I live in the Como area, and I caucused at the Como High School prior to the last mayoral race. I was part of a small uncommitted/transit-issues group. I think we joined with another little group that was uncommitted/city services issues. There were maybe five or six of us, and only two women. From our group, I think we sent 4 people on to the next level, two of which had to be women. I was not chosen to go to the next level. I wasn't surprised, due to my 'No Pledge' proposal.
I didn't know that the next level was open. I admit, I am not really well educated about how the city endorsing and primary process works, even after all these years of living here. I don't agree with your analogy that an endorsement is like a marriage. I think a candidate has a right to ask for support from a particular group, but in the end the candidate, if elected, has to serve and represent all of the people, all of the different groups that supported her/him. The candidate should not be expected to maintain an allegiance to any small group, no matter how early or eagerly they supported him. If a candidate, prior to the caucuses, feels they have support from a large portion of citizens, but not so large a portion of caucus goers, that candidate should not abandon their general supporters just because the caucus-goers are smitten with someone else. [EMAIL PROTECTED] said: > > 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! > ___ -- Bob Treumann, Saint Paul Please Note: Replies to this email address all go to the trash except where the subject line contains a recognized mailing list identifier, such as [TCMETRO],[StPaul], MP-N ... _____________________________________________ 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/
