Steve Sarvi, the DFL candidate in the 2nd announced this week that he picked up a bunch of new endorsements.
Teamsters Joint Council 32
Teamsters Local 120
UAW Minnesota
Representatives:
Rep. Betty McCollum (4)
Rep. Keith Ellison (5)
Steve’s campaign has also been endorsed by the national non-partisan VoteVets organization. He’s up for some fat bank to help him beat John Kline, but he needs your help. Vote for Steve Sarvi.
Statistically the Second Congressional district is a pickup opportunity for the DFL, and Steve Sarvi is the strongest candidate we’ve had to take on do-nothing John Kline since 2002. There will be (and no, I’m not kidding this time) a write up of Steve and his experience not only in Iraq but also here at home coming on Tuesday. But before any of that can happen, vote for Steve Sarvi here!
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Unions endorsing Democrats…what a big yawn. And I had to laugh at the notion that Vote Vets isn’t partisan. Name me a single Republican endorsed by Vote Vets. Oh, that’s right — there aren’t any.
Perhaps Chris is in a silly mood. Here’s one: Draft the college Republicans.
Why arent you mentioning the 2 Democrats denied endorsement this weekend? You crowed when the GOP did it.
well is that perhaps because it is quite difficult to find a republican against the war and who’s a veteran, not many are either one of these characteristics.
Sarvi is a great guy and has what it takes to give Kline a run for his money. But I get this impression that his staff is absolutely and completely unorganized. They would be good enough, but his fundraising numbers (around $50,000) imply that they’re not doing enough to keep him on fundraising. That means that, not only will the DCCC look elsewhere, but that he doesn’t even have enough money to hire real staff. What is he going to do when Kline goes after him (which he damn well will) in August? He’s not going to have the COH to respond with even a mailer, let alone a paid media blitz.
Endorsements are great, but boots on the ground for GOTV can only move so many people. CD2 is going to take a ton of money to win, and Sarvi doesn’t have that yet.
And by “real staff” up above, by the way, I mean paid staff. Seems to me most people on his campaign are volunteers without clearly defined roles. Another bummer.
From what I have read on the other blogs and heard from Democrats in the districts Mullary and Dominguez are incompetent even by the low standards of the state legislature. The fact that they are quietly being pushed out is no surprise. That Democrats don’t want to talk about doing the same thing they became indignant for Republicans doing is no surprise either. At least Republicans did it publicly rather than trying to sneak it through under the radar.
Meanwhile it looks like Democrats are going to capitulate over FISA, again. Proving once more that even when the Democrats happen to be on the correct side of an issue they are as useful as drunken lemurs at chess match.
One Democrat more or less in Washington didn’t make a difference when it counted last time. Why should it make a difference after the next election.
Hmm.. DFL cover up mode. Not mentioning how they tossed out 2 of their incumbents this weekend. Liberal media plods along. Nice.
Say, Chris?
There aren’t any republicans that DESERVE endorsement by votevets.com
While I have nothing but respect for Congressman Kline for the time he wore the uniform, I have nothing but CONTEMPT for the time he’s spent in congress.
John Kline got a ZERO percent rating from the non-partisan Disabled American Veterans in 2005.
ZERO.
There is a reason for this, and you’ll be hearing more of it.
You’ll also be hearing more ways that John Kline stabbed veterans in the back. Frequently. Loudly.
No cover up on the Mullery no-endorsement and the rousting of Dominguez. Check MNBlue.com for coverage. It’s hard to cover something you didn’t attend to personally. MNBlue.com had a blogger there who covered that convention and you can comment over there.
There is no need for cover ups really. Leadership in both parties understand the hypocrisy that is core to the belief systems of their followers. One party can do the same thing they condemned the other for with nary a bah from their demure sheeple.
Maybe you need to find the right forum for those comments. If you haven’t noticed most of the posts and coverage on this blog have been focused on CD3’s race and now CD2’s candidate. Most of us posting here live in CD3 and really don’t have a real handle on who Dominguez or Mullery are other than what we read on the blogs or in the strib. Since we aren’t personally impacted nor connected to these politicians, it’s more difficult to really comment on these discussions.
The ousting of the GOP’ers from 41 are in CD3 and more people were familiar with them. If a DFL’er from CD3 were not endorsed, we’d probably have another of those famous 300 comment threads.
I called and asked Zack about 58 on Saturday night — because I hadn’t heard anything about it and at that point he hadn’t either. I didn’t follow up with it yesterday because I have a real life and better things to do.
Now Kerosene Hat — since you’re obviously all knowing, and have this crazy preternatural wisdom about all things political because of your ‘moderation’ can you do me a favor and tell me — outside of the fact that these two DFL’er faced endorsement challenges — what exactly the situation in 58 has to do with the Republican purging of the 6 folks who didn’t vote the way they wanted on their litmus test? And how ‘not covering it’ made us sheeple?
Thanks.
So here’s my take. Peggy Flanagan has been a rising star in DFL circles for a few years (in fact someone who is knowledgeable about such things told me she had the single highest vote total in Minneapolis city history I’ll double check on this later) she obviously thought that she wanted to, and deserved to represent the people of Minneapolis at the next level (she’s an elected school board member, did anyone here know that?).
But enough folks in 58 thought that Mullery did a good enough job that the convention deadlocked. I’ve got to say that with Flanagan’s work with WellstoneAction, and the DFL she’s got a pretty good start on what will probably be an amazing ground game. I’d expect her to win the primary but not without a fight — Mullery is well liked by the unions and will probably bring that to bear.
Regarding Dominguez I dunno. I was Sgt. At Arms at the convention that endorsed him two years ago and it was a zoo, incredibly contested, went for 6-7 ballots(?) With Dominguez winning only the last two(?) ballots. Is it interracial power politics between the occasionally acrimonious black and latino communities in North? I dunno.
But it’s clear in both of these situations that this isn’t some purge of ‘unacceptable’ candidates from the DFL. Sean
Peggy’s activism goes back a long way - back during the Kerry campaign she was the Native American organizer for the Kitchen Cabinet (where I worked with her) and was wonderful. She has deep roots in the community and if this race doesn’t work out for her - she’ll find another that she feels passionately about.
And, yes, I did know she was a school board member in Minneapolis. I even have a red Peggy t-shirt from that race.
That wasn’t directed at you WMD. Sean
Thanks! Just to let people know…yes, Peggy is known and admired for her tireless advocacy.
The attempted comparsions of the endorsement fights in SD 58 and the Republican purge are beyond stupid.
In 58, the residents of that district decided not to endorse the two incumbents. There wasn’t any directive from the top of the party. This wasn’t punishment for straying from the party line on certain votes. What happened in 58 is that the residents of that Senate district decided not to endorse their incumbents. There is nothing wrong withe challenging incumbents for the endorsement or in primaries. Frankly, I think its healthy - even if a challenge fails, the incumbent is likely going to get the message that his or her constituents aren’t happy and will act accordingly.
Good points, Dan.
Has to be the ultimate reality check for a legislator, eh?
Cut the crap. Willie Dominquez was not endorsed because he is hispanic. Black Democrats have targeted a Hispanic Democrat incumbent because of his race.
This is disgusting racial politics. Members of both political parties should be ashamed.
Give me a call when the Republicans elect either an Africian American or Hispanic member (or anybody non-white, for that matter) to the Minnesota legislature.
Sean, better start a new thread for Sergeant Sarvi; this one’s hopelessly off-track.
And it wasn’t even me, that did it!!!
One guy sent me this one, for doin’ just that…. http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w267/purpl3k/TPThijackingvictum.jpg
I’ll keep it off track. I find the results from 58 interesting, because I’d say its illustrates the gap between the D and the FL that sometimes exists. Peggy Flannigan has the organizational chops and connections with a lot of organizations in that district. ON the other hand, as I’ve heard around the Capitol, the only organization of any sort (personal ability, supporters, etc.) Mullery has is organized labor.
(Mind you, this would mean that we have a legislator who coasts in, not on Party Evil, but non-party support. Could someone step into KH’s Fortress of Solitude and scrap the exploded head-matter off the walls? It’s unsightly, and will start to stink.)
Well, we seem to have a dilemma. This is a blog for discussing MN politics, DFL in particular, and the situations in those Twin Cities districts are something to discuss. On the other hand, if we want to emulate Brodkerb’s professionalism, if not his politics, keep up the illusion the party is an unbroken wall.
Cut the crap. Willie Dominquez was not endorsed because he is hispanic. Black Democrats have targeted a Hispanic Democrat incumbent because of his race.
This is disgusting racial politics. Members of both political parties should be ashamed.
I’ve got to say that I wasn’t as informed on this race as I should be (I paid a smidge more attention to the other side of the district because I know Peggy) but with a flurry of emails and some contacts and me digging into the candidates I think that there maybe an easier answer — partly acrimony from the last convention, and partly Bobby Joe Champion being awesome.
As I said I was the Sgt. At Arms at the last 58 Convention where they endorsed Dominguez, and it went for a long time (all day if I remember correctly) and what surprised me was that on ballot #3 (again this is IIRC) Dominguez who I thought was going to carry the day was a few points from losing the endorsement to another guy (young, hispanic, local community organizer) and then on the last two ballots all of a sudden Dominguez came back to win. And people were clearly unhappy with this — there was some unhappiness with the guy who preceded Ellison in that seat (I can’t remember his name for the life of me — not Greg Gray, the other guy) who was up to shenanigans that day and then also there was the influence of Jackie Cherryholmes (who has her advocates and detractors and I’m not going to wade into that festering hornets nest). So, it sounds to me like this has been in the making for a while.
But the good news is, Bobby Joe Champion looks like he could be an amazing Representative. http://www.champion4change.org/
I’ll poke around some more and see if there is anyone else who could shed a little more light on this matter.
And finally! Remember to vote for Steve Sarvi! Sean
It’s true Steve needs to raise more money to beat Kline. But that’s where endorsements like these and people like us come in. He’s still also working full time, but with all this attention he’s receiving, I’m sure he’s going to start pulling in the money, that is unless people like us fail to follow through for him.
“UAW Minnesota”???
Heh.
Talk about your “lame ducks”.
Dan,
Clearly you don’t know what you’re talking about. Republicans nominated an African American (Dan Williams) to run against John Marty and a Latino (George Marin) to run against Dan Sparks in 2006. Both districts were DFL and chose white males over diversity. In fact, there were some pretty nasty (and false) accusations coming out of Austin that Marin was an illegal. Looks like the DFL isn’t as tolerant as you’d like us to believe.
NothingButTheTruth,
So no Republicans deserve the endorsement of Vote Vets? I guess that’s because when Republican veterans come back from the war, they actually talk about the good things our military does and don’t go out and trash their comrades ala John Kerry.
Like I said, call me when the Republicans elect an African American or a Hispanic to the legislature. Running underfunded and unknown candidates in hopeless races doesn’t count for much. Marin lost by 35% and Williams by 25%.
“Both districts were DFL and chose white males over diversity.”
Again, I think the Republicans actually need some diversity in their own caucus before you start lecturing the DFL about diversity.
“In fact, there were some pretty nasty (and false) accusations coming out of Austin that Marin was an illegal. Looks like the DFL isn’t as tolerant as you’d like us to believe.”
Come on dude, you’re better than that. Give me a link if you are going to throw something like that out there.
Mullery is sponsoring the bill [HF 3670] to provide an opportunity for military veterans that have gotten into trouble with the law to be referred to treatment programs for PTSD when the crime did not have a victim.
Today [March 18], Senate File 3376 comes up in the Judiciary Committee of the Senate and is being carried by Senator Linda Higgins. Last week, the House voted unanimously to support the version sponsored by Rep. Joe Mullery.
Many of us have known someone who returned from combat and made some stupid mistake … or heard about them in the news … often, if that vet had had the chance to go to treatment for things that stemmed from service, it may have made a difference … it is easy to look back now and think of those who fell noton any battlefield but who succumed after their return home.
California has similar legislation, so Senator Higgins and Representative Mullery are pioneers to bring it to Minnesota, and the governor is likely to take all the credit after the bill is signed and the state has something progressive and innovative.
Four years of work went into getting this legislation to the floors of the chambers, so if you want to note progress, please contact the bill sponsors and say thank you.
Joe Mullery (DFL) 58A
* 367 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
(651) 296-4262
E-mail: rep.joe.mullery@house.mn
Senator Linda Higgins 58
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Capitol Building, Room 328
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606
651.296.9246
sen.linda.higgins@senate.mn
Rep. Willy Dominquez (58B) attended the rally at the Capitol Rotunda in February to advocate for this legislation.
and now, back to the thread:
Paulsing, if you want to do more than criticize a campaign staff for being less than dazzling at fund raising, you can volunteer to be part of ‘Sarvi’s Army’ and take on fund raising at the grass roots level.
I know, some of you are better at sitting back and criticizing others than you are at picking up a hammer and helping to build the barn.
Or maybe you like having John Kline sitting in Congress, pushing the Red buttons to vote NO! on every bill that could benefit the residents of MN2. And getting paid more than $165K a year to do it.
And here’s now John Kline earned his paycheck last week:
League of Rural Voters (www.leagueofruralvoters.org) presents:
M E G A V O T E
March 17, 2008
In this MegaVote for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District:
Recent Congressional Votes -
* House: Overriding the Veto of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2008
* House: Establishing within the House of Representatives an Office of Congressional Ethics
* House: Budget Resolution, FY2009
* House: FISA Amendments Act of 2008
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Editor’s Note: — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
The House and Senate are in recess until March 31.
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Recent House Votes: — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
Overriding the Veto of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2008
http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/issues/votes/?votenum=117&chamber=H&congress=1102
Vote Failed (225-188, 17 Not Voting)
The House fell far short of the 276 votes needed to override President BushÂ’s veto of this intelligence bill that would ban interrogation methods like waterboarding and mock executions.
Rep. John Kline voted
NO
send e-mail (http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/mail/?id=10583&mailid=custom)
see bio (http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/bio/?id=10583) — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
Establishing within the House of Representatives an Office of Congressional Ethics
http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/issues/votes/?votenum=122&chamber=H&congress=1102
Vote Passed (229-182, 4 Present, 15 Not Voting)
The House narrowly approved a new ethics rule to create an independent office that would consider ethics complaints against House members.
Rep. John Kline voted
NO
send e-mail (http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/mail/?id=10583&mailid=custom)
see bio (http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/bio/?id=10583) — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
Budget Resolution, FY2009
http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/issues/votes/?votenum=141&chamber=H&congress=1102
Vote Passed (212-207, 12 Not Voting)
The House passed this $3 trillion budget resolution setting spending priorities for the 2009 fiscal year.
Rep. John Kline voted
NO
send e-mail (http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/mail/?id=10583&mailid=custom)
see bio (http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/bio/?id=10583) — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — -
FISA Amendments Act of 2008
http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/issues/votes/?votenum=145&chamber=H&congress=1102
Vote Passed (213-197, 1 Present, 20 Not Voting)
The House passed this intelligence bill that would revise U.S. surveillance laws.
Rep. John Kline voted
NO
send e-mail (http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/mail/?id=10583&mailid=custom)
see bio (http://capwiz.com/leagueofruralvoters/bio/?id=10583)
=================================================================
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