46B seat, Hilstrom faced two intra-DFL opponents. At the time, she'd never attended a precinct caucus. (She still has a pristinely non-political-junkie aura--a very down-to-earth youthful-40 suburban mom.) Alone among the three, Hilstrom would not rule out a primary challenge if she didn't get the nomination; she got it anyway, by a gnat's eyelash. She beat Republican Lana Ensrud by 11 points in the 2002 general election and has been re-elected twice by large margins. To get ahead in a political career, she advised getting involved locally and once you're a candidate, knock on doors incessantly. She put her children up front, on lit pieces, because that was the entire purpose of the enterprise--making a better state for the next generation. (And that was the only time my inner cynicismometer started blinking.)

Hilstrom told me she'd briefly thought about running for the CD3 congressional seat and that that's why she didn't endorse Bonoff from the get-go. But she said she didn't come close to agonizing over the choice; in the end it was an easy decision. She feels strongly that Bonoff can win the seat and she's not yet persuaded that Madia or Hovland can.

We also heard from Peggy Flanagan, who's reminding Joe Mullery that democracy is a competitive endeavor, by challenging the DFL incumbent for his 58A state house seat, representing north Minneapolis. An impassioned lefty activist taking on the out-of-touch complacent insider, I'm told. A 2004 MPR mini-profile here.

**********

I wrote below that 'every single DFL state senator and state representative whose district lies within CD3' has endorsed Terri Bonoff for Congress. A Coon Rapids reader just brought to my attention that Melissa Hortman's name does not appear among Terri Bonoff's endorsers. Upon reflection, I don't see Ann Lenczewski's name there either. Two emails just left my computer.

SD46 Central Committee Meeting

This evening I attended the SD46 DFL's Central Committee Meeting at the Brooklyn Park Library. About twenty-five people were gathered in the library's meeting room. When I arrived, Matthew Knopf was speaking on behalf of his wife's--Terri Bonoff's--congressional candidacy. He had a somewhat nervous delivery, but I hadn't heard this speech before and it was fine. He spoke about Terri's gutsy decision to seek the state senate seat--and that a well-informed insider told her victory on her first campaign was unlikely. (She went on to win by almost 9% in the 2005 special election. And again in 2006--by 4%.) Knopf read from a letter written to Sen. Bonoff from Planned Parenthood which lauded her for protecting choice. He argued that Bonoff is the most electable in this 'excellent field.' And he said he doesn't like intra-party fights--that when he gets into political fights he prefers to bash Republicans. 'Erik Paulsen is the enemy,' he said. 'I know my wife can beat him.' Of the other two DFL candidates, Knopf is less sure. He had more to say, and asked the chair for an additional few minutes, but was gently refused. Matthew Knopf doesn't have much salesman in him, but his talk on behalf of his wife made me think better of both of them.

Though I still find this intra-party fight to be an interesting one which merits discussion and clarification.

Next Ashwin spoke. He did a variety of speech snippets that I'd heard before; it would be refreshing were Ash to add a few ear-to-ear smiles and happy paragraphs to his emotional repertoire, which emphasizes minor-key DFL outrage. He continues to go through a riff on ushering in an economic boom in green manufacturing which will provide massive numbers of high-paying union jobs. I'm mystified by how he intends to accomplish this. Just over a week ago, Ash emailed me his answer on this:

One way we could do this include a carbon cap and trade system, which forces large carbon emitters (such as coal burning plants) to pay the costs of their pollution instead of passing those externalities onto the rest of society, thereby making alternative forms of energy (wind, hydro, biofuels) more competitive in the market. We could also do what Japan does, which is offer tax rebates to consumers who invest/buy energy efficient appliances/cars, creating an incentive in the marketplace for manufacturers to develop and sell such products. We could also change the tax code to give more breaks/incentives to green companies, easing their entry into the energy marketplace.

Nothing horrendously objectionable here, though I'm worried about what happens to our green dreams when we enter them into the political fray. We've been around this bend before, and it's given us a massive political boondoggle known as 'the ethanol industry.' If we're going to spawn a green manufacturing boom through subsidies and rebates that's going to cost money--so it would be interesting to learn how much money Ash is interested in spending on it, and how we're going to pay for it. And I'm completely stumped as to why Ash believes all of the new jobs created are going to be union jobs.

I didn't find much opportunity to poll the attendees this evening, though I saw more Madia flair than Bonoff. After the meeting adjourned, I spoke with a Madia backer who said frankly, 'I'm not an issues person.' She goes with the candidate who can move her in the heart, she said--and Madia had captured her politico-emotional aspirations. The associate chair of SD46 then told me he strongly supported Bonoff, believing her to be the most likely to be able to beat Erik Paulsen.

The SD46-DFL website could use some work.

What Endorsement Means: The Scheid Example

Click here to view Terri Bonoff's 'endorsements'

A great number of elected officials have endorsed Sen. Terri Bonoff, including every single DFL state senator and state representative whose district lies within CD3. The list was quite an intimidating thing, I at first thought; all of these sober, practical moderate liberals, and every single one of them thinks Terri is the best candidate. How could one even consider supporting, say, Ashwin Madia?

So I started thinking about this, and asking questions. And the other day I put the question, directly, to Representatives Hilstrom and Nelson and Senator Scheid.

It is irrelevant, but I like all three of these public officials. If I lived in their district, I would not just vote for them--I'd probably contribute to their campaigns. But: We thought we knew what an endorsement of a candidate by an elected official meant; it turns out to mean a good deal less than we thought.

To simplify, let's just think about the elected officials who have endorsed Terri Bonoff. Simpler still, let's single out Sen. Linda Scheid as a fairly typical example of this phenomenon.

On first reading the long list of endorsers, I assumed it to mean, 'These people think DFLers ought to support Terri Bonoff for Congress because they think she's the best candidate in the field.'

But remember, the other day I asked Sen. Scheid how much she knew about Ashwin Madia on the day she endorsed Sen. Terri Bonoff, and she did not claim to have achieved any familiarity with Ashwin's biography or positions prior to announcing her endorsement of Terri. Having amassed virtually no knowledge about Ashwin Madia, Sen. Scheid endorsed Terri Bonoff. By her endorsement, Sen. Scheid could not have meant 'Terri Bonoff is the best candidate in this DFL field' since she knew almost nothing about Ashwin at the time she endorsed Terri.

I tried to ask Sen. Scheid, 'If I were your constituent and I said to myself "Linda Scheid is an upright public servant. By issuing her endorsement of Terri Bonoff, I can rest assured she's seriously weighed the pros and cons of each declared candidate, has interviewed each candidate and has determined Terri Bonoff is the best one" I would be very, very wrong. Isn't that correct?

My hunch is that Sen. Scheid is simply doing what all of the other endorsers did, sadly including Vice President Mondale, who should know better. By their endorsement, they really mean:

'We like Terri Bonoff. We haven't really considered any other person in the DFL field; they're not in our club. By endorsing Bonoff we don't mean to suggest that she is the best candidate, since we admit we haven't really even considered either of the others. We just want the public to know one thing: We like Terri Bonoff.'

Sunday

Caught Taxi to the Dark Side and Persepolis this evening.

If you need any further convincing that the Bush Administration has been a disaster for America's position in the world, view the excellent, non-uplifting Taxi to the Dark Side. Trailer here. The documentary's director, Alex Gibney, dedicates the film to his father (a naval interrogator during WW2), who says on camera that the human rights violations we've committed during the War on Terror have caused him to lose faith in our government--that during World War II we were the good guys and didn't commit extrajudicial, off-battlefield killings.

But the film has elsewhere suggested that the US military has perhaps murdered 105 people in detention, during this president's tenure. (I don't recall the dedicatee making clear he was referring only to the treatment of detained people.)

While a horror, this number would represent only a tiny fraction of the non-combatants we killed during World War II. Taxi to the Dark Side also includes an interview with the nice-seeming Moazzam Begg, who may well not be innocent--which is not to say he should have been maltreated.

The sign at the Uptown TCF said -17°F but I note Google says it's now 10°F warmer than that.

Town Hall Forum in Brooklyn Center

DFLers All: Reps Debra Hilstrom [46B], Mike Nelson [46A] and Sen. Linda Scheid [46]

As DFLers select our candidate for US Congress in Minnesota's Third Congressional District, we ought to use a fair process, considering the candidates on their merits. The DFL pooh-bahs have come out for Terri Bonoff with almost North Korean unanimity. Does anyone smell sulfur?

What do these endorsements mean? When Vice President Walter Mondale enters the fray in a local dispute among DFLers and bestows his endorsement upon one of the three candidates, what is he trying to tell us? Does he mean for us to think, 'Walter Mondale has carefully reviewed the biographies, campaign literature and oratory of each of the candidates and has determined that Terri Bonoff is the strongest among them?' I emailed the question to Vice President Mondale, but he's keeping mum. He's provided us with the tea leaves; it's our job to read them.

Were VP Mondale to entertain questions from the floor, I'd like to ask: Before endorsing a candidate in a contested DFL field, what process do you employ to ensure that all candidates receive a fair opportunity to win your endorsement? You're a former Vice President; it would be unseemly for you to endorse a candidate on a whim, without having taken the time to review each of the candidacies, or based on the fact that the candidate's spouse is your colleague at Dorsey & Whitney, right? At the time you endorsed Terri Bonoff, how much effort did you expend in researching Ashwin Madia's candidacy?

So did you give each of the three candidates a fair hearing? Or did you just choose your crony?

***********

At the Brooklyn Center Community Center this morning there was a town hall forum with Sen. Linda Scheid and Reps. Debra Hilstrom and Mike Nelson. (Rep. Melissa Hortman was on the card but didn't show up for some reason.) If you use your left hand to make a C to represent MN-CD3, Brooklyn Center is your index fingertip.

So this morning I tried to suss out these public servants' Bonoff endorsement. These are elected officials; when they recommend one candidate over two others--even in an intra-party contest--ethics demands that they forswear no-bid contracts.

The meeting included a couple dozen older people from Brooklyn Center, with just a few people younger than me. Sen. Scheid--St. Louis Park Class of 1960--had a fine command today despite appearing a bit sniffly. Rep. Nelson, a carpenter in a herringbone sport coat, showed no inclination to cut the event short, even when it had gone on for over two hours. Rep. Hilstrom also fielded the audience questions well, which almost all concerned education, taxes and transportation.

So I asked, 'At the time you issued your endorsement of Terri Bonoff, how familiar were you with the biography and positions of Ashwin Madia?' Repeating my question for the small audience, Sen. Scheid provided some additional context, reminding folks of the Ramstad retirement, etc. Rep. Hilstrom answered that she'd read the campaign lit she'd received in the mail from Ashwin, noting that she was among the last of the elected officials to issue her Bonoff endorsement. Rep. Nelson and Sen. Scheid admitted they knew little or nothing of the other candidates. So I tried to get them to clarify whether they thought it ethical to bestow their endorsement without any minimal effort at engaging in a fair process. I didn't get an answer.

Hypothetical: Let's say I moonlight as the football coach at the town high school and by day work at the A-List Law Firm, where my colleague tells me to make his son starting quarterback--and I do, without taking a moment to seriously assess my options. Later I learn a couple of scrappy pigskin prodigies from the wrong side of 85th Ave NW had also desperately wanted the spot. I see that I have committed an error; what ought I do?

Get Smart

I bought my Hyundai Accent in September 2002. It was the display vehicle inside the Bloomington Hyundai dealership; both at that time and now it stunned me that one could buy a brand new car for under $9,000. A desert sand stick shift two-door hatchback unencumbered by air conditioning...but hey, it averages 35 mpg. The lady pastor I affectionately refer to as X2 gleefully christened my Accent 'the chick magnet;' 109,000 miles later it remains the car's stock epithet for all stakeholders.

You might think a guy entering his twelfth year of Hyundai Accent driving would be free of any impulses toward Eurosnobbery, wheelswise. But no; Smart Cars make me smile. (Click on the photo above for a few more pictures.) Sexy, tiny, delightfully impractical. They're said to get around 40 mpg. The interior is amazingly comfy and it's supposed to be safer than a Kawasaki.

But: For less than the price of a stripper smart fortwo, I could get another ultraboring Hyundai. And while Chick Mag 3 mightn't turn heads, it would have a back seat and a trunk. smarts are made in France, a somewhat unknown land to my automotive profiling. (Though my first new car, purchased [and driven] in Taiwan, was a navy 1990 Peugeot 205 that ran on regular gas and had ozone-depleting [but arctic] aircon.) Also, smarts have Minnesota-mean rear-wheel drive. The default warranty ends at 24k, too, which gives pause.

DFL SD47 Central Committee Meeting

More event photos

Tonight I attended the DFL SD47 Central Committee Meeting at the Davanni's in Coon Rapids, in the northeastern corner of CD3--the only part of the Third Congressional District not in Hennepin County. The folks present were doing various post-precinct caucus tasks. Mayor Hovland stopped by briefly to introduce himself to the group; he was the only congressional candidate at tonight's meeting. After Mayor Hovland left, I learned that many of those present were strongly in support of a single payer solution on health care, but few seemed likely to back Hovland, despite their shared viewpoint on this key issue.

I asked almost everyone about their leanings with regard to Bonoff, Hovland and Madia. Most in attendance didn't seem overly focused upon the congressional candidate selection, preferring to hold off on this decision until the March 8 Senate District 47 convention. Among those willing to opine, I met one strong Terri Bonoff supporter, one former Edinan impressed by Jim Hovland and three who seemed committed to making Ashwin Madia their congressional representative. An admittedly unscientific sampling from a not-too-representative subset of the senate district convention delegates. Very nice people, just the same.

To the scrap heap with BS endorsements!

At the precinct caucus last night, a great number of people who got in their cars and headed toward Eden Prairie High School never actually had the opportunity to vote. They saw the traffic and parking difficulty and decided it wasn't worth the effort. Or they got to the building but gave up when they saw the overcrowding.

I observed two DFL SD42 precincts--precincts 11 and 13, which had been scheduled to convene together but were divided in response to the high attendance.

After signing in, people were given lavender 3"x5" cards on which to write the name of their preferred presidential candidate. This presidential voting was binding. Minnesota will send 88 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Seventy-two of these 88 will back Obama or Clinton in the same proportion as did the Minnesotans who voted yesterday at their precinct caucuses. With 87% of Minnesota DFL precincts reporting, that proportion currently stands at 48 Obama delegates to 24 Clinton delegates, according to CNN. (The actual breakdown will likely change somewhat once all precincts have been counted.)

In Eden Prairie DFL precincts 11 and 13, here are the results of our presidential voting. (I'm quite certain that there was one John Edwards vote; funny it doesn't appear on the results page.) The numbers mentioned here yesterday are incorrect, apparently, as Mark Ritchie says that 364 Democrats voted in the two precincts I observed. So in our little sliver of suburbia, we supported Obama over Clinton at almost double the statewide [2:1] proportion.

Many of those who made it into the room were quite frustrated. Quite a number were irate when, after the presidential voting, they learned there would be no voting for a US Senate candidate. Our candidate for Senate will be selected at the 2008 DFL state convention, set for June 6 in Rochester. If someone attending yesterday's precinct caucus wanted to support a specific candidate for US Senate, it would make sense then to sign up to be a delegate to the senate district convention. As you move up the ladder of conventions, the number of delegates becomes progressively smaller and your ability to impact outcomes increases.

In any case, Franken has the nomination for US Senate wrapped up, in my estimation.

The really exciting local contest is the one for the CD3 DFL nomination for US Congress. The party hierarchy has mindlessly fallen into lockstep in support of Terri Bonoff; the Bonoff endorsers evince an apparatchik soullessness. If they're serious, why doesn't one of these people have the courage to come forth and express an honest argument for their candidate as opposed to Ashwin Madia? If they view Ashwin's service to country as somehow less noble than Terri's, why doesn't one of them have the guts to say so? As matters stand, the few endorsements that come with explanations are nothing but loopy love notes to the party pooh-bahs. Take for example this kooky valentine--the meat of AFSCME's endorsement of Bonoff:

AFSCME members thought they [Terri Bonoff and El Tinklenberg] were the strongest pro-working family candidates for the seats.

If you look on AFSCME-MN's site, they state their endorsement a bit differently:

David Cohoes, chair of AFSCME Council 5’s West Metro PEOPLE district and an assistant public defender for Hennepin County, said “Terri Bonoff is our best chance to elect a pro-working families congressperson who will help solve our nation’s heath care crisis.”

In other words, David Cohoes isn't arguing that Bonoff is more electable than Ashwin Madia--he's simply dogmatically asserting it, as an omniscient political guru. (Though--like David Cohoes--I too must confess to detecting a subtle anti-working families penumbra behind Ashwin Madia's every utterance [simper].)

The citizens of Minnesota's Third Congressional District deserve better (he asserted earnestly). If you're going to argue on behalf of one candidate as opposed to another, argue honestly. Explain what really distinguishes your candidate from the others. If you're going to argue that your candidate is more electable than the others, explain why you feel that way.

I have not endorsed any candidate in this race, but very much question David Cohoes' contention, that Bonoff is 'obviously' the most electable of the three. Were citizens of the Third District presented with the choice between Ashwin Madia and Erik Paulsen, I believe that many centrist and independent voters would find the difference in the two men's military service histories to be, at the very least, equalizing, experience-wise.