David's mea culpa should be tempered by our recognition of the logistics in
each of these races, especially the number of candidates and the strength of
whatever incumbent was involved. The Cherryhomes/Johnson contest was
essentially between two candidates with a strong incumbent. Ward 6 had
something like six fairly strong candidates with no incumbent running. Ward
2 had three candidates with a weak incumbent.
Strict percentages cannot even be in play here. The strength of a candidate
in the general is often measured by how how the other finalist fared in the
primary. This takes nothing away from Ms. Johnson, but I fear her higher
percentage compared with other wards is far less indicative of a likely
winner than, say, Cam Gordon's or Dean Zimmerman's.
Congratulation to all candidates, win or lose. There is nothing more
exposing than a candidacy and it's a major decision to put yourself out
there for public judgment and rejection (always more likely than than
winning). It takes guts, commitment, and more than a little madness.
But, believe this: there is life after an election - win or lose. So, live.
Andy Driscoll
Saint Paul
------
"I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for
this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."
- James Baldwin (1924 - 1987)
"I love St. Paul more than any other city in this world, and, exactly for
this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."
- Andy Driscoll (1939-)
> From: "David Brauer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 06:35:42 -0500
> To: "'Mpls list'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: [Mpls] Analysis correction
>
> My apologies - Natalie Johnson Lee in Ward 5 is the Greens' high-water
> mark in council races with 37 percent (17 points back of Cherryhomes).
> Other Green council percentages were Cam with 32, Dean Z. with 26,
> Brother Shane with 18, Mark Knapp with 17.
>
> Since I'm burning my second post fixing my errors, I just thought I'd
> list the Ward council vote totals, in order of turnout (no primaries in
> Ward 4 &13):
>
> Ward 11: 6386
> Ward 12: 5447
> Ward 7: 5426
> Ward 10: 5030
> Ward 9: 4461
> Ward 1: 4416
> Ward 8: 3772
> Ward 2: 3363
> Ward 3: 2877
> Ward 5: 2863
> Ward 6: 2650
>
> Random observations:
>
> Interesting that in the wards with the fewest total voters, the Greens
> did the best. (Not meant as a criticism, just an observation!! It's good
> for democracy to get a new party, ok!!)
>
> Ward 8, perceived as an extremely-low-turnout "inner city,
> blacks-don't-vote" ward, topped Ward 2. Both had intense 3-way races.
>
> Other thoughts:
>
> We can debate who the big winner was, but Labor was the big loser. SSB,
> Campbell, even McDonald (who had some labor support), all flubbed. I
> think one reason you saw all the council candidates/insurgents clamoring
> to support RT yesterday is that the CLU's Dick Johnson lost a lot of
> influence. Labor tried to enforce discipline; the voters ignored them.
> Now candidates feel safer listening to the voters instead of the labor
> leaders.
>
> Sabri or not Sabri: three candidates most publicly tied to Basim (fairly
> or unfairly) lost or had rotten days: Sharon, McDonald, Lickness. Vickie
> Brock, who had the Herron connection, survived but with just 26 percent.
>
> Tim Bonham mentioned the male-female split, but race is potentially the
> big story once the election is over. Brother Shane, Natalie Johnson Lee,
> and Vickie Brock all have uphill challenges, so the new council will
> likely be all-white - in a city that is increasingly non-white. If
> Sharon loses, the mayor will be white, too. How much more estranged will
> a growing minority community feel from their city government? How much
> harder will it be to bring citizens together?
>
> David Brauer
> King Field - Ward 10
>
>
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