Bob, what caucuses are you talking about? With the exception of this last one (an even year with a hot presidential race), everyone attending their DFL caucuses in recent years has been eligible to attend their Ward Convention or Senate District Convention (as either a delegate or alternate). At the Ward 3 convention in every year that I can remember, UNCOMMITTED is the most frequently named candidate (since subcaucuses to select City Convention delegates must name a candidate or state the they are uncommitted). Once at the City Convention, there are usually multiple rounds of voting on endorsing a candidate. Support moves around a great deal during this period.
At the last City Convention, after a couple rounds of voting, we were graced with three candidates seeking the endorsement - Jay Benanav, Randy Kelly, and Bob Long. In the primary, the order of finish was Jay Benanav, Randy Kelly, and Bob Long. There was a Republican candidate too. He finished fourth. I'm sorry your resolution didn't pass, but I'm not surprised, since it is akin to saying "we're engaged and I want you to be faithful, but I'm still going to play the field." Mike Lewis Mac-Groveland Ward 3 DFL Chair Maybe in the upcoming debate, President Bush will explain how he made surpluses as far as the eye can see into record deficits and a budget that will not be in balance until 2040. Or maybe explain why he opposed the Department of Homeland Security before he supported it. Or maybe explain how he opposed the 9-11 Commission, before he sort of supported it. Or maybe explain how it took him SEVEN MINUTES to get off his butt when America was under attack ...... OOPS, sorry, all out time. -------------------------- Bob T. writes: I have lived in Saint Paul since 1985, and I went to a couple of caucusses in off years. What I found at those caucusses was that they were already packed with supporters of one candidate or another. There were almost NO undecideds. As a result, the caucus was no place to discuss who should be endorsed. It was just a place for insiders to come and show their strength. The strongest factions were the people in public employee unions who show up because they get to choose their bosses that way. I made a proposal at my caucus that was soundly defeated. I proposed a resolution that we should not ask any candidate to make 'The Pledge' to support the endorsed candidate, that we should encourage all candidates to seek the endorsement, but that anyone who felt they might win a primary should go ahead and run. The DFL practice of demanding The Pledge means that the stongest candidates often don't seek the endorsement. The DFL picks a loser and the people reject him/her. Because of this Insider loaded process, I have never voted for a candidate that made "The Pledge", and I doubt if I ever will. If a candidate is afraid to stand in a primary against other qualified candidates, and seek the support of the people, then s/he won't get my vote. Erik Hare said: > > On Tue, 28 Sep 2004, Eric Mitchell wrote: > >> Any DFLer who thinks about running for Mayor, has to >> be aware of the above and come up with a strategy to >> counter that- AND explain their vision for the city. >> That won't happen in an endorsement battle or money >> wasting primary. > > I just want to second the statement that the DFLer has to have more than > the endorsement, they have to have his/her message together and make it > clear what they intend to do different. That the last 3 mayoral races > went to the non-DFL endorsed candidate in a city that otherwise votes > overwhelmingly DFL shows you that something has been terribly wrong. > > As for wasting energy in a primary fight, I will agree that it's not > likely to help someone get the needed message out, but a good politician > can use the exposure to do exactly what needs to be done to defeat Kelly. > ________________________________________________________________ Get your name as your email address. Includes spam protection, 1GB storage, no ads and more Only $1.99/ month - visit http://www.mysite.com/name today! _____________________________________________ 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/
