Things I Never Thought I’d See

When I started going my show in 2004, I accepted a couple of things as truisms:

  • The Eighth Congressional District would be rock-solid Democrat territory forever.
  • Mike Hatch, Mike Hatch’s progeny, or Mike Hatch’s brain in a jar would hold the Attorney General’s office though my great-grandchildren’s time
  • Metro DFL voters would be arrogant, entitled, and generally awful.

The first really fell apart two years ago, with Trump capturing the district by two digits, and Pete Stauber looking to do the same.

And the second?   Look out, but there’s a hurricane coming:

Republican Doug Wardlow has pulled ahead of Democrat U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison in the race for Minnesota attorney general, a Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll found.

Wardlow now leads by 7 percentage points, at 43 percent to 36 percent for Ellison, just a month after the Democrat held a 5-point edge in a September Minnesota Poll. The switch follows a turbulent period for the Ellison campaign, as he has navigated the political fallout of his former girlfriend’s allegation that he abused her in 2016, a claim he denies.

About one in six poll participants said they had not made up their minds about who to support.

And this has got to be bad news for Ellison:

Republicans appear to be falling in line behind Wardlow, but an increasing number of Democrats were undecided about who to back compared to September.

When you’re losing the sales on your own side (assuming the poll is accurate, and I never have and never will, but let’s run with it for now), you’ve got issues.

By the way – the crosstabs:

The self-identified party affiliation of the respondents is 38 percent Democrats, 33 percent Republicans and 29 percent independents or other.

Seems…high to me.

But onward.

Oh, the third bullet?  Utterly unchanged.  What, you thought it might?

18 thoughts on “Things I Never Thought I’d See

  1. Actually, the third bullet may be cracking, since refusing to vote for a guy who endorses cop-killing and has had a horrendous personal life is a huge step forward for Democrats, no? OK, perhaps it’s not yet largely among urban DFLers, but it’s a start.

  2. one thing you forgot Mitch about the third bullet point is that they will throw anyone out of the party who isnt sufficiently progressive: see Betsey Hodges, also dense and clueless would be good adjectives

  3. BB, the pot party has a better shot at winning a mayoral race in Minneapolis than the Republicans

  4. A cynical person might think that the Strib and Minnesota Poll is trying a new tactic to drive turnout. Instead of trumpeting a big lead for their democrat-of-choice to suppress opposition, they may be thumbing the scale to scare their NPCs into action.

    An especially cynical person might think that the StarTribune joined the “right-leaning” news organization in the effort to unlock the Ellison divorce files – but did so already knowing what was in there, and counting on the “Ellison is a victim, too” angle to blunt the tide running against him.

  5. POD – There were no pot activists this last ballot, nor were there any republicans on the Minneapolis ballot. But, my vote lately is to whomever will do the least damage in that position. Captain Jack Sparrow may have made the list, if he wasn’t associated with the Occupy movement. The Rainbow, Butterflies, Unicorns party made it though. After that, it was anyone but Levy-Pounds.

  6. Having just moved to Minneapolis and CD Im sitting this election out, it will be the first (and hopefully last) time I havent voted since I became eligible in 2004

  7. POD you need to go vote. The SCOTUS struck down Minnesota’s ban on politically oriented clothes in polling places.

    Buy an NPC T-shirt and trigger some snowflakes. Plus, you need to vote for Governor, AG, and Senate.

  8. goddamn it fine, Ill talk to my landlord and if its not too big a hassle Ill figure out how to vote

  9. When did this whole NPC thing start sweeping the country? I like to think Im pretty with it and it hasnt popped up on any of my Reddit political groups yet.

  10. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/10/23/political-correctness-college-campuses-democrats-voters-midterms-progressive-activists-column/1726496002/

    “Among the general population, a full 80 percent believe that ‘political correctness is a problem in our country.’ Even young people are uncomfortable with it, including 74 percent ages 24 to 29, and 79 percent under age 24. On this particular issue, the woke are in a clear minority across all ages. Youth isn’t a good proxy for support of political correctness — and it turns out race isn’t, either. Whites are ever so slightly less likely than average to believe that political correctness is a problem in the country: 79 percent of them share this sentiment. Instead, it is Asians (82 percent), Hispanics (87 percent) and American Indians (88 percent) who are most likely to oppose politic

  11. Hey POD, it’s probably not a big deal going to the polls, just rent a “neighbor” in the hood, have them affirm your credibility and head to the voting booth. Things may be a little rushed though, they may need to meet the Chi-town bus coming into town to assert the validly of other “residents” looking to express their rights, as well as filing for their resident state funded welfare benefits, you know 20 folks in a one bedroom apartment. It’s just how things work in Mpls.

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