What a Difference a Year Makes!

The wonderful caucus system!
by Charlie Leck

Man, what a difference a year makes. I went to our community’s political caucus last night. There were seven (7) – yes, that’s right, SEVEN – of us there to help decide the future of our state. Last year, during the Obama craze, over 120 people attended our small town’s Democratic Party caucus. It was pretty exciting last year. This year it was boring as hell. That, however, is the way real politics is – it’s boring and tedious.

A friend of mine and I went as a tag team. We both wanted to get to the State Senate endorsing convention as delegates and even on to the State Convention so we can support the guy we’d like to see run for Governor of our state (Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak). With our two votes and another from someone else in the caucus our candidate got three (3) straw-ballot votes – one (1) more than anyone else got. Rybak did well all around the state and came in as the leader in the straw ballot vote.

We really need a progressive Governor in this state and this has got to be the year!

My buddy and I were both terribly interested, however, in the neat lady who is seeking the endorsement to run for the U.S. Congress in our district. We both had the sense that she looks like a winner. We haven’t had that feeling in our Congressional District in a long time. We desperately need to defeat the Republican incumbent and elect a progressive Democrat to that seat. So, if anyone of you wants to help us, be sure to contribute. Maureen Hackett for Congress will tell you all about her and provide you an easy means for contributing. Come on, climb aboard and help us out here – even if you’re from faraway places like Colorado, Georgia, South Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey or Paris. When you read Maureen Hackett’s resume you’ll agree with me that she sounds like a great person to represent us in Congress.

I’ll tell you this: She wants a public option in the health care bill.

She’s a military vet – a tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force – and she’s a medical doctor. She’s terribly involved in progressive issues, big on protecting the environment and it sounds like she can both raise money and work a crowd. I can’t wait to meet her.

I was impressed with Obama’s call to the Party – to not cave after Massachusetts, but to get in there and work even harder to get progressives elected. It’s difficult to believe how important this one seat is. We’ve got to elect Maureen Hackett to Congress.