Posted: 07/26/09 00:09, Edited: 07/27/09 02:58
by Dave Mindeman
Today I trekked on down to Mower County and attended the First Annual Politics in the Pumpkin Patch north of Austin. It was your typical rural Minnesota Barbeque and Bean feed....but the unique thing about this one is that no less than 10 candidates for the DFL nomination for Governor were there.
In attendance were John Marty, Tom Bakk, Mark Dayton, R.T. Rybak, Chris Coleman, Susan Gaertner, Steve Kelley, Tom Rukavina, Paul Thissen, and Matt Entenza. The only major contender missing was Margaret Anderson Kelliher and she sent Rep. Terry Morrow as her representative.
This was District 27's first time with this venue -- I guess I would have to say it was on the OK side for the first time. It was held on a pumpkin farm north of Austin...we had to ask directions to figure out where it was -- guess they weren't figuring on many "outsiders" showing up.
My first impression took me back to my old farm days -- took a deep breath and got the familiar whiff of horse manure. It was due to real live horses....just in case you were thinking something else.
I took a quick head count and came up with about 125 people...which is OK until you realize you have ten candidates and at least 1 staffer for each.... plus the 3 local state representatives and the organizers. Still...anytime you can get 100 people together, candidates are happy. And, to be fair, some people were milling in and out, so maybe the straw poll will have a bigger number.
OK,next. The sound system was great so we could hear the candidates give their 5 or 10 minutes stump speeches very well. At least for those that were listening. People were milling around, chatting with each other, and of course feasting on the outdoor fare. That's the way these things go. The candidates were responded to politely, but nobody was winning on the applause meter.
The speeches were kind of secondary in a way -- most of the action was the one on one interactions between the candidates and the attendees. All of them managed to corral little groups of 2 or 3 and make those important connections. Retail politics.
I had a few conversations as well. I talked to Rep. Terry Morrow for a few minutes to ask him about Speaker Kelliher. She was attending a legislative leadership convention in Philadelphia,..and would have been here otherwise. I asked him if the Speaker had any intentions of leaving her post while seeking the endorsement. He was pretty clear that she would not -- it sounds like she intends to maintain her position while running for Governor. Not an easy task, but that seems to be the decision.
Talked briefly to John Marty -- he was trying to get to as many people as possible. I did notice that a group of 3 little old ladies had corraled him on a picnic table. John has been around for a long time, but he still looks like that grandson who is about to go off to college and needs some grandmotherly advice.
I listened to Rep. Rukavina's talk....I think this is probably his first appearance since entering the fracas. It is obvious that he is going to count on a lot of populist themes for his campaign. Made the comparison of a "little guy with populist ideas" beating the odds in Minnesota. Can't imagine who he was referring to....
Susan Gaertner sounded great as usual. Her views on issues are always solid and are portrayed with conviction. Her husband, John Wodele, was there as well -- he kind of made my day when he sought me out, came over and told me he reads this blog regularly. So, if you are reading this John -- thank you very much. But I'm still troubled about the RNC-8.....sorry.
R.T. Rybak and Chris Coleman looked pretty dapper as usual. It wasn't hard to find them in this group. They both sounded like pretty serious candidates, even without any official announcements. Rybak is looking to push his Minneapolis record as successful administration of a city in tough times. It's a good record, although we have seen ample evidence of the Republican attacks on, what they consider, wasteful spending.
Mark Dayton sauntered over to talk a few minutes with my wife and I. He is always a gracious guy and we talked a bit about how his day had been spent at a funeral in the morning (for one of the soldiers killed in Afghanistan), and then back to back district events in Edina (I think?) and then here in Austin. Mark related a personal connection to the soldier's family and thought wistfully about how the "only way to get out of a war is not to get into it in the first place." We talked briefly about his original anti-war vote on Iraq and he thought back to the courage Paul Wellstone had shown by voting against that war while heading into a re-election campaign.
Also talked a little with Bridget Cusick....Matt Entenza's Communications Director. She was in the midst of another busy day and we discussed a little about how people are a little afraid to ask Matt the hard questions -- and how he honestly wants them to be asked so that he can respond directly to however their impressions have been framed.
I mentioned to Bridget that I thought all of the candidates got along with each other very well -- and she said that that was very genuine. Everyone is getting to know each other pretty well and the differences on issues are essentially only slight nuances.
When Matt got his turn to speak he sounded some of the familiar themes that had been talked about throughout the evening. He closed his segment by pointing out that "the tallest candidate always wins the election -- and just to point out that he is 6 foot 5 inches and the tallest person here".... just saying.
This is a good field of candidates. They are all sincere and want to bring Minnesota back to its liberal, progressive traditions.
I certainly can't choose among them -- but somewhere down the road we have to select just one.
Guess we'll have to consume more barbeque and beans......
UPDATE: John Marty won the straw poll.
JOHN MARTY WON THE STRAW POL!