wmmarks wrote, in part, RE: the Rybak/McLaughlin charade:
Ask this question: which of these two people could run the city better?
Since they are both DFL, ideology will not be the deciding quality.
Gary Hoover wrote:
I take your point, but isn't this the common Democratic Party
strategy? Two candidates are the same, so which of these will take
you where you do not want to go more effectively?
That was a conversation to have three years ago or longer. We're only
three weeks out from November 8. Now we're down to who can run the city
in a credible fashion.
What makes the DFL work at all is a matter not only of who shows up, but
who shows up reliably. Some DFL people are as reliable as sunrise and
taxes. These are not the people who get elected, but the ones who, as
volunteers, get the mailings out, keep the mailing list in order, sit on
the committees, etc. They learn to "work the floor" at caucuses and
conventions for particular candidates. They organize committees to set
up chairs, order the soda pop, get out the joint literature. They work
on candidate campaigns. The group is made up of good hearted people,
true believers, and cynics.
It is probably the nature of political parties. I've tried out the
democrats in several states and different cities of the same state. I
haven't noticed an appreciable difference among them in that respect. I
suspect the republicans are the same. Hence third parties. When third
parties garner enough votes, they push one or the other dominant party
into conceding issues.
The Greens are gathering strength, making inroads into what was once
solidly, reliably DFL turf. They now hold two seats on the council.
Considering there hasn't been an out Republican on the council since
when? Barbara Carlson? Charlie Hoyt? I can't remember. Dennis Schulstad
always ran as an independent, but he leaned IR. (This is when we still
had Independent Republicans in MN. I don't know what happened to them.)
Until we reach the point where the Greens (or some other not-DFL party)
have the strength to command seven votes on the council, the third party
has to pressure the DFL into making changes through the avenue of moral
suasion. They were not strong enough in the last election to comment
meaningfully (or loudly enough for the big media to hear) on the debt or
suggest avenues to address it.
WizardMarks, Central
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