Without getting too far into minutiae, I'll say for
the record that it was Wizard Marks, and not our
esteemed moderator who used the adjectives to which I
referred.
No Matter.
I was not (neccessarily) trying to suggest that we
elect Republicans in Mpls and that will solve our
problems. I was pointing out what I always thought
was obvious. Here's an example:
Representative Chris Gerlach, (R-Apple Valley) and
Senator Pat Pariseau (R-Farmington/Lakeville) both
have constituents calling them up about stuff on a
regular basis. I have done a lot of work in Dakota
County, and I know this is a fact. Those
constituents, by and large, feel over-taxed, and
cranky about what they perceive as their money being
siphoned off and poured into "the Cities," for this or
that "program."
Now look, I live in Mpls, I don't want to see it get
"screwed." I do, however, understand what drives
suburban reps and sens to vote the way they do.
I really hate it when I call Karen Clark about
something, and she totally ignores me. That's one of
the reasons I'll never vote for her. (Too bad I'm
outnumbered in my district.)
Elected politicians, when faced with a large-scale
common sentiment about something or other in their
district, ARE NOT going to ignore that, plain and
simple. Right or wrong, we all have different
perspectives, which are colored in part by where we
live and who lives there with us. Suburban
Republicans are, by and large, representing their
districts.
Perhaps our Minneapolis delegation didn't fight hard
enough. Maybe they were just outnumbered. Or,
perhaps NRP isn't in the interest of the majority of
Minnesotans, and was thus destined to fail.
I'm not making a value judgment about the NRP
situation, because I frankly don't know enough about
the whole thing. What I AM trying to do is point out
that our house Republicans are, in fact, human beings
who try to do the job they were elected to do, just
like the Democrats. I don't approve of the methods
used by many Democrats in this state, but I understand
their reasoning, and I know that most of them (like
their conservative colleagues) get into the field of
public service because they want to make this a better
place for us to live.
It sure ain't for the money, anyway!
Connie Sheppard
Ward 6 - Ventura Village
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