Gary makes a good point, that Mpls seems to be so partisanly DFL that no other candidate or party gets much mention. Even on this forum its all about RT and Peter and very little mention that we have other choices. When will we get off our DFL asses and see the bigger picture. I for one am not voting for either because I cannot see enough difference for either of them to deserve my vote. I cannot say the GOP is any better when it comes to following the party line and not thinking outside the party box. I wonder what the USA would be like if we just plain old got rid of the parties and had our politicians having to think for themselves rather than have a Rove do it for them.
IRV would be a wonderful thing this fall because it would wake a lot of folks up that their voice and vote make a difference. Enough of my rough week at work rants. Ron Leurquin Nokomis East -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gary Hoover Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 11:03 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [email protected] Subject: [Mpls] Mayor's Race: assured outcome? Is the outcome of the mayor's race assured? To me it looks like there are four kinds of citizens in Mpls that make it so: 1. People who don't vote due to apathy or disillusionment with a system that will not represent them anyway. 2. Conventional voters: (heavily DFL in Mpls) who just vote according to party loyalty, personal connections or preferences regarding specific conventional issues. For example: local pork-barrel projects, taxes, religious convictions related to politics, "law and order" promises -- all as defined, managed, and offered as a menu by the party elite. 3. Less conventional voters: I include myself here as well as plenty of DFLers and Greens and Republicans and others. These are folks who do not accept the menu offered by the Republicratic duopoly (really a DFL monopoly in Minneapolis). In addition, these folks think through issues and come up with different sets of solutions. It seems to me that the political dialogue is so tightly managed by the DFL (would be joined by the Republicans, but so far not in Mpls local politics) that there is no hope of a candidate winning on the basis of social justice and/or environmental justice concerns. The DFL candidates are trotting out all of the tried and true political bait (see list above) to hook voters. The parameters of the discussion ensure that social justice and environmental justice issues are not engaged at all, or are assigned to political processes, agencies, and bureaucracy that will simply ensure plenty of grandstanding, photo-ops, and credit-taking which signify nothing...same-old, same-old....out with the old boss, in with the new boss... Farheen Hakeem seems to me to be interested in speaking directly about the real issues related to social justice and ecological justice. Don Johnson has offered new ways of thinking about environmental issues. Note that both candidates oppose corporate welfare tax-and-spend like the Twins stadium, but support innovative, hands-on local approaches to solving the pressing issues of our day. I predict that one of the DFL mayoral candidates will win. I predict that no matter who wins, that Mayor will be shackled and hobbled so that even if he or she works for real change it will be an uphill battle all the way. If a very long-shot Green or independent candidate should win, look for political sabotage or assassination from those who feel entitled to rule. Even a DFL mayor who works for real change will be brought to toe the party line. Nothing will change here folks. "Move along citizens, there's nothing to see here." Minneapolis sleepwalks into a critical period of energy resource depletion and global warming completely unaware, completely unprepared, and shackled with debt from old corporate welfare boondoggles and new ones on the way. Any other takes on the "assured outcome" of the Mayoral race? Or is the outcome not assured at all? -- pedaling for peace and ecojustice -- from Lynnhurst at present -- Gary Hoover REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
