3rd Congressional Convention. Wayzata, MN
It is the start of the Congressional District conventions, and the 3rd Congressional race was a lively one. A young Iraqi war vet, and former Republican, Ashwin Madia won the DFL endorsement over State Senator Terri Bonoff. It had been assumed by many that it would be Bonoff who would be running for the seat being vacated by Jim Ramstad. This is the year of surprises. What’s going to be the next surprise???
13 Comments
Robb
April 14, 2008I think the Bonoff/Madia race is very indicative of a huge change afoot in the electorate. Not to sound too much like a slogan but people do not want the old guard; the candidate with years of experience in elected office; and the ones who are playing it safe — people want change. And with good reason, I think. Candidates running “on message” with slick media advisors, parsing every word and spinning the meaning in the press are old school and I think people a sick of it. I am sick of it. I don’t know too much about Bonoff and Madia and their differences on the issues because I don’t live in the 3rd nor have I attended political events there, however, it seems to me that Madia’s strength comes from being an outsider and a fresh face. And I think on a national level the Clintons have the same problem — the spin and twist meanings and negative politics of the old school.
Rich
April 14, 2008If you believe while Bill Clinton was getting his BJ in the Oval Office from Monica, Hillary Clinton was praying to Jesus for strength, direction and forgiveness and God was telling her to “stand by her man” than I don’t know what your smoking. If you believe that Hillary is a sure-shot gun-tottin’ good ole girl the way her Daddy raised her in Chicago, as her campaign in Pennsylvania want you to believe, and that Obama is an ELITIST — you’ve got to be joking. The Hillary Clinton campaign has become the worst manufactured reality shows in the history of politics. Spin, spin, spin, spin… and nothing is authentic nor truthful about her manufactured image or her slash and burn campaign.
Robb
April 15, 2008I will say this Rich, the old guard is not going to go down without a fight. And they have proven to be able to use the lowest level tactics in their arsenal. Bill and Hillary have never been particularly visionary or progressive politicians. They are deeply steeped in Conservative Southern Democratic politics (although for Hillary, a lot of that is posturing since she grew up in a Chicago Republican household) and they are accustomed to dog fights and message manipulation even if it is false and fabricated. Last night on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Hillary looked like such a fool and the reason is she plays that old spin-doctored game of politics with no integrity.
Terry Gydesen
April 15, 2008Yes the tipping of the beers being “one of the people” yesterday was over the top funny. I thought I was watching SNL instead of CNN. This is the bright idea of her new management team????? I hope Obama puts it away in PA next week so we can be done with Billary.
Rich
April 17, 2008I agree with you Terry. Clinton is never going to win. She has no numeric chance to defeat Obama in Denver. Even if she wins Pennsylvania but a significant margin she cannot win. If she wins all the remaining primaries she still cannot win. At this point the Democratic Party knows this, the super delegates know she cannot win. Everyday there are new announcements of people moving into the Obama camp. You never hear about delegates switching to Clinton or moving from undecided to Clinton. She’s already lost but all she can do is destroy the chance of a Democrat being elected President of the U.S. in November. At this point it must be her goal and after her performance last night in the debate, working in tandem with George Stephanopoulos, she might as well be endorsing McCain. Maybe her people are trying to negotiate a McCain/Clinton ticket in the fall? Hillary has played the race card so many times I have to believe she fears a black man becoming President. In her heart she’s a Goldwater Republican, don’t ever forget it.
Dave D
April 19, 2008I look forward to this race — it’s my district. Chances are a Republican will take the seat but one can hope. And vote.
Dave D
April 19, 2008This is a great shot, Terry.
The line of sight of each candidate, their positioning in frame, the distance between and the flag all make for a compelling story. Very nice.
Rich
April 20, 2008Isn’t it ironic that Hillary Clinton would engage in the form of fear mongering that can only be ascribed to McCarthyism and the red menace style negativism of the 1950s. Can you believe how low this woman is willing to stoop for power and political gain? She can not win. Yet, she is in the arena generating fear and guilt by association that would make old tailgunner Joe proud. The worst conditions under which democracy and liberty can function is fear. Fear of the black Muslim. Fear of political associations. Fear of the intellectual elite. These are all social and cultural fears used by tyrants and despotic figures throughout history to gain power over people against their best interests. And there is Bill and Hillary Clinton leading a fear-based campaign against Obama because of their desperate need for power. I hope Democrats are smart enough to see through this fear-based negative campaign and put the old dirty no-integrity politicians ou to pasture and welcome the future with vision and optimism.
Dave D
April 20, 2008I could not agree with you more, Rich. Hillary stands a good chance of handing the Republicans the White House again in ’08. All for greed and, as you said, power. It’s sad because I would love to see a female President. That said, I’d love to see a black President as well.
Rich
April 22, 2008You know there is a theory out there (being perpetrated by some Clinton staffers) that Hillary is using her baseless and emotional attacks on Obama as a favor to him. That’s right, Hillary is doing Obama and the Democrats a favor by toughening him up for the battle in November. Toughening him up for the battle or softening him up for the slaughter? Unfortunately, her tactics would be used in both instances and some might be having difficulty discerning which outcome she is trying to achieve. I know I am. Be that as it may, Hillary has run her negatives up and off the chart. She’s gonna be right up there with George Bush for all-time low in public trust and disgust. As far as the super-delegates who are public elected officials, she is radio-active plutonium.
Leslie
April 28, 2008Another Barbara Jordan quote comes to mind… ” A nation is formed when each of us is willing to participate… actively participate in shaping the future of this nation.” Whether voters are for Obama… or they are for Clinton… Keep talking about the ISSUES… the ISSUES are what is truly important… keep ALL of THEM… Obama, Clinton, Franken, Pallmeyer… for crying out loud even… McCain and Coleman… Keep them focused on the issues..
Robb
April 30, 2008OK, here is an issue. Hillary wants to put a summertime election year freeze on gas taxes. Obviously a ploy to buy the voters to her side. A temporary repeal of the 18 cent federal tax on gasoline by almost all economists projections would have zero cash benefit for motorists this summer; it would rob the federal highways (remember the 35W bridge collapse) of something greater than $10 billion in lost revenues to repair and crumbling highway infrastructure; it would oil and gas fuel consumption; it puts more emissions in the air; it would increase the profits to foreign oil interests… I could go on and on and on about what a fiasco it is. This is George Bush and Texas-style political bribery of the electorate that leaves the country strapped with terrible debts and incompetence that leads to washed up Katrina victims and bridges collapsing in Minneapolis among other human catastrophes. And Hillary is playing Bush style politics in the face of a ruined U.S. economy, bad environmental polices, and irresponsible protection of the nations resources. We don’t need four more years of this political games playing and we certainly don’t need four more years of Bush and Clinton. That’s the bigger issue in play here. If the Democratic Party wants to stick to the issues, they’d see how often Hillary Clinton has failed with everything from her managed-care health proposal of the early 1990s all the way through to her proposals today for tax freezes on gasoline. If you want to vote the issues (not everybody does) than vote for Obama.
Rich
April 30, 2008Hillary Clinton and John McCain sound like they should be on the same ticket together. Today both Hillary and John came out saying they will find a replacement for the lost revenue their election year gas bribe will take from the treasury. Is Karl Rove running both of their campaigns? Anyway, they say they can recover the lost revenue by imposing a windfall profits tax on the oil companies. That does nothing to address the issues that increase gasoline use, market increases in the cost of gas and the environmental impact of increased dependencies on gasoline cause. No question that the oil companies should pay a windfall profits tax and take responsibility for their excessive profits but… we still have a crumbling infrastructure in this country and this is not competence and fiscal responsibility. And Hillary is playing politics with this as if she were a Republican. As if she were John McCain’s running mate.