I would bet that Davanni's is hoping a convention is held every week. Can you imagine owning a restaurant just across the street from 2000 hungry people for twelve to fourteen hours. I guess the convention also raised money for the City of Minneapolis. With 4 hour parking limits and twelve hour convention I guess the parking meters drew a bunch of thirty dollar tickets.
All that being said the convention was a hoot. I loved seeing that many people there, even though I lost some beer to Mr. Miller. I bet no more than 1700 would show up. Though I did win a dollar betting with a Somali man that RT would not get endorsed by the second ballot. The forty or fifty other Somali people who were supporting Peter McLaughlin really gave him the hoot about losing the bet. I gave him back the dollar, because I knew he had been convinced by the Mayor that he would win. The Somali people were laughing saying I should have bet him twenty dollars. It was funny to see this self styled "Leader" being hooted by his people for being the only Somali supporting RT.
That group of older Somali people made my day. They were so enthusiastic and eager. They would leave every once in a while during the day to pray, but stayed until the bitter end, sitting on those bleachers without backs. It had to be terrible for their backs and most could hardly walk after several hours. Yet still they walked down those stairs to pray and had to almost drag themselves back up them. But they cared enough, and thought it important enough, to stay until the bitter end of their first convention. Each time they left I asked them "are you coming back" and each time they answered "yes, we are coming back. We are only going out to pray." Doesn't sound much like political insiders to me. BUT they showed me more "Political Authority" than some other old politicians. They cared and stayed until the very end, these sixty and seventy year old "new" Democrats. They made me proud to be a Democrat!
Of course some of them thought the process was rigged because they had to keep voting when their man had won every ballot. One older lady asked me, "How many times do we have to keep voting and winning to elect Peter McLaughlin? We keep winning but they don't believe us, something is wrong?" I answered that it might take another vote or two and would they please stay. She answered that they were going to stay and keep voting against Rybak until who ever was in charge realized that McLaughlin had won.
And they did, they were still sitting on those hard backless bleachers until RT Rybak turned his back on the DFL party, took his toys and went home. They stayed afterward asking if we could now endorse McLaughlin since RT had given up. I am sure many of them felt cheated. Though they did have fun chanting "Where is RT?" Where is RT?"
Even in those bleachers I (and my friends) had a ball. Running up and down those stairs exhorting the Sixth and the Second Ward to stay with us, and we were going to elect a new Mayor today, was probably the most exercise I have had in a few years, but it was satisfying. Also it was a blast being able to half opera, half Tarzan yell and Benadiri cheer when yelling for each of McLaughlin's ballot victories. Amy Klobachar once laughingly led off an acceptance speech at a rainy day convention with the words "You can tell its a great DFL day when Jim Graham is singing in the audience". Well Saturday was another rainy day, and another great day for the DFL, cause Jim Graham had reason to sing all day.
Jim Graham, Ventura Village Neighborhood, Sixth Ward of Minneapolis
Wise sayings:
“We can only be what we give ourselves the power to be”
– A Cherokee Feast of Days
"The people are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."- Thomas Jefferson
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