Category: GOP Politics

by Dave Mindeman

Republicans in Minnesota are in a constant state of denial.

Zellers and Dean gave a news conference in which they claim they cannot understand how they could have lost on Tuesday. It all escapes them, the voters were either misinformed, duped, lied to, or possibly just stupid.

Here are some of the rejoinders....

?If you?re the owner of a business, look forward to higher taxes,? said Zellers.

You just lost both Houses of the legislature and you are still going back to talking points?

Republican leaders claimed they were outspent.

When you bankrupt your state party with financial malfeasance...yeah, there is a chance you would be outspent.

?We don?t have fat-cat donors,? said Zellers, who announced that he would not be seeking a minority leadership position.

That was pretty much a delusional statement.

Zellers and Dean claimed that the DFL candidates really didn?t campaign on how they?ll govern. ?They had a message of running against us,? said Zellers.

I don't know how many times the Democrats have to say we need a balanced approach before Republicans get the translation. And of course, they were running against you....who were you running against, Mr. Zellers?

So what happened?

?It?s up to a lot of college professors [to explain the election outcome],? Zellers said. ?They have to justify their big salaries.?

Maybe you'd better listen to them, Mr. Zellers....because eventually you will have to figure this out.

More.....

Zellers repeatedly said the amendments weren?t ?our message.? The GOP campaign message he said was balancing the budget without raising taxes and in making the Minnesota business climate more competitive.

So, why then, did you put gay marriage and voter ID front and center? No one else put them there. You did...the GOP did.

That news conference was just one more point that proves the GOP was never fit to govern. Politics always trumped policy.

And now we know, there is a price to pay for that.

Category: GOP Presidential Candidates

by Dave Mindeman

OK, here are some general thoughts.

First, Florida is an embarrassment. I don't care which Party you belong to; seeing those incredibly long lines just to vote is ridiculous. If the response of a Governor is to shorten early voting and to have his state unable to report results on election night, then that guy should be voted out at the earliest opportunity. This is America....not a banana republic.

Secondly, I hope the GOP is figuring out how far you can go with appealing only to angry white men and billionaire donors. Money fixes a lot of things but not bad candidates and bad policy.

Third, Latino voters have spoken the loudest of all. It is time to put a comprehensive immigration policy on the table and make everyone vote on it ...up or down. If Republicans want to continue their policy of obstruction, then they do so at their own peril.

Fourth, it is high time to end DOMA once and for all in Minnesota. We had a very long and intense debate on this issue this year,(thanks to the GOP legislature) and the voters gave us permission to move ahead and not backward.

Fifth, I understand the caution that the new DFL leadership may feel about an agenda. The overreach by the GOP cost them a short lived majority. But political capital needs to be used. Good policy that fixes our structural budget problems, fixes infrastructure, and promotes common sense and fair tax reform are needed and would be rewarded.

Sixth, it was good to see more women rewarded with places at the legislative table. New Hampshire now has all its Federal offices held by women (although one is a Republican - we'll forgive her for that). Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin. Mazie Hirono in Hawaii, and a new Republican from Nebraska Deb Fischer...all will join the Senate. Women will hold 19 seats in the Senate - still a long ways from suitable representation, but progress none-the-less.

Seventh, I have to give one more shoutout to Nate Silver and his fivethirtyeight blog. He correctly predicted 50 out of 50 on the state races (assuming Florida finally comes in for Obama). Silver is approaching iconic status. He held true to what his numbers told him despite a viscious backlash from a desperate Romney campaign and conservative bloggers. He never wavered. And that's because Silver believes in numbers and facts. I have little doubt that if in 2014, the numbers favor the GOP, he will say so. He is not an ideologue that slants the data, he simply states what his data and elaborate computer models tell him. He put his entire reputation on the line and was vindicated entirely.

I am sure there will be more to talk about. Next year will be another very interesting political year.

Stay tuned...............

Category: Gay Rights

by Dave Mindeman

Not only did the Constitutional Marriage amendment fail in Minnesota, but same sex marriage initiatives passed in 3 other states...Maine, Maryland, and Washington.

Can we please say that equality in marriage for gay couples has turned the corner and that this country can end another bastion of discrimination?

Marriage is NOT redefined. It is simply expanded. That is a good thing. I think our problem has always been an intense desire by social conservatives to make this a religious issue. It isn't.

Marriage, through the church, can be defined any way the church wants to....but to take any belief and lock it into a government mandate that forced everyone to take a civil right and make it mimic that belief, has overstepped conventional boundaries.

The LGBT community should savor a victorious moment but there is more work to do.

Now they have something to build on.

(Oh and by the way, we now have the first openly gay Senator from the state of Wisconsin -- how cool is that!)