What We're Fighting
I taped
last night's Almanac, including the roundtable featuring Democrats Blois Olson & Dee Long & David Strom & Andy Brehm representing the Republicans so I could watch it tonight.
To say that Blois Olson is clueless is dramatic understatement. I can just see Mitch Berg nodding in agreement when he reads that. Mr. Olson said that "Democrats would win by talking about roads, transportation & healthcare." Give me a break. If it's possible, Dee Long sounded even more ridiculous, at one point saying that Gov. Pawlenty is good looking & "he speaks well, but when you talk about accomplishments, you tell me what he's done in terms of leadership in the legislature?" I was thinking that moving the state from a $4.5 billion deficit to a $1 billion surplus without raising taxes, creating 100,000 new jobs & lowering our tax ratings from top 5 in the nation to 16th isn't too bad an accomplishment that required his leadership.
I've gotta say that Blois Olson looked wild-eyed & totally convinced that "Democrats would win on roads, transportation & healthcare." Talk about far outside the mainstream. If he's what passes for a "DFL analyst" as they described him on Almanac, then it's simple to figure out why Democrats don't win big elections very often.
He & Dee Long started a meme that Republicans don't have anything to run on so they're just going to get personal right away. Give me a break. I didn't nickname the Democratic Party the "Party of Incoherent Thoughts" for nothing. They stand for raising taxes in times of prosperity & times of recessions. They stand for not being serious about fighting crime. If they were serious about it, why are the Powerline guys justified in calling Minneapolis "Murderapolis"?
The other thing that Blois Olson sounded like an idiot about was the subject of Sue Jeffers. Why shouldn't she be permitted to be nominated at the GOP convention? I thought to myself "when's the last time Democrats nominated a Green Party candidate in opposition to a Democratic incumbent?" In Blois Olson's miniature mind, logic doesn't seem to enter the picture if it's an issue he thinks of as fairness.
Frankly, he needs to get a thought, preferably a coherent one.
Posted Sunday, June 4, 2006 11:14 AM
May 2006 Posts
Comment 1 by kb at 04-Jun-06 11:30 AM
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 04-Jun-06 05:31 PM
Comment 3 by Dan at 04-Jun-06 06:36 PM
To say that Blois Olson is clueless is dramatic understatement. I can just see Mitch Berg nodding in agreement when he reads that. Mr. Olson said that "Democrats would win by talking about roads, transportation & healthcare." Give me a break. If it's possible, Dee Long sounded even more ridiculous, at one point saying that Gov. Pawlenty is good looking & "he speaks well, but when you talk about accomplishments, you tell me what he's done in terms of leadership in the legislature?" I was thinking that moving the state from a $4.5 billion deficit to a $1 billion surplus without raising taxes, creating 100,000 new jobs & lowering our tax ratings from top 5 in the nation to 16th isn't too bad an accomplishment that required his leadership.
I've gotta say that Blois Olson looked wild-eyed & totally convinced that "Democrats would win on roads, transportation & healthcare." Talk about far outside the mainstream. If he's what passes for a "DFL analyst" as they described him on Almanac, then it's simple to figure out why Democrats don't win big elections very often.
He & Dee Long started a meme that Republicans don't have anything to run on so they're just going to get personal right away. Give me a break. I didn't nickname the Democratic Party the "Party of Incoherent Thoughts" for nothing. They stand for raising taxes in times of prosperity & times of recessions. They stand for not being serious about fighting crime. If they were serious about it, why are the Powerline guys justified in calling Minneapolis "Murderapolis"?
The other thing that Blois Olson sounded like an idiot about was the subject of Sue Jeffers. Why shouldn't she be permitted to be nominated at the GOP convention? I thought to myself "when's the last time Democrats nominated a Green Party candidate in opposition to a Democratic incumbent?" In Blois Olson's miniature mind, logic doesn't seem to enter the picture if it's an issue he thinks of as fairness.
Frankly, he needs to get a thought, preferably a coherent one.
Posted Sunday, June 4, 2006 11:14 AM
May 2006 Posts
Comment 1 by kb at 04-Jun-06 11:30 AM
Gary, some of us wanted to get Jeffers her fifteen minutes on the stage. Instead we got Pawlenty acknowledging mistakes made and saying "even my wife doesn't agree with me all the time." I think he recognizes the need to reach out to the fiscal conservative base. The vote on the platform plank calling for referenda before stadium taxes was definitely a shot across his bow. Jeffers was a message we wanted to send to Pawlenty, and for some of us we were satisfied that he got that message. Others still are not going to trust him, but we don't live in a world with perfect candidates. We're gonna dance wid who brung us.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 04-Jun-06 05:31 PM
King, I didn't know that there was much support for Jeffers getting her 15 minutes. From an outsider's perspective, I just thought that Olson was just trying to make it sound like those mean-spirited Republicans were enforcing censorship again.
I'm glad that TPaw got the message, though. My other hope is that we get more conservatives elected this November, especially in the Senate.
Comment 3 by Dan at 04-Jun-06 06:36 PM
Actually, candidates for governor get 30 minutes to make a presentation. Pawlenty got 45 minutes, but who was counting, right? There was a large coalition, or caucus of delegates working to see to it Jeffers would speak at the convention. Party officials were very adept at preventing discussion of it on the floor, however.
