Shocking News: Ward 1 City Council Race

Joe over at MPP has a post up tonight talking about the Minneapolis City Council race in Ward 1, with the convention coming up in Saturday.

The earth shattering news was that Doron Clark was conservative when he was in college and was quoted in a Washington Post live Q&A more than 11 years ago.

Hamline University student: Doron Clark: As a conservative, I find it difficult to not question what Clinton says, but I have learned that we must take our time when evaluating the statements of the press and the president. I feel that in time we will learn the truth, but until then we are unfortunately stuck with whatever is fed to us.

And what about our DFL endorsed Congressional Candidate Ashwin Madia. In the 2000 presidential race, Madia volunteered for Senator John McCain.

Madia was a moderate Republican until 2002, when his positions on social issues and Iraq led him to the Democratic Party.

The ability to take a reasoned approach based on our collective experiences is important.

Let's be clear. Being "conservative" in 1998 is vastly different than being "conservative" in 2009. Do I need to go through the last 8 years under Bush?

Had Doron stated his in 2006, we'd have a problem.

2009...not so much.

Here's what Doron and the campaign had to say about this shocking revelation:

"I was raised by Minnesota Independent Republican parents who valued responsive government that cared for people. After my father died when I was 9, my family relied on the government for help, public school education, food stamps, reduced cost school lunches, and social security to make ends meet and survive. My family and I recognized the need for strong community and government organizations to provide help in difficult times. At the same time as my father's death, my mother was purged from the Republican Party for her views on choice. Still, much of my family remained in the party and it was not until after I graduated from college (during the sprint to war after the 9-11 attacks) that I re-examined my party affiliation and recognized what my friends had known for years: Doron Clark is a progressive DFLer."

Political espionage days before the convention?

Perhaps.

I sure hope our attentive alternative and main stream media hounds are also doing their due diligence and checking out the public record on all our candidates...