The DFL on Monday voted for an epic tax hike (disguised, per usual, as negotiation) in the middle of an epic recession/depression.

The answer – the real answer, anyway – is to toss every single DFLer responsible for this vote out this November.

My friend and longtime radio colleague King Banaian is trying to do just that up in House District 15B in Saint Cloud, against Larry “Haw” Haws.   King responds to his opponent’s vote for the tax hike (emphasis added):

“Last night my opponent voted to increase taxes on small businesses and what he considers wealthy Minnesotans,” Banaian said. “The last Economic Update from the Finance Department cited consumer confidence and sentiment being ‘mired’ at low levels and ‘lingering employment concerns, slow wage growth, and tight credit are likely to inhibit household spending until 2011.’ Even if you believe Minnesotans don’t pay enough, this is a terrible time to raise taxes.”

“But we do pay enough. The DFL bill that Rep. Haws voted for would give Minnesota the 4th highest marginal tax rate in the country on incomes of $200,000. Higher rates in California have done nothing to cure their budget problems. Why does Larry Haws think this is a good example to emulate?”

“The answer to every DFL problem is to look at small businesses as an ATM from which they can cover their need for more money. They have enough; the real need in Minnesota is to reduce spending, not raise taxes. Rep. Haws had the opportunity to balance the budget by ratifying Governor Pawlenty’s spending reductions but voted against that. When I get to St. Paul, we will set priorities that do not ask already-generous Minnesotans for more,” Banaian concluded.

Or as another conservative candidate might say, we need to stick the budget in a vise and “drill baby, drill”‘.

I’ll await word from the Strib on exactly how King’s position is “extreme”.

(Via Gary @ LFR)

Eric “Big E” Pusey of the Minnesota “Progressive” Project has the wonks disease, and he’s got it bad.

He’s all atwitter about the current bit of conventional wisdom – that Tom Horner of the Ventura “Independence” Party is going to soak enough votes away from Emmer to tip the election.

Yesterday, the Independence Party nominated former Republican Tom Horner as their MN-GOV candidate. Horner’s entrance into this race makes it far more likely that a DFLer will win in November.

But for Jesse Ventura, the “Indpendence” party – which has its roots in Ross Perot’s “Reform” Party, although Ventura pretty well roto-rooted any Perot connection when he took over the Minnesota chapter – has been nothing but a spoiler, with varying success.  It’s likely Tim Penny soaked away the votes that might have put Roger Moe in office eight years ago; for that, we owe Penny our thanks.  The brittle, petulant Dean Barkley likely made the Franken/Coleman race as close as it was. 

And…:

In 2006, Peter Hutchinson won the IP endorsement and split the moderates with liberal tendencies away from DFLer Mike Hatch, but Horner will have little appeal to these voters. No, Horner will be peeling away moderate conservatives who cannot stomach Tom Emmer’s far right agenda.

That depends on a couple of big “ifs”.

First, Horner (and the DFL wonks that will be providing most of his PR “oomph”, to the extent that he has any) will have to convince “moderate Republicans” that Emmer is “far right”.  He’s not.  He states a pretty solid meat and potatoes pro-growth case;  he’s not even campaigning on social issues at all, except by example.

Horner will have to convince people in a very Reagan-y year to vote for another Arne Carlson. 

And he’ll have to do it with very little money. Although the IP has managed to maintain its grip on major-party status by the barest of margins (with attendant waste of state campaign funds going to their little vanity exercise), that’s about it.  There’s no big push for Horner anywhere (but the DFL); there’s no “Hornmentum”.

This also makes the road for Margaret Anderson-Kelliher easier if she ends up winning the August DFL primary.  Instead of needing to make sure a moderate candidate with liberal tendencies (like Hutchinson) doesn’t peel away her voters, she needs to focus on higher turnout in key DFL areas.

While in the meantime Emmer builds up votes on his home turf – the “Key MNGOP areas of everywhere but Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Duluth” – and Horner builds up his home turf…

…oh, wait.  He has none. 

Let’s get serious here.  Any “moderate” “Republican” who is wobbly on Emmer (and we’re not talking Seifert people, here; we’re talking the party’s less-and-less consequential Arne Carlson/Dave Durenberger wing) is probably every big as fair game for a DFLer to pick off as the underfunded, under-charisma’d, under-interesting Horner.

But we’ll see, soon enough.

Suffice to say that if Emmer wins, I’m going to have a huge “conventional wisdom” bonfire this November.

UPDATE:  The more I think about this, the more wrong Pusey’s “conventional wisdom” seems. 

Kelliher, Dayton and Entenza are all farther to the left than Emmer is, especially when you consider that the “Center” has displaced to the right since 2008.  I think it’s distinctly possible that Horner could leach more votes from the DFL. 

That is, of course, based on a couple of assumptions:

1. Emmer continues to run his current cool, calm, collected campaign.  I believe that the wave of provocations – the ugly racist heckling at the May Day and Cinco De Mayo parades, Kelliher’s alleged chanting “KKK Go Away”, and so on – are attempts to try to break Emmer’s cool, to try get him to lose his purported short temper.   It’s not going to work; Seifert’s people tried and failed to get him off the high road, it’s for damn sure the DFL can’t. 
2. The DFL nominates a DFLer.

I am not a betting man – but if I were, I’d say we have another log of conventional wisdom for the bonfire.

I really dislike political black-bag tricks.  I have little patience for oppo research, and don’t care much for the kind of political pranks that keep politics geeks giggling into the hours.

If there’s one thing I like less, it’s ofay, lie-clogged false-flag sites.  Like “Tom Emmer’s Minnesota”. 

I’m not going to link it here; I’m going to ask you to Google “Emmer For Governor” (I’ve helpfully done it for you here).

If you see, as I do, a “sponsored link” to “Tom Emmer’s Minnesota” at the top of the page, do us a favor and click it.

Don’t read it or anything – or read it knowing that every word on the site is bullshirt (as I’m showing, point by point, in my “Chanting Points Memo” project). 

But whomever put the site out is paying for every person who clicks on the site. 

And every dollar they spend getting people to click in is a dollar they can’t spend on anything useful.

According to a KSTP/SurveyUSA poll, Republicans have passed Democrats among likely voters in Minnesota:

The SurveyUSA poll, commissioned by KSTP-TV, found that 36 percent of likely voters identify themselves as Republicans, while 35 percent say they’re Democrats. Twenty-four percent call themselves independents.

Of course, it’s really a tosser; there’s a four point margin of error.  But I strongly suspect those 24 points worth of indies will erode, and move right, when they get the tax bill that the Supreme Court of Minnesota (SCOM) has dumped back in their lap.  

By means of comparison, a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll conducted a year ago found that 37 percent of Minnesotans called themselves independents, 36 percent said they were Democrats and 20 percent identified themselves as Republicans.

While that sounds like a huge surge, it needs to be tempered by the fact that the Minnesota Poll isn’t so much a “poll” as  “morale-building tool for the DFL”.

But the surge in enthusiasm – especially compared to the dead rooms the GOP faced in 2006 and 2008 – is notable:

The SurveyUSA poll also found that Republican gubernatorial endorsee Tom Emmer is ahead of his three DFL rivals, although the significance of the results is hard to gauge this early in the campaign.

The poll  – which, let’s be honest, is fairly meaningless at six months out – shows Emmer with an eight point lead over Dayton, 11 over Entenza.

In matchup against Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza, Emmer was supported by 41 percent of likely voters. The DFLers were each backed by about one-third, while Independence Party candidate Tom Horner was supported by about 10 percent.

Early polling almost always shows the “Independence” Party – the former party of Jesse Ventura, and which has had absolutely zero impact as anything but a spoiler since Ventura left office – with a disproportionate impact; a “Minnesota Poll” conducted the week before the 2002 election, at the twilight of Ventura’s era, showed Palwenty and his opponents, DFLer Roger Moe and Indy Tim Penny, in a statistical tie;  Penny shed close to 40% of his numbers by election day (if you assume, again, that the MinnPoll is anything but a DFL morale booster, and I do not). 

But it seems the time is right for a solid conservative – especially one who is tuned to take advantage of the sticker shock the DFL Legislature is about to dump on the electorate.

If we were to build a Minnesota political time capsule, and needed to capture for posterity the smug sense of entitlement the DFL has today, I’d put in a bunch of carefully-folded Lori Sturdevant columns. 

But to capture the distilled core of the “conventional wisdom”, whatever it is at any given moment, I’d go to Rachel Stassen-Berger, the Strib’s politics correspondent, who has a knack for capturing what Minnesota’s clubby, self-referential political “elite” are thinking at any moment better than anyone else in Twin Cities media today. 

And she shows it in today’s piece on the writeup the governor got in the Wall Street Journal; “WSJ: What’s bad for Minnesota is good for Pawlenty“.

In a piece that turns logic on its head, the Wall Street Journal opines that Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s political ambitions got a boost from the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision that his budget balancing was illegal.

It’s been a bad week for Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Of course, it’s also been a good week for Republican Presidential Contender Tim Pawlenty.

Well, no.  It’s been a good week for both of them.

Pawlenty has held the line for eight years against a mostly-hostile legislature.  As the article notes, while Minnesota’s budgets rose 21% every biennium from 1960 (the year he was born) until he took office, he’s reduced it to 2% per biennium during his terms in office, and has actually cut spending in this last go-around.

Or did, until the Supreme Court of Minnesota (SCOM) tossed his unallotments from the last session, putting billions in spending back on the table, to be hashed out between him and the Legislature.

So what does Pawlenty, who is a lame duck on the state level and has nothing to lose on the national level, actually lose with this?   A few weeks in a room “negotiating” with DFLers.

What does he gain?

• A cherry on the sundae of his conservative credentials.
• A big, hot potato – actually, several billion of them – tossed back into the lap of his would-be successor’s opponent’s lap.  Margaret Anderson-Kelliher is going to have to spend a few weeks dealing with the fallout of her spending orgy at a time when Minnesotans are starting to get fed up with spending, when Tom Emmer is well-placed to make hay with it.  It’s possible even the customary media blackout won’t be enough to whitewash Kelliher this time.
• Weeks and weeks of DFL puffery to shoot at.
• Finally – and perhaps best of all – the chance to outmaneuver the DFL like a middleweight boxer in his prime taking on a fat athsmatic drunk in an alley one last time. 

No, the only loser will be the Minnesota taxpayer – and only if Pawlenty loses, and then only ’til November.  If they’re smart.

As the SurveyUSA poll hints they just might be.

By the way, Blois Olson – a long-time acquaintance who will one day be the Larry Jacobs of the 2010s – is quoted:

Democrats will counter that there’s no defining Pawlenty achievement, and no significant animating idea behind this record. There’s no “one big thing” that he’s done, says Blois Olson, a prominent political commentator.

Which is a classically-liberal thing to say.  Democrats like to see lots of evidence that they moved the levers and pushed the buttons of government more than most; it’s why Democrats love light rail and big warehouse schools.

To a conservative, less is more.

In sum, this week’s events define what Mr. Pawlenty is: a classic, fiscally conservative Midwestern Republican governor. In a period of voter discontent, Republicans have two years to decide whether that’s the right stuff for the times.

It’s a great start.

HD25 Representative Laura Brod is retiring after eight years in the Legislature:

With your support and encouragement, I focused my efforts on the issues that impacted our daily lives. My efforts were directed to policies that I believed fostered an economic climate that was conducive to job creation and economic growth. I fought against excessive regulations that choke investment in our state and undermine the innovation and creativity of our private sector to generate the type of economic climate we need and demand.

Without your support, I could not have enjoyed the opportunity and the honor to serve that I have had for the past 8 years.

My belief has always been that we are a state that values a citizen legislature, and that there comes a time for other citizens to serve their community.

It is my belief that the time for others to serve in the Legislature for our district has come, and my time to find other challenges and ways to contribute is upon me.

It is in that spirit I announce that I will not be a candidate for re-election in 2010 for the State Legislature in District 25A.

There is a real change going on right now across the country. Finally, perhaps for the first time in thirty years, government is once again hearing from “We the People.”

Well, that’s a drag; Brod has been leadership material in the House’s conservative caucus, and that caucus is sure to be both growing and needing leaders in the next session.

But all the best, Laura!  And thanks for you service!

I sat about four rows behind Lori Sturdevant in the press pit on Friday.

Now, I’m a gregarious guy.  I took the liberty of introducing myself to MPR’s Tom Scheck (a lot younger than he sounds), the PiPress’ Bill Salisbury (memes about liberal press aside, he’s one of the greats) and WCCO-TV’s Pat Kessler (a charming guy).

But Lori’s body language was pretty emphatic.  She sat in the front row of the press pit, in her trademark scarf (Eric Eskola didn’t even have his with him) and Margaret Thatcher coif…

…and I don’t believe I saw her turn her head once.  The computer, the stage…and that was it.  That was her field of view, near as I could tell.

So between that, and the fact that there’s no figure in the Twin Cities media that I’ve spent more time criticizing than her in the past eight years save her papermate Nick Coleman, and I figured I’d stay in the back of the pit with the other bloggers.

In a sense, fisking her post-MNGOP Convention column was almost pointless;  the eight writers in the contest I’m running to parody the column pretty much caught it all; she renders the DFL’s chanting points so thoroughly that you can almost hear Darth Vader’s “Imperial March” in the background as she describes Emmer’s victory.

I’ll be adding bits and pieces of emphasis to the Strib column.

State Rep. Tom Emmer sold himself to Minnesota Republicans as a candidate who is “not a politician as usual.” At a convention infused with Tea Party revulsion about government spending, that evidently sounded gubernatorial.

I almost titled this column “Our Pauline Kael”.

Yes, he “evidently” sounded gubernatorial enough to convince the GOP to make a go of it.  Go figure.

Emmer, a trial lawyer/legislator from Delano, won an endorsement Friday that appears to assure him of the Republican spot on the Nov. 2 ballot to succeed Tim Pawlenty as governor. That’s so despite the fact that he may be the most conservative candidate endorsed for governor by a major Minnesota party since “Tightwad Ted” Christianson in the Roaring Twenties.

Ever tone-deaf to points of view outside the clubby confines of the media/DFL (pardon the redundancy), Sturdevant misses the point for the first of many, many times in this column.  Emmer won because he is conservative.  Emmer and Seifert got to the final round because they reflect how the MNGOP, and a good chunk of Minnesota, feels.

The piece’s comedic moneyshot is next:

No moderate Republican is girding up to take on Emmer in the Aug. 10 primary. The GOP of 2010 isn’t Star Tribune reporter Rachel Stassen-Berger’s Grandpa Harold’s party — far from it.

Right.

And, amazingly, enough, no “moderate” Democrat is getting lubed up to take on Kelliher, Dayton or Entenza; the DFL/media (ptr) have their choice of left, lefter and leftest.

Why, one might say the DFL “isn’t the party of Lori Studevant’s father/grandfather”, the one that supported the hawkish tax-cutter JFK, to say nothing of the one that cuddled up to Josef Stalin in the thirties and forties – or the Democratic Party of their parents, the party of Jim Crows.

One might say that – if one were not that bright.  Parties change. And all the DFL/media (ptr) clubbiness in the world doesn’t change that!

The GOP changed; Reagan changed the national GOP thirty years ago; that same change is finally happening here.  Like it or don’t, but quit pining for the intellectual fjords; the liberal Arne Carlson/Harold Stassen is one dead parrot.

What counted with those Tea-stained delegates, it seemed, was that Emmer appeared to be the stauncher conservative.

It takes decades of keen-eyed journalistic experience to note the bleeding obvious.

And it takes decades of careful towing of the DFL/media (ptr) line to look at the convention’s results through utterly DFL-colored glasses as Sturdevant does:

Seifert, a legislator since age 24, struck delegates as a career politician. In the vernacular of the 2010 GOP, that’s not a compliment.

Legislative skills aren’t much valued, either. Seifert got little credit among delegates for holding his caucus together on tough veto override votes in 2007 and 2009 — an achievement that greatly strengthened Pawlenty’s hand as governor.

He got credit for it.  Here’s the thing Sturdevant, with all her vaunted experience, missed; there was no evidence of a vote against Seifert among the Emmer crowd; his chops as a legislator are legendary; the MNGOP will do well to get him back into office, hopefully Congress, soon.

But Minnesota, and the MNGOP, want someone with an executive vision.  We’ve had eight years of leadership by a legislator – and Tim Pawlenty has done a great job (to Sturdevant’s eternal and obvious chagrin).   We’re in a time when a big, executive vision counts for a lot.

Sturdevant actually catches that, sort of – although she trivializes it:

The personal qualities euphemistically called “style” mattered more on Friday, and scored in Emmer’s favor. He came across as the affable hockey player he once was for the University of Alaska; Seifert seemed like the studious kid who was always in the library.

I excised a lot of the DFL chanting points from my fisk – but this was too rich to miss:

In coming weeks, Emmer will have to answer for a good deal more. He espouses the idea that government can abandon a big share of the public work it’s shouldered through the decades without damaging this state. That’s a notion that must be considered faith-based, since little evidence backs it up.

Because Minnesota has never tried.  Even after eight years of Pawlenty’s responsible leadership, the DFL/media (ptr) still think that everyone in the state should pay for everything in the state – the immense money-laundering scam that is Local Govermment Aid.

Emmer – and Seifert – want government to be accountable at all levels, rather than playing a fiscal shell game by laundering spending through the state.  It’s a huge winner among conservative circles; if the MNGOP can convince the people of Minnesota to wean themselves from the state’s bread and circuses, it could be a huge change in shining a light on the roaches that hide in the nooks and crannies of the system.

UPDATE AND BUMP:  I’m moving this to the top for today.  Get your votes in by noon!

———-

As noted last week, it’s time for the “Write Lori’s Next Column” contest – in which you, the Shot In The Dark audience (Audience In The Dark) write Lori Sturdevant’s post-MNGOP Convention column for her – to move into its final phase!

Judge each of the columns by the following criteria:

• Which one best captures Strib columnist and DFL flak Lori Sturdevant’s writing style
• Which one best reflects her relentless DFL upsucking?

I’m going to publish one post for each of the contestants; I’ll take a poll at the end, with the winner to be announced on Monday.

There are eight entries:

Dave from Mound’s “A Tale Of Two Cities”

Mr D’s “The Republican Hangover”

Ben’s “Teabags For 2,000”

Bubbasan’s “It Was A Snark And Smarmy Night”

JW Of Minnesota’s “We Are Women, Hear We Roar”

Speed Gibson, “It’s The GOP’s Turn To Unify”

Golfdoc50’s “The Wind Is Blowing Left”

Jed Berg’s “Anger Close”

Vote! Vote! Vote!

UPDATE! The column we’re parodying – or perhaps, joining in parodying – is already out!

Expect a full fisking Sunday or Monday.

But until then – vote vote vote!

Some thoughts about the 2010 MN GOP Convention.

Stoked: I made a pretty religious point about not “endorsing” anyone leading up to the convention, and I always will.  Part of it is that I’ve always felt it was the height of misplaced vanity for bloggers to “endorse” anyone – as if our individual votes are a matter of any public importance (I’m speaking only for myself here; all of you who did endorse, or just make your sympathies known, have your reasons, and I’m cool with it).  Even worse, since I do have some following out there, I’d be afraid someone would cast a vote because of something I wrote, rather than forming their own opinion.  I criticize news media for endorsing candidates; why would I be different?

But the members of my House District convention (66B) needed to know who they were sending to Minneapolis – so with them, I was open about supporting Emmer.  I stressed that I wasn’t voting against Seifert – indeed, choosing between Emmer, Seifert, Dave Hann (who dropped out of the race over the winter) and a potential candidacy by Laura Brod was among the toughest political choices I’ve ever made.  Emmer won my vote for two reasons; speaker points (he is, quite simply, the best stump speaker in Minnesota politics today; at the gubernatorial debates, he will mow through whomever the DFL chooses, Kelliher or Dayton or Entenza, like a lawnmower through a cabbage patch) and his ability to show people in the middle why to move right, rather than moving himself to the middle to meet them.

Practically every commentator who’s written on the subject has complimented Seifert on his concession during the third ballot.  It’s hard to describe how important – indeed, stirring – it was.  He took the stage, introduced a motion to unanimously endorse Emmer, got 2,000 “seconds” and an acclamation voice vote that rattled the rafters.  The word “electrifying” is overused, but it fits.  This past weekend is among the very few times I can say the MN GOP feels not just unified, but mostly happy about it, in all my years of following the party.

The activists on the floor nearly shook with their desire to get on to November.  In the three State Conventions I’ve attended now, I’ve never seen the party this fired up.

Emmer Is King Cool:  If there’s a lesson for non-GOPers to learn from the convention, it is to put a lid on “conventional wisdom”.

“The CW” says that Tom Emmer is “angry”.  Not just in the “angry white male” sense, although that’s been slathered about promiscuously by a whole lot of media and “alt” media who have a vested interest in Emmer losing.

But in fact, the campaign showed that Emmer keeps his cool.  He was the target of an awful lot of low blows in the weeks before the convention; not only did he not overreact, he didn’t respond.  He didn’t take the bait.  An “angry” man would have at least gotten off a killer comeback; I’m not especially angry, and I love whacking down hecklers more than most things in life.  Emmer’s good at it.  And yet he kept his silence, his counsel, and his eyes on the prize.  “Never let them see you sweat”, says the famous showbiz bromide and deodorant ad.  “Never let them see you blow your top” is equally vital.  Emmer stayed his course.

Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Nothing!: The “Ron Paul Crowd” has established itself within the party; it’s not a “Kingmaker” faction, by any means, but the Liberty lobby in the MNGOP can not be ignored.  It’s hard to tell if it’s part of or distinct from the “Tea Party” faction – which was important enough that the party invited Toni Backdahl, the powerhouse who organized the past four Tea Parties in Minnesota, to speak, even though she and the Party emphatically do not endorse parties, much less candidates.

There was a curious diversion on Friday night, though; a group of “Liberty” candidates started bagging on Emmer’s “establishment” status, because Norm Coleman and Vin Weber were supporting him.

And I asked – in person, on the blog and via Twitter – what of Coleman’s “RINO” policies did Emmer adopt just because Coleman – who was an imperfect conservative, but voted correctly enough on the majority of issues – was supporting him?

I mean, we’re talking Tom Emmer, the guy who introduced the “Firearms Freedom Act” in the Legislature – which, title notwithstanding, is a bill to reinforce the Tenth Amendment more than the Second.  The guy who, when asked (in front of a live audience at the Northern Alliance Radio Network at the State Fair) what he believed about Gay Marriage replied “I don’t care” (he personally opposes it, but it’s not the governor’s job to decide) – he’s “anti-liberty?”

Because…Norm Coleman made phone calls for him?

I may be just a dumb unedumacated talk show host with a blog on a tiny station that nobody listens to (no, really – he says so!), but that just doesn’t make any sense.

Higher Callings: Sarah Palin’s endorsement seemed to make a bigger splash among Seifert’s people, and the thin-but-significant film of non-Palin-fans in the house, than among Emmer’s people.  I heard some chatter alluding to the rally that Rep. Bachmann had thrown sixteen days earlier in the same room, which was a huge morale boost for Bachmann’s campaign (not that she needs it; she’s going to crush Tarryl Clark this November).  They decried the obstreporously Christian nature of the rally.

Truth be told, I felt a little bit the same at the time.  The rally opened with a Christian “rap” group whose problem was less that their freshly-scrubbed boy-bandish style promiscuously mixed rap, country, arena rock and N-Sync-style R’nB than that they sang over recorded backing tracks, which is a huge pet peeve of mine.  It led off with an invocation from a very fundie minister that took, let’s just say, a less-than-inclusive tack.  Now, both Palin and Bachmann are fundamentalists; the minister may have reflected them adequately enough.

But there’s a good point there; while I am an unapologetic Christian (a militant Presbyterian), I’m in a city where I’m surrounded by people who should be Republicans; Asians who live and breathe free enterprise; Arab and Farsi businessmen who treasure capitalism and liberty (including my neighbor on the floor in my district); Latino Catholics who are disgusted with the education system and are every bit as socially-conservative as Mac Hammond’s flock, and have a work ethic that’d make an Edina realtor blanche nod with respect.   So should they feel for a moment excluded from the party because they are Buddhists, Taoists, Moslem or even just non-evangelical?

For that matter, do we want to turn gay conservtives away?  Because they’re out there, and their votes, checks and energy count just as much as yours do.

I no more want my candidates to preach to me (outside the context of an individual conversation on the subject) than I want the government to tell me what to believe – even if I am a Christian, and even if most of the people in my party are too.

In Living Colour: Some of my snarky lib pals have asked “what color were the attendees?”

Simple.  There were almost 2,000 Red, White and Blue people there.

But since we’re talking to a liberal audience, who obsess over (and prosper from) race and class divides – there were more non-white delegates than I’ve ever seen. Quite a few Asian delegates, a few Asian/Middle Eastern (including the guy in the seat next to me), and more African-Americans than I’ve ever seen.  Many were younger guys – they looked like college kids or or recent grads.  But there were plenty more – a fiftysomething gentleman in full VFW regalia who clearly wanted to be identified by more than his skin color, and a good contingent of guys who looked…a lot like me.  30-40something family guys with kids.  And I can’t imagine why anyone of any ethnic background with kids in the schools and half a brain would vote DFL – but it’s a matter of empirical record the schools fail black kids the worst.

Pardon an observation – and that’s all it is – but I think Barb Davis-White’s candidacy made it safer for black conservatives to come out, especially in places like North Minneapolis, which are testimonies to the failure of DFL policy.  More than that, I think she made it safe for Afro-Americans in Minneapolis to look past the party divides and take a fresh look at conservatism.

I wonder if the Central Corridor – which will target Asian businesses in Frogtown like a heat-seeking missile targets jet tailpipes – will do the same in Saint Paul?

Nothing To Stand On: One of those black conservatives, Walter Scott Hudson, writes Fightin’ Words, one of the better new blogs I’ve read lately (note to Walter; you should join the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers).  Hudson observed the battle over the platform that I’ve been writing about, the struggle to make it shorter and more accessible.

As I noted on Friday, while the CD3 GOP passed the “Statement of Guiding Principles” that Derek Brigham, John LaPlante, Rick Weibel, Jan Schneider and I wrote a few weeks back – a simple one-page, ten-item list.  It passed CD3, but got held up in the Platform Committee.  It got reintroduced from the floor.

Hudson picks up the story:

Having been adopted at the CD3 convention a few weeks prior, the Republican Guiding Principles and Values Statement came before the state convention on Saturday. There were vigorous arguments against the document which provoked reflection upon the entire platform building process.

One delegate rose to argue, “Principles are like posteriors. Everyone has them. None are good to look at other than your own. And God made it so we can never see ours.” The line got a hearty laugh and some applause from the crowd; but I’m not sure how to derive anything meaningful from it. In point of fact, the principles articulated in the statement are universal to the party membership. Consider points 7-9:

7)  The Pursuit of Happiness is essential to our existence; we support equal opportunities not equal results.

8)  Charity comes best from the heart of individuals and cannot be forced or coerced via taxation and regulation.

9)  The law must be applied to everyone equally; no one is above the law.

Are these really statements of biometric specificity which no two people can share? I think not. I think they are pretty dead on representations of beliefs commonly expressed and acted upon by Republican candidates and public servants.

Many delegates seemed territorially indignant, expressing concern the platform was being usurped, or that something was being taken away from them. One rose to extol the virtues of the specificity in the platform (i.e. aforementioned Eddie Eagle language) as both representative of the grassroots and necessary for holding the party’s elected officials accountable. These concerns seemed plainly unfounded. The document was clearly submitted as new and distinct from the platform. The grassroots, best represented in individual precinct caucuses, have their submitted resolutions thoroughly eviscerated by time the platform draft makes it to the convention floor. Finally, nothing binds any Republican elected official to abide by the party platform. In short, a platform is not legislation.

The process of going through resolutions seems to occupy the time of people who don’t understand the process all that well; the platofrm isn’t, as Hudson notes, legislation; indeed, something as long and occasionally contradictory as the Platform scarcely serves as a guide to the legislators we have.

The statement, however, apparently passed, so that’s all good.

It’s troubling, though, that so many Republicans are so unclear on the idea of what “princples” are.  We had some big laughs at some of the rules debate, when people who clearly had not been to state conventions questioned “roll call voting” that had, in fact, been practiced since the Civil War (at least – I mean, I dunno); it turned out that the BPOU by BPOU roll call vote was the hit of the convention, giving an unprecedented level of transparency to at least the first ballot; each person in each BPOU had a fair idea of who’d voted for whom, and the whole convention could stink-test the results in real-time.

But that’s just education.  It’ll come along.

Bess Folsom, a Campus Republican from Gustavus Adolphus, attended her first MNGOP convention this past weekend.  She wrote as good a report of the climactic moment – Marty Seifert’s dramatic, aggressively-conciliatory concession –  as anyone in  this piece on her experiences at the event:

Two ballots, hundreds of handshakes, multiple cups of coffee, and one epic parade of “Seifert v. Emmer” enthusiasts later the delegation was getting ready to start a third ballot. With Emmer in the lead and the Seifert supporters standing firm, we were all prepared for a long night. Suddenly Marty came running to the stage and energetically grabbed the mic. It was then he announced that he wanted to throw his support behind Tom Emmer to elect Tom as the next governor of Minnesota. The Emmer crowd went crazy and the Seifert supporters looked like they’d seen a ghost.

Marty instructed his supporters to take off their Seifert stickers and slap on some Emmer ones. He was passionate as he urged the delegation to unanimously endorse Tome Emmer. And so it was done.

Tom came bouncing to the stage and embraced Marty. Balloons were falling down as the Emmer clan surrounded the two men, all grinning and happy stage one of the fight was over. It was a quintessential scene of unity. As corny as it sounds, I actually had goosebumps.

I was talking with Michael Brodkorb – deputy party chair and my former co-host on the Northern Alliance – as we were walking to the afterparty .  The final scene was spontaneous, of course – when Marty Seifert’s vote totals dropped rather than rose on the second ballot, he clearly knew that it was time to wrap it up.  He had the option of stalking away petulantly, of course (not that he would have), but he instead chose to make it a dramatic unifying event.

But it almost looked choreographed; it was so perfectly timed.  People were casting their third ballots; many had been glued to their seats since 9AM, and there’d been no lunch break, and suddenly at the crack of 5PM, just in time for the evening news and a well-earned dinner, we had this rousing outburst of class, unity and reconciliation?

Of course, if you’ve seen political parties trying to choerograph anything, you’d know how far-fetched that was.

Anyway, it was a great convention – and, I have to hope, a clear signal to Minnesota, coming after the snarky and indecisive DFL gathering in Duluth…was it really only a week earlier?

It was a great convention.  I’ve been to three State conventions, now, and this was by far the best.  Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb and the whole staff should feel proud of their efforts; while there will always be complaints (and I’ll be registering at least one of them), it was a smooth, open and participatory a political convention as I’ve ever seen.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Dave From Mound”.   Vote above.

Last weekend, the DFL loyalists journeyed to Duluth to make their endorsements for statewide offices, including governor.  They joined together, deliberated, and celebrated.  They made history and exited Duluth unified behind their flag bearer.

On Friday, it was the GOP’s turn in Minneapolis.  Needless to say, their convention had a palpable feel that was not evident at the DFL’s productive and positive environment.  It felt as if the caustic infection that afflicts the body politic in Washington DC has invaded our ‘Minnesota Nice’.

Whether it was the heated speeches by Michele Bachmann, who took as many cheap shots and one-liners at the DFL and President Obama as time permitted, or the anti-government Tea Partier banter heard among the delegates, the atmosphere was less a political convention than a well-dressed and better-organized lynch mob.  Where have the reasoned and balanced Republicans gone, such as Governor Arnie Carlson or Jim Ramstad?

Friday’s events were highlighted by the endorsement of Tom Emmer, the conservative state house representative from Wright County.  In contrast to the DFL’s convention, this day of endorsement battles again revealed deep fissures in the GOP by way of petty partisan attacks made by Emmer and his endorsement rival Marty Seifert.

Even after the bruising endorsement battle ended, the sniping by the delegates and their candidates continued as they exited the convention hall.  Each side remained steadfastly committed to their candidates, leading to significant speculation that Seifert will break his previous pledge not to run in the August primary.

The bitter divisions were best illustrated by the political punches thrown by the Lieutenant Governor candidates.  The first body blows were thrown by Annette Meeks, the running mate for Emmer.  In speaking informally with delegates, Meeks was heard disparaging her counterpart, Rhonda Sivarajah, over revelations of her pass DFL association and not-so-conservative past credentials.  Sivarajah, Seifert’s running mate, countered with Meeks’ association to Newt Gingrich, during the time when his infidelities to his cancer-ridden wife were at their height.

Needless to say, the contrasts between the two conventions were stark.  Last week, a unified and energized group of DFLers left Duluth a cohesive political force, ready to take back the Governor’s mansion after 20 years in the political wilderness.  In witnessing the adjournment of the Republicans, the divisions appear incredibly and permanently deep, too deep for their recovery in time for November’s elections.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Mr D”.   Vote above.

The Republicans were on a 3-day ideological bender at the Convention Center this weekend, so it was perhaps appropriate that they selected a 2-time DWI offender, Tom Emmer, to carry their unsteady banner against the DFL-endorsed Margaret Anderson Kelliher. In their Tea Party-fueled fervor, it seemed that the GOP lost sight of the optics of nominating a twice-convicted drunk driver in the immediate aftermath of tragedies on Minnesota highways only the week before.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Ben”.   Vote above.

The Republican Party proved that they have been taken over by the extreme right-wing teabaggers. They had a choice between someone who actually knows about government and wins in a very liberal area and a kook from Delano. Of course they chose the kook from Delano what would you expect. The Lt.Gov candidate is a member of the Met Council who wanted to get rid of the Lt.Governor position so will she resign if somehow the people of Minnesota send this crazy duo to the Governors Mansion? Somehow the DUI’s of Emmer’s past didn’t seem to matter to the delegates of the teabagger convention though, and I am sure MADD will let everyone know just how bad Emmer is. Can you imagine someone having veto power while drunk? We are not the former Soviet Union. What were the delegates drinking? If Siefert had been nominated I would have been able to throw my support behind him if Kelliher didn’t survive the primary. But now this conservative will support whoever is the DFL nominee after the primary. It is time to send the Democrats back to the Governors mansion, because in fairness they deserve a chance.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “JW Of Minnesota”.   Vote above.

On a warm and sunny evening on upscale, progressive Minneapolis, a small handful of right-wing politicos selected their ringleader to succeed Tim P. After hosting the Young Socialists meeting at my ELCA worship center, I decided to hop in the Pruis and swing over to Minneapolis for the Republican convention. What I found was a bunch of grey-suited power-brokers striving to select another grey suit. After several breath-taking rounds of voting, the grey suit driving all the long way from that suburban Delano was selected.

He’ll mount a fine Minnesota challenge to the recently selected DFL’er Kelliher. Strong on Minnesota dairy farm values, with the right touch of Minneapolis progressive thinking, Kelliher will put up a super-duper fight.

Calling on an old friend from my reporting days, I spoke with the well-known conservative Arne Carlson. He tells me “Lori, the Republicans keep moving so far to the right, Genghis Khan would blush.” We wholeheartedly agreed the problem grey suit faces is not in his well-spoken, experienced DFL adversity, but with his predecessor. Following Tim Pawlenty won’t be easy. It’s tough, given the millions poor and children who have been forced to live on the street due to Pawlenty only growing the state government in single digits.

A reputation like that needs a strong-willed woman and community organizer from Minneapolis to move across the lovely Mississippi to make the Governor’s mansion a home.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Bubbasan”.   Vote above.

It was a dark and stormy night in Minneapolis when the Republicans gathered, the city anti-tobacco ordinance thwarting their dark dreams of selecting a grey suit in a smoke filled room. Out of the pall of American flags, anti-choice rhetoric, dangerous concealed firearms, and rejection of the common good came a man who will carry the GOP banner, Mr. XXX XXXXXXX.

The grey suited candidate wasted no time in slandering colorful Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the DFL nominee, for her stands supporting women’s rights, the responsibility of the prosperous to pay for the common good, and protection of public safety by restricting dangerous weapons in the hands of those not qualified to use them. It was a performance worthy of his convictions for drunken driving and his treatment of his GOP opponent, Mr. XXXXXXXXX.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Speed  Gibson”.   Vote above.

Style, not substance, perceived to be the key to victory.By MOSTLI IRRELEVANT, special to Speed Gibson

Last update: May 1, 2010 – 4:37 PM

MINNEAPOLIS – While the DFL quickly closed ranks behind Margaret Anderson Kelliher last week as their endorsed candidate for Governor, many in the GOP left the Minneapolis Convention Center clearly unhappy – with the choice, the process, or both.

Kelliher led from the first ballot, but Silas Marner had to come from behind to edge Uriah Heep, finally prevailing on the seventh ballot. It was difficult for the delegates to separate these two ultra-conservatives, the difference according to many delegates being electability.

“We have to assume that Kelliher will survive the primary, maybe convincingly so with Gaertner dropping out,” said one delegate. “The DFL isn’t going to hop off her love train to embrace a couple of retreads like Dayton or Entenza. I worked hard for Uriah, but we’re going to need some charisma of our own to beat her.”

Many of the remaining Heep supporters saw it differently. “Once [Mariner] got a small lead, the party leadership pushed hard, really hard, just to get a decision,” said a disillusioned floor walker. “We in the grass roots came here to pick the best candidate.”

It was a tough choice. They’re both likable, veteran legislators and they’re both committed to deep spending cuts to close the state budget gap. Both are firmly against tax increases. But how do you put a human face on the dramatically reduced state services that requires? That was the ultimate question, and enough delegates eventually found their answer in the more personable Silas Marner.

Uriah Heep actually has been in the legislature 6 years longer than Kelliher, chairing the Finance Committee until the DFL took control in 2007. Since then he has been the ranking member on Ways and Means, and Minority Whip the past two years. As such, he matches up well against Kelliher’s own impressive record and qualifications.

But enough Republicans were willing to trade some of that for the affable personality and tireless energy of Silas Mariner. A longtime Redwood Falls business owner, he came out of nowhere to win a 2003 special election to replace Senator Teresa Defarge when she took a job transfer out of state. And he’s been impressing people at the Capitol ever since. Barring a major upset in the DFL primary, he’ll need all of that to overcome Kelliher’s wide respect and support, which by the way includes a number of Republican women. The prospect of the first woman Governor in Minnesota history is not lost on them either, especially those with school age children.

For it’s one thing to sharpen pencils and affix green eye shades when tackling the state’s short and long term financial shortfalls. It’s quite another to face young parents and explain why their schools will have to cut back even further. Health care, the other big cost driver, will affect almost everyone, and the word will go forth: you’re on your own. Even the gifted orator that is Silas Mariner is already behind in trying to explain how there is a pot of gold at the end of his rainbow of across the board cuts.

Still, Mariner likes his chances in what will undeniably be a good year for Republicans, certainly at the Federal level. But by that reasoning, Mike Hatch running in a strong Democratic year would be Governor today. We therefore look forward to a spirited, creative campaign as Silas Mariner seeks to extend the GOP’s unbroken 24 year reign in St. Paul against the historic candidacy of Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Golfdoc50”.   Vote above.

Bob Dylan famously wrote “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” If the Bard of Hibbing and 4th Street had been in the gallery at the Minneapolis Convention Center he might have noticed which direction the tea leaves were blowing when Tom Emmer tried to generate enough wind shear to dispel the anxieties about his checkered personal history. Perhaps those with short memories won’t shudder at the similarities between Emmer and Jesse Ventura, but citizens concerned about the continuation of basic government services in the next biennium will surely sit up and take notice.
The gray suited Republicans and their ladies in fur probably didn’t notice the tattered looking homeless hugging the curbs of downtown as they pulled up in their limos in front of the Convention Center, but the contrast between the smug and the unlucky was never more obvious.
How do you choose between a country club attending suburban elitist and neo-populist from the outer exurban ring? Closing your eyes to the plight of those clinging to the safety net that is the only thing between them and sleeping on street grates or under bridges every night.
As I was pulling my weekly one hour shift ladling soup at a homeless shelter, one of the regulars there, a toothless schizophrenic veteran tugged at my sleeve and gave me one of those looks. The kind that all great journalists expect to see when they feel the weight of the world compress their ASICS jogging shoes. Illuminating the self absorbed snotty Republican world view isn’t pretty, but somebody has to do it!

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Jed Berg”.   Vote above.

I walked out of the Minneapolis Convention Center late on a rainy Friday night, after nearly 2,000 mostly white, mostly doughy, mostly men spent [FILL IN TOTAL TIME] hours debating between two mostly identical, but yet distinctively extreme, white men, Marty Seifert and Tom Emmer.  It took [FILL IN TOTAL BALLOTS] to endorse [FILL IN WINNER], making [FILL IN WINNER] the most extreme person ever to run for governor.

I walked out under a sky that scowled at us like the ghost of Elmer Anderson, wondering what had happened to a party that had once worked with the DFL to bring Minnesotans the services they expected?  The party that had walked side by side with the DFL to ensure that everyone paid their fair share?

The clouds threatened to rain – or was it the ghosts of the great Republicans past crying, wondering what had gone so wrong with their state?

But I took courage in the eyes of the protesters gathered across the street from the Convention Center – and was reminded of the spirit I’d felt only a week earlier in Duluth, as the sun shone brightly on the DFL as they endorsed a woman – a brilliant, respectful, genial woman! – to lead the DFL, and Minnesota, in the spirit of those great leaders of the past.

And I smiled,  And so, I think, did the sky itself.

Or was it the ghost of Elmer Anderson?  I’ll let you know what he tells me.

4:58 – Seifert announced his retirement.  I say he runs for CD7 if Byberg doesn’t win.  I think it’s a swell idea.

4:55 – I was back on the floor casting my ballot when Seifert conceded.  Incredible class act.

Emmer is on stage now – it took me that long to get back to the press pit.

He’s speaking now. Great acceptance.

Only real question – how many “angry white male” references will the press and leftyblogs snif about?

4:40 – Results in:

• One “No Endorsement”
• Three Undecided
• 22 Blank
• Seifert – 876 (43.8%)
• Emmer – 1118 (56%)

Needs 1199 to endorse.  Seating for third ballot.  Back in a flash.

4:33 – Second ballot results coming out – after Carol Molnau!

4:21 – Still waiting.  Whip count says Emmer up 2-3 votes in CD4.  We’ll see.

3:35 – Change in the report d/t computation error:  Emmer 52.6, Seifert 42.5 is the new official count.

Next ballot now.  Heading to the floor.

3:00 – First ballot results are final:  53-43 Emmer. Herwig, Haas and Davis are off the ballot (none got more than percent, by my count).    Emmer is currently 126 votes shy of the endorsement.  Fifteen minutes til the next ballot.  Bill Haas is coming back to the stage.

Haas has, as I (verbally) predicted, tossed his votes to Seifert.  All 26 of them.

Now Leslie Davis – with six votes – is on stage.  “Rivvizend stakely cash more excusiwavbay.  Yatukka wiveabengay, extortinga file cuz he cknows I’m here”.  No endorsement.

Herwig up next:  Throws his votes, also, to Seifert.  36 of them.

2:56 – Reading results.  Seifert just topped 40% as we plod thorugh the Eighth district – so we’ll definitely have a second ballot.

2:47 – They’re still reading results.  We’ve been through CDs 1,2,4,5 and 6; Emmer is up by a bit, but the 7 and 8 should  both be strong for Seifer.

2:29 – I just got back off the floor, after the usual irritating rules squabbles.  They’re reporting votes a BPOU at a time.

SITD SCOOP

Scoop here:  CD4 hasn’t reported yet, but Emmer took the 4th by 89 to 60 out of 152 allowed ballots.  That’s a better ratio than he had at the CD4 convention.

1:27 – I’m told Davis said if he’s not endorsed, we face “unparalleled misery”.  Let’s just say he’s not got the crowd wrapped around his finger.

1:17 – I’m sorry – it’s actually Leslie Davis.

1:16 – Michael Savage is onstage now.  He’s not close enough to the mike.  First Ringer; “someone didn’t take their non-drowsy pill”.  Hard to hear him.

:14 – Bill C, out on the floor, says it looks like Emmer 3:2.  Chad the Elder says he figured 60-40.  Mark Buesgens says three ballots – but then that’s his job as a campaign leader.

1:10 – Leo Pusatieri tweets “Larry Haas makes Phil Herwig look absolutely dynamic”.  Sad to say, it’s true.

12;56 – Haas on stage now.  Alone.  No organization.  Halting speech.  Gotta be tough to follow Emmer and Seifert’s shows…

Chad the Elder wonders “what makes someone carry on a campaign like this?  No chance, no support…is it ego?  Or what?”  I note that Haas has an actual track record of implementing conservative principles in government.  First Ringer – “He’s the credible fringe candidate”.

12:55 – Larry Colson says the Emmer floor demonstration says crowd feels like 55-45 Emmer.  Floor demo passion looked way in Emmer’s favor.

12:52 – Emmer floor demonstration carrying on.  I’m gonna say it looks like Tom has a slight edge.

12:50 – Emmer shoots fireworks as he leaves stage.  Good thing they didn’t play “Once Bitten Twice Shy”.

12:49 – “Say yes to lower taxes, to leave more money in the pockets of people who earn it!”

12:45 – Shouting out to Annette Meeks – “She literally wrote the book on conservative government”.

12:44 – Emmer talking now.  Kevin Ecker thinks crowd looks 55-45 Emmer.  We’ll know soon enough.

12:32:  Seifert left stage with his mass of supporters.  Emmer video running now.  Or is it Leslie Davis? No, it’s Emmer.  Trying to count the duelling crowds is difficult.

Emmer hitting on the family thing – seven kids.

Hitting on principles.

First Ringer has joined me on bloggers row.  “Vote for Emmer or the kids get it”.

Video ends with tagline – “now’s the time to be done with politicians as usual.

Brian Sullivan on stage to give the nomination.

12:15 – Browser crashes hard jus tin time for Phil Krinkie to introuce Marty Seifert.  Marty on stage now.  His organizaiton is showing, for better (boots on floor) and worse (all those frankly dumb hit pieces).   He’s hittting his rural roots hard.  Not sure if that’s a big winning tack in a year with statewide issues uniting us all.  We shall see.

12:05 -And still talking.

11:55 – Snuck away to a standup with Michele Bachmann.  She is studiously avoiding endorsing anyone.

11:45 – Phil Herwig is talking.

11:44 – Rumor has it that someone “really big” is going to introduce Emmer.  Rumor is passing around that there’ a “higher degree of security” than for, say, a congressperson.  There’s talk of Palin, but nothing is confirmed.  Pure rumor mill.

11:34 – Kolls – “Anyone ready to endorse a governor?”  Huge round of applause. Hopes up…

…but all we get is a credentials report.  Still – almost time to head back to the floor to vote.

11:05 – Governor Pawlenty is on stage now.  “Fortunate Son” is the song.  I’m waiting for some leftyblogger to mewl about the “irony” of it, understanding neither the term nor the song…

He opens by thanking the First Lady.  Drew a huge round of applause.

“Ironic that we’re meeting here just a few weeks after “tax day” – or as Democrats call it, “Christmas”.  Hammering on Dems’ spending mania.   “Bailouts – 700 billion.  Increase in deficit – 2 trillion.  Republicans elected in November – priceless”.

Notes that he’s the only governor in the US to sign concealed carry…twice.  “More people have been killed by the Hiawatha Light Rail line than concealed carry!”

Good speech to a friendly crowd; his last as governor, as he noted.

10:48 – Chip Cravaack – endorsed candidate in CD8 – talks.  He’s a former Navy helo pilot.  Dan Severson is a former F18 pilot.  Funny how the Dems have shut up about how important it was that Republicans serve in the military than in 2008, when Steve Sarvi and Ashwin Madia’s service was a dispositive sign of incontestible virtue.

10:35 – I’m back in the Press Pit.  I plan on dividing my time pretty widely about the place today; I’ll be doing some media, blogging, and occasionally sprinting back to 66B to vote – whenever we get around to it.

I had the pleasure of meeting Rep. Mark Buesgens in the walkway between the Party platform and the Press Pit.  Had a great chat with him; he’s an occasional SITD reader (thanks, Mark!), and he notes that bloggers play a vital role; “peole have been getting dumbed down for too long; blogs make people think!”.  I’m flattered.

…in time to seem Michele Bachmann go to the podium as “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” played on the PA.

She has the crowd, naturally, wrapped around her finger.

I’m in the Press Pit again, although I expect to be commuting over to 66B to vote not a few times today.  Craig Westover, Brad Carlson, Kevin Ecker, Luke Hellier and occasionally Derek Brigham are here.  I’m told Lassie is out on the floor, along with King Banaian, Chad the Elder and Matt Abe among others are out on the floor.  I know quite a few people are tweeting if they’re not blogging.

Liveblogging to ensue shortly.

So who will the media be calling a “far right extremist” at the end of the day?

I’m going to be heading back in to the convention in a bit here, after some family business.

Which I say by way of noting that I’m waay too tired to actually post anything this morning so far.

The GOP’s rockstar diva puts her support behind the “hockey dad.”  Will her last minute endorsement score or just put Tom Emmer in the penalty box?

On the eve of the Minnesota GOP’s two-man dialogue for governor being pared down to a monologue, 2008 Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin has injected herself into the contest with the political equivalent of a powerplay goal for her self-described “hockey dad” candidate of choice, Tom Emmer:

A family man who wants to leave his kids a better future, a “hockey dad” who once played for the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks, a patriotic commonsense conservative who wishes to serve for the right reasons – that’s Tom Emmer, and I ask you to join me in supporting him for governor of Minnesota.

John “Policy Guy” La Plante asks the 60% question of the evening – is Palin’s endorsement worth having?:

So Sarah Palin has endorsed Tom Emmer. Is this good news for Team Emmer? I’m not convinced.

Why? Because, I suspect, most Palin fans are likely sympathetic to Tom Emmer anyway. But a Republican candidate must appeal to more than Republican voters to win in the general election.

For a good chunk of independents and Democrats open to voting for a Republican candidate, an endorsement by Sarah Palin is the kiss of death. They’re the mirror image of Republicans who disdain a candidate who

gets endorsed by the Star-Tribune .

Much like Emmer’s somewhat questionable choice of Annette Meeks as his runningmate earlier this week, the backing of Sarah Palin makes terrific sense in the context of a political universe that’s set to expire in an endorsement supernova sometime Friday afternoon or evening.  As the adage goes that there’s no bad press as long as they spell your name right, so goes the same logic for the choices that have defined Tom Emmer’s final week before the gubernatorial endorsement.  While picking a highly partisan activist to share the ticket and garnering the endorsement of a polarizing but beloved conservative politician are potential risks come November, they’ve ensured that for better or worse, everyone is talking about Tom Emmer less than 24 hours from what could be the pinacle or nadir of his political career.

But La Plante’s analysis is also spot-on.  Palin remains as much of a potential liability in the general as she is an asset in the endorsement.  And Emmer’s camp must be prepared, should he raise his arms in victory on Friday, to find his win credited to Palin’s involvement by the media in a pre-emptive strike to paint the Delano rep into the far-right corner of the electorate.  Such an outcome likely sounds fine to many on Team Emmer given that the alternative is a long fall and summer on the political bench.

11:55 – I voted.  And now I have to head home.  Back tomorrow!

11:21 – First ballot in for Auditor.

• Conlon (who dropped out during his speech) – 5
• Wiita – 327
• Gilbert – 548
• Anderson – 860

1078 are required to get the endorsement.  Rumor has it that Wiita is a friend of Gilbert’s.  You do the math.  This could be a long night.

11:08 – We’re informed the Auditor results are coming.  Soon.  Still debating picayune resolutions – the bane of these proceedings.  “a resolution in favor of a constitutional form of money”.  That’s what we’re talking about.

10:59 – Waiting on the auditor vote to come in.  And waiting.  They’re debating resolutions right now.

10:30 – Finally back.  I appeared with Marty Owings on KFAI.  Then I had to dash back to my district to vote for State Auditor.  We’re waiting for the results…and there’s Kohls with the gavel.

9:21 – Pat is on now.  I’ve been called to do a standup with KFAI.  Switch to Eckernet for updates for the next few minutes.

9:16 – We’ll start the speeches for Auditor now.  Watching the Anderson video now.

8:57 – Motion on the floor to unanimously endorse Chris Barden.  He’ll make a great replacement for Lori Swanson.

8:54 – The convention has unanimously endorsed Severson to run for Secretary of State.

8:49 – Sorry – I’ve been talking with Tim Burke.  Dan Severson is on stage.  I believe he’s running unopposed for Secretary of State.  Huge crowd of red-clad sign waving supporters onstage.

8:12 – Lee Byberg on the stage.  Endorsed candidate for CD7 – Collin Peterson’s district.  He’s got a thick Norwegian accent; I did not know this.  Him, I gotta book on the show.

“This is the American dream!  Have you ever heard of the German dream?  The French dream?  even the Norwegian dream?  Let me tell you, they  have those dreams.  They’re in America!”

“We are born American; it’s time to recommitt ourselves to the American spirit – to be come twice as committed to the American dream!  This is my story!  Our goal is not just to beat Colin Peterson – but to win the next generation!”

Byberg is tearing it up; Norwegians and “inspirational speaking” aren’t necessarily synonymous, but he’s got the mojo.  Saying all the right things to whip up the crowd.  After that rules debate, it’s nice to have the crowd whipped up.

8:06 – “Here’s a Constitution; it’s what I expect you to hold me and all of Congress to!  And once we do that, we will get the budget under control!”

8:04 – Jeff Johnson introduces Teresa Collette, St. Thomas law professor, endorsed to take on the “somewhat less brilliant” Betty McCollum.

7:59 – Pat Anderson is a row ahead, talking with (I think ) Bill Salisbury.  I’m going to try to scrag an interview with her.

7:55 -By the way – yeah, it’s white in here.  Just like a good chunk of Minnesota.  But I’m seeing all kinds of people here; black, Asian, Latino – my Senate District has an Iranian.  Or, as we refer to everyone, “Americans”.  Just so we’re clear on that.

7:54 – More rules debates.  Chatted with Charlie Shaw, my old pal from St. Paul Legal Ledger and Politics in Minnesota.  Looking like  a fun night in the press pit!

7:46 – “This is bulls**t”, says a leader from SD54.  “They’re letting everyone talk about…roll calls?”  They’ve spent a good 20 minutes debating the idea of the roll call…”

7:38 – I’ve just figured out why more people don’t get involved in politics; Rules Committee debate.

7:35 – Mark Drake from the MNGOP tells us that the nominating committee has placed Emmer, Seifert, Haas, Herwig and Davis in nomination.  Bob Carney apparently didn’t meet the threshold of signatures to make the cut.  I had no idea he was trying.  And I am astounded that Davis made it…

7:25 – I’m sitting with Kevin Ecker from Eckernet.  Michael Brodkorb is giving the Rules Committee report.

Kevin and I are looking at the huge lime-green Phil Herwig banner above the arena, and thinking he might have chosen a better motto; “Change We Can Believe In“.  Thinking this may not be Phil’s year.

7:20 – I’m actually a delegate in 66B this year – but I’ll be spending as much in the evening in the press pit as I can.  There’s elbow room, and easy access to the bathroom.  Hopefully nobody squawks; given that the only seat left was about 20 easts in from the aisle and people are jammed together pretty tightly.

Florida’s political version of Hernán Cortés burns his last ship back to the GOP as he tries to chart an independent path to Washington.

It was barely more than 12 months ago that Florida Governor Charlie Crist found himself basking the media limelight.  The politically-saavy governor of a swing state, Crist quickly positioned himself not only as the prohibitive frontrunner for Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat but as a presidential dark horse.  That one year later Crist is bolting the GOP while the party’s Senate leadership that had once backed him are now suing to drain his campaign coffers speaks volumes of how fickle political fortunes can be.

Much has been already written of Crist’s numerous campaign missteps and penchent to spend his dwindling political capital faster than a crack addict with a gold card.  Whether it was Crist’s ill-advised embrace of Obama and the stimulus (both literally and figuratively), his veto of a Republican-backed education reform bill or his Roger Muddesque inability to state why he was running for Senate, Crist’s once-famous campaign aptitude seemed to disappear into a Brigadoon-like political mist.  As NRO‘s Jim Geraghty notes:

You don’t get to be governor of Florida without a halfway decent sense of political judgment, and in fact that’s supposed to be one of Crist’s best qualities: He may not be the boldest or most principled politician, but he’s always been popular and displayed a knack for staying on the right side of Florida voters…

Yet during this election cycle, Crist’s keen judgment disappeared and was replaced with the bumbling instincts of some of our most legendary modern political blunderers…Almost every key decision made by Crist and his campaign since entering the Senate race has backfired.

Less has been written about Crist’s path forward.  While a few polls have shown Crist leading within the margin of error in an electoral ménage à trois with Marco Rubio and Kendrick Meeks, the political math remains at a calculus level of difficultly.  Crist would need a bare majority of independents plus nearly 1/3rd of all Republicans and Democrats to secure a plurality.  Just a political combination isn’t impossible but nevertheless rare among candidates not prone to wearing spandex and feather boas.  Nor is Crist aided when 52% of independents claim to be unwilling to vote for him under any circumstances, despite a 60% approval rating among the unaffiliated.

Undoubtably, an independent bid was Charlie Crist’s best chance of being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010.  Unwilling or believing himself to be unable to seek the Republican nomination in 2012 against Sen. Bill Nelson, Crist has bet his once rising star on an all-or-noting Cortés-like strategy.  But left unanswered in his decision is how Crist believes he’ll be welcomed in Washington should he win. 

Should Republicans win the Senate seats they lead in current polling, the GOP would pick up 8 seats this November.  With California and Washington creeping into contention as well, one seat could easily tip the balance of power come January 2011.  Such narrow margins will bring tremendous political advantage to any independent Senate candidate.  Indeed, should the GOP come up one seat short, expect massive political pressure to be applied to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to switch caucus allegiances.  Unable to afford a credible candidate to his right in what will likely be an incredibly bitter general election against a well-funded Democratic opponent, Lieberman might be tempted to caucus with the GOP even if his party affiliation remains unchanged.

Crist has little such luxury.  While if victorious he’ll be courted by both left and right given 2010’s likely outcome, neither is likely to embrace him come 2016.  And should control of the Senate shift sharply away from a narrow divide, Crist almost certainly would be discarded, his political leverage gone.  Thus it would appear that Charlie Crist has gambled his entire political career on trying to acheive a single – and perhaps very lonely – term as Florida’s senator.