Kowabunga

Presidential Candidate John Cox of Illinois was the only candidate present at the Minnesota Straw Poll held this week. as such, he gave a good speech to the couple of hundred Minnesotans present for the event.

A shot video of his speech, splitting it into two parts so that it will fit into YouTubes 10 minute parameter for videos.

Part 1 of John Cox

Part 2 of John Cox

A lot of what Cox said resonates well with me, and I suspect with others as well. That being said, there were two points he made in regard to Iraq that put me off. The first is that he said if the current, democratically elected, government of Iraq doesn't get off its keester and get its political act together, we can and should replace it, just as we got rid of Saddam Hussein. The second is that we need to get Iraq's oil producing infrastructure up and fully operational and moving to the U.S.

The second point is the shorter one to explain why it bugs me, so I'll start with it. By complaining about the lack of oil production in post-war Iraq, and the need to get it flowing plays into the leftist mantra that Iraq is a "war for oil." This is not to say that he shouldn't make mention of oil production in Iraq, but the way it is phrased is important.

The way he presents it makes it sound as though we are entitled to the oil (or, more accurately, it's our oil). Getting oil production up and running to full capacity is important for Iraq for a number of reasons: Job creation, stabilizing the economy, and bringing in desperately needed revenues to facilitate the reconstruction of Iraq. It should not matter to whom Iraq sells their oil to (however I would prefer it not go to communist countries like China), and, sure, I would prefer it end up in our gas tanks in the long haul. But that is secondary to using the oil production to getting Iraq back on its feet, which is the primary goal.

Current oil production in Iraq is about 2 million barrels per day, only slightly below the target production of 2.1 million barrels. All in all, that's not too shabby a record.

As for the point on replacing the government of Iraq, Cox needs to remember that it is a democratically elected government, and as such, it should not be our decision to replacing it with something that might be more "friendly" to us. It is also an ally, and one should not threaten to remove our allies from power.

There have been numerous mistakes made in Iraq, including by the government that we helped to build and hope to see achieve good things. The Iraqi government has, with our blessing, made deals with murdering thugs like Muqtada al-Sadr, who is more interested in destabilizing the government and bringing in a totalitarian theocracy such as that which rules its neighbor, Iran.

Iraq also has to deal with rebuilding all of its infrastructure, particularly its military and police forces. This is a big job, and even though there are plenty of Iraqis who have shown the willingness to step up to the plate, they have also made themselves big targets for the terrorists. How many police stations and recruitment depots have been bombed killing and wounding hundreds of people?

On the upside, Cox resonates well on many of the issues.

He supports replacing the IRS with the "Fair Tax," which is a good move as it will encourage savings and investment by placing the tax burden on consumption.

He gets border security and illegal immigration. As he said, we don't need to reform our immigration laws but enforce the current laws.

In fact, he is right on the money on nearly issue.

It's just on those two points on Iraq that I found to be a turnoff. I hope that if he reads this he'll understand where I am coming from and reconsider his position on those two points. If he does, he will resonate much better with the mainstream Conservatives that make up the GOP.

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Minnesota HRCC GOP Cox Straw Poll

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It's been a weird few days and haven't had as much opportunity to write as I would like. tomorrow is likely to be the same as it is the Minnesota GOP Straw Poll, and my friend, and State Rep., Pat Garofalo has offered me a ticket, which I greatly appreciate.

I haven't decided who I favor as the top of the chart for my hit parade for the 2008 campaign. I do hae several favorites, and several whom I have eliminated from consideration in the primary (those would be Giuliani and McCain).

I like Mitt Romney a lot, and his being LDS doesn't have any bearing to my choice. He has done a good job in Massachusetts.

I also like Mike Huckabee, especially after reading his website. We seem to be on the same page on most issues, especially the big ones (Iraq, the War on Terror, border security, Second amendment).

Duncan Hunter has a lot going form him to. Chuck Yeager is a big supporter of his, and that speaks volumes in my book. No offense to Hunter, I am just not sure he can pull it off at the top of the ticket. He would make one heckuva a great VP.

Finally, there is Newt Gingrich. I don't think he is in the race at this point, and he has a lot of "baggage" to over come. At least, that is the popular thought. The thing is, the "baggage" he has only carries weight with people who wouldn't vote for any Republican in the first place: the MoveOn crowd (and I wish they would MoveOn...to France!).

My initial thoughts on Fred Thompson were favorable, however, I've changed my mid about him. I don't think he is the Reaganite that many people want us to believe him to be.

So, right now, those are my four choices: Romney, Huckabee, Hunter, and Gingrich. I have no idea how the straw poll will go tomorrow. However, I will write a post about it when I get home.

It should be a lot of fun as Jason Lewis will be there as well, kind of an MC or Keynote or something.

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Straw Poll Romney Hunter Huckabee McCain Giuliani Gingrich

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Today was the Minnesota State Central Committee meeting, where new officers for the MNGOP are elected. Indeed, this is the main focus of the event, especially with reitred Army Colonel Joe Repya challenging Ron Carey for the party leadership within the state.

Is was a full event...acutally overfull from a delegate standpooint. All delegations were filled with a large number of alternates left in the wings to stand by and watch. For my on district, authorized 47 delegates, 43 showed up with somewhere arund 30 alternates. Consequently, only four alternates were seated.

This is, no doubt, a result of the challenge for the party leadership.

Marty Seifert spoke for a bit on how this year's legislative session went, praising Governor Pawlenty for getting good use out of his veto pen and for theHouse Republicans standing together to uphold the Gov's vetoes. We were reminded that if it were not for the Gov, we would be facing $5 Billion in new spending, and more taxes.

Once things really got moving, and the alternates seated, we went through the nominations and election of a new party chair. I thought that Joe Repya (with the great campaign phrase "GOP Joe") made, by far, the best speech, including giving a look of what he would like to do to help get the MNGOP rolling again and win big in 2008. This included leveraging new technology as much as possible and starting "Camp Reagan" to train candidates and activists, a project similar to the hard-left training ground, "Camp Wellstone." Carey talked about the grassroots campaign.

Both are important factors. We need to leverage technology as well as local activists as much as possible to win big in '08.

I admit that I was rooting for Joe Repya. I thought he had the better plan and showed better leadership. He also walked the talk on Iraq by reutrning to active military service after being in retirement for some years.

This is not to say Carey isn't a good guy. Kind of like him, too, which made things difficult. He also had the support of some of the big-wigs in the MNGOP, making Repya's challenge a bit up hill.

The vote came out 195 for Carey and 150 for Repya, with 174 needed to win. A decent margin for Carey, and enough support for Repya to get across a lot of the points he has been making over the last several months on what we do in order to win in 2008. Repya's ideas are excellent and he should be leveraged to help lead the MNGOP going forward, including the implementation of "Camp Reagan."

Selecting a new deputy chair was interesting as it was an open seat, with five candidates vying for the position. It was a truly good field of candidates, all of whom would bring different skills and knolwedge to the position. Two ballots were taken to get the job done of selecting a new deputy chair, with Dorothy Fleming carrying the day.

I remember Dorothy from working on the 2004 Bsh Campaign. I have no doubt that she will serve the MNGOP well in her new position.

My Congratulations to both Carey and Fleming for thier victories, and wish them well thier continued and new roles within the State GOP. Now let's win some seats!

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GOP Joe Repya Carey Fleming Minnesota GOP

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Today was the Tax Cut Coalition Rally at the Minnesota State Capitol, and I am very glad I headed up early as there was a competing event on the Capital Mall sponsored by the Sierra Club. When I arrived, there were already about a hundred people at the State Capitol for the rally. That was the tip of the iceberg.

By the time the rally actually started, the gathering crowd hit some 5,000 people in size, greatly dwarfing the "Global Warming" rally that was held a few hundred feet away.

Two cohorts from the Townhall Meetup made an appearance. After a bit of chit-chat with Mark and Linda, I drifted off to pursue some additional photo ops.

There was quite a bit of signage, many of which were quite novel in their statements; some poked fun at Al gore, while others were blunt and to the point on taxation.

The list of speakers was extensive, and included several Minnesota State Reps including Mark Buesgens, Mary Liz Holberg, Marty Seifert and a couple of others, followed by Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann and Congressman John Kline, then, last but not least, Jason Lewis of KLTK and the main driving force for the Tax Cut coalition and this rally. And yes, there were several speakers from various allied organizations.

With the Sierra Club pushing its "Global Warming" alarmist agenda within hearing range of the sound system, much fun was poked at them, all of it was good natured.

The running theme of the event was the need for cutting taxes in Minnesota, and reducing state spending, which is destined to bloom by over $3 BILLION in new spending during the next biennium budget. This includes spending the $2 BILLION surplus plus over $800 MILLION in new confiscation, er, taxes.

Although Pawlenty has pledged to veto new taxes, it is clear that he will need the help of all Minnesotans in contacting their State Reps and Senators in order to assure that his vetoes will be sustained.

All in all, it was a great deal of fun and I am very glad I went. Next time, I'll have a real digital video camera instead of relying on my digital camera, which I managed to fill up the memory card in the middle of the rally. I didn't have enough memory to shoot even one picture of the "Global Warming" rally.

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Tax Cut Coalition Tax Cut Rally Minnesota Jason Lewis Sierra Club Global Warming

Posted by Sqotty at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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It's been a while since I have attended my district's BPOU meeting. After the election, I figured I had best not miss it. Glad I made it.

After the general business of the meeting, including getting reports from my State Legislator, Pat Garofalo, discussion of what happened in the election (election fallout) and what to change. The general consensus seems to be that the Conservative Message wasn't there during the campaign.

One of the guys at the meeting summed what has to be done quite loud. Th message is "limited government." That's what drove the GOP into the majority party in the '90s. Since then, some Republicans have strayed from that message and have been spending the public monies like, as Laura Ingraham says, drunken sailors.

The campaign for 2008 has begun at the local district level. We didn't lose, all our state reps in our district won their elections, as did Congressman John Kline. The rest of the state did not fair as well by a long shot. Minnesota, like the Federal level, has both houses in the control of the Democrats, the executive is a Republican. We have time to reverse some of November's elections, to rebuild and energize the base, and help the other districts in the state find electable candidates.

It is doable.

The main thing to do is get the Conservative Message out, consistently, while fielding candidates who will deliver on that message.

The process has already begun.

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Conservative Message
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If you are a Christian running for office in Minnesota as a Republican, watch out! The religious bigots in the DFL and their lap-dog supporters in the media, are out to roast you.

Religious persecution against Christians is nothing new. This country was founded by Christians who fled persecution in Europe, coming to the New World where they could practice their beliefs unmolested.

Lutherans were especially persecuted during the Reformation, including priests and other Reformers who burned alive during the early part of the 16th Century.

I thought it was pretty bad in California, where I lived most of my life, where there were people who would look down at you if you professed any inclination to practicing Christianity.

Here in Minnesota, I expected better. Unfortunately, this is in the Red Star Tribune:

Kessler asked: "The Minneapolis-based Star Tribune reports ... that the church you belong to is affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod which, it says, regards the Roman Catholic pope as the antichrist. Is this true? Do you share the views of your church? And, why should any Catholic in the Sixth District vote for you if it is true?"

Bachmann replied, "That's a false statement. ... It's abhorrent, religious bigotry. I love Catholics, I'm a Christian, and my church does not believe that the pope is the antichrist. That's absolutely false. ... I welcome and have as part of our family many Catholic members as well."

Here we have a Republican candidate for Congress being questioned about her religious views, and the views of the church she belongs to. Yet the only outrage being expressed is by people on the political right.

Over the campaign season, Keith Ellison, a Muslim and former member of the racist Nation of Islam and close associate of Louis Farrakhan, a known racist, has come under fire for those associations. Yet, the "defenders of truth" known as the main stream media and the DFL, decried challenges to Ellison's affiliations, as being religious bigotry. Never mined the fact that Ellison's religious beliefs NEVER came under fire. Only his affiliations with the KKK-like organization, Nation of Islam, and its leaders.

From Wikipedia:

The Nation of Islam teaches that Black people were the original humans. Louis Farrakhan has stated that "White people are potential humans…they haven't evolved yet."

Unlike challenges to Ellison and his affiliation with known racists, this is pure religious bigotry of the worst sort. Where is the Wetterling Campaign on this gross assault on someone's religious beliefs? Aside from denying involvement, she is nowhere to be seen.

Lesson to be learned: if you are a Democrat, you can be as racist as you want, freely affiliate with racist organizations like Ellison with the Nation of Islam and Robert Byrd and the KKK; but if you are a practicing Christian and a Republican, watch out! They'll persecute you for your beliefs, or for the doctrine of your church puts out.

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Michele Bachmann
Patty Wetterling
Keith Ellison
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Well, the DFL slime machine is at it again. This week, they are claiming that Congressman Mark Kennedy voted to increase federal spending by $3.6 TRILLION. What they count as a major part of that "spending" is making the Bush tax cuts permanent. Apparently, in the eyes of the left, this constitutes spending. I call it returning to the American people what RIGHTFULLY belongs to them.

Here's a clip from the DFL website(http://www.dfl.org/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC=%7B0F9701BD-A72C-4F2C-9DEE-22ACBB7367C2%7D&DE=%7B4062FE0C-89DD-4751-B67C-FE357F7352C5%7D sorry about the long URL...not real keen on linking to the DFL site):

If you add up the cost of only eleven of the one hundred plus proposals in Kennedy's plan, Kennedy's plan will cost the taxpayers at least $3.6 trillion. Only Mark Kennedy would say that $3.6 trillion in government spending is an "insignificant cost."

"Congressman Kennedy is campaigning on his 'fiscal responsibility' but has not taken the time to calculate the cost of his plan or explain how he is going to pay for it," Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez said. "Only a big-spending Washington insider would think that $3.6 trillion is an 'insignificant cost.' One look at the federal budget tells us that we need someone in the U.S. Senate who understands the implications of $3.6 trillion in spending, and Mark Kennedy clearly doesn't understand."

Estimates Of Even A Few Items From Congressman Kennedy's Plan Could Total $3.6 Trillion Dollars

Congressman Kennedy voted for budgets that increased the national debt by $2.7 trillion. And now Kennedy is proposing at least another $3.6 trillion in spending without telling anyone how he will pay for any of it.

The hit piece then goes into an outline of some of the spending, number one being:

1. The Total Cost To Extend All Of the Bush Tax Cuts Would Be $3.3 Trillion Over 10 Years. The total cost of making the tax cuts permanent was said to be $3.3 trillion over 10 years. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "[T]he total cost of making the tax cuts permanent, including the related interest costs, would be $3.3 trillion over the ten-year period.." [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/15/06, (http://www.cbpp.org/2-6-06tax.htm)]

Leave it to the Liberal Left to tell you that tax cuts are the same as Federal spending. The numbers presented for the tax cuts may well be accurate estimates; what it fails to note is that since the tax cuts were implemented tax revenues INCREASED.

However, the Party of Doom and Gloom would have Americans believe that these tax cuts are expensive and should be rolled back, after which there is little doubt that they will find ways to seize and spend even more of our hard earned dollars.

The other 10 items use estimates to come up with roughly $300 billion in spending; just one thing to remember, these are estimates. Estimates rarely reflect reality, except when government entities decide they actually have to spend that kind of money (and these bureaucrats often believe they HAVE to spend it) even if it is not necessary.

Just another indication that campaign season is in full swing.

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Mark Kennedy
mn senate 2006
DFL
Tax Cuts
Taxes

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Day two of the Minnesota State GOP Convention opened with a guest speak (whose name eludes me) giving an inspirational tribute to the men and women of the Armed Forces, with the "Battl Hymn of the Republic" playing in the background.

This was followed by a music video by Michael W. Smith celebrating America and our flag. No idea what the name of the song is. It was a beautiful piece of work, the visuals stunning and Patriotic, and the music stirring. I need to get the album this song is on.

The second day was "platform day," meaning we were going to spend the bulk of the day considering and adopting changes to the party platform. This made for a long, and, at times, grueling day. But we got it done.

We were also treated to speeches from a number of guests, including various congressional candidates, and some special interest groups.

Based on what I saw and heard, I believe this is going to be a good year for the GOP, with Rod Grams running in the 8th; Michelle Bachmann campaigning hard to fill the seat vacated by Mark Kennedy, as Kennedy seeks the vacant U.S. Senate seat; Obi Sium, an African immigrant who shows his love for America in what he says, as well as showing a sharp sense of humor.

There was also Juan Vega of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Minnesota, whose message is "Close the borders now!" Vega is not only an immigrant and naturalized citizen, he also served in the United States Marines. Thank you for your service, Juan Vega.

Vega focused on immigration, and the differences between the Republican and Democrat positions on this issue. The silent majority of legal immigrants do not want a path of citizenship given to those, whose first act is to break America's laws, rewarding criminal behavior. It is unfair to the millions who waited their turn, followed America's laws, and often times, serving in our Armed Forces (there were quite a few immigrants in my basic training flight in the Air Force).

The RNHA do not support deporting the 12 million illegal aliens, as it would reflect negatively on the GOP, and be displayed as 12 million Elian Gonzales'. That is a point that had not occurred to me, as I looked at the matter as being impractical.

Vega also pointed out that if you came to America legally, then the GOP is the party for you, the party for immigrants.

It was a darn good speech, and I look forward to the day this fine immigrant runs for Congress.

Friday was also the day of the presidential straw poll and re-endorsing Tim Pawlenty for Governor. See my previous post for the straw poll results.

Now for Saturday…I arrived a little let, missing the invocation and other start-off speeches. At least I wasn't running on four hours of sleep like Friday.

The bulk of the day was endorsing statewide candidates, most of whom are incumbents, with Jeff Johnson looking to fill the Attorney General slot vacated by Mike Hatch. This guy is sharp, and I have no doubt that he'll win.

It is looking to me like Minnesota is moving more and more in the right direction. It's going to be one heckuva campaign season. Should be lots of fun and I am looking forward to it.

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Posted by Sqotty at 8:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Admittadly, it is late, however, I wanted to get the results of the Presidential Straw Poll posted while it is still hot.

540 votes cast. I do not have vote breakdown, just percentages:

Newt Gingrich 39%
George Allen 14%
Condoleeza Rice 10.7%
John McCain 10.1%
Jeb Bush 5.9%
Mit Romney 5.3%
Rudy Giulliani 3.5%

No one else received more than 1% of the vote.

The results came ou pretty late in the night, and it is now even later. Time to hit the hey and recharge my batteries for another day. I'll post a more complete update tomorrow.

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Republican
Minnesota Republican Party
Newt Gingrich
Presidential Straw Poll
Politics
RepubliCon
GOP

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Thursday evening was the first day of the Minnesota Republican Convention. This is a gathering of some 2,000 people from around the state, plus a number of volunteers, staff, guests and the media. It's an enriching experience to go to one of these events, for the speeches and party platform work, as well as for the after hours parties.

I arrived midway into registration, around 5PM, with the event scheduled to begin at 6:30 and run into the night.

While wandering aimlessly about with the words "gullible target" stamped on my head, I was interviewed by WCCO. I did not get to hear the results. Some of what I was asked was what I thought the GOP's prospects were like in '06, as well as issues. That's when I learned that Pawlenty signed the bill authorizing a Twins stadium with funding from a special sales tax that bypasses the referendum process that was set into law in 1999. The drill down question, why I thought this was a bad decision, came up with this response from me: it sets a bad precedent in that any county or project that wants to get funded via sales taxes can now expect to get it in place by bypassing the referendum process, especially in counties where the voters have shown a high likelihood to vote such a tax down. What I should have said s that I hope the people of Hennepin County come together and file a legal challenge in the courts to get this legislation overturned.

The main event for the first day was endorsing a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Two solid candidates had come before the delegation: Mark Kennedy (a sensible Kennedy, who'd have thought?) and Harold Shudlick.

Kennedy has served three terms in the House of Representatives and has developed a track record in winning elections, campaigning hard, and working hard in Congress.

Shudlick, a combat veteran of Vietnam with the Bronze Star, and a retired chaplain, is a new comer to the political arena. His message of solid conservative values, including on immigration reform, dealing with illegal aliens, border security, taxation, and so on, resonate well with many, including myself.

This made for a very tough decision for me, as they are both good men, and both would make good Senators.

Needless to say, Mark Kennedy carried the day with about 75% of the vote on the first ballot. Admittedly, I was not surprised by the outcome. Harold Shudlick has my respect and admiration for stepping up to the plate and running.

After recess, it was time for a little partying at the various hospitality suites at the Hyatt, where I ran into Scott of Freedom Dogs, and Larry of my Townhall Meetup group.

Stay tuned for day 2.

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Republican
Minnesota Republican Party
Mark Kennedy
Kennedy
Politics

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I’ve ever attended a Congressional District Convention as a delegate before this year. It’s an intersting eent if you have never attended one before.

The big issues of the day are endorsing a candidate for the Second District, which was easy to do as John Kline is running for re-election. And then spending the afternoon reviewing the party platform, whit recommended changes/additions being forwarded up to the State level for consideration in June.

Congressman Kline is, of course, running for re-election. His campaign staff put together an introductory slide show that got lots of cheers from the delegates. It was set to the theme and style of Star Wars, complete with soundtrack and reasons to support Kline, including the depiction of various liberals, like San Fran Nan, and what thing could be like if they gain control of the House of Representatives.

Congressman Kline put on a great stump speech, which I won’t go into here as I don’t have my notes handy. Suffice it to say, John Kline is a fine Congressman, and I m glad he is my representative to the U.S. House.

We also heard a number of speeches from candidates running for a variety of State-wide races, including Mark Kennedy’s brother (Kennedy was attending his son’s college graduation) and Harold Shudlick. Both Kennedy and Shudlick are running for Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat. Both are fine men, and well qualified, so the State convention in June should be interesting.

Sue Jeffers, who is challenging Tim Pawlenty for the GOP endorsement, also spoke, hitting issues that she believes are important. This was met with a mixed reaction as she originally filed as a Libertarian. However, convention rules and such, allow anyone seeking the GOP endorsement to speak to the delegates.

A few special interest groups also made short presentations, which I’ll cover in another post once I have a had a chance to review what they are promoting.

The afternoon portion, adopting recommendations for the party platform to send up to the State actually went fairly smoothly, with several issues receiving discussion. Much to everyone’s surprise, we were out of there by about 4 P.M. What a shock.

If you have never attended one of these conventions, consider doing so, either as a delegate or as a visitor. It’s fun and gives you a front row seat on how things are done.

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I admit it, I have been remiss in my blogging duties as of late, which needs to change. So here goes.

Saturday, March 18, was the convention for Minnesota State Senate District 36. The hottest issue of the day was for SD 36B, which was scheduled to endorse a candidate for the Minnesota House seat. What was going on is that the first-term incumbent, Pat Garofalo, was being challenged by Chaz Johnson.

After the coin toss and opening statements, a question/answer period was held where both candidates seeking the party endorsement could state their case. This part went well.

The first vote for endorsing took place, and it was determined that a candidate would need 73 votes to receive the party endorsement.

After the first vote was tallied, with Pat receiving 71, and Chaz receiving 50 (I think that's correct...may be off by one vote), both candidates had an opportunity to further discuss, and, hopefully persuade, enough people to their side so that an endorsement could be made.

Well, to make a long story short, after five votes were taken, and there was virtually no change in the numbers, Chaz and Pat got together in private to discuss the situation (no idea what was said), and Chaz came out and conceded to Pat, thus ending the deadlocked endorsement process.

Both Chaz and Pat should be commended as they both had a lot of loyal supporters, and that the support of these folks was so unwavering throughout the endorsement process.

The end result is that SD36B is now unified behind Pat Garofalo as he seeks re-election in November.

Other highlights of the day included mucho discussion on, and adoption (or denial) of, resolutions for the MNGOP platform.

It was a long day, but well worth it.

Lets face it, it is best to be involved in the political process, than letting it be rammed down your throat. It is also educational and inspiring. So, if you arent already involved, find the time and get involved. Its worth it.

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Egads! It's in the Star Tribune Online, so it must be true:

Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., said today that he will not run for re-election in 2006.

Dayton made the announcement this afternoon in a telephone conference call with reporters.

"I do not believe that I am the best candidate to lead the DFL Party to victory next year,'' Dayton said.

There is already a lot of competition for this U.S. Senate seat, including Mark Kennedy. The question now is, who will step up to the plate for the Domocratic Party? My money is on seeing Tim Penny return to the DFL and run.

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Posted by Sqotty at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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The Red Wing Republican Eagle has endorsed John Kline for the Minnesota 2nd Congressional District. Here's an excerpt:

John Kline has served Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District precisely how he promised he would -- as a forthright, conservative Republican who votes his conscience and convictions while taking constituents' interests to heart.

There is no doubt about it, Kline has done a superb job for the Second District, and has been very supportive of our troops serving in the Middle East, and diligent in informing his constituents of how things are going in Iraq anf Afghanistan.

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The Star Tribune (Free Registration required) has endorsed Patrick Garofalo of Farmington for the House 36B seat. This is a major shock as Pat is a Republican.

District 36B: Garofalo

Republican Patrick Garofalo is the right candidate at the right time for this district. It was disappointing when Rep. Steve Strachan, a promising first-term lawmaker, stepped down from this seat after becoming Lakeville police chief. Then Garofalo, 33, a network engineer with Allianz Life Insurance and a community activist in the Farmington-Lakeville area, came forward.

He is more conservative than we would like, particularly on social issues. But he is also pragmatic and well-informed, and would energetically represent his growing district. He's sensitive to the residents of the district's semirural area who are anxious to preserve local control and open space. But he also understands the importance of developing a multimodal regional transportation plan that includes rail transit. He recognizes the need to work in concert with the rest of the metro area. His balanced approach should make him a good contributor to growth strategies south of the Minnesota River.

The DFL candidate, Benjamin Coler, 32, is a bright recent law school graduate who moved to Farmington six months ago with the intention of running for this seat. He's not yet ready for the Legislature.

The Trib also has a profile on Patrick, where they rate the candidate on several state issues. Worth checking out.

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Just received word from Pat that he has been endorsed by the Pioneer Press.

Here's a part of what they had to say:

The Republican candidate to replace Rep. Steve Strachan in this rural district, Pat Garofalo, is well-versed in the issues facing the Minnesota Legislature and has obviously given them a lot of thought. Garofalo, a network engineer for a life insurance company, impressed us with his well-reasoned answers to questions about transportation, education and state budget issues. We believe he is the best choice in District 36B.

Garofalo, 33, of Farmington, served as campaign manager for Strachan, who is stepping down to concentrate on his new job as Lakeville police chief, and also worked on the Pawlenty gubernatorial campaign. District 36B includes Farmington, a portion of Lakeville and several rural communities in Dakota and Goodhue counties.

Check out the whole editorial for more info.

Pat's website is Patrick Garofalo for MN 36B.

Posted by Sqotty at 9:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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