Madia Fundraiser at Nick and Eddie

Ashwin Madia and Nikki Carlson

Click on photo above for more

A fundraiser was held for Ashwin Madia this evening at Nick and Eddie. (A bunch of people were co-hosts, myself included.) The guest of honor was Major General Harry Sieben, Jr., (known to Republicans as Personal Injury Lawyer Harry Sieben). People socialized, scrumptious hors d'oeuvres were enjoyed, scuttlebutt was traded. In mid-party, a crowd of Madia supporters surrounded the establishment's entryway, when a very unusual coincidence occurred: Sylvia and Sam Kaplan entered, said a few terse hellos and made their way into the establishment, apparently to dine. The Kaplans are Bonoff supporters; upon seeing them enter some thought that perhaps a reversal might have occurred, but we then noted they hadn't entered to join our event, they were just passing through on their way to a dining table in back. I meant to bark out an amusingly hollow peace offering: You may not endorse us, but we endorse you!--but they glided by before I could even snap a picture.

The chitter-chatter at this evening's party concerned some postings on Minnesota Democrats Exposed. Here's my tentative restatement of the consensus Bonoff-skeptic story line:

Some anti-abortion legislators wanted to require hospitals to provide fetal remains to miscarrying women who wanted them. Prior to Ramstad's Sept. 17, 2007 retirement announcement, Bonoff was rather willing to accommodate this move, despite being pro-choice, probably in part in order to solidify her moderate political identity within her evenly-divided-or-worse district. After the Ramstad bombshell, Bonoff became aware that her political need was now the opposite--she now needed to present herself in the most NARALish manner possible, so she dumped the fetal remains bill. During the drama described above, she bullshitted, falsely claiming that her about-face was in response to some change in the wording of the proposed legislation.

Woop-di-friggin'-doo, no? Or am I missing something?

I suppose on this issue we might prefer our state senator to avoid anything which might allow MCCL to get its foot in the door. But this still seems pretty thin to me, as political crimes go. (MCCL rates Bonoff's support for the 'pro-life' agenda at 0% for both of her years in the Minnesota state senate.)

Stop Optimism Now

In taking the long way home from Duluth this afternoon, I saw the house above in disintegrating Tamarack.

**

In Albert Lea yesterday Tim Pawlenty spoke to CD1 Republican delegates, advocating on behalf of the big tent, asking his ideologically hard-edged audience to consider softening up a bit in the interest of winning elections. Pawlenty uses a somewhat patronizing tone with the delegates, as he advances his elliptical point. He refers to Reagan's sunny 'optimistic' tone and that Reagan 'was never mean-spirited,' reminding the righty activists to get clean for Gene as they move toward the political season.

As an image matter, Pawlenty is correct that Reagan had a knack for projecting a politically-useful image of optimism. But when invoking his idealized Reagan, Pawlenty seems so entranced as to conflate Reagan's media image with the Gipper's actual conduct in office.

What if we had a president who wanted to provide funds to an unpopular guerilla army. Congress refused to provide him with the funds needed, so he illegally and secretly sold weapons to a terrorist, enemy country in order to get around our democratic system of government. What if, as the transaction was occurring, he publicly asserted that no such thing was happening? [Recognize any similarity here?]

Wouldn't such conduct make that president guilty of treason? Wouldn't it be weird if, two decades later, a Minnesota governor invoked that president's name as a paragon of optimism, and no peep of opposition was observed in his large audience? Pawlenty's invocation of Reagan is objectionable because it intentionally equates appearance with reality, even when we know for a fact that the Reagan reality conflicted massively with the Reagan appearance.

Norm Coleman does not have a sunny disposition. Many people--Abraham Lincoln, for example--don't have sunny dispositions. But there's something particularly grating when a morose person seeks to lecture others on the virtue of optimism. When Coleman describes himself as a 'voice for optimism in a cynical time,' it truly grates. Coleman's call for optimism genuinely merits a protest march. Anybody? [Headline: 10,000 Minnesotans March Against Optimism. I love it.]

In their paeons to optimism, both Norm Coleman and Tim Pawlenty are putting forward a feel-good, feelings-based ideology about the primacy of appearances and intentions over substance.

Aitkin's First Congregational UCC, today

CD1's Newly Endorsed GOP Candidate Brian Davis

I attended two Republican congressional district conventions today--CD1 met at Albert Lea Senior High School [photos -- slide show]. CD2 met at Northfield Middle School [photos -- slide show]. I was made to feel unwelcome [like, call the cops crap] at both; the Republicans are weirdly inhospitable to unembedded bloggers attending their events (weirder still that such practice would prevail in a party which sends its own videographer to numerous DFL events). Anyway, the news was that Brian Davis got the endorsement (defeating Rep. Randy Demmer) to go after Dick Day in the September GOP primary.

I'm a Cole-man

Sen. Norm Coleman in Northfield on March 29, 2008

In Minnesota's present battle for US Senate, we Democrats ought to stipulate that in opposing Norm Coleman we do not for a moment call into question our senior senator's superlative ethical character.

The Hon. Norm Coleman--his adoring wife Laurie at his side--announced his campaign for reelection the other day. Optimism has no bolder champion than Senator Norm Coleman--a shining beacon of manhood, and at least as good a senator as Durenberger and D'Amato put together.

Prepare thy hankie:

...'Norm Coleman formally launched his reelection bid in St. Paul on Wednesday, declaring himself to be a 'voice of optimism in cynical times.' 'I simply brought people together to work very hard...We didn't point fingers, we joined hands.' 'This race is about tomorrow,' he said. 'Al's running against yesterday.' 'I don't do [politics] with expletives.'

In his own courageous words, Coleman is 'plain, not Hollywood; peaceful, not divisive; generous, not mean-spirited, and just, not political.'

Let's face it, Dems: This guy's got balls the size of grapefruits--and he doesn't have a mean-spirited bone in his body--none.

Minnesota's self-styled riposte to a jaded, cynical age is Norm Coleman. While his malcontent critics might call him a jizzumslurping pussy [in the non-homophobic, non-sexist sense] or an insatiable philanderer, his defenders like to point out that it wasn't Sen. Norm Coleman who was caught exploring that nubile 38-year-old's every welcoming orifice in that automobile in front of Red's Savoy Pizza several years back. (Furthermore, Minnesotans Against Masturbation endorsed Coleman yesterday afternoon, sealing the deal for most values voters.)

One would require a heart of stone to guffaw when Sen. Coleman assures us he is plain, peaceful, generous and apolitical; such a response would be inconceivable in an upright citizen. Nobility such as Norm Coleman's is a rare gift; we are a blessed constituency.

SD25 Endorsing Convention & A Madia Wish

Rep. David Bly addresses 25B's DFL delegates

** Click on photo above for more pictures **

I was in the mood for a change of scenery, so I drove an hour south after work today. Senate District 25 held its endorsing convention this evening in Montgomery, MN [wiki], in Le Sueur County. (The event took place at the American Legion on Elm Ave.) Thirty-seven delegates were seated. After some formalities, the convention divided into two conventions, one for the 25B [the Northfield side]--who are currently represented in St. Paul by David Bly. (Bly was endorsed unanimously this evening.) The 25A folks endorsed Tim Siebsen in 2006 and again (in a second display of Le Sueurean unanimity) today. (Tim Siebsen lost in 2006 to Laura Brod.)

When I first arrived at the Montgomery Legion this evening, a bell rang when I saw the spry fellow pictured below--Carleton professor emeritus Seymour 'Sy' Schuster. (I reminded him that Wellstone, he and I carpooled once, from Northfield to Minneapolis, for some political event circa 1983. [I myself wasn't a Wellstone acolyte, then or later, to be clear.]) Early in Wellstone's Carleton career, he was almost fired by a college president not fond of Paul's unstarchy understanding of Political Science. When they tried to fire Wellstone, a few Carleton professors supported the administration, some fence-sat, some mumbled a supportive phrase or two. Sy Schuster invoked Article 5, essentially acting as Wellstone's lawyer before the Carleton administration, successfully thwarting their effort to eject Paul. If I was in a foxhole, Sy Schuster's presence would be most welcome. Go ahead, click on the photo:

Sy Schuster

One other thing, today:

Few reading this blog are likely unaware that on April 12, 2008, 159 delegates will assemble at Wayzata Central Middle School to endorse our candidate for US Congress. Were I a delegate at that convention, I would vote for Ashwin Madia. I hope that Ashwin Madia gets the endorsement. As a practical matter (so that we have the strongest candidate) and as a matter of principle (so that we have the most ethical candidate), it is important to me that Ashwin Madia be our next congressional representative. I'm confident he'll be a good one.

A Visit to the Republicans

The Republicans Say 'Hi'

It's the fourth Tuesday of the month and so I was occupied with the Eden Prairie Book Club. Please consider joining us next month, when we'll discuss Tree of Smoke.

If you've followed events recently in the Third District congressional battle, you've likely noted that the Republican Party of Minnesota frequently sends videographers to Democratic events. Even when the Democrats are assembling in a reserved party room in a local restaurant, the Republican videographers show up. On the Republican side of this contest, if there are any independent-minded voices, they are inaudible. The Republicans are very comfortable with this state of affairs. It is not by coincidence that no Ashwin Madia sprang forth within this ossified, anti-entrepreneurial party. The [MN-CD3] Grand Old Party's gusset plates are visibly bent.

During the course of following political events in the Third Congressional District, I've frequently used the CD3 DFL calendar to find events. Somewhat foolishly, I assumed yesterday that public events would also be listed on the Republicans' website. Looking for a political event to observe yesterday, I checked the CD3 Republican Party's calendar. I saw that at 6:30 PM last night, the 'Executive Committee' was scheduled to meet in room 323 at the Edina Community Center. After work, I hopped in the car and drove there.

Arriving at room 323, I opened the door and asked if I could attend the meeting. Aghast looks greeted me. 'Who are you?' I gave them my URL and told them I was a blogger. Jerry Paar, co-chair of the CD3 GOP, hissed, 'So you're a liberal blogger?' with a sneer clearly positioning the adjective somewhere in the Manson/Bundy/Dahmer neighborhood. I acknowledged my ideological stain; they wanted me out. I asked if they could tell me a specific position of Erik Paulsen's; they refused. I asked if, in the CD3 GOP Executive Committee's view Erik Paulsen ought to answer my emails. Yes, the committee unanimously agreed. I brought to their attention that Rep. Paulsen is currently acting in defiance of their wishes. They asked me to leave; I left.

I felt a bit miffed, however. I mean, these people send their videographers everywhere, filming Democratic candidates, yet their own meetings are shielded from any public scrutiny. Before leaving the Edina Community Center, I noticed the narrow vertical rectangular window within the door hadn't been entirely papered over from within. So I snapped a photo of the assembled Republican Executive Committee [see below] and then started walking away.

Jerry Paar burst out the door and walked toward me, telling me he'd given no permission for me to take any photograph. So I started taking some more pictures of him, my personal favorite being the one above. He turned around and left in a huff.

Bonoff to Losing Gracefully: Drop Dead

Ashwin Madia today, at a house party in St. Louis Park

**

An Open Letter:

Dear Sen. John Doll, Sen. Ron Latz, Sen. Ann Rest, Sen. Linda Scheid, Sen. Leo Foley, Sen. Dan Larson, Rep. Maria Ruud, Rep. John Benson, Rep. Steve Simon, Rep. Sandra Peterson, Rep. Michael Nelson, Rep. Debra Hilstrom, Rep. Denise Dittrich and Rep. Linda Slocum:

In the present contest to select our party’s candidate for the House of Representatives, you publicly endorsed Terri Bonoff without seriously considering Ashwin Madia. A lengthy, fair campaign ensued, in which active CD3 DFLers got to see Terri Bonoff and Ashwin Madia up close and in a wide variety of settings. Among democratically-elected delegates [I think there should be no other kind] who will be seated at Wayzata Central Middle School on April 12, Ashwin Madia currently leads 83.5 to 51.

In this process, your endorsement was disregarded by most participants once it became known that it was essentially one club member's favor to another—that you failed to perform due diligence prior to endorsing your colleague. It is time that we put that unseemly matter behind us.

On April 12, Terri Bonoff is going to lose. To complicate affairs, your candidate is determined not to lose gracefully. In a bizarre effort to inflict the maximum possible damage upon her own reputation--and yours--Sen. Bonoff has gone 'hard negative' against Ashwin Madia. As people who have hitched your own reputational wagon to Terri Bonoff's backward-looking, negative, increasingly desperate campaign, I ask you to read her disgraceful letter in full. [one two three]

I call upon you to rescind your endorsement of Sen. Bonoff. Terri Bonoff is going to lose on April 12 whether or not you cancel your endorsement. By rescinding your endorsement today, you will help mend the damage you did to your reputation with your hasty endorsement of Sen. Bonoff. By rescinding your endorsement of Terri Bonoff today, you will also help our party unite now for victory in November. By declaring your neutrality today, you will obviate an embarrassing April 12 spectacle of almost all CD3 DFL legislators siding with the losing congressional candidate.

What say you?

Sincerely,

Gavin Sullivan

**********************

Correction: On March 21, I got my numbers wrong. Here's the correct current tally, with numbers taken from MNCR:

Among the declared democratically-elected CD3 delegates, Madia is now winning 83.5 to 51 [subtracting the superdelegates from MNCR's scoring here].

Ashwin at Bill Davis' in Brooklyn Park

Madia supporter Gene Merriam with Ashwin Madia

Click on photo above for more event pictures

Yesterday evening I attended a Brooklyn Park house party for Ashwin Madia at the home of Bill Davis, DFL State Party Treasurer [and current DNC candidate]. About twenty people attended. The candidate remains scratchy-throated, getting over a cold. The blogger is also somewhat sidetracked this holiday weekend, finishing the riveting Legacy of Ashes in preparation for his book club's Tuesday meeting. Normality to resume soon.

A few candidate exchanges

Heading off to work this morning...

**

Yesterday I caught up on this lengthy MNPublius comments thread, which was set in motion by the Iraq War anniversary statements issued by both campaigns. If one were strategizing for Terri Bonoff it still seems an unusual issue choice on which to go after an Iraq War veteran. And to be honest, I've never really gotten the sense that Terri Bonoff is someone with a deep and longstanding interest in foreign policy matters. (Has anyone been so convinced? Commenters?)

Terri Bonoff has every right to continue pursuing this nomination right up to April 12; after that, I think DFLers are hoping against a contested DFL primary.

This evening one also noted this Madia-Bonoff flurry. I observed this process at fairly close range--speaking with people on both sides, over a considerable period of time. I occasionally observed overzealousness on the part of both candidates' supporters. But in Terri's contribution to this exchange, she writes:

As someone who has run and won twice in this district, I know first-hand about negative smear campaigns. Even in this campaign, supporters of my opponent have consistently waged whisper campaigns against me and I have not engaged.

Terri, we didn't get to where we are now as a result of any Madia smear campaign. Among the declared democratically-elected CD3 delegates, Madia is now winning 81.5 to 36 [subtracting the superdelegates from MNCR's scoring here]. Cheap shots have played a rather minor role in this competition; by my lights, about 50% of the cheap shots were pointing in each direction. (I don't recall any major Madia supporter attempting to make hay out of something you wrote more than a decade ago, for example.) And I say this as a person who very much wanted the endorsement myself (until Dec. 4, 2007) and learned the hard way that I didn't have what it took to compete politically in Terri Bonoff's league [nor was it close]. The process that got Ashwin Madia where he is today has been an upright process. Politics doesn't get much fairer than the one we have observed in Minnesota's Third Congressional District this past winter.

An evening in exotic Roseville

Twenty-five DFLers Select Resolutions in Roseville

(Click on photo for more event pictures)

After work today I sought automotive therapy, finding a political event to observe far from CD3, for a change. The drive was just a half hour or so.

I attended the SD54 Executive Committee Meeting this evening in Roseville. The event took place at the 1954-built Fairview Community Center; twenty-five people attended. Resolutions which had been passed by SD54's precinct caucuses were taped to the wall. Every eligible attendee had twenty votes to distribute among the resolutions. So the meeting's purpose was to reduce the number of resolutions down to forty for the April 5 SD54 senate district convention. After the process was explained, people walked around reading the resolutions and casting their votes directly onto the wall-mounted documents. Voting was on the honor system. An individual couldn't cast more than one of her votes for any specific resolution.

(Would it make sense to allow voters to distribute their twenty votes however they saw fit--even casting all twenty for one resolution particularly to their liking? What would be the key benefits and drawbacks of such a rules change? Which system would be more sensible?)

SD54 is represented in the Minnesota state senate by John Marty, who folks at the meeting assured me is very well-liked by his constituents. In the state house, 54A is represented by Mindy Greiling; 54B is represented by Bev Scalze. (All three are DFLers.)

The people at this evening's SD54 meeting were amiable. Roseville and Eden Prairie are about equally diverse communities, though this evening's meeting wasn't. Roseville is considerably older, less affluent and more densely settled than Eden Prairie [said with the insouciance of the Eden Prairie apartment dweller who, if he relocated to Roseville, would further depress that community's average income and raise its median age].

Third Congressional District Central Committee Meeting

Click here for more event photos

Tonight's Third Congressional District Central Committee Meeting was jam packed and SRO. The event took place at the Minnetonka Community Center. With the CD3 senate district conventions completed, the delegates and alternates were invited to this evening's meeting, so there were a lot of new people.

Ashwin Madia and Terri Bonoff both spoke very briefly. Ashwin, still quite hoarse, missed a real opportunity to rev up his side. He turned in another space-filler of a minispeech and justly received no audience thunder for his efforts. Terri addressed the audience next, acknowledging she has fewer delegates but vowing to fight to the April 12 finish. She apparently believes that in getting to Madia's left on Iraq she might stop any endorsement from occurring on April 12; her staff is apparently humoring her on this, giving them a few weeks to get their résumés tidied up. Perhaps the will to go on stems from a belief that some type of unfairness got us to where we are today. More realistically, it might make sense for Terri Bonoff to stay in the race just in case Ashwin Madia makes some monumental mistake between now and April 12. Seems pretty iffy, but who knows?

A moment of silence was called for those who have served and sacrificed on this fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.

The Afghanistan War began on Oct. 7, 2001. We launched the Iraq War on Mar. 20, 2003. Ashwin has long expressed contempt for President Bush's failure to enlist the public in shared sacrifice. Ashwin belittles those who see putting a troop-supporting sticker on their car as a real form of burden-shouldering. After including these anti-Bush jabs in his stump speech, Ash eventually felt the need to insert an alternative 'request for sacrifice from the American people' Bush could have made. The reason sacrifice was being called for, of course, was because after Oct. 7, 2001, our guys were getting shot at. So if you're going to criticize Bush for failing to enlist the public in shared sacrifice during wartime, it seems sensible that such criticisms commence no earlier than Oct. 7, 2001.

When Ashwin finally came forward with a specific form of sacrifice Bush 'ought to have' called for, it was for voluntarily giving up automobile usage on Sundays. Were the idea truly to take hold, being seen driving on Sunday would become somewhat stigmatized. But millions of Americans' jobs require them to drive to work on Sundays. Millions attend church on Sundays. Many others have standing engagements on Sunday. A quite impractical idea, no?

By aggressively raising fuel-efficiency standards we could easily upgrade the efficiency of the nation's auto fleet, and in doing so we'd score permanent savings in gas consumption, unlike the drive-free-Sundays idea. So while in principle I would welcome some presidential initiative on behalf of shared sacrifice, Ashwin's idea would constitute a lot of sacrifice on behalf of quite little [and quite temporary] societal benefit.

*****************

Don't misunderstand me--I've long favored a positively Nelson-Pallmeyeresque attack on our addiction to petroleum importation. Not long ago, Tom Friedman wrote: "You'd think that one person, just one, running for Congress or the Senate would take a flier and say: "Oh, what the heck. I'm going to lose anyway. Why not tell the truth? I'll support a gasoline tax. Not one."

I ran for US Congress in 2006. On July 25, 2006, I published, 'I want to significantly reduce our country's reliance on imported oil. To this end, I propose doubling our current federal gasoline excise tax, to 36.6 cents per gallon'.

*****************

On March 11, 2008, Ashwin spoke to Edina Democrats at the Davanni's just off Highway 100. As usual, he lambasted Bush for failing to call for shared sacrifice--but this time he expressed his idea quite unusually. His criticism of Bush, he made clear, wasn't for failing to call for shared sacrifice at the time our current two wars started--no, Madia was now faulting Bush for not calling for shared sacrifice on September 12, 2001.

In imagining a positive 9/12/01 speech for Bush, Madia, speaking as a hypothetically good George W Bush, described the gas-free Sunday idea 'So that no American dies again as a result of our reliance on foreign oil.'

This statement [which Team Madia today acknowledged, via email, as being accurate] was weird. I have never heard of any Democratic politician faulting Bush for failing to call for shared sacrifice before the current wars had even started. The statement seems to forget the national mood on Sept. 12, 2001. The bad guys had just hit us on a Pearl Harbor-like scale. Thousands of Americans hadn't heard from loved ones but continued to hope they might be located in some NYC hospital. And on such a day, Ashwin regrets that George Bush didn't go on national television and blame the catastrophe on our reliance on foreign oil! Ashwin Madia believes a US president, within 24 hours of a Pearl Harbor, could go before the American people and offer no consolation or rhetorical arm-around-the-shoulder. Instead, our president should have accepted some responsibility for the attack. Odd.

Madia Fundraiser in 55403

'Two Putt' Tommy Johnson, Ashwin Madia, Patricia Bloodgood

Patricia Bloodgood threw a fundraiser for Ashwin Madia this evening at her townhouse near Loring Park, in Minneapolis. Ashwin, ailing a bit with a cold, was hoarse; it was not among his zippiest performances, though the twenty or so in attendance appeared receptive. During his somewhat abbreviated speech, Ashwin expressed confidence that he will get the DFL endorsement on the first or second ballot on April 12. A quick glance at the check collection did not reveal any breathtaking numbers.

**

Sage and John Cowles chat with Ashwin Madia, as John Derus looks cameraward

Thanks to all who've been commenting on my blog lately:

Let's Get Real yesterday suggested that the delegates on April 12 might vote no endorsement, letting the decision go to the primary in September, because they 'feel that this should be decided by the will of the voters in the district, and not a handful of activists.' (An argument that never worked for me.) LGR recommends I 'pause before predicting [Ashwin's] endorsement.'

I'm happy to entertain various possibilities, LGR. But you've given us very little to go on. Ashwin is going to arrive at Wayzata Central Middle School with very nearly all he needs for the endorsement, if not more. Everyone who endorsed Ashwin already knew about Terri Bonoff. Many who endorsed Bonoff didn't know a thing about Ashwin Madia. People usually change their minds when confronted with new information--so I think someone supporting Terri Bonoff on the first ballot is far more likely to switch than is a delegate supporting Madia. Madia's delegates are going to come into that convention with both guns blazing. How on earth could they be expected to settle for no endorsement?

I also find claims on behalf of general election electability dubious, when discussing a candidate so unable to win majority support from senate district convention delegates.

Paulsen is going to have this district blanketed with familiar-looking billboards come autumn. The DFL candidate will trail Paulsen financially, by far. A primary battle would massively worsen the situation.

All Tomorrow's Parties

SD32 DFL Cool People

**

If Ashwin Madia wins the endorsement on April 12, as seems likely, he will have done so primarily on his superior oratory, I recently scribbled.

Madia's superior grassroots organizing and the very open quality of his campaign also contributed to his likely victory. I attended many events, I snapped a ton of pictures, I asked questions, I published a number of Zillow links showing where his parties had been held--and the campaign never once pulled me aside and yakked or set restrictions. This seemed not by design but was inadvertently of much strategic benefit, as it sent a message to political people that the Madia campaign was the cooler place to be.

Bonoff came into the race perceived as the front-runner, a very tricky hand to play. Her apparent goal early on was to keep that front-runner status from eroding--an unennobling mission for which to send troops into battle. Ashwin Madia came in lacking the embrace of the party insiders, but with a strong message which came from within [or 'came from within' if you're not a true believer] and not as a result of strategic war-gaming [ditto].

Within the CD3 DFL Party there is some rarely-acknowledged friction between the rank-and-file and the leadership. These differences tend to be more over style and process than policy.
For example, the superdelegate system, if put to a vote by the rank and file, would get eliminated in a heartbeat. Politically sophisticated democratically elected delegates likely find the existence of the appointed delegates weird. (It should be noted that Madia had no underlying desire for conflict with the party establishment, nor any major policy difference with them, other than on Iraq, where it's politically difficult for anyone to challenge him.)

Some months ago, I attended a Madia stump event at Buffalo Wild Wings in Champlin. It might have been the first time I saw Ash speak. (This was shortly after I jettisoned my own quite remote dream of running for Congress, of which Madia was perhaps bemusedly aware.) I think there were twelve people in the audience. During the Q&A an old dude asked an indelicately-phrased anti-immigration question; Ash was pissed off. When the event was over Ash and I spoke briefly; I noted pleasantly his comfort in using the vocabulary commonly employed by men in unmixed company. Ash asked me then, face-to-face (giving every sign that it was truly a question, not a test) if I thought he had a chance. I think I debated internally whether he had a quite small chance or no chance of getting the nomination. Leaving I remember somewhat falsely telling him, 'You're living the dream, man!' feeling that he looked in need of encouragement, and then thinking a serious blogger shouldn't speak that way to a candidate, as perhaps the opposite thought crossed his mind.

Affectations Can Be Dangerous

Five senate districts convened this Saturday, Mar. 15. A week prior, I put forward the straight line projection to suggest that--absent Jim Hovland--we might be looking at the following totals after Mar. 15:

Madia - 86.5 Bonoff - 65 Uncommitted - 7

Here's what MNPublius says actually happened:

Madia- 86.5 Bonoff - 63 Uncommitted - 9

In other words, nothing surprising happened on Saturday. The results were a near-exact continuation of what we had already observed. Madia moves forward toward April 12 with a commanding lead.

In following the race for the DFL CD3 endorsement, I know of three primary informational sources indispensable to anyone attempting to follow this process closely: Joe Bodell's Minnesota Campaign Report, MNPublius and MNBlue, all linked above. The CD3 DFL calendar--gracias, Carol Woehrer--is a huge help too. A close observer of this process would want to check out the candidates' websites, also linked above. Were space allowed for an additional URL recommendation, the close observer might do well to consider adding this site to her list.

In a collegial spirit, MNCR, MNPublius, MNBlue and I all link to one another. Indeed, I think it would be unusual for me not to link to the other three. If you've been coming here lately, you're likely interested in the CD3 race for congress generally and the intra-DFL battle specifically. So I feel an obligation to make sure you're aware of the other key resources out there.

If a person following MNCR, MNPublius, MNBlue and this blog were to add the Star Tribune to her informational regimen, she'd learn nothing about the CD3-congressional tussle she didn't already know. She might also find it weird that the Strib prints much information as if it were news when in fact it has been known for some time. So the Strib reaches a vastly larger audience than the four websites, but it has broken no new ground as regards the CD3 DFL endorsement struggle. Worse still, the Star Tribune behaves uncollegially by not linking to the four websites mentioned. If you go to a Strib Online article about the Madia-Bonoff battle, links ought to be provided [to us four] so that readers wishing to delve deeper may conveniently so.

****************

Preemptive I I I I I Warning:

On Jan. 20, 2008, I was the first local blogger to clearly state that Terri Bonoff ought not be referred to as the front-runner. On Feb. 28, 2008, I was the first to clearly state that Ashwin Madia was far in the lead. I was the first to seriously call into question the value and meaning of Terri Bonoff's endorsements. I made none of these statements in order to influence the future; my primary motivator was the desire to avoid getting embarrassed by time's march. It turned out that all these inferences were subsequently ratified by events.

****************

A bit over a week ago, I attended the SD32 DFL convention in Maple Grove. The SD32 DFLers gave me a press pass--my first. My press pass gave me the complete run of the convention floor, right up until the subcaucusing began; nobody seemed to mind. Many SD32-folks seemed to be saying, 'You've got a point, blogger, this is a newsworthy event and somebody ought to be covering it.'

The vibe from the SD33 leadership could not have been more different. I was repeatedly kicked off the convention floor for no reason other than photographing people holding signs announcing their key political goals and candidates. In other words, people put their hearts into making colorful, expressive signs showing their beloved political affiliations; their leadership aggressively attempted to prevent these associations from being recorded and disseminated by new media. My ex-wife [X2] interpreted this phenomenon as Burger King Manager Syndrome, instantly explaining everything.

Earlier in the week I'd emailed SD33 asking for a press pass and was told none would be issued. I replied, emailing 'even Nixon didn't go that far'; later apologizing for the wisecrack. I felt somewhat less regretful after the event, where the participants themselves could not have been nicer.

One continues to encounter some perplexity concerning the role of the blogger. I try to be an independent voice, calling it as I see it. People come to this site knowing that every now and then they'll get a bracingly politeness-free paragraph or two, or a chuckle. And yet there's still a lot of confusion. When I arrived at the SD33 event, I was asked to contribute $20, even after I explained that 'I'm not here as a participant; I'm a blogger.' Some DFL activists assume the blogger to be just another pamphlet-distributor or hack stenographer; that represents a misunderstanding. The fact that I get 200 hits on a good day is irrelevant. Asking a blogger for a political contribution ought to be considered just as weird as asking the Star Tribune's reporter for one.

While at a recent house party, a hip-seeming senate district convention delegate, after learning of my avocation, told me she doesn't read blogs nor do other women she knows. 'I think it's a boy-girl thing,' she said. (One hopes she's incorrect.) This attitude somewhat maddens me; I can't imagine trying to follow the CD3 DFL race for the endorsement without staying abreast of the various web chatterers. To categorically rule out blogs as an informational source strikes me as an affectation. And as Gertrude Stein said concerning the death of Isadora Duncan, 'Affectations can be dangerous.'

SD33 Convenes at the Medina Ballroom

'Make it an $11 bottle of bubbly, just for old times' sake!'

I attended much of SD33's convention today--held at the Medina Ballroom. I took some pictures. Click here if you prefer a slide show; click here if you want to see the Flickr set.

After leaving the event, I drove over to Bloomington Kennedy to catch the final minutes of the SD41 convention. I snapped a small number of photos while at SD41 [including the one shown above]. Click here if you prefer a slide show; click here if you want to see the Flickr set.

A Hovland Afterthought

Jan. 7, 2008 -- Jim Hovland Announces for US Congress

[Put on your dogmatism goggles]

Catching up on recent posts by the Big E, I belatedly learned that the Strib has been publishing on the CD3 DFL congressional race. Some of us have been attempting to devote as much attention as possible to this specific race, for a variety of reasons. My enthusiasm comes from a background as a lapsed political ultra-darkhorse who at long last decided to move on. And so I note the paper of record reporting the Hovland exit with curious comprehensiveness.

At the time of the Hovland withdrawal [call it what you will], many local bloggers penned brief tributes to Jim, as did I. But thanking Jim for being polite should not be construed as praise for his political wisdom, evidence of which I have thus far observed only once [guess when]. Basic honesty requires this blogger to make clear that there wasn't a moment during this campaign--from the first whispers to the PR-orgy of an announcement to the withdrawal that any sober observer could momentarily have expected the Hovland campaign to go anywhere.

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As noted, I've posted (and emailed Ashwin Madia) for clarification on his public statement the other day (made while being videotaped by Republican videographers at close range). Here's how I described what I saw on Tuesday, March 11:

In imagining a positive 9/12/01 speech for Bush, Madia, speaking as a hypothetically good George W Bush, described the gas-free Sunday idea 'So that no American dies again as a result of our reliance on foreign oil.'

First, I've emailed Ashwin Madia asking him to comment on whether or not he accepts the description above as being accurate. Second, I want to know if he stands by the statement. Essentially, what I'm interested in learning from Ashwin is, 'Do you view 9/11 primarily as a grave historical injustice committed against the United States, or do you view 9/11 primarily as something at root caused by the United States?' So it's essential that first we get the candidate to speak on whether my description is accurate or inaccurate. If I'm wrong, I would like to know precisely how I am wrong. And I freely admit it--it is possible that I am wrong.

Deephaven House Party for Terri Bonoff

Terri Bonoff and supporters in Deephaven

My March 11 post and comment, in retrospect, contained a valid thought, poorly expressed. I let loose the water cannon on our old pal Ashwin Madia: Sorry, that was dumb. So let me rephrase the thought, without all the hyperventilation:

In imagining a positive 9/12/01 speech for Bush, Madia, speaking as a hypothetically good George W Bush, described the gas-free Sunday idea 'So that no American dies again as a result of our reliance on foreign oil.'

If there's any dispute over the accuracy of my description above, the Republicans fortunately have it on DVD, remember? (Since Erik Paulsen lives just around the corner from me, maybe I can stick a Post-it note on his mailbox asking him to burn us a copy.)

If the quotation is accurate (to the best of my recollection, it is), then I think it fair to call it a full Kinsleyan gaffe, as the candidate actually appears to have been expressing an idea he really believes. And it's quite an odd suggestion; we knew on 9/11/01 that this was a terrorist attack and that the perpetrators were Islamic extremists. But most of us didn't immediately pin the blame on ourselves, to engage in a bit of understatement. Ashwin's suggestion that 24 hours after New York City's two largest skyscrapers were razed by 19 terrorists a US president could have gone on TV and said, 'We ought to do X "so that no American dies again as a result of our reliance on foreign oil"' is really quite an unusual suggestion. Your thoughts, Team Madia?

And let me reiterate: I don't own reality; I'm capable of error (Note to my teenager: See exemption 523d). If I'm wrong, let me know specifics, okay? And again, sorry if my previous rendition rankled, as it certainly would have had such language been directed at me. (You're a good egg, Madia.)

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I've attended numerous house parties for Ashwin Madia in recent months, at the Brindals', Carlsons', Lelands', Rodriguez' and Boldenows'. I've always been impressed by how Team Madia conducts a house party: First, people socialize for a bit and Ash works the room, then order is called and Ash gives his unabbreviated stump speech and then he opens the floor up for questions. At every house party, Team Ashwin appears to have a clear objective as to a specific course of action it hopes to encourage in attendees. People generally leave a Madia house party excited about their candidate and itching to clear underbrush up ahead so that the candidate can hike forward unimpeded. These have been an important key to the success Madia has enjoyed during the campaign thus far.

A house party was held for Terri Bonoff this evening in Deephaven. About twenty people attended, among them, Twin Cities journalism legend Jim Klobuchar, who spoke glowingly on behalf of Terri. People socialized a bit and then gathered around Terri in the living room. Terri spoke very briefly and then opened the floor to questions, fielding inquiries for more than an hour. It was easily the best I've seen Bonoff do during the entire campaign; she spoke clearly and confidently; she feels completely comfortable holding court as a seasoned political veteran. (In a situation I would have found extremely stressful, she is relaxed [and pitch-perfectly slightly formal] from beginning to end.) If a questioner speechifies, she politely redirects the dialogue; she expresses no weird point of view. There's a more friend-to-friend quality to Bonoff's rhetorical stance. An excellent performance.

Team Bonoff commissioned an independently conducted poll; Terri said that the same polling firm contracted by Amy Klobuchar (yup, his daughter) was used. Click on the link for the detailed analysis and caveats; the headline is that the poll has Terri 'beating' Erik by four points and Erik 'beating' Ashwin by three points. Whether this will prove important information to the remaining undecided delegates lies ahead.

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The intra-party endorsement fight we are witnessing has required both campaigns to burn through one helluva lot of money--a blogger notes with sadness.

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My original request to attend this evening's event got vetoed by someone at Team Bonoff. I kicked and screamed a bit, and on another website left a comment which included a Zillow link to the house where this evening's Bonoff party was to take place. I made this mildly caustic comment after my RSVP had been rejected. (And to be fair, the rejection would probably be deemed entirely justified by anyone sympathetic to The Coxswain who's been reading this blog lately.)

In one of her most charming characteristics, Bonoff is incapable of holding a grudge, and will occasionally pick up the telephone and surprise one with a direct candidate-to-blogger telephone call. When I got in the door this evening after work, I received one such. Terri said hello, told me to disregard what her staffer had told me--'Yes, you're invited. See you there.' Click.

I've published Zillow links several times previously when writing up Ashwin's house parties; no such homeowner has yet reported an unannounced Warren Limmer visit. Frankly, when I hear candidate X is having a reception at a private home, I find it of modest interest to learn where the house is and what it is worth. If you reside in a private home, a Zillow page probably already exists describing the property to anyone who might be interested. (And let's face it, Zillow pages are interesting.) And yet when I linked the address in question (an address that appears for all to see on the CD3 DFL website even now) to its corresponding Zillow page today, a number of people expressed shock and a bit of disgust.

Leaving this evening's party, the homeowner saw me to the door and, attempting to engage in post-party pleasantry, I asked when the house was built, inadvertently drawing attention to the 800-lb-gorilla that had hidden so meekly in the corner all evening. She expressed the opinion you'd expect her to express; I defended my action, placed it in context and attempted to communicate that no ill intent underlay it. She was irritated and hurt by what I did; I feel that by linking the two pieces of public information, I was providing interesting, relevant information to people following an important public event. In addition to dealing with the specific action of mine which she found gratuitously hurtful, she was trying to make sense of what blogging is, whether it's correct to think of it as journalism and whether it will likely get conducted under any recognizable ethical framework--all perfectly upright concerns. (Whether it's going to ruin the possibility of happiness in life, perhaps?) Dealing in meatspace with this quite sympathetic human being, face to face on a springlike Deephaven evening, I felt that real communication might remain possible among strangers, in suburbia in 2008, perhaps without either party's position having been much altered.

See--I knew this was going to be cool!

This Just In

Terri Bonoff just called, inviting me to the party tonight. Please disregard previous. I promised to be on my best behavior. Thanks Team Bonoff! You'll excuse me while I go have my tuxedo pressed.

Adieu, Jim Hovland Candidacy

Nipped In The Bud: Hovland Suspends

Just learned from the Madia campaign that Edina Mayor Jim Hovland has suspended his campaign for US Congress. Jim's a good guy, but his exiting the campaign is good too, as it removes a distraction from the attention of delegates who may not be aware that this has long been a two-way race.

The Coxswain is having a house party tonight. Bloggers need not RSVP, alas. Press blackout. Reason unknown, though a person known to know people who might know tells gavinsullivan.com that Terri Bonoff did not take kindly to my comment on Erin Boeke Burke's name several days ago. Gavin Sullivan abjectly apologizes for the outrage.

Gavin's dogmatism-du-jour:
The Jarhead is winning this endorsement race on oratory, not on issues and not on personality.

Northwest Neighbors for Peace Talk Immigration

Went to hear a talk at St. Joseph's in New Hope this evening. Rose Grengs, an immigration attorney, held forth on How and Why We Need Immigration Reform. The event was sponsored by Northwest Neighbors for Peace.

I find the immigration issue of some interest and tend to prefer a more restrictionist solution. Terri Bonoff, who supported the DREAM Act, has articulated a rather pro-undocumented immigrant position; she speaks openly about how important she views the undocumented immigrants to the community. Ashwin Madia sounds the liberal viewpoint also on immigration, invoking his preferred civil libertarian position and his strong opposition to allowing the issue to be used as a wedge.

Greng, a thin, tall reserved presence at the microphone, gave voice to her audience's preferred position on immigration. She stated her case and argued that 'we need a healthy debate' and 'We have to re-start the debate.' After her talk I chatted with her: If you're proposing a new kind of debate, I assume that means you think that a non-racist, upright case can be made from a more restrictionist perspective, right? I mean, if you think your opponents are all hate-filled racists, then there's not much to discuss, is there? She expressed ambivalence on this question. So if she's in fact proposing a new kind of debate, she does not yet seem to have accepted that some upright, civil, unhateful, public-spirited people disagree with her. It's too bad someone couldn't have been found to put forward a reasonable restrictionist line this evening.

She distributed a handout recommending we tell our state legislators that we 'want Minnesota to be a welcoming state for immigrants and that [we] value their presence and contributions.' And I asked her, does that sentence refer to both documented and undocumented immigrants? Both, she said. And that's where we part company, I think--I prefer immigration to be legal and don't want the state to become known as one which feels unhappy because too few undocumented immigrants choose to live here.

Among citizens of the Third District, I sense that the strong pro-undocumented viewpoint heard tonight is a serious vote-loser, in other words, it's an area where a sensible, moderate-restrictionist, clearly non-bigoted position might get the candidate a lot more votes than she'd get with the DREAM Act thinking.

Ashwin Madia Addresses 50 Edina Dems

Sure Paulsen can do the hustle, but only I can moonwalk!

Tonight Ashwin Madia held a campaign event at Davanni's in Edina. The restaurant has a party room which was filled to capacity this evening. Edina is in Senate District 41, whose biennial convention will take place in four days.

Ashwin opened speaking at length about Iraq, telling the Edina DFLers what most of them don't want to hear--that he'd like to vastly reduce our presence in that country but not entirely get out, near-term. When he speaks on Iraq Madia comes across as realistic, in contrast to Terri Bonoff's pandering. Ash often refers to our enemies in Iraq in the harshest imaginable terms, sometimes using the word vermin; I've never once heard Terri Bonoff discuss the insurgency thus.

Both Terri Bonoff and Ashwin Madia have claimed that they opposed the war at the time of the invasion--at a time when many Democrats (including Al Franken and li'l ol' me) supported it. If anyone disputed my contention that I supported invading Iraq, I could [and, to my embarrassment, you could] produce quite a trove of purple prose urging the disaster forward. But if I'd actually gotten Iraq right and sensibly opposed the invasion back then--and were now running for Congress--why wouldn't I now publish a few choice paragraphs I'd written back then? I observed a number of fellow liberals go from supporting the invasion in early 2003 to swiftly airbrushing that blemish out of their records--to the extent that few who know them today are even aware that they supported the invasion in early 2003. Ashwin and Terri, can you produce any evidence (an email, say) showing you actually opposed the war prior to its inception?

During the Q&A Ash mentioned that much gentrification had already occurred in Iraq. (I'm not talking out of school: Ron Carey [wiki] already has the disk [for context, read below the next photo] in his briefcase.) What was the phrase he was looking for? Ethnic cleansing? Not a gaffe in the Kinsleyan sense, I suppose, but a gaffe nonetheless.

I was struck this evening that interest in the Madia for Congress campaign is ratcheting up--I've never seen either of Ashwin's opponents draw 50 people, solo [besides staffers]. Occasionally I thought the Madia stump speech could benefit from the addition of several more upbeat sections. The addition of a bit of smiling from the candidate would be welcome. I've criticized the Madia stump speech's economic section here; I remain in that minority which believes Ash's 'green economy' plank is utterly incoherent--essentially a list of pleasant-sounding words. At the current state of Ash's campaign, he could easily pick up the phone and try to begin establishing some ongoing discussions with a seasoned moderate economics professor or two; had he done so, I don't think he would have walked out on his ongoing anti-economic-stimulus-package limb. And so far as I can tell, Ash doesn't just oppose this economic stimulus package--he opposes any short-term anti-recessionary jolt. This is not sound economic thinking; it's cutting one's nose off to spite one's face.

Ash has also recently added a section to his stump speech imagining if George Bush had called for shared sacrifice after 9/11, rather than shopping. The sacrifice Madia now wishes Bush had called for--making Sunday a voluntary no-driving day--is not sensible, in my view. Those of us who drive cars that get 35 mpg don't feel much of a moral obligation to join hands with people who drive cars that get 11 mpg for a singing of Kum Ba Yah. But Madia's 'shared sacrifice' peroration included another, greater curiosity: In imagining a more positive 9/12/01 speech for Bush, Madia, speaking as a hypothetically good George W Bush, described the gas-free Sunday idea 'So that no American dies again as a result of our reliance on foreign oil.'

Notice anything weird in that last sentence?

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I personally think a slightly brisker pacing of the standard Madia stump event would play better. The speech itself could easily be briefer and more upbeat. Ash tends to devote more time to Q&A sessions than most people are interested in--which means the blowhards and bores tend to speechify lengthily.

When it was all done I asked my tablemates for some feedback. 'Anything you didn't like?,' I inquired. They noted a few of Ash's verbal tics--his over-frequent alrights?' and a number of other forensic flaws. In getting this nomination, Ash will have beat Terri Bonoff in a public speaking contest. But to seriously challenge Paulsen, I'd wish for Ashwin Madia to be daily working with someone who was capable of providing him non-fawning feedback both on style and substance. There is considerable room for improvement, and there is significant aptitude in this candidate for ratcheting up both his rhetorical and substantive game, and quickly. Were I now in Ash's shoes, I'd be on the phone as frequently as I could with David Schultz for strategic advice. I'd be trying to re-establish some relationships with econ and polisci faculty--and if that proved difficult I'd look elsewhere. I'm excited about this candidacy--but acknowledge that we have a long road ahead and we're going to have to massively ratchet up his game to get within striking distance of a November victory.

Erik Paulsen's eyeball, flanked by his poodles.

Can readers help identify the two smarmy mugs pictured above? (Were you in possession of one, would you have the shamelessness to show your face in public, sans goalie mask?) They follow Democratic candidates around so that The Hustler has movies to watch at night. Last time she showed up on GavinSullivan.com, my webstats showed a spike coming from the College of St. Catherine. Surely we can learn more about the duo, no? I want to know! gavin6@gmail.com Let's show them we care, readers! Names? Hobbies? Fun facts? Yearbook pictures?

Senate District Convention Training With Team Madia

'Think I'm Gonna Dance Now'

Madia Field Director Laurie Pryor conducted another senate district convention training session this evening at the Edina Library. That's us, tonight, above. It's make or break week for both campaigns, though only eight Madia supporters attended tonight. Could Team Madia be feeling complacent? Could Team Bonoff be energized by their knowledge of the importance of success this Saturday?

Upon arriving at the cube farm this morning, I learned Melissa Hortman had announced her support for Terri Bonoff at Saturday's SD47 DFL Convention in Champlin, going so far as to announce a Bonoff subcaucus, leaving Ann Lenczewski the only sitting CD3 DFL state legislator who hasn't 'endorsed' Terri Bonoff. As much as we like the legislators who, in error, endorsed one candidate before giving fair consideration to her main challenger, a star should be placed next to Ann's name for having the intestinal fortitude to say No to all that.

An open US House seat is uncommon; while 61% of the CD3 DFL activists who've thus far convened senate district conventions prefer Ashwin Madia to be their candidate for the House, Terri Bonoff is charging full speed ahead, with numerous campaign events announced this week--leaving Madia no sensible alternative to firing on all cylinders himself. Our DFL state legislators likely viewed their decision as perfunctory and as preventing internecine battle; they may have only added fuel to the fire. Their unspoken assumption, 'internal strife bad--ought to be forestalled,' never worked in our house.

Had CD3 DFL legislators opted to allow democracy to run its course, rather than seek to herd it, we might be in better shape now. On the other hand, our current internal struggle has energized participants and created a couple of genuine congressional candidates. There's a moment at the beginning of such a campaign when the fledgling candidate must question the reality--the legitimacy--of his candidate status. (How many people in CD3 today, do you think, seriously view David Dillon as a real candidate for US Congress, rather than a deluded millionaire? Do you think Dillon himself does?)

A decisive Madia victory Saturday might aid party unity, in bringing the schism to a near-close; even a very successful Bonoff Saturday could do no more than ensure a hard-fought battle at Wayzata Central Middle School come April 12.

In Praise of Lenczewski and Hortman

Just two CD3 DFL state legislators never endorsed Terri Bonoff's unseaworthy raft of a congressional campaign: Reps Ann Lenczewski and Melissa Hortman. Everyone else marched in lockstep: Doll, Latz, Rest, Scheid, Foley, Larson, Ruud, Benson, Simon, Peterson, Nelson, Hilstrom, Dittrich and Slocum. [Please see correction in comments section. Hortman has since boarded HMS Bonoff. Happy sailing, Melissa!]

I just grabbed the following numbers off of MNpublius.com. I've replaced the euphemistic headings with ones which I think are more descriptive and less ideological:

Democratically Elected Delegates:
Madia - 52.5 Bonoff - 31 Uncommitted - 3

Non-Democratically Selected Delegates [aka 'superdelegates'; hereafter 'NDS Delegates']:
Madia - 2 Bonoff - 15 Uncommitted - 2

Total
Madia - 54.5 Bonoff - 46 Uncommitted - 5

Delegates Remaining: 53

So when CD3 senate district convention delegates get to choose a congressional candidate, they've been choosing Ashwin Madia 61% of the time. When the NDS Delegates get to choose a congressional candidate, they choose Madia 11% of the time.

If the remaining democratically elected delegates break as their predecessors have, the predicted outcome on March 15 will be:

Madia - 32 Bonoff - 19 Uncommitted - 2, for a grand total of:

Madia - 86.5 Bonoff - 65 Uncommitted - 7

[This Saturday Mayor Jim Hovland will likely get on the leader board too, as his Edina constituency makes up more than half of SD41.]

95.5 votes will be required on April 12, to secure the endorsement. If Ash doesn't get the endorsement on the first ballot, I think there is only one direction for subsequent ballots to slide: Towards Madia. On each subsequent ballot more embarrassed, locked-in Bonoff supporters will slither off the raft and put on the winning team's jersey.

The early Bonoff strategy was 'top-down,' with its emphasis on name endorsements. When you round up party leaders and get them to sign on to your preferred candidacy, you're trying to lead by example, but you're also trying to get the party leaders to perceive their having a stake in 'persuading' their people to deliver for your candidate. In such a model, the foot soldiers are motivated by love and fear. If the infantrywoman actually prefers a candidate other than the one she's being asked to support, there's one outcome she really wants to avoid: Breaking ranks with her leader and then having the leader's candidate win. But with the delegate elections having already shown a very strong preference for Madia, the fear factor has dissipated entirely. If the foot soldier disobeys her leader and succeeds in taking the hill, she knows she'll have little to answer for. The hill appears very easy for taking, at the moment.

Reps Ann Lenczewski and Melissa Hortman deserve praise. For whatever reason, they elected not to sign on to a hasty endorsement of one candidate for US Congress in CD3, prior to getting the lay of the land, in the stacked process employed by the others. Bucking the pressure to hop on bandwagons--as Reps Lenczewski and Hortman did--takes backbone.

Senate District 32 Convention

SD32 DFLers held their convention at Maple Grove Senior High School today. Please click on the photo above to view the 106-slide show. Results here. Unsurprisingly, SD32 went 11.5:4 Madia:Bonoff. Very fun. Expertly convened by my Carleton near-classmate Mike Rothman. Thanks to all! Congratulations to Team Madia; a handclasp to our dear friend Terri Bonoff and to Jim Hovland--a more gracious gentleman you will not find between Rogers and Bloomington.

My Favorite Coxswain

The other day (as it happens, six days after a photograph showing him subcaucusing for Ashwin Madia was published on this blog--very accidentally I obsequiously assure the public)--Joe Bodell endorsed Ashwin Madia for US Congress. I had heretofore considered subcaucusing for a candidate itself to constitute an endorsement. [Bam! Take that, sucka!] But readers of this blog know that the word endorsement is itself a riddle wrapped in a enigma shrouded in a something-or-other.

This occurred to me some months ago, when Team Bonoff was assembling its gasp-inducing list of endorsers--which includes a former US Vice President. Reviewing the list, one could only exclaim, 'Where's Deepak Chopra?'--it was obvious that it was extremely unlikely they had seriously reviewed the field of declared DFL candidates--haughtily overlooking a certain acne-bedeviled lad many of us have since come to admire.

In a public setting, I asked Reps Mike Nelson and Debra Hilstrom and Sen. Linda Scheid--all of whom I support--[I paraphrase from memory] 'Before endorsing Terri Bonoff for US Congress, did you give each of the three candidates a fair hearing?' and 'Sen. Scheid, if I was your constituent and I saw your name on this list and then said to myself "Linda Scheid is a well-informed, upright person. Her name on this list means she has seriously reviewed the three declared DFL candidates and has made a good-faith effort to arrive at an unbiased viewpoint--and has concluded that Terri Bonoff is the best of the three"...that if I thought that, I'd be very, very wrong. Correct?'

Only one of the three public servants made a substantive effort at responding. Debra Hilstrom said she'd read the lit pieces she'd received from Ashwin Madia prior to issuing her endorsement of Bonoff. (She made no effort to interview Ashwin.) Nelson and Scheid could not bring themselves to make any claim for having seriously considered anyone other than Terri Bonoff. And these were just the three people on Terri's list who happened to be holding a public event around the time I decided to investigate what this word--endorse--means. Turns out [to Mondale et al] it simply means 'Were I able to cast a ballot for Terri Bonoff, I would.' It shouldn't be taken to mean they have done any due diligence whatsoever.

On Feb. 7, I emailed Vice President Walter Mondale on this topic:

I note your endorsement of Terri Bonoff in the CD3 DFL congressional field.

I would like to ask you what a 'Walter Mondale endorsement' means. Specifically, do you mean to communicate to the public that you have studied the three candidacies in some depth and have come to the conclusion that Terri Bonoff is the best candidate? Did you interview each of the three candidates?

I'd be very interested in learning why you view Terri Bonoff as being a better candidate than Ashwin Madia. Have you really seriously weighed the Ashwin Madia candidacy? What did you find wanting in Ashwin's candidacy?

Alas, Vice President Walter Mondale doesn't generally exchange emails with the typist-in-pajamas-in-Eden-Prairie crowd. [Note to ex-wives: That's a figurative sartorial allusion--nothing's changed.] However I note a Clintonian [in the bad sense] clarification on Terri's site today:

"Terri’s unique experiences as a business executive and State Senator have prepared her to change business as usual in Washington," said the Vice-President. "No candidate is better prepared to change our course in Iraq, address our economic woes, protect our environment, or defend the middle class."- Vice President Walter Mondale

This is quite funny, if you read it closely--as it clearly constitutes a back-peddling. The former Vice President is now merely standing up for Terri's being better-prepared. (This is quite mealy-mouthed, Mr. Vice President!) High status people ought to be circumspect when endorsing others for high office. Heidi Fleiss isn't our ideal fiancée.

Joe Bodell is no Walter Mondale--in the present context, that's to Bodell's credit. Bodell has extensively considered all three candidates. His imprimatur counts for something [though I remain unclear, to be honest, what]. The people I'm taking to task here are those who endorsed Terri Bonoff blind.

None of which is to say anything bad about Terri Bonoff, with whom I'm proud to share an alma mater and who I consider a terrific senator and among the finest--nay the finest--coxswains I have ever met. [Why does that word make me blush?]

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House Party has somehow entered the lexicon. There was a time when the expected location of a party would be at a house, no? When younger, if someone invited me to a house party I'd have asked if they'd like to car drive there with me.

'Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made,' Bloggingheads viewers all know, or at least gay ones. [Snark limit exceeded! Abort!]