Ben’s endorsement letter is after the jump…
Dear DFLer,
As you get ready to head to the DFL State Convention this weekend and cast your ballot for endorsement in the U.S. Senate race, I wanted to take a minute to tell you why I support Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. More importantly, however, I wanted to address an important question I’m betting is on your mind: can this guy actually win in November?
I learned a lot about running a winning statewide campaign in 2006 when I was fortunate to serve as Amy Klobuchar’s campaign manager. With your support, and behind an exceptional candidate, we were able to make a strong case for change and to send someone I’m proud to have worked for to Washington.
Over the last few months you’ve begun to get to know Jack. Like you, I’ve been inspired by his hopeful vision for the future and the courage he’s shown to stand up strongly on the critical issues facing our country. And like you, I have asked myself whether this remarkable person can actually win this fall and reclaim Paul Wellstone’s seat.
Here’s why I’m confident he can win:
1. Jack provides an incredibly stark contrast with Norm Coleman. Winning candidates provide a clear, compelling choice to voters. And as a challenger, it’s critically important to keep the focus on the incumbent. I believe that on pressing issues, on character and integrity, and on life experience, Jack poses the stark contrast we need and can keep this race a referendum on the incumbent.
2. Minnesotans are thoughtful voters who reward authenticity and conviction. We have a long history of supporting unconventional candidates who looked like long shots only a few months before Election Day, but were able to connect on a human level. I strongly believe that Jack’s life story, courage, and authenticity are a lock to make him the next such candidate.
3. Jack will have the resources he needs. This remains one of only a handful of competitive Senate races in the country. Combining Jack’s strong Minnesota base of funders, a unified DFL, and a significant national interest will give him the support he needs. He won’t have the most money, but he doesn’t need to. In 2006, Mark Kennedy outspent Amy Klobuchar by nearly $1 million and lost by 20 points. Moreover, Senators Tester (MT) and Webb (VA), each emerged from June primaries in 2006 without much in the bank and had no problem raising the resources they needed to topple well-finded incumbents.
Will it be easy? Of course not. But can he do it? Absolutely.
I have nothing against Al Franken. I think he’d be a good Senator and a vast improvement over Norm Coleman. If he is the endorsed candidate, I’ll be happy to support him and do what I can to make sure he wins this fall.
But as you make your decision on Saturday, I hope you think first about which candidate you believe in most, which candidate speaks to your hopes. And with confidence that he can indeed win this fall, I hope you cast your ballot for Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer for Senate.
Sincerely,
Ben Goldfarb
There was never any doubt JNP could win; after all, the GOPer is Norm “Smokescreen” Coleman, R=Lapdog.
The question is could JNP get the endorsement.
Whoever gets the endorsement on Saturday, will be the next Senator.
Personally, I’ve been backing Al Franken, and I still am.
Too bad I don’t get to vote….
Thanks for posting this, Zack. I’ve voiced before that I thought Publius was biased, but this shows me that you’re willing to support both of our candidates.
While I was already supporting Jack, I do think that someone who ran a statewide campaign that not only won but crushed the opposition is a good thing to have on his side. I really don’t think endorsements mean much, but they do have more effect on lesser known candidates.
Why does a single endorsement bolster the argument that Jack can win? Don’t name recognition and polls indicate more accurately who can win?
Well it would have helped a whole lot more if this had been a endorsement in the form of becoming campaign manager and had happened at the start of the campaign.
Jack could have won. Clinton could have won. But they didn’t run winning campaigns and were outworked.
I’m a Jack supporter but he is not going to win the endorsement. I will face reality. If he had gotten in before Franken and Ben Goldfarb had ran his campaign however I think he could have won.
A poll does not mean anything without name recognition, it is like being asked for a job interview recommendation when you have not met the person. So in an endorsement race, polls are not important without a chance for the public to know a person. It is an absolute given that Al Franken is known, and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is generally not known.
Ben Goldfarb is a campaign manager, universally respected within the DFL party. So if he says electability is not an issue for Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, then basically everyone who respects him, believes him.
If Ciresi’s name is placed into nomination, does this help/hurt JNP? Does it help/hurt Franken?
Libnot, I know you said “if,” but I truly don’t think Ciresi is getting back in the endorsement race. He dropped out 3 months ago, and he dropped out because he knew that he was trailing Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer in delegate strength. That much hasn’t changed.
I will also be shocked and completely dismayed if Ciresi jumps into the primary. First, he promised publicly and often that he wouldn’t run against the primary. Second, he already tried that in 2000, when he lost to Dayton (who was actually running against the endorsement as well).
Of all the possible outcomes after Saturday, I truly think a bruising primary fight is the worst. I can see the party uniting behind the endorsee, but I believe primary fight would cause such deep divisions within the party that it would negatively affect races all up and down the ticket. It would take decades for the DFL to recover. Plus it would irreparably harm the caucus-convention system that remains the only populist, grassroots alternative to the big-money scripted races that given us so much corruption and bad government.
U S Senate race:
I think that if the delegates want to get things done that they are going to have to ask bold questions, make bold motions, and do bold things in a timely manner.
To move a group in that manner, there has to be a core of consensus, motivation, and enthusiasm.
There will still be enough variables to make things interesting.
I wonder.
Does anyone believe that Al Gore actually knows anything about Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer or has even a foggy notion about the environmental policy differences between Franken and JNP? (For example, Franken supports new nuclear power plants and new coal plants, while Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer opposes them.)
Does anyone believe that Ben Goldfarb could possibly be ignorant about both policy differences between them or the political strengths and weaknesses, for that matter?
Yes, Al Gore is a big name and a tremendous environmental advocate, but I believe Gore knows about as much about this race as he does about hanging chads.
Al keeps talking about his grassroots efforts - but so much of his momentum comes from out of state — it is really fascinating see the positions that outsiders take. I do think the Franken supporters both in Minnesota and beyond who cling to the idea that Franken’s writings are beyond criticism because they are “satire” are in for a shock if Franken becomes the nominee. Being a satirist does not mean one has a license to insult with impunity and get away with it. The DNC needs to understand the groups Franken frequently slams will probably grow weary of all the quotes that will keep coming out. Franken’s presence could have a really negative result for other candidates on the ballot. Having the party designation after his name will be read as a clear indication that the democratic party approves Franken’s messages. And there is no way that Team Franken is going to be able to clarify to voters what is a joke and what is policy. There is no way that Team Franken will be able to let voters know that they shouldn’t be insulted by a particular joke because it is “satire”
I wish Ben Goldfarb would have been involved a bit sooner than a few days before the convention. I really like Al and Jack and would be happy with either of them, but I think I would prefer Jack at this point.
I think Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer would also be part of a better DFL teammate with Obama at the top of the ticket than Obama / Franken. New people versus old characters, new politics versus the old fights we have had for years, grassroots bottom up campaign versus and establishment top down campaign.
After writing this I realize I strongly prefer Jack…. I learned something new today.
Um, on what planet do you people live?
You really think Norm Coleman won’t destroy Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer?
Pallmeyer is to the left of Wellstone. Norm will cream him into a fine puree.
I’m not a Republican, just a realist - come on, you gotta be kidding me with this.
What good is an endorsement this late into the primary? the convention starts tomorrow yes?
karl,
don’t give up hope yet. i think the delegate race is closer then anyone could imagine at this point.
Why do people continue to ask whether Ciresi should return to the race, or why Teryl Clark should be drafted, when Nelson-Pallmeyer has been the second-place finisher behind Franken for virtually the entire race? That’s why Ciresi dropped out — he couldn’t beat Nelson-Pallmeyer.
Even worse are the dirtball Democrats (McCollum, Oberstar, et al) who all of a sudden are offended by Playboy magazine enough to carry Michael Brodkorb and the GOP’s (well, they are one and the same) water in trashing Franken over this nonissue. In the case of McCollum, it’s clearly her desire to get her losing candidate (Ciresi) back in the race) but it’s a pretty shitty way of doing it and I hope she pays a heavy price for it.
For the record, I’m not a fan of Franken, but for very different reasons.
Could someone please tell me what exactly Mr. Goldfarb did to get Senator Klobuchar the endorsement?
James.
Despite a few good breaks and a generally progressive audience in My SD convention Jack still lost by quite a few delegates. That’s what’s been happening around the state. Jack would have to switch a TON of delegates and these delegates are the hardcorest of the hardcore. I find it hard to believe he’s switched more than a few.
I find it hard to believe it will go past the first ballot.
“Franken supports new nuclear power plants and new coal plants, while Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer opposes them”
It’s reasons like this that JNP is down right scary.
“Pallmeyer is to the left of Wellstone.”
That’s for sure - and it would really scare off a lot of voters. His anti-military message might play a little bit after “W” & Iraq but his far left views on substantially higher taxation and “economic fairness” wouldn’t play well at all. If you’re against nuclear & coal that means you’re in favor of huge subsidies for other forms of energy or in favor of crippling our economy to hold back energy usage.
So do you think that wind energy should not be subsidized?
What needs energy go grow our economy?
Industry outsourced to China?
You interpret not wanting Congress to spend 57 cents of every appropriated dollar to Dept of Defense as anti-military that ‘might play a little bit?’
Alternative energy should certainly be looked at but only if it has long-term, non-subsidized viability. We should definintely be researching things like bio fuels and hydrogen but the goal is to be a world leader on the technology side of these things and not subsidizing them. The current subsidies on things like corn ethanol are not a good plan.
Energy is vital to our economy - not sure how you can ask that. Energy independence from OPEC is smart, especially if you look at the demands from emerging economies and the military we keep in order to protect access. To reduce our usage of oil then what would JNP do? You can do things like cap & trade or raise the CAFE standards. The first definitely hurts our economy while the second probably doesn’t do enough. You can try to produce more of our own oil by drilling in ANWR or more offshore, but I’m guessing JNP is against that. Or you can change to alternatives to oil - like Nuclear/Coal. Nuclear is definitely something we should consider. Just invest in technology and plants to handle the waste like the French do.
Finally, where do you get 57% of our budget going to military? The actual figure is just short of 25%. JNP is definitely anti-military and the fact that he wouldn’t have even gone into Afghanistan would be a huge problem for him.
So I open up Yahoo and the lead article is about how the world’s nations need to invest $45 Tillion to combat global warming. The article backs up what I just said about nuclear power -
TOKYO - The world needs to invest $45 trillion in energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power in order to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to an energy study released Friday.
The report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency envisions a “energy revolution” that would greatly reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels while maintaining steady economic growth. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080606/ap_on_sc/japan_iea_climate_change