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"W. Brandon Lacy Campos" wrote:
> A machine, as others have pointed out, has a power
> monopoly. Think Tammany Hall, think Chicago. Where for years your life,
> welfare, and well-being was determined in a very real and direct way by the
> party for which you voted. If you voted the "wrong" way or for the "wrong"
> candidate you could find yourself without a job, a house, your business shut
> down or impeded severly.
>
> Now the last time I checked, this type of organization doesn't exist in
> Minneapolis. I've voted in every election since I became elegible to vote
> six years ago.
I think that your definition is a little too restrictive.
Excerpted from American Heritage Talking Dictionary:
ma-chine (m-shen)n. Abbr. mach. 6. An organized group of people whose members are or
appear to be under the control of one or more leaders: a political machine.
The DFL is an organized group of people which is under the control of one or more
leaders.
> And, never once have I been instructed in how to vote with
> any more pros and cons than having a representative that will more or less
> represent my points of view in office.
Maybe, but a lot of DFLers were roundly criticized for voting for Nader.
And as I recall some party members were suggesting that people who
voted for or supported Nader should have been sanctioned.
> I encourage folks to challenge the DFL hegemony.
Hmmm....
he-gem-o-ny (hi-jem-ne, hej-mone)n.pl. he-gem-o-nies. The predominant influence of
one state over others.[Greek hegemony, from hegemony, leader, from hegeisthai, to
lead. See sag-.]
Excerpted from American Heritage Talking Dictionary
"Predominate influence." I think it's fair to say that the DFL has a predominate
influence in the city of Minneapolis.
> But to create a beast
> called the Machine that controls who does and does not get into office by
> some mysterious (or mundane) political process to show me what that process
> is. Other folks on this list have already spelled out quite clearly how a
> real party machine works. I will say again, a coalition of folks working
> together to elect candidates through encouraging their membership to vote
> for those candidates which represent particular points of view is not a
> machine...it's called a democracy.
As I recall, when Steve Minn was in office the other members of the
council, who were all DFLers, use to have a weekly caucus from which
he was excluded. It seemed to me at the time that this was intended to
marginalize any impact he might have had on issues. If it look like a
beast and acts like a beast, maybe it is a beast.
Michael Atherton
Prospect Park
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