As predicted, Nicole Mitchell isn’t leaving the Senate until the DFL has squeezed every last possible vote out of her:
So Real Minnesotans should picket the Capitol, and to the extent possible the Senate chambers and hearing rooms, dressedin all black, carrying tupperware and basement storm windows.
But they won’t.
However, if the circumstances were reversed, the left would.
And therein lies the problem.
The left, populated by creatives, is so damned good at capturing the public’s attention that it is able to run rings around the right, before the right even dreams about rising to the occasion.
But every once in a while, the Canadian truckers, gilets jaunes and EU farmers are able to grab the narrative and make the world press swoon.
We need more of that.
^ “we” aren’t angry enough.
My wife was watching the MN Senate Floor debate on Monday and texting with a couple of the GOP Senators we know while the Senate was “dealing” with Sen. Cat Burglar and the “issue” of her taking votes.
The DFL has “expelled” Mitchell from the Caucus, removed her from DFL Leadership, and stripped her from her Committee assignments. They also moved her desk on the Floor as far from the Media as possible and put her next to Sen. John Marty. The rumor floating around is that DFL Leadership has also asked her to resign her Seat. Personally, I think that rumor has been purposely publicized and that DFL Leadership doesn’t actually want her gone while Session is going.
Those Committees have already largely finished for the Session, and we all know that the DFL Leadership has plenty of foot soldiers to whip the votes if needed. Basically the only thing Sen. Mitchell has left to do for the rest of Session is take Floor Votes, and the current, “temporary” Senate rules already allow for remote voting because of the COVID Emergency. One of the votes that she actively took yesterday was whether or not her voting should be suspended until the after the Ethics Investigation is completed (an investigation that’ll probably deadlock 2-2). She could’ve reused herself and the motion would’ve failed from a lack of a Majority, but instead she just had to cast her own No vote.
What we are witnessing is typical DFL shamelessness. While the Party Chair and the Senate Leadership is saying “all the right things” and tut-tutting Sen. Mitchell, they are simultaneously keeping her around right now because they need her at least until Sine Die. Granted, the DFL cannot do much to get rid of her until 2026 when they can run Endorsement and Primary challenges against Sen. Mitchell with the full force of the MN DFL establishment, they could do more to freeze her out. Instead, they need her vote because it’s only the 1 vote majority and every Senator is the deciding vote.
After Sine Die is a slightly different story. Kelly Jahner-Byrne has been publicizing her intention to run in a Special Election since the news of Mitchell’s arrest broke, and I don’t think that conspiracy nut could win an election, though she’s probably a shoe-in for the GOP Endorsement, so the DFL would probably be smart to do everything they can to incentive Mitchell to step aside as soon as the Senate adjourns for the year. But maybe DFL shamelessness and hubris will win out and Mitchell will continue to hold on. She might even run for re-election in 2 years and the DFL will think that Woodbury is solidly blue enough that they won’t run a challenger. They have the arrogance to make that scenario possible.
SmithStCroix.
These people are too arrogant to do anything that has to do with ethics and personal accountability. And, when they have the media to run interference for them, all bets are off!