When Brandon was considering running for the school board and announced that he would run as an independent, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the number of DFL list members who turned up their noses and declared that while they liked him personally or agreed with his ideas, they simply could not vote for someone without the DFL endorsement. What rigidity of thought! Here was someone who would have made (one would think) an ideal DFL candidate, but for reasons of principle, these party loyalists turned away from him as if he had spat in their faces.
It does not say much about people when they subordinate all other interests to those of their party, especially in a supposedly nonpartisan race such as this one. Jonathan, I have a lot of respect for you, but I think you were dead wrong to apologize to the DFL here for answering the call of your neighbors to run for the 6th Ward seat last year. Clearly these people did not see the endorsed candidate as someone who held their views or could properly represent their interest - why should you? Do you truly believe that the DFL Party always knows what is best for us and our neighborhood? Although I have agreed to abide by my own party's endorsement (not too tough - as the only candidate, I had little fear of *not* being endorsed) I don't think it's a good policy to force other candidates to abide by the endorsement and not contest the primary. I think the DFL and Minneapolis are poorer for not letting Jonathan run against the endorsed candidates for school board, as well as not letting Catherine Shreves run against Scott Dibble for the seat in Senate District 60. The process has already begun to ossify the party's leadership by reelecting many of the same old faces, and the cracks have started to appear at the city level. So much the better for us Republicans and the Greens. Kevin Trainor RPM Candidate HD 61A East Phillips _______________________________________ 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
