Tuesday, November 04, 2008

I Voted For Change

Bluewoman and I were in line before 7am this morning, getting ready to vote for change.

I was the 10th person to cast my vote in town today. I held true to my conscience and voted for Obama, Barkley, Tinklenberg, and Dave Detert.

I also voted no on the Constitutional Amendment as I think the legislature ought to have a little courage and actually pass it without the need for an amendment. I just don't think this stuff should go in the Constitution.

Anyway, it's going to be an interesting day!

10 comments:

krash600 said...

Hey I have a student in my office that talked with Barkley last week. Brakley said, after being asked how he would support Higher Ed. funding, "I am not going to pander to you... if there is no money to pay for anything, we have to make cuts."

eric zaetsch said...

Sit and wait. Are you going to be with Truscott at the Barkley victory or otherwise-thank-you party -- is there to be one?

I expect the Senate race will be the one needing to wait until every last vote is counted, Iron Range, dense-housing urban, rural, burbs.

Sarvi and the Sixth District along with the Senate contest will determine how many Republicans are left standing.

eric zaetsch said...

One final thought - be sure you know your polling place if intending to vote late. If you show up at the wrong place, stand in line, and a half hour later find you should be elsewhere, you might miss the chance to vote, in transit too late.

Strib's homepage has its "myVote" interactive subpage, where you can assure your polling place and see the ballot choices you will have, down ballot, judges and all.

eric zaetsch said...

Nov. 5 - It is unfortunate some of the strongest voices for Ashwin Madia got off message, for one thing or another.

ER Doc said...

I hope all the Barkley supporters are happy with Coleman for another six years... 601 votes!

eric zaetsch said...

er doc - The Barkley people, Betty McCollum, Priscilla Lord Faris, Oberstar, the papers with their premature endorsements and too gentle handled an approach to the Nasser Kazeminy things that fired the blogs, the Sixth District DFL who put more effort into Tinklenberg than into the more important Senate race, there are a host of "usual suspects." And Franken would have made such a good Senator. He would have fit so well the host of reforms Obama would hope to achieve. It is a true shame Obama's coat tails were not wider.

taxpaying liberal said...

I’m glad I voted for Barkley. I’m glad I worked for him and I’m proud of the campaign he ran. It was a pleasure to work for a candidate who didn’t have to pander to all the special interest.

This system is broke. 80% of the money Franken raised came for out of State. 75% of Norm’s money came from Pacs and out of State. How can we believe that that is good for us?

Almost half of the people who voted for Barkley would not have even voted if he wasn’t on the ballot (Star exit polling data).

This was the worst senate campaign I have ever seen. Franken didn’t receive a single newspaper endorsement. Franken’s messaging of helping the middle class was lost in the overwhelming message that Norm was a right wing Satan and in the end voters just didn’t buy it.

No matter who won, almost 60% of the voters cast a ballot against the winner.

Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves how Franken polled 10% lower than Obama (even more in the 6th).

Al and Norm spent almost $20 per vote. Barkley was under a dollar per vote.
You better get use to the fact that the IP is here to stay. I promise that we will have a candidate in the Governor’s race and in the next congressional race and even several house and senate races next election. And the 6th is an area we will be targeting because it’s wide open and Democrats have proven once again that they aren’t offering what the voters want to buy up here.

Charley Underwood said...

I am guessing that some folks will be attempting to blame Barkley for Franken's loss.

The fact is, the DFL had an excellent opportunity to endorse a truly remarkable candidate in the person of Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. But they blew it.

The theme running through all of this, as I see it, is that few people liked Franken, either personally or politically. But they saw him as the "winner." He got endorsed on frontrunner status alone. (Well, that and quite a bit of outside money.) In the process, of course, the party nominated yet another loser.

What a waste.

eric zaetsch said...

Charley - It's not blame. Exercising a right carries no blame.

Taxpaying Liberal - You are 100% correct the two party system is broken and needs fixing. But the IP offers progressives nothing, and the DFL offers little else (beside's Wellstone's ghost and Floyd B. Olson's).

That's the problem.

I live in the Sixth District and the DFL handed out Elwyn Tinklenberg. TINKLENBERG!

If you say the system is broke, look at what that guy does for his money. That or crazy Bachmann and the beautiful, glorious IP tried to rig that election for Tinklenberg but Bob Anderson had the courage to stand up and say it was wrong to do that.

Barkley and the other party bosses wanted it rigged, fixed for Tink.

Anderson ran and got a double digit vote, as did Barkley.

Bless Bob Anderson. He exercised his right!

In doing that he did more for the integrity of the IP than Barkley did, jiggling things in favor of Tink, pandering that way.

taxpaying liberal said...

EZ

I can't argue with you.