>Message: 11 >Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 19:55:23 -0500 >From: "List Manager" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Mpls list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [Mpls] Last endorsed Republican leaves office in Minneapolis > >Steve Brandt brings our attention to a sign of the political times: > >http://startribune.com/viewers/qview/cgi/qview.cgi?story=84338466 > >David Brauer >List manager I think much of the reason for this is the poor quality of the republican candidates recently. "Poor" as in being unrepresentative of the voters in the city. The Minneapolis branch of the republican party has been taken over by extreme, hard-line conservatives -- such that any republican that might have a chance of winning an election in Minneapolis will never be endorsed by them. There is a solid block of republican votes in the city, but they are mostly moderate republicans. A republican candidate starts out with a solid 15,000-20,000 votes in the city, nearly half of the total needed to get elected. All they would have to do is attract another 20,000 votes from independents or wavering democrats to get elected. A candidate running as progressive on social issues, but conservative on fiscal matters would have a fair shot at those swing votes. (Isn't that mostly what Lisa McDonald is aiming for?) But the republicans persist in endorsing far-right candidates who don't appeal, don't even attempt to appeal to those swing voters. (Remember the last election where one republican said something to the effect that blacks come from the jungles are are genetically more pre-disposed to animal behavior? And she was running for school board in a city with over 50% minority students in the schools! She came in dead last -- didn't even get the standard 15,000 republican votes.) As a DFL party activist, I kind of like not having a republican opposition. But since the DFL party then has to cover the whole range from moderate to radical liberal, it results in the battles being internal fights in the DFL party. And we all know that fights in your own family are more vicious than fights with outsiders. This seems to contribute to constant turmoil & fights within the DFL party, with grudges & bad feelings held afterwards. Sometimes I think we DFL'ers would be better off if we had a common enemy in the form of a strong republican candidate -- just not strong enough to get elected. Tim Bonham, 12th Ward _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
