Re: [Mpls] School Board Endorsement

[Michelle Mensing]

I am a regular DFL voter who has become active for the first time in DFL politics over the last year (meaning I am just now becoming acquainted with the DFL endorsing system and how it actually works).  In almost all of the endorsing scenarios I have followed, I ended up wondering why the DFL hasn't reformed its endorsing process, specifically in its request for candidates to abide by the endorsement.  This school board endorsement process was no exception for me.  Why are we continuing a system that so obviously stifles the democratic process?  In a city where the DFL dominates so strongly, the only chance we have to give some choice to voters is to have a primary contest that actually has some choices.  If the DFL endorsing process works as it intends, there would only be one DFL candidate running and therefore, only one choice for the majority of voters.  This does not seem like democracy to me.   For somebody to actually hold a grudge against a candidate who once changed their decision about abiding seems like an act of fear to me.  Are we so afraid that the general voters can't make the right decisions that we're only comfortable letting one DFL candidate to get to them?  I'll be sticking with the DFL, despite its currently flawed system, because I agree with its platform.  But, this is one DFL voter who would have loved the chance to vote for Jonathon Palmer in a primary.   Michelle Mensing Armatage