I had an interesting experience a couple weeks ago. I was at a Mayoral
debate at the U of M campus. I listened to the entire hour-and-a-half
debate between McLaughlin and Rybak. During the debate, someone brought
up the issue of diversity. Peter McLaughlin said that if you looked at
the respective candidates at the Minneapolis DFL convention, you’d see
that Rybak supporters looked a lot like Republicans.
Now, as a Minneapolis DFL delegate who supported RT for the sole reason
that he wasn’t running a completely negative campaign, I was a little
offended. I approached McLaughlin after the debate, and told him that I
was offended by that comparison. He got rather upset.
He got about an inch away from my face, and started lecturing me on the
issues that this city faces – increased 911 priority 2 response times,
fewer police on the streets, record crime, etc. He told me that these
issues were the complete fault of this Mayor’s administration.
So, I asked him what he was going to do about it. That got him angrier –
he backed away, and started running around the room gathering his things
while continuing to yell at me. He told me that if I had been listening
to what he was saying, I would know. The thing is – I had been
listening. That’s what prompted my question.
Then he did something that truly shocked me. He ran away from me, out
the door while yelling that I wasn’t worth his time. When I tried to
leave the room, his aide physically blocked me from exiting.
I have never had an elected official or candidate for office run away
from me. I have never had a candidate for office tell me that I’m not
worth their time.
I caught RT Rybak, and asked him a question or two that I was wondering
about. RT stayed on campus for at least 30 minutes after the debate,
while McLaughlin didn’t reappear after he ran away from me.
I voted in-person absentee on Friday for RT Rybak. I believe that at the
municipal level of government, having responsive elected officials is
the most important issues. When I have a problem, I don’t want my
elected official to tell me that I’m not worth their time. Further, the
amount of time each candidate spent on campus makes a statement about
their priorities. RT stayed until he had spoken with everyone, while
Peter left in the middle of our conversation.
--
John Schrom
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.ILoveSleep.com
"Our lives begin to end the day we
become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
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