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Archive for the 'CD3' Category

Karl: Madia: “It’s time for a little more bravery in Washington”

Published on August 21, 2008 at 2:34 pm
, filed in CD3
. Closed

Editor’s Note: This Diary has been promoted to the frontpage.  As such, all comments to this diary should be made there.

Today is Ashwin Madia Blog Day and so as a supporter from pretty much the day the primary field settled. I thought I’d post a little bit about why I’ve been part of Madiamania for so long. It shouldn’t be two hard beacuse two blogs today, Ashin’s in The Hill and Howie Klein’s on DownWithTyranny, have spelled out my main reason pretty well. I’ve supported Ashwin Madia since the start beacuse he has courage.

Today in a blog for The Hill Ashwin summed it up in one line

It’s time for a little more bravery in Washington.

Ashwin Madia has the courage to take on the war’s biggest cheerleader, Joe Lieberman

Today, the Republican Party announced that the loudest defender of status quo policies on Iraq, Senator Joe Lieberman, will be a prominent speaker at the Republican National Convention in my home state of Minnesota. Senator Lieberman and I do have one thing in common. We’ve both changed political parties. I left the Republican Party in 2002 after it replaced “balance our budget” with “borrow and spend” and after we started a war without a plan for success; a war we did not need.

With all respect to Senator Lieberman, talking tough about Iraq is not brave. Bravery is not demonstrated through words but instead through action.

Ashwin Madia has the courage to oppose the recent FISA bill.

I am troubled by the House passage of HR 6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. There is much we can do to prevent terrorism, but such measures do not require the sacrifice of fundamental constitutional freedoms which our country was founded upon. This legislation demonstrates the need for leaders in Congress who have experience in the military and in Iraq, and who value the rule of law as we fight the War on Terror.

Ashwin Madia has the courage to stand for full equality for all Americans.

Ever since the start of my campaign, I have been reaching out to members of the LGBT community in Minnesota. That’s because I strongly believe in full equal rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.

As a Marine Corps lawyer who served in Iraq, I was one of first attorneys to successfully defend a gay Marine from discrimination in the military. It wasn’t easy to stand in front of a jury made up of other U.S. Marines and argue against the military’s bigoted and shameful “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, but I was more than willing to do so. I would I would be proud to serve alongside anyone brave enough to put on the uniform.

As someone with a brother who is gay, I would advocate passionately for passage of a federal hate crimes law that recognizes the disproportionate number of threats on a daily basis faced by members of the LGBT community. Existing law already extends legal protections for a number of vulnerable minority communities. Every day that we do not have this protection, LGBT individuals remain at risk.

I support same-sex marriage and full equality under the law. Civil unions fall short and seem to be a way for politicians to avoid recognizing all people as equal.

Lastly, it is unacceptable that our nation continues to allow a form of discrimination to exist in the workplace based on a characteristic that is just as inherent as sex, race, or disability. I support efforts to prohibit job discrimination.

I’m running for an open seat which had been held by a moderate Republican. But my opponent, State Representative Erik Paulsen, has been a vehement opponent of equal rights for LGBT Minnesotans for more than a decade. He led the fight in 2004, and again in 2006, to write discrimination into the Minnesota state constitution. He even voted to prevent equal benefits from being provided to domestic partners of state employees even though many of Minnesota’s largest employers already have policies that promote equality.

I have been endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign and by Minnesota’s Stonewall DFL (Democrats). I hope you will consider supporting my campaign in the coming days and weeks. We need pragmatic problem solving not people who put their political ideology ahead of principles. It’s time for a few more patriots in Congress and a few less politicians.

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Those are just three examples to give you a idea of what Ashwin is about. Ashwin is a fighter, if we send him to Washington he will not disappoint.

We won’t get a great progressive like that in Washington by wishing for it. We’ve got to work for it.

Want courage in Washington? Donate.

Jeff Rosenberg: Madia campaign to hold debate viewing party Thursday night

Published on August 20, 2008 at 8:45 am
, filed in CD3 and Local Politics
. Closed

Don’t forget: the first CD3 debate of the general election is this Thursday, 8:00 a.m., at One General Mills Boulevard in Golden Valley. Unfortunately, the cost to get in for non-TwinWest Chamber of Commerce members is $35. Too spendy for you? Well don’t worry; thanks to the generosity of the Ashwin Madia campaign, there will be another opportunity to watch the debate.

The Madia campaign will be hosting a free viewing party at their campaign headquarters. Here’s the info:

For those who cannot attend the pre-debate rally or debate, we will be holding a FREE debate watching party at 6:00 p.m. on the evening of August 21st at the office at 10200 73rd Avenue, Ste 116 in Maple Grove. RSVP at lpryor(at)madiaforcongress(dot)com.

Thanks so much to the Madia campaign for arranging this! This is another great example of Ashwin Madia’s generosity and his campaign’s openness.

To thank Ash and his campaign, let’s all be generous with our time as well. The campaign is looking for volunteers to rally outside the debate and hold signs. Here’s the information on what they’re looking for:

At 6:00 a.m., we will be holding a pre-debate rally. Hold signs, welcome Ashwin Madia to the debate, and show your support for Ashwin Madia for Congress.

At 7:00 a.m., there will be registration and a pre-debate continental breakfast. We DEFINITELY need people holding signs outside to greet attendees to the debate at this time. It is vital we have as many people as possible outside.

At 8:00 a.m., the 90 minute debate will begin.

We are asking individuals to hold signs outside the debate from 6:00 - 8:00 a.m., so that we can show all attendees to the debate that the 3rd Congressional District supports Ashwin Madia for Congress. RSVP at lpryor(at)madiaforcongress(dot)com

This is a great way to get involved and thank Ash. Please volunteer today!

Jeff Rosenberg: Precinct by precinct: a two-prong strategy for Madia in CD3

Published on August 11, 2008 at 3:33 pm
, filed in CD3
. Closed

Editor’s Note: This post has been promoted to the frontpage; as such, all comments should be made there. This is the sixth of nine articles in Jeff’s Daily Liberal Mapping Project. These articles examine Minnesota’s voting patterns precinct by precinct, with data from the 2006 election. For previous articles, go here.

Finally, we get to the district everyone’s been waiting for: CD3, home of retiring moderate GOP Congressman Jim Ramstad. The district has been in Republican hands for 50 years, but now is considered one of the Democrats’ best opportunities to pick up a seat.

The 3rd District just barely leans Republican, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+1. I showed in an earlier set of maps how CD3 has slowly been turning more liberal. The voting map (below, left) shows that the district is split geographically: suburbs close to the central city have become quite liberal, while townships and exurbs at the edge of Hennepin County have remained solidly Republican.

That doesn’t tell the whole story, though. Ultimately, almost the entire district is a toss-up when it comes to the Congressional race because voters in the 3rd are very willing to split tickets. Volatility is a measure of variation across races. Precincts with high volatility are those that see a lot of ticket-splitters. As the volatility map (below, right) shows, almost every precinct has a volatility higher than the state median. That means anything can happen. However, I would say that Madia, as an Iraq War veteran and a former Republican, has a much better chance of reaching out to swing voters than Paulsen, the ideological former Majority Leader for the MNGOP.

Low turnout could become a problem for either candidate, but the turnout map (below, left) show it is probably a bigger liability for Madia. The inner-suburban districts where he is strongest have very low turnouts. In fact, in many precincts that had a Democratic vote of over 60 percent, low turnout has meant that 35 percent or fewer of eligible voters actually voted Democratic (below, right). These precincts are particularly important for Madia because most of them have low volatility. They’re unlikely to vote for Paulsen.

The strategy for Madia in this campaign should have two components.

  1. Win over volatile Republican precincts. Because there are so many potential ticket-splitters in the district, Madia can neutralize Paulsen’s advantage in Republican precincts with his fantastic story and command of the issues.
  2. Turn out the base. There are a ton of party-line Democratic votes available in places like Bloomington and Brooklyn Park. These voters need to be turned out in droves on election day, to ensure the widest possible margin for Madia. If he has kept the vote in the western precincts relatively close, the eastern precincts will carry the day.
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