Alan,
Your analogy is basically flawed in one major
respect: there is nothing, absolutely nothing, which
forces any DFL party candidate from seeking the party
endorsement. They can simply decide to run in the
primary. No muss, no fuss.
If someone decides to enter the contest for party
endorsement, however, they should understand that one
of the criterion that many delegates use to determine
who should get the endorsement is whether they will
honor this VOLUNTARY process by stepping aside if
someone else should be selected. The endorsement
process is supposed to winnow the number of candidates
to the one that the active membership of the party
feel would best represent them in whatever office.
Loki Anderson
Audubon Park
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--- Alan Shilepsky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > the age old litmus test -
> > > will you run against the
> > > DFL endorsed candidate in the primary?
>
> Let's do a private sector analogy. Say Target only
> has room in its Twin
> Cities stores to display one brand of vacuum
> cleaner, and it screens Red
> Devil, Hoover and Eureka to decide which brand to
> offer. A key
> screening question is: "if we don't pick your brand,
> do you promise to
> refrain from selling your line at any of our
> competitors' Twin City
> stores."
>
> Of course a vacuum cleaner vendor wouldn't stay out
> of the Twin Cities
> market without some sort of (illegal) financial
> inducement, or the
> promise of being the preferred vendor in some other
> Target sales
> regions.
>
> Wouldn't we call the arrangement "restraint of
> trade" and "monopolistic
> practices."
>
> Doesn't this remind you of "abide by the
> endorsement" litmus tests.
>
> These "promise to withdraw" arrangements
> disadvantage the voters
> (including rank and file DFL primary voters) and
> advantage the
> organized, early and often, activists. And it is
> worst that it is done
> in supposedly non-partisan elections. And that it
> is initiated and
> enforced by the screening groups that claim to be
> promoting a value or
> identity interest. It looks more like they are
> promoting the kingmaking
> monopoly of the insiders.
>
> Apropos gay (or environmentalists or feminists or
> unionists or
> religionists...) insiders and outsiders, the French
> have a saying. (The
> French have Deputies instead of Representatives, and
> Communist are
> supposed to have solidarity.):
>
> "Two Deputies, one of whom is a Communist, have more
> in common than two
> Communists, one of whom is a Deputy."
>
> Alan Shilepsky
> Downtown
>
> PS--isn't there a law against inducing a person not
> to run? Does it
> only come into play after filing?
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