One less candidate for DFL Treasurer

News comes that Al Patton has decided not to run for DFL State Treasurer in order to focus is efforts as Treasurer for the Patty Wetterling Campaign. This leave Bill Davis as the only declared candidate and there is some significant movement toward supporting him. Mari Pokernowski has not made a decision.

More on DFL Treasurer Race

Emails continue to pile up in favor of Al Patton on various DFL email lists.

I saw Bill Davis last night, first at the 3rd CD DFL office Open House, and then later at the 5th CD DFL Central Committee meeting. In both places he publically identified himself as a candidate. To date he is the only candidate I have seen actively campaign.

The only new name I have heard bandied about is that of Kathleen Murphy. She is an activist in the 4th CD, although she recently played a big role in Keith Ellison's convention victory. During the day she works as a lobbyist for women's health clinics.

The other tidbit from the 3rd CD event last night is that Betsy O'Berry has signed on to be Wendy Wilde's campaign manager.

More Web Scrubbing

It appears that Mark Kennedy's crew are not the only practitioners of the fine art of web scrubbing.

According to The View, Star Jones Reynolds never existed!!

Now THAT's a scoop!

Possible DFL Treasurer Candidates So Far

Possibilities I have heard so far to replace Kerry Gauthier ....

• Al Patton - From the rural part of the 6th CD. Al served as the leader of the Greater MN Caucus for several years and was the Chair of the 6th CD DFL for a few years.
  
• Bill Davis - Executive Director of a fairly substantial non-profit in Minneapolis, Bill lives in the suburban 3rd CD. He was just elected an at-large director on the DFL Executive Committee at the State Convention. He also served previously as the State DFL Treasurer in the early 90's.
  
• Mari Pokornowski - Active out of the rural part of the 6th CD. She has served as the Co-Chair of the DFL Platform Commission for the past two years. She was a rumored candidate for Associate Chair last year but chose not to run then.
  

A lot of people suggested Betsy O'Berry but she was the person who first put forth Al Patton's name last night via email.

Resignation of Kerry Gauthier - DFL Treasurer

I just learned that State DFL Treasurer Kerry Gauthier has submitted his resignation in order to continue working on the Becky Lourey campaign. This is due to the fact that working for a candidate running against an endorsed candidate constitutes malfeasance of office.

I am disappointed. Kerry is a good man who has behaved honorably in addressing this situation. He did not try to use his position or attack the endorsement process. He recognized the process and the rules he agreed to and has stepped aside.

I for one will welcome him back into the party the day after the election.

Sunday was a Nice Day

It turns out that I did indeed have the scoop earlier this month when I predicted that Hatch's Lt. Gov choice would be Judi Dutcher! (Thanks to Northern Debater for giving me credit).

I have been telling people that I am a strong supporter of Mike Hatch since the convention. I know he may not have the funnest personality in the world but whenever I have seen him speak I can tell that he truly cares about things getting better in this state. Some people try to smear him by saying he is too angry. Thing is, he is angry and it is stuff we should all be angry about!

But, with the addition of Judi Dutcher to the ticket I am now an enthusiastic supporter and will be working even harder for this ticket.

Of course I went to the announcement right after the Pride Parade. My carefully thought out playlist went out the window once my sister got a hold of my iPod. We were using her band's sound system and I learned at least 30 years ago that I can NEVER touch my sisters stereo so that battle was lost. In other words, do not blame me for the Shania Twain song!

BIG shout out to Miguel from Stonewall DFl for securing the parade vehicle I drove. GMC Seirra 4 x 4. When I picked it up Friday is had 132 miles on it. That's right, because of other people's schedule's I had to make the sacrifce and leave my little Camry at Walser Pontiac and Buick for the weekend and drive the afore mentioned truck all weekend. It was lovely until I needed gas. There are still a couple buttons I never figured out what they were for.

Updated Parade Playlist and News

OK, the playlist now stands at:

• The Irish Washerwoman
  
• War (What is it Good For) by Edwin Starr
  
• Time for a Change by The Brady Bunch
  
• C is for Cookie by Cookie Monster
  
• Danke Shoen by Wayne Newton
  
• Romp Bomp A Stomp by The Wiggles
  
• Dancing in the Street by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
  
• One Way or Another by Blondie (DELETED 6/22)
  
• Yakety Sax (Otherwise known as the Benny Hill Theme)
  
• Stars and Stripes Forever (DELETED 6/22)
  
• Down at the Twist and Shout
  
• Minnesota Rouser (Sound file online!)
  
• Stand! by Sly and the Family Stone
  
• Free to be by RuPaul (ADDED 6/21)
• We Shall Overcome (ADDED 6/22)
  

Pride Parade Playlist

Once again I have finagled myself into the role of providing the music for the DFL contingent in the annual Twin Cities Pride Parade. It helps a lot when my sister is the one with the sound system!

I should explain that in this role I eschew the stereotypical "gay" music that spews forth from the other contingents. In other words, I will NOT be playing "Y.M.C.A".

Here is what I am thinking of so far, please feel free to make comments and suggestions!

The Irish Washerwoman
War (What is it Good For) by Edwin Star
Time for a Change by The Brady Bunch
C is for Cookie by Cookie Monster
Danke Shoen by Wayne Newton (I really want to get a couple candidates up on the truck lip-syncing this!)
Romp Bomp A Stomp by The Wiggles

Why is this Show Still on the Air?

Why does Ember Reichgott Junge still have a weekly show on 950 Air America? She is a declared candidate for Congress and this would seem to violate the rules of equal time and such.

UPDATE: Apparently Ms Junge is paying for the airtime with campaign funds, according to the management of the radio station.

National BSC Day

BSC = Bat S*** Crazy Day

I want one. I want one day year where I can just be freaking insane. Not in a dangerous way, mind you. I'll return to sanity the next day but I want one day in which I can be a nutcase.

C'mon people, BSC Day, join me in my crusade!

My Favorite Blog Entry of the Whole Weekend

This is the best description of Rick Nelson I have ever seen!!!!

http://tildology.com/2006/06/10/and-the-lord-said-let-my-women-pee/

Weekend Wrap-up

I know I implied that I would post Saturday evening and Sunday but I was just too damn tired. Just so you folks know, I have one of those nifty little step counters and I average about 3,500 steps a day (I know I need more, that's why I got it). Friday I did just over 11,450 and Saturday I did over 13,670! While a good thing, still ..... OW!

My previous prediction of Judi Dutcher as Hatch's running mate was reinforced for me Saturday by two things:

• The big hug from her in the morning when I arrived at the convention center while she was putting on her Hatch for Governor button
  
• The maniacal Hatch floor worker running through my delegation about the 4th ballot yelling "tell them it's Judi Dutcher, tell them it's Judi Dutcher!"
  

It had better be Dutcher because there were quite a few of us that, when Becky Lourey dropped out, switched our vote to Hatch with the bulk of that decision coming from the understanding that it is Dutcher. Apparently my tablemate and I were not the only people in the convention hall who spent a minute just staring at our ballots before we wrote "Mike Hatch" (I'll have a seperate post about Mr. Hatch)

I admit to being personally disappointed in the result of the SOS race. Privately my vote went to Christian Sande. That was no reflection on the candidacy of Mark Ritchie whatsoever. Hell, Ritchie helped me with a paper last year that I got an A on. He will be a great Secretary of State. I had a lot of young friends who worked on Sande's campaign. After the convention adjourned I went to the Sande room and it was heartbreaking. I've been there and it hurts when you put so much effort into something and come so close. I'm not going to toss out any of the platitudes here. (If any of the Sande staffers are reading this and know who I am call me if you need me to come over to hug you some more)

The one thing I am going to suggest to the DFL in the future is that we try to achieve some seperation of competing campaigns in terms of room assignments. The Ritchie and Sande rooms were right next to each other and a couple of us had to rush to close the doors when the Ritchie vistory celebration started next door. (This is no reflection on the Ritchie people, they earned the right to celebrate, it's just real hard to hear that when you are grieving your loss.

End of Day One

I am not able to blog during the day for two reasons. First, I am a user of a fairly old Mac iBook (Clamshell version) and the battery is just drained. If I unplug the beastie I have maybe five minutes before the battery drains out on me.

Also .... well I just got one of those little step-counters you attach to your belt a couple weeks ago. In an average day I have been doing about 3,500 steps. Today I did 11,750!

A fun part of my day was actually spent off the convention floor back by the Legion Suites where all the caucuses are meeting. It was fun watching the candidates breeze into the People of Color Caucus meeting and try to launch into their stump speech only to be told that they had a list of questions. The look on their faces when they realized they were going to have to really answer questions and be accountable. Precious.

I survived giving the speech. I literally was tracked down by staff people who told me I had to run to the podium to deliver my report. I don't run. It's not a pretty sight. But it's done and I expect that the only reason that there aren't pages and pages of blog commentary on it is because you are still in total awe. :-)

So, tomorrow will start off well. There will be a bit of special programming before the convention recovenes at 9:00 am. Keep an ear out for it starting around 8:30 am in the main hall.

UPDATE: 6:30am, Saturday .... It is too damn early to be trying to function logically but here I freaking go ....

Something very difficult for me to admit ...

A couple weeks ago KMSP Channel 9 changed their late night line up and are now rebroadcasting The Tyra Bank Show at midnight and, God help me, I think I like it.

She's kind-of like Oprah but without the Jesus Complex.

The other day she was doing a show on germs and the bit was that they were testing various surfaces in houses. The fun part was when they went over where they found traces of feces, to which Tyra replied "You mean I have dooky on my remote?"

So, now, for the past couple of days, at the oddest times, thanks to this, the word "dooky" pops into my brain.

Dooky.

W.T.F?

Hatch to postpone No. 2 selection until after DFL convention

This is just confounding to me. I really don't know what to say other than I think it is an amazingly bad idea.

Convention Jitters

So I am trying to write my speech for the convention with the full knowledge that of the people who will actually be there by that time in the morning only about one third will be paying any type of attention to me. Maybe a striptease in the middle will get people's attention :-)

One day that I am not looking forward to is Sunday and the Secretary of State race. There seems to be so much rancor and bitterness already. I keep hearing tales of stockpiles of photocopied attack pieces by one or another candidate. I think the first thing we may need to do is change the agenda that day so the SOS race is first on the agenda, for Sunday, rather than last. A tough fight like that would not be a good way to adjourn the convention right after.

Secretary of State Race this Weekend

Judging from the witty repartee on MNCR it looks like we are going to need massive doses of "chill pills" this weekend when we get to the SOS race.

It always amazes me how there are some supporters of candidates who just take things too far and go over the edge like some the posters over at MNCR have. One of my best friends today was someone I met while we were working on opposing campaigns. Campaigns are, by their nature, temporary things.

Aside from the truth that after the convention adjourns on Sunday we will all need to unite and work for our endorsed candidates there is also just the plain old fact that we should not be treating each other like this.

We have two good candidates .... vote for the one you think will be the best SOS.

Most Excellent Weekend!!!

Started with spending six hours at the first screenings State DFL Nominations. The big news this year is the dramatic increase in applicants for At-Large Director coming from underrepresented communities. Two years ago we only had three people from such communities apply and to date this year we have had fifteen people from such communities apply!! I don't know who we will be putting forth but it is going to be a very difficult set of choices to make.

We did approve Chair Melendez's proposed slate of convention chairs and the convention is going to be very well run!!

I spent Sunday afternoon at the DFL Women's Hall of Fame luncheon. This event is always a highlight of the year for me. For those of you not familiar with it this event honors a set of women each year for their hard work and contributions as DFLer's to both the DFL Party and public service. Additionally they also recognize what they call "Rising Stars", women who are just getting involved in the DFL and in politics who are already impressing people. It is impressive to me that these Rising Stars are not always young women, the committee also recognizes Rising Stars who are just getting involved at an older age.)

Not a lot of new gossip at either event. People are impressed with the possibility of a Hatch/Dutcher ticket (please note that I am not publically supporting any candidate at this time).

Ruth Johnson was making the rounds at the Hall of Fame event but I was disappointed to see her in a pair of plain old pumps and not the infamous red boots!

One other reason I had fun at the event was because I got to sit in the back, switching tables a couple times between sitting at the Christian Sande table and sitting next to Mark Ritchie. In fact, I am going to create a whole new seperate post just about that race now ....

Hatch's Lt. Gov Choice

So in the blogs and in other arenas people "in the know" with Mike Hatch's campaign have been saying that his Lt. Gov. choice is going to blow us away. I was having a conversation with one such person and I started throwing names at them ... is it:

Sheila Kiscaden "No"
Jan Smaby :-) "No"
couple other general names ... "No"

Judi Dutcher ... "I can't tell you who it is"

So, clear no's on who its not and then obfusication on the last name.

As Arsenio used to say" Things that make you go 'hmmmmmmmm'"

I feel the need to whine ...

The toothache is just about gone but there is enough residual pain to make me moderately crabby. Which means that almost any little thing just pisses me off right now.

For perspective I am reading the new translation of "Night" by Elie Wiesel. I bought it the other night with the same gift card that I got the new Pink CD with. I like going in for those odd combinations. Kind of like the time all I picked up at the grocery store was kitty litter and tomato sauce.

The problem with having a mild toothache is that while I am in a crabby mood I cannot concentrate enough to get a rant going on anything. So I guess I will just leave this as that for now.