The State Canvassing Board has confirmed the vote totals and the recount officially starts on Monday.
No word yet on whether the Board denied Emmer's request.
Emmer will ask the State Canvasing Board to do...
Posted by Jeff Labels: 2010 Elections, GOP, Governor, RecountExactly what the Minnesota Supreme Court refused to do.
FROM MPR
Now, attorneys for Republican Tom Emmer are expected to ask the five member State Canvassing Board to do what the Supreme Court didn't -- require local
elections officials to match up the number of ballots cast with the number of voters who signed in on Election Day.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the Canvasing Board will decline Mr. Emmer's request as well, call it hunch.
It appears as if the GOP is on a delaying tactic at this moment.
In a very quick decision the Minnesota Supreme Court refused to intervene on Tom Emmer and the GOP behalf on the grounds of "over votes". A full decision will be released at a later date.
From MPR
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled late this afternoon that it would not intervene the likely recount of the votes in the state's still-undecided governor's race. Republican Tom Emmer had asked the court to force county elections officials to reconcile the number of ballots cast on November second with the signatures of people as they signed in to vote. The court heard arguments on the issue earlier this afternoon and issued its decision denying Emmer's petition just a few minutes ago.
Hennepin County Response to Emmer's Request
Posted by Jeff Labels: 2010 Elections, Governor, RecountOne of the oldest questions asked by ancient philosophers is the casualty dilemma, “what comes first the chicken or the egg?” Metaphorically the ancient philosophers were discussing life with that question but as we look towards the future of the Independence Party of Minnesota we have a similar problem. What comes first the Money or the Structure?
The infrastructure of the Party is dependent on Money but without the infrastructure can the IP raise the money? It is another casualty dilemma that will be plaguing the Party Leadership as the year progress and the Party begins to prepare for the 2012 election cycle.
The IP cannot hope for success without building the party infrastructure. The infrastructure the party needs is branding itself as being different than both parties, keeping people active in the party, the ability to organize volunteers, and the ability to raise money.
As William Labovitch in his letter to the Editor of the Star Tribune writes “It's time the Independence Party stops running candidates and runs on the only message it ever had: None of the above.” The problem of course is that is nowhere near the truth. Anyone who watched the Tom Horner’s campaign saw the message “No Left, No Right, but Forward” to borrow Peter Hutchinson’s campaign slogan. Horner proposed many vastly different solutions than either of the other candidates and spent hours explaining the difference but if the common Joe only knows or hears “None of the above” than there is a branding issue that needs to be addressed.
As Tom Horner suggests in his editorial to the Star Tribune:
the political center needs to be branded. Accurately or not, Minnesotans define the political left as the defenders of social justice, where the interests of Everyday Joe or Jane take priority over Wall Street. If this requires bigger government, so be it. On the political right, Minnesotans see a party perceived to be for business and smaller government. The right is seen as the home of "traditional values."Of course as a former Moderate Republican, I instinctly know what the center of the political spectrum, but how do I explain and “sell” that knowledge to another potential voter. Maybe the new motto should be “the best of both worlds; working to improve the life of the common Joe by partnering with the Business.”
As for the political center, for too many Minnesotans there is no definition. It's a political mash-up, a bit of this and a bit of that without any clarity and, worse, without any core principles. There needs to be a clear and compelling answer to the question, "What does it mean to be a political centrist?"
“Best of Both Worlds” needs to be a starting point a simple rallying point for the political center and it needs to be expressed in a platform and plank. If the platform of the Party continues to be centered on the Party and not political spectrum than the slogan is lost.
The current first item of the core values of the IP reads “A democratic process with integrity and broad citizen participation” I would suggest it should be rewritten “Empowering and Engaging citizens to be involved in the democratic process with integrity and tolerant ideals.” Well that is my first attempt at that sentence, but while they mean virtually the same thing the second sentence is more appealing and attractive to the casual voter.
This concept needs to be heard by more than those in just the Party and sooner than the next election, and that’s what the Party Leadership needs to do, speak out. MPR, morning news shows, letters to the editors, speaking engagements,
The next issue is one that I have complained about for years, the inability to keep people involved with the party after the election. I’ll be honest I am no different than your average Joe, none election season and I hardly write or post anything, however once the election season starts. For the party to grow and bloom that needs to change. Where are people like John Binkowski, Jim Haviland, Peter Hutchinson, Tim Penny. A few of us know that some of these people are still involved but the IP needs to better engage these former candidates and get them involved in preparing, recruiting, and fund raising for the party and it next generation of candidates.
But it goes beyond the former candidates (and their staffs) but to the general volunteers and those that provided financial support for the process. These people are just as important to the party, especially moving forward. Horner has called these people the Grassroots of the party. It could be something as small as a $50 donation to the party or attending a political rally or fundraiser. All of this is important as the party moves forward.
One of the problems with the IP and many geographically dispersed groups’ is that the call for action is both local and regional in nature and that requests sent to everyone become toned out because there are so many. I can’t tell you how often over the past year I saw requests for “volunteers” in places well beyond my general vicinity. In the end all these requests became no better than spam. The IP needs a better system of ‘spearing’ or getting the people closest to the event notified and leaving those further away off the list. Even if it means losing one or two people from across the state if the requests seem more local more people should want to involved. You live in SW Minnesota than you should hear about the events in the South West Minnesota, not the NE or the NW or… Stay Local.
This also needs to include expanding the “get togethers” and the what not. The next time that the IP gets together shouldn’t be the caucus in spring. We need to start now to empower more people.
Finally the party needs a better fundraising apparatus. It needs to allow people to contribute on different scales and means than the current system. The average donation is like $45 a year per individual and if the IP wants to move forward than it needs to get that amount from the core group and next orbit of people. Simple math if 100,000 people donate $45 a year than the IP has raised $4.5 million dollars, considering that amount is nothing compared to what the big two parties raise it is more than enough to be competitive in 2012.
Read the full Editorial here
And while I can't speak for all candidates, I know my campaign -- and those of Jesse Ventura, Tim Penny and Peter Hutchinson before me -- wasn't ego-driven. I and the other IP gubernatorial candidates represent a large swath of Minnesota voters who are ignored by the DFL and GOP. There is much evidence to suggest that we speak for much broader audiences than our vote totals suggest.
Read the MPR report here
Before the details are released it appears teh GOP is suing to get "excess" ballots removed from precincts where more ballots were cast then people registered.
More Details to follow
Read the Letters here.
Matt Lewis, Press Secretary for the IP Candadate Tom Horner Writes:
Horner didn't take votes; he earned them
The Independence Party does not "take" votes: It earns them ("Tom Horner wins -- well kind of, sort of," Nov. 14).
More than a quarter-million Minnesotans voted for Horner for governor. It is a smaller base than the other two major parties. But multiple elections prove it significant.
There is also a letter from William Labovitch who simple states:
The governor's race outcome is still pending, and yet everybody knows Horner did
not win.
It's time the Independence Party stops running candidates and runs on the only message it ever had: None of the above.
The 2006 Inpendence Candidate for Gorvernor and current President of the Bush Foundation Peter Hutchinson will be speaking in Willmar on December 2nd.
WILLMAR — Peter Hutchinson, president of the Bush Foundation, will speak in
Willmar on Dec. 2.
Hutchinson is also a former state finance commissioner and was the 2006 Independence Party candidate for governor.
He will speak on “Government Service Redesign and Spending Reform” from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Willmar Conference Center, hosted by the Willmar Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce.
Cost is $10, including lunch. To make reservations, call 320-235-0300 or e-mail chamber@willmar areachamber.com.
Hutchinson will talk about the problems facing Minnesota and outline the kind of leadership it will take to solve them.
Hutchinson has been president of the St. Paul-based Bush Foundation since December 2007. The foundation was established in 1953 by 3M executive Archibald Granville Bush and his wife Edyth. Its aim is to help improve the lives of the people of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota and in the 23 sovereign tribal nations in those states. In 2009, the Foundation made grants of approximately $35 million.
Before moving to the foundation, Hutchinson was co-founder of the Public Strategies Group, a St. Paul company that redesigns and transforms governments throughout the world. He also served as the vice president for external affairs for the Dayton Hudson Corp. and chairman of the Dayton Hudson Foundation. He was superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools and was a deputy mayor in Minneapolis. Hutchinson is coauthor with David Osborne of “The Price of Government: Getting the Results We Need in an Age of Permanent Fiscal Crisis.”
A Blog posting by Jason Hoppin in the Pioneer Press/
During a chat over the weekend, Washington Post political reporter Chris Cillizza pegs Chip Cravaack as a one-term House member, likely to lose his seat in 2012.
Obviously it's early -- Cravaack hasn't even taken the oath and is literally going to freshman orientation today -- but Cillizza says voters in the the 8th Congressional District are likely to want to return a Democrat to the seat next election.
We're not so sure. The Cook Political Report rates the district as +3 Democrat, which isn't overwhelmingly partisan. And Iron Range Democrats are more conservative than their urban counterparts.
Furthermore, redistricting will likely have an effect on the district. With Michele Bachmann's 6th District seeing big population gains over the last decade, it's likely the 8th District would take on some of the 6th's voters, spilling more red into a blue district.
The first step in this discussion is to look at the US Census population estimates for the Counties in the 8 US CD, notable St. Louis, Chisago, Carlton, Benton, ... and come up with the current estimates. 616,000 thousand people according to the 2009 estimates or just under 12% of Minnesota Total Population.
Eight US CDs puts the percentage at 12.5%. Wow there will be a big shift there.
Of course that assumes that Minnesota does indeed have eight seats when it is announced later in the year and the population estimates are somewhat correct.
I doubt you'll see a big shift in the 8 US CD boundries.
Now the problem is the 4 US CD, which is St. Paul, Maplewood, Oakdale and a few other little suburbs on the east side of St. Paul. Population estimates there are only 570,000 range, you would need Lake Elmo, Stillwater, Grant and the other exurbs between Stillwater and I94. Hum, doesn't that include Michele Bachmann's residence?
You can read the full article here.
I will be adding some comments in a little later after I have had time to digest the entire thing.
KSTP/Survey USA did another survey and the crosstab results are here
If Tom Horner was in the election who would you have voted for:
Emmer - 29
Dayton - 37
Other Candidate - 22
Not Voted - 11
Unsure - 1
While the Republicans still are "screaming" about the vote leaning, because Horner Lost so much support in the last week I figured the results of any survey would look like this. It's back to the core IP voters, which lean Democrate.
From the MPR and U of MN
Minnesota Public Radio and the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute say they'll be taking a close look at how they conducted polls before the election.
They said in a statement today the process will include an internal review by the Humphrey Institute, and an independent audit by Frank Newport, the editor and chief of Gallup.
The MPR-Humphrey Institute polls were accused of consistently overstating support for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton.
The final pre-election poll gave Dayton a 12-point lead over Republican Tom Emmer. But Dayton's lead in the voting was under half of 1 percentage point, pending a recount.
MPR and the Humphrey Institute say they'll be looking at whether there's a problem with their methodology or if other factors explain the difference.
MPR and the Humphrey Institute partnered this year to conduct four polls leading up to Election Day. The final poll, based on interviewing begun nearly two weeks before Election Day, showed results significantly different from the final election tally. This issue will be examined along with the raw data from other polls to determine whether there is a methodological reason for the difference, or whether external events account for the difference.
"We are committed to a transparent review of our polling methodology because we value the importance of continuous improvement in our efforts," said Professor Larry Jacobs, director of the Humphrey Institute's Center for the Study of Politics and Government. "If a shortcoming is identified, we will fix it. If not, we will have third-party verification that our methods are sound."
"The review of polling methodology is a necessary step in continuing to provide Minnesotans with the unbiased information they need to make informed decisions," said Chris Worthington, MPR's managing director of News.
Dean Brian Atwood of the Humphrey Institute added, "I welcome the opportunity to conduct this self analysis and peer review, a regular process for any academic institution. Professor Jacobs is an internationally recognized expert in this field. He is a professional who looks critically at his own work, as well as at polls conducted by others. We are committed to maintaining a very high standard."
Well I am going to start with my opinion that the IP of Minnesota continue as a political party. There has already been much discussion about whether or not a 527 Organization would be a better fit for the existing IP. A 527 is a tax exempt organization created primarily to influence nominations, elections, or defeat of political candidates for office.
Moving to a 527 would free the IP from recruiting, fund raising, and doing many things that Political Parties do while giving them a free hand at looking at which candidates would be the best or most moderate view.
The first and most important problem/issue I see with this “whom is the party going to support?” As the Republicans party continues to move to the right and the DFL/Democratic party continues it weeblo wobbling about how far left the party can go, where will the moderate or middle of the road candidates come from.
I had a Political Science teacher use the example of teeter-totter to explain American Politics, on the Right you have the Republicans and on the left the Democrats and everyone else needs to decide which side of the fulcrum they need to sit on. That example probably worked fairly well in the 70’s and 80’s as a majority of the population considered themselves either Democrats or Republicans and parties boasted numbers in the 40% range. As parties increased in size the more left and right leaning aspects of the parties learned that they could gain much in being active early. Today those numbers that indicate the size of the parties has decreased to closer to 25% and even a smaller portion of the party is active.
Tom Horner was asked why he didn’t run as a moderate Republican in the Primary, but the answer is simple. As a man who was Republican for 25 years the party had moved and changed so much he was no longer a Republican in the current sense of the word. "They own the brand and as such the right to define what a Republican is." To paraphrase Tom Horner.
As the Democratic and Republican Party has moved over the years they have of coursed assimilated other parties that were to the left and right of their positions. In both cases it can be argued that what they assimilated became the dominant aspect of the party.
This of course leaves a very large hole in the middle of the political spectrum. If there is no Independence Party than there will be no candidates with anything that resembles a viable chance of succeeding as such no one to endorse or support.
That doesn’t mean however that a 527 is a bad idea, and I would hope that at least one such group is created to help work the middle of politics rather than the fringes that we in today’s political landscape.
As I write, rant, blog, white board, brainstorm, and even publish my thoughts on the future of the Independence Party in Minnesota I will be the first person to tell you that my thoughts are not complete, are not finalized, and will be changing from today going forward as start putting them down on paper (in the blog). So what I say today could change by tomorrow, or next week, or three weeks from now, or…
I know that there are a small number of readers to this blog and it is my hope these thoughts help you formulate your own ideas, help you express your ideas, and hopefully provide a forum for others with similar inklings to maybe help me define my thoughts.
Before you can say this is what the Independence Party of Minnesota must do, you have to see if it has been tried before and whether or not it was successful. I forget who said this originally, but as a History Major I whole heartedly concur. When you look to the future you must understand the past for failure to do so creates a mandate that past mistakes will with all certainty be repeated.
After the humbling defeat in the 2010 Governor’s election much has been made on the future of the IP, should it continue as a party, should it become an 527 Political Entity, should it not endorse a candidate for 2012 Senator’s race, should it… The list of questions goes on and on and on. Makes one wonder if the DFL in Minnesota and Democrats nationally are asking the similar questions after the beating there party took at the polls.
Pioneer Press Story
The former budgeteers were John Gunyou (under Republican Gov. Arne Carlson), Peggy Ingison (under GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty), Jay Kiedrowki (under DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich) and Pam Wheelock (under IP Gov. Jesse Ventura).
It's interesting to see the list and thoughts that multiple perspectives could be present.
After watching the neighborhood children playing and pretending to be heroes of “Star Wars”, “Halo”, “Call to Duty” or even “Black Ops” I think about that cold and dreary day in the Northwest corner of France at precisely 11AM on Nov 11, 1918 the War to end all Wars came to an end. It was well before my time but the writing of the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen confirmed that they dreamed of day where children would not understand the concept of war, the same dream shared among servicemen throughout the world today. There dream like mine is not to be, not yet.
Millions have answered the call to service since that bloody morning and I have had the distinct honor to have served with some of the finest men and women you will ever have met. To my brothers and sisters I salute you. To friends and family who’s loved ones have never come home I wish I had words to explain their sacrifice, the ability to comfort you, the grace to provide the needed healing but my words would only be worthless and weak. I am reminded on this great day of a letter written nearly 150 years ago on November 26, 1864.
Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts:On this day, a day we celebrate those that answered a higher calling, a day we acknowledge individuals who have place the needs of the many above the needs of the few or the one, a day we seek to understand why or how an individual is willing to put themselves upon the altar of freedom without as much as moment’s notice, the 11 day of the 11 month is a day we call Veteran’s Day. For those of us who served it is a day that provides Free Food, Free Tickets to a sporting event, free parking and most importantly a warm handshake and hearty thank you. But I will let you in on a little secret,to those us that served, everyday is Veteran’s Day a day we remember or friends, comrades, brother and sisters in arms. We remember the good times and the bad, the happiness and the sorrow, the reasons we volunteered and the reasons we would Never Again Volunteer Yourself.
DEAR MADAM: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln
To those that look upon an empty chair, an empty bed, a folded flag or a set of tin dog tags everyday is Memorial Day and we cannot begin to express enough gratitude for your sacrifice.
Last week's election strengthened the argument for using ranked-choice voting in Minnesota elections -- even as GOP wins in the Legislature weakened the likelihood that Minnesotans will soon be able to vote for state offices by ranking candidates in order of preference.
That's the irony that confronts advocates of a switch to a ballot that allows ranked-choice voting rather than forcing voters to choose only one candidate in a multicandidate field.
For the fourth time in a row, Minnesota has elected a governor who did not win a majority of the votes cast. That will be true regardless of whether DFLer Mark Dayton retains his current unofficial lead of about 8,700 votes or Republican Tom Emmer overtakes him in a recount that now appears unavoidable. The 12 percent share of the vote captured by the Independence Party's Tom Horner assures a less-than-majority outcome for the eventual winner of this close election.
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