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Nov. 1st, 2004 12:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
naomikritzerSo for the reference of any locals who want to know how I'm voting, extensive discussion of the various Minneapolis races is below.
For the non-locals who will be eligible to vote on Tuesday, a quick plea: the Presidential race has gotten a lot of attention. To the point that I kind of wonder how the TV and radio stations are even going to survive after November 2nd, without all that ad revenue. But there are other races. Congressional and Senate; state legislature; school board; whatever. If you haven't been paying attention to those races, take a moment and educate yourself. Find a sample ballot and Google the candidates; find out what they stand for (or whether one of them is a raving lunatic, as is the case for the incumbent in some race I read about). Make a list of who you're voting for, if you'll need it for the smaller races. Those races count. They're important. It doesn't take that much time to learn about them.
So, on to my endorsements.
PRESIDENT: John Kerry.
I'm not going to give the 100,000-word novel on why I'm voting for Kerry, so I'll just hit the high points: he took us to war, he screwed up said war, he passed the Patriot Act, he gave a tax bonanza to the billionaires, and his habit of lying is so ingrained I'm convinced that he couldn't stop lying even if the good fairy made his nose grow six inches every time he told another one.
U.S. HOUSE: Martin Olav Sabo.
I like Sabo, a lot. I'm a liberal, and so is he -- one of the most liberal members of Congress, in fact. But in addition, despite the fact that he knows that he will win by a comfortable margin, he goes out and door-knocks every two years, introducing himself to his constituents, listening to their concerns if they care to share them, and giving them literature for the other Democratic candidates running. I don't know how many of his constituents he manages to visit (he represents the city of Minneapolis plus possibly some of the inner-ring suburbs, I can't remember) but I can recall at least two visits from him in the eight years I've lived here. In addition to liking his politics, I respect him a lot.
MINNESOTA HOUSE, DISTRICT 62A: Jim Davnie
I know Jim Davnie personally (I volunteered for his campaign when he ran the first time) and like him a lot, both personally and politically. He is also an amazing speaker -- reminiscent of Wellstone.
ALMOST ALL JUDICIAL RACES: the incumbent
I usually vote for the incumbent in the Judicial races. When a judge truly loses it, there's usually newspaper coverage. Most of the challengers are either (a) flakes or (b) stealth right-wingers.
4TH DISTRICT COURT, SEAT 18: Susan Burke
The 4th District Court, Seat 18 has no incumbent. This is, in fact, because that judge truly lost it. (He physically attacked some kid who stole his kid's bike, or something like that.) He resigned, and there's now an open seat.
I'm not voting for Susan Burke so much as I'm voting against her opponent, Stephen Baker. Baker's statement in the Primary Voter's Guide left me in serious doubt regarding his commitment to the idea of "innocent until proven guilty." (He went on and on about his PROSECUTORIAL EXPERIENCE and how what our county needed was an EXPERIENCED PROSECUTOR on the bench, blah blah blah PROSECUTOR blah PROSECUTOR blah PROSECUTION blah blah. As it happens, Susan Burke is also an experienced prosecutor, but she seems less obsessed with the whole THROWING THE BOOK AT THE MISCREANTS thing.
My neighbor across the street, who's a lawyer and works with Legal Aid, has a Susan Burke sign in her yard, so I asked her about the race. She's also mostly just creeped out by Baker. Apparently Baker is a strong supporter of the death penalty (we don't actually have the death penalty in Minnesota right now, but that could change) and a stealth right-wing candidate.
I will be voting for Burke.
Soil and water supervisor Seat 5: Michael Wyatt
Being a conscientious citizen, I really tried to research this race. I checked the Star Tribune voter's guide -- nothing. I Googled -- and found very little. I did, however, find this one right-wing blog at http://www.fraterslibertas.com/2004_10_01_archive.html ... and they had done some research on the race.
Since they're no doubt checking their trackbacks, let me just note to them -- thank you for your information on this race, it was more than I found anywhere else, and was quite helpful.
They note that Gregory Bownik ran twice (unsuccessfully) for Mayor of Rogers, MN. Jonathan M. Burris is a lawyer and gay activist. Kevin W. Rodewald sends e-mail from the domain globalhemp.com. Michael Wyatt is a Planner for the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. Overall, I have to say that I disagree with almost everything on the fraterslibertas site, but we can come to happy bipartisan consensus on the Soil and Water Supervisor issue. Like the conservatives over there, I tend to consider flake candidates who run and get some microscopic percentage of the vote to be kind of pathetic; I see no discernible connection between gay activism and soil supervision; I find the legalize hemp faction to be kind of goofy (even if I do think marijuana should be legal), and I think that a Planner for the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District is probably qualified for the job.
Thanks again for the information, guys; you found a lot more than I was able to Google up. My readers who are themselves members of the legalize hemp faction, or who think that discrimination against gay soil and water is a major issue requiring action, also now have some information with which to make a slightly informed decision.
Moving on.
MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL BOARD: Peggy Flanagan, Lydia Lee, and Dennis Schapiro.
Peggy and Lydia are endorsed by the DFL, but there are three open seats and they were only able to endorse two candidates before deadlocking. I like Dennis Schapiro a fair amount. Ed and I were both at the City Endorsing Convention a couple of years ago and heard him speak; the thing that impressed us was his straightforwardness and his willingness to give unpopular answers. (Rather than insisting that the board wouldn't have to make any cuts because budget money would materialize from some unspecified location, he actually talked about what he would cut if he had to.)
Ed was at the endorsing convention this year, which endorsed Peggy and Lydia. He liked Lydia a lot; he liked Peggy okay. If the Somali candidate (Muhammed something -- I can't remember his last name) had made it past the primary we'd be voting for him, as he absolutely blew Ed away at the endorsing convention. Intelligent, articulate, willing to make difficult choices, and a voice for the Somali community on the board. All would've been good things. Alas, I think a lot of people voted against his first name.
I am not a fan of Sharon Henry-Blythe. I don't know a lot about Sandra Miller, other than the fact that she was on the board for a while and wants to complete her unfinished business, and I thought her statement in the Star Trib voter guide was lame.
I'm not sure what the city Republicans are even doing with this race. They have one candidate, David Dayhoff, and three open seats. Hopefully some of them are voting for Schapiro. Any Democrat who's willing to actually name a program he'd cut for budgetary reasons has got to be the lesser of the available evils, from a Republican perspective.
For the non-locals who will be eligible to vote on Tuesday, a quick plea: the Presidential race has gotten a lot of attention. To the point that I kind of wonder how the TV and radio stations are even going to survive after November 2nd, without all that ad revenue. But there are other races. Congressional and Senate; state legislature; school board; whatever. If you haven't been paying attention to those races, take a moment and educate yourself. Find a sample ballot and Google the candidates; find out what they stand for (or whether one of them is a raving lunatic, as is the case for the incumbent in some race I read about). Make a list of who you're voting for, if you'll need it for the smaller races. Those races count. They're important. It doesn't take that much time to learn about them.
So, on to my endorsements.
PRESIDENT: John Kerry.
I'm not going to give the 100,000-word novel on why I'm voting for Kerry, so I'll just hit the high points: he took us to war, he screwed up said war, he passed the Patriot Act, he gave a tax bonanza to the billionaires, and his habit of lying is so ingrained I'm convinced that he couldn't stop lying even if the good fairy made his nose grow six inches every time he told another one.
U.S. HOUSE: Martin Olav Sabo.
I like Sabo, a lot. I'm a liberal, and so is he -- one of the most liberal members of Congress, in fact. But in addition, despite the fact that he knows that he will win by a comfortable margin, he goes out and door-knocks every two years, introducing himself to his constituents, listening to their concerns if they care to share them, and giving them literature for the other Democratic candidates running. I don't know how many of his constituents he manages to visit (he represents the city of Minneapolis plus possibly some of the inner-ring suburbs, I can't remember) but I can recall at least two visits from him in the eight years I've lived here. In addition to liking his politics, I respect him a lot.
MINNESOTA HOUSE, DISTRICT 62A: Jim Davnie
I know Jim Davnie personally (I volunteered for his campaign when he ran the first time) and like him a lot, both personally and politically. He is also an amazing speaker -- reminiscent of Wellstone.
ALMOST ALL JUDICIAL RACES: the incumbent
I usually vote for the incumbent in the Judicial races. When a judge truly loses it, there's usually newspaper coverage. Most of the challengers are either (a) flakes or (b) stealth right-wingers.
4TH DISTRICT COURT, SEAT 18: Susan Burke
The 4th District Court, Seat 18 has no incumbent. This is, in fact, because that judge truly lost it. (He physically attacked some kid who stole his kid's bike, or something like that.) He resigned, and there's now an open seat.
I'm not voting for Susan Burke so much as I'm voting against her opponent, Stephen Baker. Baker's statement in the Primary Voter's Guide left me in serious doubt regarding his commitment to the idea of "innocent until proven guilty." (He went on and on about his PROSECUTORIAL EXPERIENCE and how what our county needed was an EXPERIENCED PROSECUTOR on the bench, blah blah blah PROSECUTOR blah PROSECUTOR blah PROSECUTION blah blah. As it happens, Susan Burke is also an experienced prosecutor, but she seems less obsessed with the whole THROWING THE BOOK AT THE MISCREANTS thing.
My neighbor across the street, who's a lawyer and works with Legal Aid, has a Susan Burke sign in her yard, so I asked her about the race. She's also mostly just creeped out by Baker. Apparently Baker is a strong supporter of the death penalty (we don't actually have the death penalty in Minnesota right now, but that could change) and a stealth right-wing candidate.
I will be voting for Burke.
Soil and water supervisor Seat 5: Michael Wyatt
Being a conscientious citizen, I really tried to research this race. I checked the Star Tribune voter's guide -- nothing. I Googled -- and found very little. I did, however, find this one right-wing blog at http://www.fraterslibertas.com/2004_10_01_archive.html ... and they had done some research on the race.
Since they're no doubt checking their trackbacks, let me just note to them -- thank you for your information on this race, it was more than I found anywhere else, and was quite helpful.
They note that Gregory Bownik ran twice (unsuccessfully) for Mayor of Rogers, MN. Jonathan M. Burris is a lawyer and gay activist. Kevin W. Rodewald sends e-mail from the domain globalhemp.com. Michael Wyatt is a Planner for the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. Overall, I have to say that I disagree with almost everything on the fraterslibertas site, but we can come to happy bipartisan consensus on the Soil and Water Supervisor issue. Like the conservatives over there, I tend to consider flake candidates who run and get some microscopic percentage of the vote to be kind of pathetic; I see no discernible connection between gay activism and soil supervision; I find the legalize hemp faction to be kind of goofy (even if I do think marijuana should be legal), and I think that a Planner for the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District is probably qualified for the job.
Thanks again for the information, guys; you found a lot more than I was able to Google up. My readers who are themselves members of the legalize hemp faction, or who think that discrimination against gay soil and water is a major issue requiring action, also now have some information with which to make a slightly informed decision.
Moving on.
MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL BOARD: Peggy Flanagan, Lydia Lee, and Dennis Schapiro.
Peggy and Lydia are endorsed by the DFL, but there are three open seats and they were only able to endorse two candidates before deadlocking. I like Dennis Schapiro a fair amount. Ed and I were both at the City Endorsing Convention a couple of years ago and heard him speak; the thing that impressed us was his straightforwardness and his willingness to give unpopular answers. (Rather than insisting that the board wouldn't have to make any cuts because budget money would materialize from some unspecified location, he actually talked about what he would cut if he had to.)
Ed was at the endorsing convention this year, which endorsed Peggy and Lydia. He liked Lydia a lot; he liked Peggy okay. If the Somali candidate (Muhammed something -- I can't remember his last name) had made it past the primary we'd be voting for him, as he absolutely blew Ed away at the endorsing convention. Intelligent, articulate, willing to make difficult choices, and a voice for the Somali community on the board. All would've been good things. Alas, I think a lot of people voted against his first name.
I am not a fan of Sharon Henry-Blythe. I don't know a lot about Sandra Miller, other than the fact that she was on the board for a while and wants to complete her unfinished business, and I thought her statement in the Star Trib voter guide was lame.
I'm not sure what the city Republicans are even doing with this race. They have one candidate, David Dayhoff, and three open seats. Hopefully some of them are voting for Schapiro. Any Democrat who's willing to actually name a program he'd cut for budgetary reasons has got to be the lesser of the available evils, from a Republican perspective.
