What Is At Stake On Tuesday
By Mitch Berg
Tuesday is the special election in SD66.
Greg Copeland is running against former DFL Rep Mary Jo McGuire.
What’s at stake?
If McGuire wins, not much will change; Saint Paul will go from being represented by a whackdoodle liberal to an arguably less whackdoodle liberal. There’ll be a net/net zero change in the minority caucus.
But some of the things McGuire stands for deserve scrutiny – especially in the wake of the Wisconsin situation.
McGuire introduced a bill that would have made state judgeships appointed, rather than elected, positions:
McGuire was Chief Author in 1997 of HF 1077 which Proposed a Constitutional Amendment Requiring that ALL Minnesota Judges To Be APPOINTED by the Governor!
Why is this a bad thing?
Of course, if you’re worried about special interests dominating judicial elections, the OSI/JAS alternative is even worse. That’s because state bar associations and legal groups are dominated by trial lawyers. Lawyers and law firms are the seventh biggest political donors of “all time,” according to Opensecrets.org, and dominate state politics in parts of the country.
The judicial system should maintain a necessary degree of impartiality, but America’s founders certainly didn’t intend for judges to be unmoored from democracy. About 95 percent of America’s civil disputes end up in state courts. That’s an enormous amount of power, which needs checks and balances. There’s a reason why 87 percent of America’s judges are elected.
There are so many reasons to vote for Copeland next Tuesday; he opposes the Central Corridor (even now!) and public taxes for the Vikings; he’ll push for a $10K/jerb tax credit, and advocate a two year property tax freeze.
But perhaps the best reason is that the DFL elite, which treat Saint Paul like they do all of their other special interests – as a milk cow for votes and support – deserves the setback. They think they own Saint Paul – it’s their own words. This sort of arrogance shouldn’t be rewarded.
So please help Greg out. Money’s good (donations page), although it’s getting late for that. What the campaign needs right now – today through the election – is volunteers. Volunteers on the phone bank, and out door-knocking. If you can spare an hour or two, please check in.
Every campaign says they can win. Every campaign must believe it on some level, or nobody would try to run at all (as, in some parts of Saint Paul, indeed, no Republican does; we’re working on changing that).
This special election race is going to be a tough one. But if every Republican turns out, it’s doable. So if you’re a Republican – or a Democrat who is sick of the way your party is abusing the taxpayer – and you live in SD66…
…please come out on Tuesday. And if you know someone in SD66 who should be voting, make sure they turn out on Tuesday!
We can do this!
I am, of course, a volunteer on the Copeland campaign.
April 8th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
“McGuire introduced a bill that would have made state judgeships appointed, rather than elected, positions”
This makes me more, not less likely to vote for her (albeit there still wouldn’t be a chance in hell of that since she’s a St. Paul liberal).
Judges should be appointed not elected. And what just happened in Wisconsin is exhibit Q why (there being many many more reasons than just this). To wit: “We don’t like what the legislature did, so let’s elect a judge who will ben the law to the limit to negate it.” No. The legislature sets public policy, not the judicial. There’s a reason for that. Which is why this bit…
” but America’s founders certainly didn’t intend for judges to be unmoored from democracy. About 95 percent of America’s civil disputes end up in state courts. That’s an enormous amount of power, which needs checks and balances.”
…is so obviously wrong both factually and philosophically as to be laughable.
April 8th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
9th Circuit Court of Appeals. That’s all that needs to be said.
April 8th, 2011 at 6:26 pm
Right Kerm, because if the residents of California, Oregon and Washington elected those justices directly, they’d be so much better (eye roll).
April 9th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
No, not California, Oregon and Washington. The entire country. I’m sick and tired of these piss-ant judges deciding policy for the all of us from their bench in Jerkwater USA. It’s bullshit.
April 10th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
By electing judges you are giving them permission to do exactly that. That is the lesson of Wisconsin.
On an unrelated note: take a friggin pill.
April 10th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
So having a Barack Obama appoint them is a better plan? Duly noted. What kind of pill? Stimulant, sedative or anti-depressant?
April 11th, 2011 at 5:22 am
Both methods have problems. The big problem we have though is that to many of us think government is supposed to solve all of our problems.
When we have a governor who thinks of government as a nanny he makes that kind of appointment. When we have a majority of people who think that way we get elected officials including Judges.
We have to change the way people think about government.