Rambling from the North

From my home to yours, I wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or a fabulous winter break, whichever they may celebrate.

It has been confirmed that Evan Bayh will not seek the presidential nomination in 2008. The list continues to shrink--many who were suspected to be interested have decided not to run. Could it be that Hilary and Obama are frightening people away? I don't think this is the last we'll here from Bayh however for the '08 election. I would not be surprised if Bayh is on several short lists for the vice presidential candidate. Just a thought. So, who else will be frightened off? Richardson and Vilsack are probably in for the long hall, so is Kucinich, but will we see anyone else enter? Only time will tell.

It is indeed confirmed that Melendez is running again, he announced at the end of the State Executive Committee Meeting today. Everyone else is too. So its going to be a slate. So far, I have only one possible challenger. I know people said they'd run for chair if Brian didn't, but no one willing to challenge Melendez. I believe he will have a very easy re-election.

Looking back: I have been through two chairs now, Erlandson and Melendez. Two very different chairs, very different styles, and very different purposes. Melendez has done an alright job. There are some things I disagree with that he has done. There are some things I think he's done really well. All in all, I'd say they balance eachother out. Did we win a lot this year? Yes. Could we have done better? I don't know. I think the next two years will be interesting, I think Melendez will continue to do an alright job. The best thing he's done though, objectively, is the staff that have been hired. They are the ones who won this election. Their the ones who deserve most of the credit. So, on that, Melendez has done a spectacular job. They will be hiring more people next year, and if they continue to bring in good people, we will win!

So, support Melendez, might as well. But make sure you spend the last month of this year, thanking the staff for the jobs they have done, they deserve it.

Senator Dayton gave his final speech as a United States Senator on the floor today. It was surprisingly eloquent for him. He did not stumble, nor have any of the problems that have plagued him as a Senator. If only he could have behaved like this, with these convictions for the past 6 years, he might have been re-elected. He might have had a better term. But at least he leaves us with some powerful words. I have picked out quotes from the speech; the entire thing can be read here.

"Thus, I leave the Senate with strong feelings of frustration and disappointment. I have been unable to pass most of what I believed was most important to Minnesota, to our country, and to the world. I remain convinced that those policies would improve the lives of most Americans far better than what the Majority here enacted.

A cornerstone of democracy, which I honor, is that the majority prevails. Winning, however, does not make them right; and, unfortunately, it does not make them wise. In those decisions with which I have disagreed, time will tell us and the American people, who was right and who was wise. "

"The excessive influences of their money and political power on the federal government are serious threats to our democracy. They skew decisions and laws in favor of the rich and powerful, often at the expense of other Americans, the hardworking people, who pay their taxes, and hope that their elected representatives will look out for them in Washington. It isn't too much for them to expect. However, it is, too often, more than they are getting."

"Following the wisdom of "speak truth to power," I present my truth to the world's most powerful legislative body, the United States Senate, and one of the two institutions who must act to keep our nation strong. I hope that you will. I will pray for your wisdom to discern what is right, for your courage to act accordingly, and for your success on behalf of our great nation and the world."

Senator Dayton's speech is a litany of what went wrong in his six years. He takes a lot of jabs at the Republican majority and President Bush. He does not however, acknowledge some of his problems, especially with his lack of initiative. If only he would have stood up like this for six years,I would have been proud to have his as my Senator, but at least I remain positive on him. He didn't do a terrible job, but he didn't do an outstanding job either. He was in the minority, one that had very positive American opinions for much of its time. He tried but was defeated at every turn. I could not imagine how frustrated those six years felt to him. So now, as the sun sets on him, and rises on Senator-elect Klobuchar, we say good bye to Senator #100, Mark Dayton.

Minnesota Monitor has a story from Sara Reller claiming Brian Melendez will be running again for chair of the DFL party. This is currently an unconfirmed statement since Melendez has not made any public statements. I have an e-mail in to him and will report whether I can confirm or deny that a decision has been made. Stay tuned.

Labels: BRM

I know I was posting quite a bit for some time. There is indeed a reason for it. My laptop monitor went out. It was a 4 month old laptop. Needless to say, I was a bit upset.
So i sent it in to HP because it was under warranty. They fixed it. Supposedly.

I got it back about a week ago. They whipped my drive clean so I started putting everything back. Software, data, ect... when I started to re-install programs from my pocket PC bam... the Bluetooth didn't work. I tried and tried. Spent 4 hours on tech support, finally they gave up. I had to send it back in again.
I am now on week three without a laptop. It’s killing me. Seriously. But with a computer less than a year old, this shouldn't be happening. So, my advice to you is do not buy an HP.

In other news- I should have an update next week as to whether Brian Melendez will run again for chair or not. My guess is that he will announce it at the State Executive Committee in Mankato. If he doesn't- the race will be even shorter and tighter should he not run for re-election. I think he owes everyone a decision next week.
I have heard that Donna Cassutt will be challenged. I promised not to leak who the challenger will be, but I can tell you it won't particularly surprise anyone.
No talk on any of the other races.

In other news- City Pages has an interesting article on Senator Dayton's final days. If you have time, I recommend reading it. Its a bit of an insight into his six years but nothing too spectacularly new.

Otherwise, its finals time everyone which means I have papers, papers, and more papers going on. So my posting will probably stay down until after this coming weekend, so hold your horses and don't get mad at me!