4:58 – Seifert announced his retirement.\u00a0 I say he runs for CD7 if Byberg doesn’t win.\u00a0 I think it’s a swell idea.<\/p>\n
4:55 – I was back on the floor casting my ballot when Seifert conceded.\u00a0 Incredible class act.<\/p>\n
Emmer is on stage now – it took me that long to get back to the press pit.<\/p>\n
He’s speaking now. Great acceptance.<\/p>\n
Only real question – how many “angry white male” references will the press and leftyblogs snif about?<\/p>\n
4:40 – Results in:<\/p>\n
Needs 1199 to endorse.\u00a0 Seating for third ballot.\u00a0 Back in a flash.<\/p>\n
4:33 – Second ballot results coming out – after Carol Molnau!<\/p>\n
4:21 – Still waiting.\u00a0 Whip count says Emmer up 2-3 votes in CD4.\u00a0 We’ll see.<\/p>\n
3:35 – Change in the report d\/t computation error:\u00a0 Emmer 52.6, Seifert 42.5 is the new official count.<\/p>\n
Next ballot now.\u00a0 Heading to the floor.<\/p>\n
3:00 – First ballot results are final:\u00a0 53-43 Emmer. Herwig, Haas and Davis are off the ballot (none got more than percent, by my count).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Emmer is currently 126 votes shy of the endorsement.\u00a0 Fifteen minutes til the next ballot.\u00a0 Bill Haas is coming back to the stage.<\/p>\n
Haas has, as I (verbally) predicted, tossed his votes to Seifert.\u00a0 All 26 of them.<\/p>\n
Now Leslie Davis – with six votes – is on stage.\u00a0 “Rivvizend stakely cash more excusiwavbay.\u00a0 Yatukka wiveabengay, extortinga file cuz he cknows I’m here”.\u00a0 No endorsement.<\/p>\n
Herwig up next:\u00a0 Throws his <\/em>votes, also, to Seifert.\u00a0 36 of them.<\/p>\n 2:56 – Reading results.\u00a0 Seifert just topped 40% as we plod thorugh the Eighth district – so we’ll definitely have a second ballot.<\/p>\n 2:47 – They’re still reading results.\u00a0 We’ve been through CDs 1,2,4,5 and 6; Emmer is up by a bit, but the 7 and 8 should\u00a0 both be strong for Seifer.<\/p>\n 2:29 – I just got back off the floor, after the usual irritating rules squabbles.\u00a0 They’re reporting votes a BPOU at a time.<\/p>\n SITD SCOOP<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Scoop here:\u00a0 CD4 hasn’t reported yet, but Emmer took the 4th by 89 to 60 <\/strong>out of 152 allowed ballots.\u00a0 That’s a better ratio than he had at the CD4 convention.<\/p>\n 1:27 – I’m told Davis said if he’s not endorsed, we face “unparalleled misery”.\u00a0 Let’s just say he’s not got the crowd wrapped around his finger.<\/p>\n 1:17 – I’m sorry – it’s actually Leslie Davis.<\/p>\n 1:16 – Michael Savage is onstage now.\u00a0 He’s not close enough to the mike.\u00a0 First Ringer; “someone <\/em>didn’t take their non-drowsy pill”.\u00a0 Hard to hear him.<\/p>\n :14 – Bill C, out on the floor, says it looks like Emmer 3:2.\u00a0 Chad the Elder says he figured 60-40.\u00a0 Mark Buesgens says three ballots – but then that’s his job as a campaign leader.<\/p>\n 1:10 – Leo Pusatieri tweets “Larry Haas makes Phil Herwig look absolutely dynamic”.\u00a0 Sad to say, it’s true.<\/p>\n 12;56 – Haas on stage now.\u00a0 Alone.\u00a0 No organization.\u00a0 Halting speech.\u00a0 Gotta be tough to follow Emmer and Seifert’s shows…<\/p>\n Chad the Elder wonders “what makes someone carry on a campaign like this?\u00a0 No chance, no support…is it ego?\u00a0 Or what?”\u00a0 I note that Haas has an actual track record of implementing conservative principles in government.\u00a0 First Ringer – “He’s the credible <\/em>fringe candidate”.<\/p>\n 12:55 – Larry Colson says the Emmer floor demonstration says crowd feels like 55-45 Emmer.\u00a0 Floor demo passion looked way <\/em>in Emmer’s favor.<\/p>\n 12:52 – Emmer floor demonstration carrying on.\u00a0 I’m gonna say it looks like Tom has a slight edge.<\/p>\n 12:50 – Emmer shoots fireworks as he leaves stage.\u00a0 Good thing they didn’t play “Once Bitten Twice Shy”.<\/p>\n 12:49 – “Say yes to lower taxes, to leave more money in the pockets of people who earn it!”<\/p>\n 12:45 – Shouting out to Annette Meeks – “She literally wrote the book on conservative government”.<\/p>\n 12:44 – Emmer talking now.\u00a0 Kevin Ecker thinks crowd looks 55-45 Emmer.\u00a0 We’ll know soon enough.<\/p>\n 12:32:\u00a0 Seifert left stage with his mass of supporters.\u00a0 Emmer video running now.\u00a0 Or is it Leslie Davis? No, it’s Emmer.\u00a0 Trying to count the duelling crowds is difficult.<\/p>\n Emmer hitting on the family thing – seven kids.<\/p>\n Hitting on principles.<\/p>\n First Ringer has joined me on bloggers row.\u00a0 “Vote for Emmer or the kids get it”.<\/p>\n Video ends with tagline – “now’s the time to be done with politicians as usual.<\/p>\n Brian Sullivan on stage to give the nomination.<\/p>\n 12:15 – Browser crashes hard jus tin time for Phil Krinkie to introuce Marty Seifert.\u00a0 Marty on stage now.\u00a0 His organizaiton is showing, for better (boots on floor) and worse (all those frankly dumb hit pieces).\u00a0\u00a0 He’s hittting his rural roots hard<\/em>.\u00a0 Not sure if that’s a big winning tack in a year with statewide issues uniting us all.\u00a0 We shall see.<\/p>\n 12:05 -And still talking.<\/p>\n 11:55 – Snuck away to a standup with Michele Bachmann.\u00a0 She is studiously avoiding endorsing anyone.<\/em><\/p>\n 11:45 – Phil Herwig is talking.<\/p>\n 11:44 – Rumor has it that someone “really big” is going to introduce Emmer.\u00a0 Rumor is passing around that there’ a “higher degree of security” than for, say, a congressperson.\u00a0 There’s talk of Palin, but nothing <\/em>is confirmed.\u00a0 Pure rumor mill.<\/p>\n 11:34 – Kolls – “Anyone ready to endorse a governor?”\u00a0 Huge round of applause. Hopes up…<\/p>\n …but all we get is a credentials report.\u00a0 Still – almost time to head back to the floor to vote.<\/p>\n 11:05 – Governor Pawlenty is on stage now.\u00a0 “Fortunate Son” is the song.\u00a0 I’m waiting for some leftyblogger to mewl about the “irony” of it, understanding neither the term nor the song…<\/p>\n He opens by thanking the First Lady.\u00a0 Drew a huge round of applause.<\/p>\n “Ironic that we’re meeting here just a few weeks after “tax day” – or as Democrats call it, “Christmas”.\u00a0 Hammering on Dems’ spending mania.\u00a0\u00a0 “Bailouts – 700 billion.\u00a0 Increase in deficit – 2 trillion.\u00a0 Republicans elected in November – priceless”.<\/p>\n Notes that he’s the only governor in the US to sign concealed carry…twice.\u00a0 “More people have been killed by the Hiawatha Light Rail line than concealed carry!”<\/p>\n Good speech to a friendly crowd; his last as governor, as he noted.<\/p>\n 10:48 – Chip Cravaack – endorsed candidate in CD8 – talks.\u00a0 He’s a former Navy helo pilot.\u00a0 Dan Severson is a former F18 pilot.\u00a0 Funny how the Dems have shut up about how important it was that Republicans serve in the military than in 2008, when Steve Sarvi and Ashwin Madia’s service was a dispositive sign of incontestible virtue.<\/p>\n 10:35 – I’m back in the Press Pit.\u00a0 I plan on dividing my time pretty widely about the place today; I’ll be doing some media, blogging, and occasionally sprinting back to 66B to vote – whenever we get around to it.<\/p>\n I had the pleasure of meeting Rep. Mark Buesgens in the walkway between the Party platform and the Press Pit.\u00a0 Had a great chat with him; he’s an occasional SITD reader (thanks, Mark!), and he notes that bloggers play a vital role; “peole have been getting dumbed down for too long; blogs make people think!”.\u00a0 I’m flattered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 4:58 – Seifert announced his retirement.\u00a0 I say he runs for CD7 if Byberg doesn’t win.\u00a0 I think it’s a swell idea. 4:55 – I was back on the floor casting my ballot when Seifert conceded.\u00a0 Incredible class act. Emmer is on stage now – it took me that long to get back to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,144,72],"tags":[154],"class_list":["post-10459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campaign-10","category-governor","category-mngop","tag-pawlenty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10459"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10461,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10459\/revisions\/10461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}