Caucus Wrapup
By Mitch Berg
I attended the GOP caucuses in 66B last night.
Attendance was down from two years ago, which answers the question “will the Paulbots keep their energy and influence?” But it was way, way up from two years before that , which is a good thing; non-presidential-year caucuses are frequently painfully slow.
In my precinct, the Seifert machine was in full effect; Marty won my precinct pretty handily.
Statewide? Emmer closed the polling gap he had at the Central Committee straw poll; he’s just a tad over 10 points behind Seifert. Hann got about five points, so he could well be in a position to be a kingmaker at the state convention in May.
So it’s off to the BPOU (in Saint Paul, that’d be State House District) conventions on March 2!
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:07 am
In my district, Emmert came out well on top.
All-in-all, I came away with one well-learned lesson – don’t hold caucuses in February in school buildings. When I reholstered in the parking lot, after, it was _cold_.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:21 pm
It was a squeaker in SD-45: Seifert 109, Emmer 106, Hann 23. Hann won in one room – he recently came to our coffee meet – and the more people meet him, the more they like him. The district conventions will be interesting.
If I may plug an event: we’re holding a Gov. Candidate debate in our district March 18 in Plymouth. Should be very interesting after the straw poll and BPOU convention. Link for details: http://bit.ly/dce3aQ
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:45 pm
jdege Says: “All-in-all, I came away with one well-learned lesson – don’t hold caucuses in February in school buildings. When I reholstered in the parking lot, after, it was _cold_.”
Amen! SS pistol going into a IWB holster after some time in the cold is not the most pleasant experience!!
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:22 pm
“It was a squeaker in SD-45:”
About the same in SD43. 155 – Emmer 161 – Seifert Hann – 30. Had about a dozen write-ins for Norm Coleman.
I’ll attend your debate on the 18th. Will it just be the Emmer, Seifert, and Hann debating?
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:42 pm
MON: Yes on your question (we had four until Pat dropped out). Other candidates may be there for the meet and greet before the debate starts.
Question: Did the premiere of “Lost” lure people to stay away from either party’s caucuses?
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:21 pm
“Lost”?
R U?
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Seifert won our district on roughly the same breakout as the rest of the state. Although he also attended our caucus and spoke before all the attendees so that probably got him some votes.
We had twice as much as a normal off-year caucus, which was about a quarter what what we got last year. So yeah, the Ron Paul movement has petered out…or has at least gone underground.
I was annoyed to hear a few birthers in our ranks.
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Mitch……..what constitutes a ‘machine’ as you use the word in this instance?
I want to be sure I fully understand your reference and intent here.
Nice to see how many people attended caucuses.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:08 am
Interesting that you seem to blame the drop in attendance on “Paulbots” losing their interest while per the 2008 straw poll, Ron Paul supporters were only about 15% of the precinct caucus attendees. Yet you then go ahead and say attendance was up from 2006. While I know it wasn’t as many as two years ago, could it be that a significant number of the 15% are still showing up helping to improve attendance over four years ago? Based upon what I saw at my precinct caucus, that appears to be a possibility.
In regards to energy, I know that a majority of the Pat Anderson volunteer campaign staff consisted of Paul supporters and a large percentage of the most dedicated Emmer volunteer campaign staff are also Paul supporters. I know from personal experience because I have been one of them. Basically, the 15% are staffing a majority of one and a significant minority of another of the four top GOP gubernatorial candidate campaigns. Not bad for 15%.
February 4th, 2010 at 7:56 am
EBoone,
I was speaking only for my precinct and district.
February 4th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Dog, a machine is best exemplified by the seamless relationship between the DFL and Education Minnesota.
This is a monolithic special interest that wields enormous power in Minnesota, and seldom works for the benefit of all the people.
February 4th, 2010 at 10:11 am
“a large percentage of the most dedicated Emmer volunteer campaign staff ”
well that explains his poor fund raising performance. Come on, pony up, Liberty ain’t free…