At 09:40 PM 9/16/01 -0500, Megan Thomas wrote:
>I think it is a far stretch to assume someone's lack of statement on the
>Mayoral race is an indication of how someone will vote for the Presidency of
>the City Council in four months. Hell, its absurd.
>
>Maybe Gary is being respectful of the diversity of his district in who they
>are supporting for Mayor. Or, maybe he is actually campaigning on his
>qualifications and plan for the city and the ward rather than on who he is
>supporting for Council President. maybe he is refusing to get caught up in
>this pissing match, refusing to demonize one person or another and is
>instead trying to win an election!
I rarely agree with Megan, but on this issue I do. I think it's more
important to find out what a candidate is going to do for their ward and
how they are the best candidate for the ward. However, high profile
supporters of the Mayor have not been consistent on this type of issue --
how many times have we heard criticisms of candidates -- such as Gary
Schiff and RT Rybak for not supporting former VP Gore's campaign for
President last fall?
Lee Schneider writes:
As has been stated before Stonewall DFL dose not
Endorse Candidates just becouse they are openly gay!
The have to prove themselves in what they know and
with what they will bring to the office they are
seeking. That knowledge is checked by the
questionnares they fill out, they Q&A screenings we
hold for our Endorsements and by what information we
may have (we as in Board members, our membership, and
those who speak and make comments at an Endorsing
Session) on a particular candidate.
=============================================
EY: I don't think candidates should be supported just on the basis of
whether they are openly gay. However, many people see Stonewall's
screenings as telling people which candidate is going to be the strongest
on issues that relate to the GLBT community AS A SPECIAL INTEREST. In the
same way, the Sierra Club screens candidates on their stands on
environmental issues. Stonewall DFL did not do that in the case of the
Brian Herron endorsement and originally finding both Walt Gutzmer and
Robert Lilligren unacceptable, and didn't do that in the case of their
endorsement of the Mayor over two other pro-gay candidates. Lisa McDonald
arguable has a record that is significantly better than the mayor's on Gay
and Lesbian issues. For these reasons I hope that TC Quorum does start
screening and endorsing candidates in future elections. The Gay and
Lesbian community needs a group that will screen candidates regardless of
party affiliation for endorsement.
One thing that I've found interesting during the primary is that I've heard
from many people that Sandra Miller was homophobic. However, during the
DFL meet the candidate event, Sandra didn't seem homophobic to me. She and
her supporters thought it was a big hoot that the pup tent republican who
was very concerned about Lesbians ruining her neighborhood because they
kiss in public came and talked with both Robert and myself. She gave
Robert a heads up about the situation before the woman talked with him.
Louis King writes:
Heres what I know. The Brock campaign focused its paltry resources in the
places where it counted. Im surprised at how many people are surprised
that the surprise candidate surprised all of them with her surprise finish.
OOOPS!!! Further, an incumbent Mayor that cant finish in the top two, in
spite of some of the issues, probably didnt deserve to be Mayor. And, as
I said, well have a new council person out of the 10th.
==============================================
Brock did well coming through the primary -- and part of the reason she
came in second is Sandra Miller was not working the ward during those final
few weeks. She had family obligations -- her husband had just had a kidney
transplant. But Louis posting on behalf of the Brock campaign again raises
the question: Can Vickie Brock speak for herself? Why doesn't she
introduce herself to the list and tell us why she is running and what she
hopes to accomplish.
Louis continues:
Twice as many people will come out for the general than the primary. The
informed, the party loyaltists and the political junkies vote in primaries.
Joe Blow votes in the general.
==================================
Historically in the 8th ward, the numbers of primary voters were very close
to the number of general election voters in the municipal elections. This
is a more contested race than is typical -- so it will be interesting to
see if the voters in the 8th ward this election act differently than we
have historically.
I picked up the property rights rag yesterday, and imagine my surprise --
they had put one of my postings on this list on the front page of their
newspaper -- and they attributed the post to me, but did not note that it
was initially published on Minneapolis Issues. I wasn't particularly happy
with that.
I also thought the Property Rights article saying that Herron should serve
the sentence for Sabri was total nonsense. That article was really rather
offensive, saying that Herron should have been so greatful to a developer
for even considering developing on Lake street. The contempt for our
neighborhood was really quite disturbing. The other part I don't get, is I
would think that a "Property Rights" group would be opposed to what Sabri
had tried to do -- which was to get eminent domain of two private
properties in order to develop his Motel. One of those was the property
that Wizard Marks was working as a go between on Sabri's behalf -- where
she called the owner -- clearly under some false pretences about being
concerned about some questionable activity on the block -- when the real
purpose of the call was just to feel out the property owner on whether he'd
be willing to move his house.
Eva
Eva Young
Central
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