The fur will fly in the Mayoral race. Various special interest groups will
be manipulated into voting for various reasons of principle or political
tactics.
In the end we will all lose, as the status quo will be maintained. The poor
and minorities will continue to be excluded and oppressed. The cozy
"reality" of billionaires and millionaires will form the foundation of
political and local government policy. Common voters will be lulled with
false promises and motivated to vote -- and only to vote -- based on
manipulation of deep fears, prejudices, and aspirations. Most voters will
gladly take the approach most cultivated by our politics: citizenship is a
hobby; enjoy the voting "game" and then forget about it.
OK. Call me a wee tad bit pessimistic. The Rybak volley will be answered,
people will tear each other apart (verbally) and our local political elites
will ensure that enough handouts or model programs are strategically placed
to buy off a few activists for another couple of years.
Do you see any possibility of a better scenario? Do you see the
Rybak/McLaughlin competition as having any constructive dimension at all?
On a more mundane level, my guess is that R.T. Rybak made some local DFL
insiders very angry last time around, and McLaughlin is the point person to
take him out. Didn't RT Rybak kind of upset the DFL game of musical mayoral
chairs last time around? Has he mended fences with those he upset? I would
think that the DFL would support a candidate who has taken on the financial
and political problems we have during a first term, and who might have a
foundation to do more next time around. McLaughlin could simply take over
from here as well, but what is the real political issue? So my guess right
now is that the Rybak/McLaughlin rift is more about internal DFL stuff than
about Minneapolis issues and such.
Folks who demonize one or the other are falling into a trap, it seems to me.
One might find both to be companionable and even caring and compassionate in
their own ways -- nice guys from Minneapolis, Minnesota. But both are part
of a system that has turned political power into a kind of commodity, no?
So the fur flies, but to what end?
-- pedaling for peace and ecojustice -- from Lynnhurst at this time -- Gary
Hoover
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