Brenda Van Vugt wrote: "Too bad, I would have liked to maintain a DFL mayor for Minneapolis as well as gaining one for St. Paul not just because I am blindly loyal to an old, outdated party but because I really support the platform of the DFL and would prefer to have governing officials who do also."
I have generally voted for DFL candidates since moving to Minneapolis 24 years ago. This is my first post to this forum, so I hope I am not out of line. I would hope that party designation will become (if it hasn't already) a convenient banner for people of similar but not uniform views. The very concept of a party platform offends me in some way in its implication that if you vary from that mindset, you are a lesser member. Sharon Sayles Belton's loss is in some part a reaction to the notion of a DFL party controlled by a single world (or city) view. Sometimes, when Independent and (gasp!) Republican candidates better represent my opinions and are more responsive to the community than DFLers, I'll vote for them. That doesn't diminish my belief in basic big-D, Democratic principles. I live in the 12th Ward. This year I worked for Wade Russell. Sadly, he lost. But if I feel that the DFL party is not doing what it can to uphold its own principles, I will look elsewhere. R.T. earned my vote. How anyone can question his DFL-ness is beyond me. He is an outstanding example of how someone can have his own principles and still be a big part of a larger community of values. Walt Cygan Keewaydin _______________________________________ 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
