No, the title’s not bad grammar on my part.  It’s a great Steve Earle tune, from 1985 or so:

But yeah – since we’re on the subject, Dave Mindeman at mnpAct sniffs that “Minnesota Conservatives Are Not Satisfied“.

The conservativve [sic} wing of the Minnesota Republican Party is never satisfied. Shutting down the state government and a budget which focuses on massive cutting is not enough.

(It’s also fiction; the budget rose, the only things that got “cut” were for the most part the projected increases that the DFL-dominated bureaucracy demanded in 2009, and Dayton shut the government down, engineering it from the very start.  But let’s just let that slide for now).

Can you believe it? They are upset with the House committee chairs and are talking (get this) about subjecting some of them to primary challenges.

That takes cajones. (sic)

Well, think about it. If you’re a conservative, you spent a lot of time and energy working for Tom Emmer and a big slate of Republican candidates; though you were outspent by at least 2:1 by Big Labor, Big Oligarch and Big Dayton, you almost won the governor’s office, and you flipped both the House and the Senate.  You busted your butt, you wore out your shoes and your dialing finger.

And what did you get?  You got a GOP majority that…

• …raised spending, using the money from the February forecast, first, rather than making Dayton negotiate like hell for it.
• …dealt away Voter ID, Cornish’s Stand your Ground Law, and Zero-Based Budgeting, and…
• …to be fair, won a lot, and deferred some provisions important to conservatives ’til the less-charged, out-year session.

Politics in Minnesota put together an article that focused on the conservative angst. Three chairs in particular are mentioned:

They direct their anger at three high ranking House Republican committee chairmen in particular: Reps. Jim Abeler of Anoka, Pat Garofalo of Farmington and Steve Gottwalt of St. Cloud.

I was also interviewed in the piece – more on that in a bit – and while I haven’t read it (because I’m not a PIM subscriber), the bits I”ve seen made me sound a little more the zealot than I tried to present (not to knock Charley Shaw, the reporter, who does a great job with these things).

More on that in a bit.

Abeler has never been forgiven for voting for the gas tax override.

As I pointed out to Shaw, Abeler needs to earn his forgiveness.  He made a start this session.  He has a way to go.

As to the other two potential primary challenges Shaw mentioned – Pat Garofalo and Steve Gottwalt – I’ll believe ’em when I see them.  I operate under the phrase “perfect is the enemy of plenty good enough”, which drives some conservatives nuts, but that’s life, and Garofalo and Gottwalt are both imperfect and plenty, plenty good enough.

But here’s the part Mindeman doesn’t get; it’s none of his business.  It’s inside MNGOP baseball!  If the conservative wing of the MNGOP wants to flex whatever muscle it has, and either try to nominate more conservative candidates or drive the ones we have farther to the right, that’s our affair.  If it’s the wrong choice, electorally?  Well, Mindeman should be happy about that.

He’s not, and either is anyone else – because the conservative brand is waxing, and Obama and liberalism in general have coattails shorter than Daisy Duke.

Mindeman:

The logic of conservative thought processes is difficult to understand. The election was, in theory, all about jobs. But conservatives are most concerned about ideology.

It’s hard to know what Mindeman means by that. Does he believe that creating a healthier, free-er market – hence, jobs – isn’t part of our “ideology?”  Or doesn’t he believe that a bunch of competent adults can pursue fiscal issues and chew non-fiscal gum at the same time?

So no.  I, conservative, am not “satisfied” with the GOP today.  I’m happier than I was four or eight or twenty years ago – but we have a way to go.

And I’m having a lot more fun getting there than I used to.

That is satisfying.