Legalectric

The guy who convinced me to begrudgingly believe in electoral politics has died.  Services will be at 10 a.m. Aug. 19 at the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, 511 Groveland Ave., Minneapolis. Visitation will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday.

In the STrib: W. Harry Davis dead at 83

Photos from Davis’s Overcoming. (I wonder what that girl with the attitude is doing these days!)

Harry Davis, who ran for Mayor of Minneapolis in 1971 died today. 35 years ago, I was in homeroom at Central High with his son Ricky, didn’t know him well, he was a jock and I was a “maggot” hanging out in the front yard (thank Dog for independent studies). Harry Davis was on the School Board then, and the School Board was dancing around desegration. Our Central Magnet School was an attempt to desegregate the school district and avoid a suit, though the suit went forward and the district ended up in a consent agreement (odd, but segregation at that time was a school more than 30 or 35% minority — a 100% white school was not viewed as segregated!). Anyway, Harry’s run got me fired up, and I worked on his campaign, grunt work, did mailings, lit drops and doorknocking, and I remember some people’s vile responses with a queasy gut, and when the Davis signs kept disappearing from our front yard, even my Republican father got upset!

This is Harry Davis filing for the mayoral race.

During his campaign, he was threatened repeatedly, to the point that he was assigned first a police officer and then an FBI guard. Then two furry ones too, pictured here with his grandson!

He tells of doorknocking in hostile Nordeast, and then Bob Short, Don Fraser and Hubert Humphrey throwing in with him, and when he was on the street:

...a car pulled up alongside me. Out of it jumped Hubert Humphrey and Don Fraser, who said ‘Harry, we’re coming to give you some help.’ They offered to go with me and introduce me at each door as their choice for mayor. They spent the rest of that afternoon with me and the next day too, doing just that…

They were pounding the pavement and doors for two days across Northeast Minneapolis. They also made appearances with him, their efforts Davis called “the nicest gesture I ever witnessed in political life.”

Overcoming is well worth reading, though it’s so damn depressing to be reminded of how hard it was for him to run. He rated the debate at my parent’s church, Mayflower, as “lively” and it was one of only two that Stenvig agreed to. I remember the room was packed and I remember feeling very nervous about the palpable heat in the room. I don’t remember one thing about content, nothing at all, only the overwhelming angst and disgust over the opposition’s behavior and the fear I felt, immediate and also fear for our culture — he reports that Stenvig supporters spit at him on his way out the door.

How far have we come? We’re fortunate he had the courage to run for office. Lines have morphed some, but the battles are still there…

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TakeAction, recognizing a progressive when it sees one, has endorsed Julie Risser for Senate in Minnesota’s SD41 — no contest, she got over 70% on the first ballot. Risser is running for Senate in Edina and West Bloomington against incumbent Geoff Michel and DFL endorsed Andrew Borene.

Here’s Julie and her daughters from the MPR site. They covered the SD41 race earlier this week in “Edina is key suburban battleground this campaign.” There are parts of her campaign journal on their site. Here’s “It doesn’t cost anything to knock on a door.”

Take Action, the new political morph of Progressive Minnesota and MAPA, is an important endorsement because they support a PROGRESSIVE platform and values and have resources to help progressive candidates get their message out. TakeAction has a thorough candidate screening process, through which they target campaigns:

From their Campaign page:

We will be working hard in the upcoming months to return a progressive majority to our state legislature.

We will do this by:

• Targeting races (done by our political committee) to screen and endorse candidates
• Coordinating the work of our progressive partners so that our resources are used wisely
• Training and developing other good organizers
• Keeping the base energized & engaged by staying focused on the issues that matter to Minnesota — like good jobs, decent schools, and affordable health care
• Turning out progressive voters on Election Day through strong organizing and a great canvass.

This TakeAction endorsement is an important endorsement of her candidacy, which Julie proudly adds to those of Clean Water Action and the Progressive Women’s Caucus!

WAY TO GO, RISSER!!! (hmmmmmmmm… think she’s getting helpful hints from WI’s Fred Risser???)

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Mark Ritchie and ol’ what’s her name were in Red Wing for a candidate forum, and here’s the report from the Republican Beagle:

Secretary of State candidates square off

And here’s the good, the unbelievable part — they agree on something! And that something they agree on is that the City of Red Wing has gone too far by instituting background checks of City Council candidates! Really!

Here’s the snippet from the article:

Oppose Red Wing candidate policy

Kiffmeyer and Ritchie found agreement on at least one issue: both said in interviews that they opppose the city of Red Wing asking candidates for City Council to sign a voluntary release form giving the city permission to conduct criminal background checks.

In a guest column in Wednesdayâ??s Republican Eagle, city attorney Jay Squires wrote that such a check â??provides assurance to the city of Red Wing and its voters that taxpayer dollars wonâ??t be wasted on a special election if, at some point, ineligibility is discovered.â?

Kiffmeyer said she understands the cityâ??s concern, but said itâ??s probably gone too far.

â??These are elected officials; theyâ??re not employees,â? she said, adding that it â??may have intimidated some peopleâ? from filing.

Ritchie also said the practice could discourage qualified candidates from stepping forward.

â??This seemed so over the top,â? he said.

Since my initial conversation with the County Attorney, I’ve not heard a PEEP about my Complaint.

Here’s the City Attorney Jay Squire’s “explanation” of the background checks as reported in the Beagle:

Guidelines explained for City of Red Wing’s elected offices

If you recall, Jay Squires is the attorney for the Northfield School District who objected to the District constructing and operating a wind turbine — said District didn’t have express authorization so couldn’t. And here the same guy says “there’s no prohibition.” Yeah, OK, so Squires, show me the express authorization for this RW background check that you thought so necessary for a wind turbine? You’d think that civil rights for citizens have a higher standard than nuts and bolts wind turbines… oh well… If I come across that AG Opinion on that I’ll post it, and lo and behold the law was changed, BUT the window of opportunity for Northfield passed and there were how many schools with wind turbines already… sob… thanks to Squires and his goofy perspective.

Found the AG Opinion to Squires about the wind turbine:

jay-squires-ag-opinion.pdf

It ‘s worth the read, looking at his approach, that you can’t do something unless authorized. Very different than his view of Red Wing’s intrusive background check.

… silly me — between the City of Red Wing and these clowns… and this dog… seems they’re mighty uncomfortable and working hard to quash public discussion! As a DFL buddy succinctly put it, “These people should be castrated, bullwhipped, tarred, feathered, ridden out of town on a rail and beaten senseless with a fat hardcover copy of ‘The Mass Psychology of Fascism.’ (Although the castration might in some cases seem redundant â?¦ it’s better to be sure.)” Yes, that’d be fun, but I prefer they keep showing their true colors and fear of vox populi! Ain’t the internet grand!!!

More interesting/boring crap on the wired… seems that rather than offer a candidate who can walk and talk DFL progressive thought, the DFL whines anonymously that Risser’s candidacy is a Republican plot! Get a grip, folks! It’s time to take a look in the mirror!
Here, from the Daily Kos:

Greens Helping the GOP?

And admittedly cross-posted at Minnesota Campaign Report:

Greens Helping the GOP?

Whoever wrote this has obviously not checked out Andrew Borene’s site as carefully as they checked Risser’s! Take a look at www.andrewborene.com

Andrew says things like:

Health Care

I will work to maintain Minnesotaâ??s high quality of care while making healthcare coverage affordable for all Minnesotans. I will also work on behalf of an aging population that deserves access to affordable prescriptions. I support laws that respect individual healthcare decisions and protect doctors from frivolous lawsuits.

Ummmm… hello, notice that his concern is making “healthcare COVERAGE” affordable, and not making “HEALTHCARE” affordable? And then he adds this gem also from the insurance company and Republican playbook: “I support laws that respect individual healthcare decisions and protect doctors from frivolous lawsuits.” I found this so offensive I asked him to explain it and he couldn’t/wouldn’t. And then there’s his section on Energy — nonexistent.

So who is this saying, “I have full faith and confidence in Boreneâ??s ability to win in Edina,” and then calling him a “progressive?” It’s party politics spoken by a party operative mouthing party line. Try thinking critically, folks! It just might help you win elections!

Can anyone paying even a modicum of attention to politics not be aware of the problems of the DFL, a party running lame candidates in promising districts, running candidates who wouldn’t know a progressive though it if bit them in their DFL ass, a party with “leadership” too busy dirt-digging amongst its own to run an honest campaign? Well, after all, the DFL is the party that supports its Senator from Xcel who amended the Mesaba bill into the Prairie Island Bill for his employer Xcel! (and then he has to spoil it all by demonstrating he has a heart? Article HERE).

If the DFL spent half the time it spends on propaganda and manipulation on candidate development and education, it probably wouldn’t be in the fine mess it’s in.

Hmmmmmmmmmm… I wonder what VanHecke’s up to these days…