Counter-Insurgency

John Kerry is endorsing Chris Coleman, the DFL-endorsed candidate to try to knock off Saint Paul mayor Randy Kelly:

John Kerry is weighing in on St. Paul's mayoral race, a year after the city's incumbent Democratic mayor came out against the U.S. Senator from Massachusetts in the presidential election.

Wow. Mighty big guns for a campaign like this, right?

Coleman's principal opponent, St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly, is the nation's only prominent Democrat up for election to have endorsed Kerry's rival, George W. Bush. The other, U.S Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, has retired from office.

Reminding voters of Kelly's backing for the Republican has been one of the principal themes of the Coleman campaign. Kerry handily won the presidential race in St. Paul, despite Kelly's endorsement of Bush. Kelly's campaigning for the Republican did, however, make news across the nation from the New York Times to talk radio in Arizona.

I can understand why Coleman is rolling in the party's big guns; he's trailing badly in fund-raising, and there is really very little to gripe about with Kelly's performance in his job so far.

And Coleman is hardly the ideal darling of St. Paul's far left, the Wellstone/Soliah crowd that dominates so much of the Saint Paul DFL's party life west of 35E; I don't think it's inconceivable that Elizabeth Dickinson will draw a lot of support from Coleman's expected base in the primaries.

So going negative - banging on Kelley's principled stance in support of Bush, one that resonated with a more-than-fair number of Truman/JFK Democrats nationwide - is all Coleman has left.

In fact, there was informed opinion that the left, locally and nationally, that key Dems might abandon Coleman:

Trailing Kelly by about $365,000, Democrats are going to be forced to make a decision on Coleman’s viability soon. Matching Hizzoner’s fiscal fortitude is probably impossible given the limitations of time and with Coleman having so little in the bank already, don’t be surprised if statewide and national Democrats take a pass on lending a hand.

But let's not forget; if there's anything that gets the DFL angrier than a Republican, it's an apostate. Especially an apostate that wins elections. If the disenfranchised Truman/JFK/Scoop Jackson Democrats out there - and Bill Clinton's abiding popularity shows that there are a few of them, misguided as they are, out there - get word that a Democrat can bust out of the Paul Wellstone/Howard Dean/John Kerry/Ted Kennedy ghetto and thrive, all hell could break loose in the party.

So expect to see a lot of Party Faithful parading to Saint Paul along with Kerry. They have an insurrection to quell.

Posted by Mitch at September 6, 2005 12:29 PM | TrackBack