Steve Minn writes:
>I am sure Mark Stenglein can defend himself, but I have to call you to task
>for stretching two political contributions into a pronouncement of Mr.
>Stenglein's political compass.
Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I only characterized Mr. Stenglein's
"political compass" in federal races (since, as Steve Minn later notes, his
local giving record is not online). Even though he is a local independent,
the fact is (and this context was in my original post) at the federal level,
Stenglein ONLY gave to Newt Gingrich and a PAC that funded Rod Grams,
Darrell McKigney, Tad Jude but NOT a relative GOP moderate like Jim Ramstad.
If Steve is right and Stenglein supports more middle-of-the-road candidates
locally, then those instincts desert him at the federal level. If his
Gingrich contribution was merely following his brother's request, I believe
Mr. Stenglein placed the interests of his community second. If he gave out
of conviction, then his federal giving is inconsistent with his independent
reputation locally.
>I have also written checks for Rudy Boschwitz, Mark Kennedy, and Peter
Bell.
>Does that make me a troglodyte? How about my checks for Lisa Goodman
>Barbara Johnson, Rebecca Yanisch or Ann Berget? Am I now a nut-case
liberal?
You're making my point for me. Look only at Steve Minn's contributions to
federal candidates - apples-to-apples with my Stenglein analysis. Mr. Minn
has contributed to Boschwitz, Kennedy, and Yanisch. No Gingriches, and one
DFLer. In short, Steve Minn is a much more consistent independent than Mark
Stenglein, whose ONLY federal contributions were to people to the right of
the rightest-most Minn beneficiary.
>In short, your race to conclusion omits a plethora of data and draws an
>erroneous conclusion on the weight of limited information.
My intent was to add context: Mr. Stenglein has a well-known claim as an
"independent," but he has given only to federal GOP right-wingers. So he's
not quite as moderate/middle-of-the-road/independent as previously thought.
However, placing Stenglein's global position on the party-ideology scale was
not my major point.
My major point is: a Minneapolis mayor doesn't give to Newt Gingrich. Ever.
A truly independent Minneapolis mayor doesn't donate money to a Republican
group that eschews Jim Ramstad, but promotes Tad Jude or Darrell McKigney or
Rod Grams, the most anti-urban legislators of the Republican Party. Steve
Minn, I believe, knows the harm these right-wing policies can do to city
budgets, city schools, and city programs. These are the sorts of guys a
truly independent Minneapolis mayor should stay away from - as Mr. Minn
obviously has.
David Brauer
King Field - Ward 10
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