> [Original Message] > From: Andy Driscoll <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > "Primaries *you* have."? > > A little knowledge of city government goes a long way.
It might be of interest, here, to point that not every municipal electoral scheme in the country includes a convention AND a primary to nominate or endorse. Add to that the pretense of a quasi-non-partisan municipal electoral process in which the major political parties may endorse, but not nominate, candidates, and I quite agree: whatever committee it was that concocted this charade would have benefitted greatly from a modicum of knowledge of city government. I grew up in an electoral system where the nomination was decided by a primary election, period, and in non-partisan races the candidates could only mention their party affiliation IF they were card-carrying members. I made an honest mistake about YOUR nomination/endorsement process, I admitted it and thanked those who pointed out my mistake, however ungraciously. I didn't slander anyone in the process. Now, I'd really appreciate it if we could forego any more insults and move on. The fact remains that Mayor Kelly is a Democrat, he was well-known to differ with the Democrat party line on a great number of issues, he didn't support Wellstone in 2002, his potential apostasy has been predicted since before he became mayor, and the St. Paul voters who supported him in TWO elections--a primary of questionably value, and a general election--really have no business claiming to be shocked and betrayed by his failure to toe the party line in this presidential race. My point was that a lot of people, including anyone who may be genuinely surprised by Kelly's maverick endorsement of the incumbent POTUS, voted with their gut instead of their knowledge of his positions on issues. If the DFL wants to be a "big tent" and make room for anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-liberal members who reserve their right to withold support from party nominees, then DFLers' complaints about "betrayal" by these impersonators is going to be met with yawns by those of us who aren't members of the DFL. Call me what you will (and I've been called plenty lately by Minnesota-nice DFLers), but I don't have a lot of sympathy for either side in this intra-party flap. Similarly, scoff at the Green Party, if you will, for being marginal but we don't fight our convention battles in your forum. Scoff at the Green Party, if you will, for being idealistic, but their policy of Instant Runoff Voting is a simple and effective remedy for electoral ills from the arcane, undemocratic electoral college at the national level to the idiotic, costly charade of "non-partisan" primaries at the municipal level right here in St. Paul. Scoff at the Green Party, if you will, for being anti-Democrat, but we don't blame the Democrats every time we fall flat on our face in an election, and our presidential nominee, David Cobb, is running an extremely sensitive and sensible campaign to promote the local identity of the fastest-growing political party in America. - Guy Western the West Side _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
