I am an active city Republican, and I also received the letter from Sarah Janecek. It came as quite a surprise to me, and I actually laughed so hard I nearly dropped the thing!
It's clear that Republicans are left out in the cold now, what with the two (main) "conservative" candidates out of the running, and I've found that many prefer to vote for what they know rather than a new guy who is clearly left of the Mayor. Personally, I'm leaning toward Rybak, primarily because I prefer to "routinely vote incumbents out of office." (Can't remember whose mantra that was, but it comes from some political literature I received in recent years.) Rybak's position seems slightly schitzophrenic in that he's framing himself as pro-small-business while carrying the Green flag and it's accompanying assumption of more goverment control, (i.e. higher taxes, regulation, anti-business,) but I'm willing to take the risk that he really is sympathetic to small business, due to his history with it. As far as the signators of the letter, I will clarify a few that David didn't know: Ben Bowman - Was a candidate in House District 59B against Phyllis Kahn. Ben is a facinating young man who was still a U. student at the time of that race, and yet actually managed to take a precinct away from Phyllis. (I believe he was the only Repub. to take a precinct in the city.) Robert J. Olson - I'm pretty sure this is NOT the police chief, but rather the Senate District 59 Republican Co-Chair. (Poor guy, having the same name... I think it's caused him a lot of grief!) Kristen Meyer - Senate District 59 candidate against Larry Pogemiller in the last go-round. Also was a student at the U. during that time, and got a lot of attention in the area. Connie Nompelis Ward 6 - Ventura Village ***BTW, It may be of interest that a seasoned city Republican commented just the other day: "Look at Sharon's track record - why, I could run her as a Moderate Republican, easy." (I guess he was trying to convince me to support her... he'll need to work harder for me!) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
