Odd Thoughts and Politics

Live Blogging DFL Feminist Caucus Meeting - 3/11/07

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 19:29:00 +0000

Elections:

Marge Hoffa, the chair of the nominations committee has reported that Mari Pokernowski is running for President and Tammy Tesky is running for Vice-President. Cheryl Poling is running for Treasurer with the support of the committee.

Betty Folliard is speaking on behalf of Mari as an outstanding advocate and activist who has been so involved in the DFL Party, currently co0chair of the DFL platform commission.She truly is a feminist, is a person with courage who has the ability to stand up and fight. Korynne also seconds the nomination of Mari. Talks about her choice to have seven sons. Always ahve to be fearless and ready to work the machinary of the party.

Any further nominations for President .. motion for unanimous ballot.. motion passes and Mari Pokernowski is elected.

Tammy Tesky is elected by unanimous ballot as vice-president.

Cheryl Poling elected by unanimous ballot as treasurer.

Jane miles has been nominated from the floor for secretary. She has withdrawn in favor of Birebewa Mutebi, current Asst Chair of MY-DFL, and she is elected by unanimous ballot as the new secretary..

Coco Kinnell has been nominated and elected to the new position of Youth Coordinator.

Sky Miles is elected Communication Director. (for real, that is her name)

Jane Miles is elected web site director.

Neomi DeGolier is elected fundraising director.

Political Director is deferred, as is Membership Director.

Question: Would you run for higher office?

Otto said she has said she would never do several things, like downhill skiing. If she feels like she can make positive change she'll never say no.

Tarryl - I thought I never would run for office. Right now what I am doing I can make a tremendous amount of change. Right now don't intend to do that ... if I beleive I can make a better difference doing something else I would consider that but stay where I am. We are in a transition place as a party with people who have run before who will not be running again so there is a chance for a lot of new faces.

Lori - Only two and a half months into the job. She's just doing the best she can.

They just announced that the State Capital is now closed but Tarryl says its OK we can stay because she has keys.

Question: What would you do different?

Lori talked about the "tornado" her short campaign was. She was surprised by the role of money in the campaign.

Tarryl talked about having a person who was "fresh" for the end of the campaign. Also on having a consistent message that doesn't stray. Talked about the "message box" method taught at Camp Wellstone. She ran twice in one year, with the special election two days after Christmas in 2005. With the session timing that meant she had one day before the start of session to raise money for the next campaign.

Rebecca talked about how much sitting she did, being sedintary while traveling and calling for money.

Question: Why did you want to run?

Tarryl talking about how working with youth and how she saw the systematic barriers to youth getting themselves together. She saw the need to work on external structures. She worked at Lega Aid where she lobbied part of the year and rep'd clients the other part. She talks about getting Big P involved and little P involved. Talked about the difference of being on the inside. We have to change the mindset of people about how do you make the biggest difference. And her Grandmother reminding her of when she talked about when her mom got to vote for the first time.

Rebecca is talking about being recruited by people for school board and then Mindy Grieling to run for House. Tarryl has talked earlier about being recruited 100 times in 100 days. "Because I beleive strongly in the future and if the state doesn't communicate with local government in the future we can't meet our challenges."

3:30 pm - - Rebecca Otto is talking about running for Auditor. About how the office really fit who she is and the challenge of running for an office that no one seems to nkow how to run for. Calls the bottom of the ticket the Heart of the ticket. But being at the lower part of the ticket means a smaller budget. "I'm going to be a proud "Otto"". (Instead of changing her name to some sort of "son".) She had to localize the race to local media. Why the race is important to Tracy, Minn.

Tarryl talked about how to campaign, emphasizing person-to-person contact. How that helps poeple not see "the horns", referring to the reputation foisted on pro-choice women in the St. Could area. Also about how she ran two times before actually winning.

3:16 pm - - This is the 34th anniversary year of the caucus. The Founding Mother's, represented by Korynne Horbel, just presented Jackie Stevenson with flowers as recognition for her years of service.

3:12 p m - - Caucus President Jackie Stevenson is giving the opening address.Talking about all the "first" women we elected last year. Dream of a female Governor. Another female in Congress . With a response from some that we don't count that other person from the 6th CD.

3:05 pm -- Tarryl Clark

3:00 pm - - We are still waiting to start. The crowd is looking like a pretty good generational mix. Across the room from me sits a row of women who are also officers in the Minnesota Young DFL. Down the row is DFLFC Founding Mother Korynne Horbel.

In the hall I see Attorney General Lori Swanson and Asst. Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark.

2:38 pm - - State Party Associate Chair Donna Cassutt just arrived. We just found out that the Dennis Kucinich event that was sponsored by the 6th CD DFL has been canceled due to some mysterious plane trouble and we have already had a couple people arrive here as a substitution.

2:34pm - People are just gathering right now. Very fancy gold coffee being set-up That would be Jackie Stevenson in the foreground.

Jennifer Hudson should NOT be nominated for Best Supporting Actress!!

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 01:42:00 +0000

Sorry, but that woman is the freaking star of Dreamgirls. She has more lines, the story is focused on her character more and she kick's a** in it!

Live Blogging Eleciton Day

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 15:37:00 +0000

11:18 AM - - We are now getting some reports that Hispanic people are being challenged by republican's in Brooklyn Park.

10:26 AM - - Just in from DFL Chair Brian Melendez:

We are getting reports of Republican challengers aggressively insisting that election judges inquire into voters' citizenship, and asking that the judges take into account other extraneous information in determining whether a voter is eligible. The reports that we are getting are coming from Minnetonka and Hopkins, which means that the practice is probably occurring in other areas as well (since the southwestern suburbs aren't the first places that you would expect the Republicans to target with a voter-suppression campaign). If you discover any similar information about Republican challengers abusing voters or election judges, please call the DFL Voter Protection Team at 651.251.6384. Thanks.

10:19 AM - - Only problem to pop up so far, and it's not really a problem, is we are overflowing with volunteers. But we always find things for people to do!

9:30 AM - - Just finished running coffee out to two of the DFL GOTV site. I was delayed a bit when the coffee shop tried to give me a large cambrio fo de-caf. If I had shown up with de-caf coffee for the doorknockers I don't think I would have gotten out of there alive.

As soon as I find my camera cord I'll try to upload pictures of the activity.

Channel Five just destroyed part of my childhood

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 20:00:00 +0000

Picture a crisp fall Friday evening, we have cleared the dining room table of everything after dinner and spread out the newspapers. We have the pumpkins, tools to create jack-o-lanturn masterpieces, and cookie sheets at the ready to spread out the seeds for roasting. We wheel the TV around the corner from the living room to turn on the venerable annual Peanuts Halloween Great Pumpkin special. We turn on the TV and what to we get?

A 6th congressional district candidate debate.

And people wonder why other people get turned off to politics.

My theory (totally unsubstantiated) is that Michelle Bachman insisted on the time spot because her church is probably one of those that preaches against halloween. She probably passed out phamplets to trick-or-treaters that came to her door.

Just my theory ....

And use some "buttah" to do it!!

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:22:00 +0000

Damn, I knew there was a reason I liked Barbara Streisand!

A few people in the crowd jeered and told Streisand to stick to singing.
She told them, "Come on, be polite.'' But one heckler wouldn't let up and
Streisand let him have it.
She told him to "Shut the (expletive) up!''

http://www.startribune.com/457/story/733218.html

Reminds me of when my very proper, upper-class looking Mother used to drive past Planned Parenthood in Highland Park and flip off the anti-choice demonstrators. And since she was a professional pianist in her previous life it was an impressive finger too!

Another Item On My Christmas List

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 17:32:00 +0000

Feel free to comment with bad jokes .... there are many that are coming to me.

Or .... make suggestions for a special playlist to go with it. First tune that I thought of it was "The 1812 Overture"

ICarta Stereo Dock for iPod with Bath Tissue Holder

Now you can enhance your experience with your favorite music from your iPod. Make your bathroom more enjoyable with this ICarta stereo dock and bath tissue holder for your iPod! This iCarta stereo dock and bath tissue holder will distribute paper while blasting your favorite tunes. You'll need an iPod and the ability to sing while taking care of business. This revolutionary unit features four (4) moisture resistant speakers (two tweeters and two woofers) volume control and multiple audio in ports. When the newspaper or the occasional car, sports or men's magazine are not enough, adding your favorite music is the answer!

http://www.amazon.com/ICarta-Stereo-Dock-Tissue-Holder/dp/B000HX7ASU/sr=8-20/qid=1159549028/ref=sr_1_20/102-3306849-6916102?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

Battling Bigotry with Bucks!!

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 16:39:00 +0000

Since Tuesday we have seen an escalation of racist and anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from the Republican Party and other sources. From Alan Fine's pathetic yet offensive press conference Wednesday to the revolting, open hatred spewed in some blogs it has been mind boggling. We now know that our opposition has decided that their only hope of winning is to appeal to the lowest commen denominator in our society.

But, what can we do? I know that it is not good for my blood pressure each time some of this venom spews out. Here is my solution:

Every time Ron Carey, the Republican Party, Alan Fine or any other purveyer of bigotry uses racism, anti-Muslim rhetoric or ethno-centrism to attack Keith Ellison I pledge to donate $5 to the his campaign. If enough of us do this we will be part of history in electing Keith Ellison to Congress as the first African-American from Minnesota and the first Muslim in the nation. And, when the opposition realizes that every vile word of bigotry they speak just raises more money for his election, they just might decide they have to campaign on issues rather than hate.

For those of us with financial limitations you can pledge an hour of volunteer time.

You can go to www.keithellison.org to donate or volunteer. Be sure to note "Mypledge to combat bigotry" in the attribution field.

Perhaps the next victory is in the 3rd CD Come November?

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 16:07:00 +0000

From Betsy O'Berry, Campaign manager for Wendy Wilde:

An interesting fact to note:
With 13,914 votes in the September 12 primary, Wendy Wilde outpolled Republican
incumbent Jim Ramstad by 1,268 votes.

Wilde and her two DFL challengers garnered a total of 18,101 votes compared to
12,646 cast by Republicans in the 3rd District primary.

Two years ago, 48% of 3rd Congressional District voters selected John Kerry for
President. (Compared to 47% in the 1st CD, 44% in the 2nd CD and 42% in the
6th CD).

There are more Democratic voters in the 3rd CD than most people think. As a mom
working to bring common sense to Washington, D.C., Wendy Wilde is a candidate to
watch in a changing district!

For more information about Wendy Wilde's campaign, go to www.electmom.com

Betsy O'Berry

Mental Illness and Politics

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:26:00 +0000

So, I have spent a good portion of the past couple of weeks dealing with mental health issues in politics. This is not calling my opponents crazy or anything like that. I am talking about working with people who have serious psychiatric illnesses. There are so many levels to trying to deal with these issues:

Level 1: As a Party leader I need to balance the safety of the the organization and our members with the right of all people, regardless of whether or not they have a psychiatric illness, to partcipate.
Level 2: Assisting local leaders, all volunteers, who may or may not have experience working with mentally ill people. There are a lot of misconceptions out there plus, sometimes, these people can behave in scary ways.
Level 3: Just the sadness of it all. In the cases I have had to deal with the past couple weeks the individuals in question are incredibly intelligent and really sweet people. I myself have a fairly mild case of depression. Two pills every morning and I am OK. But I remember how frustrating and almost soul crushing it can be to so caught up in feelings and thoughts that, on some level, you know do not make sense. And that was depression, I cannot begin to imagine the pain of more serious illnesses like Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder.

It all came home for me last night. I was working on a campaign database when one of my best friends called. They had just found his sister's body and since she had Bipolar Disorder there is a good possibility that it was suicide. I left the campaign and spent the evening with him.

A couple years ago another friend had a brother who committed suicide. In that case he had actually tried to get help. But because of cutbacks in social services by the Pawlenty Administration he was not able to be seen for several weeks. He didn't make it to the appointment .... the pain got too great and now we don't have him anymore.

I guess the two things I want to wrap up this rambling post with are:

1) We have got to get serious about health care, including mental health, in this country ... before we lose more people.

2) Please remember that the vast majority of people with mental illnesses are no danger to you, they are more likely to be victimized themselve than hurt others. We may have to make hard decisions about how to interact and facilitate their participation but never forget that they are human beings and citizens who have a voice that desperately needs to be heard.

86th Anniversary of South St. Paul Waterwork's Bonding Bill!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 18:53:00 +0000

Why is this a big deal?

Because it came one day after Tennessee cast their votes that passed the 19th Amendment to the Constitution giving women in the whole United States the right to vote.

The ballot for this bonding bill was the very first election in the United States where women could vote as a result of suffrage passing. Eighty-seven women voted that day and their votes were segregated from the men's just in case there was a mistake.

Gentle Warriers: Clara Ueland and the Minnesota Struggle for Woman Suffrage Barbara Stuhler

Looking for ERJ Commercial from 1998

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:11:00 +0000

Does anybody have a copy of the "Where's Timmy?" ad that Ember Reichgott Junge did for her AG race in 1998?

It was truly one of the worst political ads I have ever seen and it would be great to see it today.

Sign Wars Tracking - Participation Needed

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 21:16:00 +0000

So, we are starting to get the first waves of lawn signs put up around the state and the claims of "x" has the most signs have begun. However, there is no way for any one person to be able to have a true picture of how the lawn signs are realling playing out on a wide scale basis.

So, I am volunteering to serve as the aggregator of information about how many lawn signs are where. I need people to simply post up where lawn signs are. Please don't be giving me individual addresses. Just tell me:

Block range (e.g. 1500 block of Clinton Ave S, Mpls)
# Ward and Precinct (if you know it)
# of lawn signs for each candidate

If you want to do a whole precinct survey just report the number for the whole precinct.

I will aggregate the reports into a spread sheet and report them out, it might even give me a chance to come up with some fun visuals!

Erlandson + HUGE SUV = Environmentalist?

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:36:00 +0000

From the Strib:

"Ostrow pointed to education and health care; Reichgott Junge said universal health care and investing in children before age 6; Ellison listed economic justice and health care, and Erlandson said global warming and criticizing President Bush."

Um, he drives a Cadillac Escalade. Which means that he alone is spewing 11.90 to 13.20 tons of Greenhouse Gas emissions a year . This is a vehicle that the US Department of Energy give's a "1" on fuel economy (on a ten point scale)

DFL Process for AG Race

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:38:00 +0000

So I posted on this a little over at MN Publis but thought it would do well to address it here.

This stuff about the party not recruiting candidates to replace
Entenza before he dropped out is annoying me.The DFL has a structure and a process. The highest ranking body of the DFL is the biannual state convention. The next highest body is the State DFL Central Committee and then the Executive Committee. A lower body, nor an officer of such, may overturn or act contrary to a decision of a higher body.

In other words, if the DFL Officers were to recruit a candidate to run
against a candidate for an office that was endorsed by the State Convention it would constitute malfeasance and be an impeachable
offense.

It is looking like the Central Committee will be meeting August 12th, not sure where yet. It should be an interesting three weeks.

Entenza

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:28:00 +0000

My reaction to the whole saga of Matt Entenza dropping out of the race for Attorney General?

Sadness.

You see, the things that he ahs been accused of are very much at odds with my personal experiences with him. He always struck me as one of those politicians who actually wanted to make things better for people. He is one of those straight white men who actually understands what privileges he has just due to his gender, sexual orientation and skin color and he actively worked to counter that. He is not one of those liberals out to fix the world by making it like himself but rather he always was bringing in people and setting them into power.

In all the ranting about how much money he and his wife have I have wondered about two things: Are there people upset that he is not "man enough" to be ashamed that his wife earns more than him? And, are there people who are upset that he and his wife use that money on politics rather than on a lavish lifestyle of conspicous consumption? (Millions of dollars in stock options and they live in Merriam Park, a solidly middle class neighborhood in St. Paul.)

Honestly, I don't know if Matt did something wrong. If he did it is a heartbreaking thing because I know that he and Lois are basically good people. If it is proven he did something wrong my hope and expectation is that he will learn greatly from this. Hopefully others will learn a bit about forgiveness and allowing for the foibles of being human.

State DFL Central Committee Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 01:58:00 +0000

So, we arrive in the morning to discover that, despite repeated inquiries over the past week, the air conditioning in the entire East end of Eden Prairie High School is on the fritz. At 9am the main hall was already at 80 degreess. But, after some masterful work on the fly by DFL staff the meeting was moved to the air conditioned gym on the West end. The AC had to be turned on so the room wasn't entirely comfortable but a lot better than what it could have been. The worst part was the acoustics but we got past that.

Bill Davis was elected Treasurer without opposition.

We had some substantial, passionate yet respectful debates over some resolutions. The most organization was thrown toward the Transit Funding Constitutional amendment
that will be on the ballot this fall. I suspect that advocates for the amendment thought they were going have an easy time getting the DFL to endorse the amendment and they seemed to be scrambling at the last minute when it became obvious through email discussions in the week prior that there was in fact some serious opposition to the measure. I admit it was entertaining to watch people who had been so sure of themselves and their political "savviness" have to scramble like that.

The pro-amendment resolution was put in motion and then someone immediately moved a subsititute resolution to oppose the constitutional amendment. That substitute motion failed but on a very slim margin, almost a 50/50 split. I am not clear on what happened next as I was out of the room but I came back into the room as a vote was being taken that resulted in the DFL taking no position on the amendment at all. Given the close margins that was probably the best outcome.

Of course Judi Dutcher was endorsed for Lt. Gov. Mike Hatch's speech was too long and the same one we have heard several times before. Next meeting I'm giving it for him!!

THIS is what I want for Christmas!!

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:55:00 +0000

A Ronco Inside-The-Shell Egg Scrambler!

I honestly did not know they made these things anymore. I really need it to go on the shelf next to my Presto Tater Twister.

I don't know why but this offends me ...

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 16:20:00 +0000

Advertisement found on the back of my grocery store reciept:

Pregnant? Considering Adoption?
Please help us fulfill our dream of having a family. If you or someone you know is pregnant and thinking about adoption, a financially secure home full of love and laughter awaits your baby. MN Agency approved.

Call Kathy & Daniel toll-free .....

High Level Rant about Latest Ellison "Scandel"

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 14:49:00 +0000

This was not the morning for me to see this .... I saw this on MDE this morning and since I was already in a non-hormonal bad mood to begin with this has just pushed the BP up a notch or two. So, in response ....

Yea, my license is suspended too. You see, the City of Minneapolis, unlike say, St. Paul, suspends your license if you do not pay ANY ticket. So, that pissant parking ticket you got two months ago for staying one minute over the meter time, the one you stuffed in your glovebox and forgot about? Well they just suspended your license over it. Or, maybe, like many of the district's residents, you live paycheck to paycheck and you could not afford to pay the ticket. That means that the City of Minneapolis not only is going to sock you for the damn ticket but also for the late fees, "court fees" and then make you pay an additional $35 to the State to get your license license reinstated. (This is another example of how expensive it is to be poor.) This may not be what happened with Keith but when you have a city that is so strapped for cash that it basically has to use the state as enforcers to collect a $20 parking ticket it means there is something else wrong.

Maybe its time we elected someone to congress who has a freaking clue that life is not all "Up With People" and Glossy head shots perfect. Someone who has made mistakes and lived a real life rather than living their life in plastic wrapped packages labeled "open only upon campaign for Congress".

Campaign Piece from Bill Davis

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 03:40:00 +0000

Just FYI .....

Also, Mari Pokernowski is not running so at this point it's looking like a quick election.

=========

My name is BILL DAVIS, and I am seeking your support for State DFL Treasurer. The election will be held on Saturday, July 15, at Eden Prairie High School. I am writing to you because I need your support and counsel.

As many of you have heard, longtime political activist Kerry Gauthier has submitted his letter of resignation for this position. Kerry has decided to pursue other political interest during this election cycle. All of us wish to thank Kerry for his dedication and commitment to the DFL Party over the last several years. Because of Kerry's decision to leave, a vacancy for the position of State Treasurer has occurred and, with your help, I would like to fill it.

The position of State Treasurer is not new to me, I served in this capacity as the State DFL Treasurer more than ten years ago, so I am thoroughly familiar with the duties and the level of responsibility involved. I can hit the ground running and that's important for the DFL Party. My strengths are designing procedures that facilitate the tracking of revenues coming in and going out of the DFL.

For over 16 years, I have served as the President/CEO for a private non-profit community base agency with an annual budget of approximately $15,000,000. As the chief executive officer I oversee the agency's budget and assure its compliance with all regulatory rules and procedures stipulated by state and federal law. While my fiscal director manages the day-to-day operation, it is my responsibility to completely understand and establish procedures and protocol for that department. In other words I know the correct procedures and I know the correct questions to ask and most importantly, I know then correct procedures are being properly implemented.

As State Treasurer I would like to assist the Chair by creating strategies that generate funds and designing fiscal policies that enhance overall accountability. And I will present fiscal reports so that you can clearly understand the fiscal health and well being of the Party.

With your support, I would like to return to this office and serve the DFL Party once again. I am very pleased with the overwhelming support that I am receiving from DFLers from all over the State. Your support is greatly appreciated.

As a resident and active member of the Third Congressional District, which extends from the Metro into Greater Minnesota and reflects the urban/suburban and rural blend of DFLers in our Party, I would bring a high degree of energy and a work ethic that will ensure accountability, commitment, competence, compassion, and the capacity to do this job and do it well. I have over twenty years of experience as a party officer at every level of the DFL Party and I have worked on numerous campaigns statewide and locally as well. I look forward to talking with you in the days ahead, in the meantime, please feel free to contact me ....

Again, I would be honored to earn your support.

VOTE BILL DAVIS for DFL STATE TREASURER on July 15th

One less candidate for DFL Treasurer

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 13:27:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 18:22:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 20:22:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 19:28:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Waffle Tushie) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:33:00 +0000

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.