Find out about Rhonda Sivarajah for the Sixth District

It’s not the easiest lastname in the world to deal with, but it might be somewhat memorable if she can win the August 12 primary over Tom Emmer.
by Charlie Leck

We can wildly hope that conservatives in the Sixth Congressional District want a real conservative and not a right-wing-nut-job; for Rhonda Sivarajah sounds like a stable, solid conservative who is ready to give Republicans some leadership and not just negative opposition.

An August 12th primary in the Sixth Congressional District will test whether Ms. Sivarajah or any sane Republican can get the nod from GOP voters in that district.

I’m a Democrat. I would not pretend otherwise, but I hope Republicans will give this woman a bit of consideration. She sounds like a reasonable and hard-working person to me. I wish her nothing but the best of luck.

And you folks over in the Sixth, prove to me you are reasonable and rational and that you want good government.

I heard from people who back Ms. Sivarajah following my blog about Tom Emmer. You want to know something? They were kind, reasonable, cogent and properly concerned citizens. It proves to me that the Sixth can rise above Michele Bachmann.

Keep your chin up, over there, Ms. Sivarajah, because Tom Emmer has a history of imploding and self-destructing and he just might do it again. If you have any debates with him, meet his rudeness and anger with good cheer and politeness. It’s something he doesn’t understand!

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My Impression of Tom Emmer as Candidate for Congress

For a short time, Tom Emmer served as a city councilman here in the town in which I live. I attended a number of meetings of the City Council during that time and I have a clear memory of Tom Emmer being a bully. I shared that sentiment a number of times with my wife and friends here in the community.
by Charlie Leck

Whenever anyone stood up to speak against a proposal that Mr. Emmer favored – or for a proposal that he did not favor – he would virtually shout that person down with very ill-mannered comments and behavior. I remember, once, having to stand up and ask Councilman Emmer not to be so rude to people who wished to speak because it tended to frighten community residents and it discouraged them from speaking when we should be doing quite the opposite. Mr. Emmer glowered and smirked at me.

Now Mr. Emmer is running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Oh, my! I am saddened by this because I do not think he has the manners and/or the patterns of behavior that are generally expected of one who serves in such a distinguished position.

I chatted with a lawyer who has been looking into Tom Emmer’s behavior in a number of matters. Here’s what he told me…

“Tom Emmer’s history of questionable behavior in our community and in the neighboring town where he now lives bears serious inquiry before sending him to Washington. His suitability for elective office has to be measured by his conduct, not just by his self-professed conservative credentials. Emmer arranged for expensive landscaping at his home by Tony Poppler, a local small businessman. When it was time to pay, Emmer refused and defended the lawsuit Poppler was forced to bring by claiming that Mrs. Emmer had signed the contract for the Emmer home improvements so he had no personal liability.  There are rumors of other local businesses that have unpaid obligations due from Emmer, although folks are reluctant to discuss specifics, leaving so many of us in the region shaking our heads in disbelief. Emmer’s criminal record includes charges of careless driving and driving while intoxicated. Of less serious nature, but perhaps an indication of an ‘above the law’ attitude are a number of more recent speeding and serial parking violations. Emmer deflects any questioning about his run-ins with the law by referring to them as mistakes in the system and not in his behavior. I’m no saint, but I know lots of qualified candidates for esteemed positions whose conscience is deservedly clear about their business dealings and who are not so familiar with law enforcement.”

This fellow is correct about Mr. Emmer’s strange attitudes and I hope the public takes a close look at this guy’s every day behavior before deciding to vote for him.

I’m not a resident or a voter in the district in which Mr. Emmer is running. I’m just down the road from it, however, and I’m familiar with many people there who know Tom Emmer and have deeply-felt worries about him being their congressional representative. The vast majority of folks, however, have not gotten to know Mr. Emmer and they will learn of him only through a campaign that will try to glamorize him and cover up his boorish and bullying behavior.

Tom Emmer was not a good state legislator. He was not a good city councilman and he will not be a good legislator on the national level. He is not a reasonable man who is willing to think things through thoroughly before giving his opinion about those matters. He has placed himself out there on the far right and that is where he intends to stay. Tom Emmer is not just a conservative, but he is a radical conservative with a closed mind. The people of the 6th district should reject him.

By the way, I have here, on my desk, a couple of the court documents related to the suit the above lawyer refers to in the case of Tony Poppler vs Tom Emmer.

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McFadden v. Franken

Don’t wait! The campaign between Al Franken and Mike McFadden begins now. The issues are already making themselves clear and the battle is on! A Minnesota seat in the U.S. Senate is the prize!
by Charlie Leck

Michael McFadden, a Minnesota millionaire who lives in the St. Paul suburb of Sunfish Lake and a mergers and acquisitions business advisor, will run against incumbent U.S. Senator Al Franken.

You can find strong agreement among politicians and political polling organizations in Minnesota that our state’s voters put two considerations about a candidate first and foremost. They are: (1) Is the person a strong leader? (2) Does the candidate care about people such as I?

I think this year’s race will come down to the same two factors. I think McFadden will prove himself a strong leader, even as Franken already has, so, on that question, there will be a draw between the two candidates.

McFadden will have a hard time convincing the little guy that he really cares very deeply about him. McFadden will sing the old song about not raising taxes and removing some of the entitlements the government already gives to people with needs. And here, on the issue of preserving the strength of the middle class and attacking rampant poverty, the crux of the battle will be waged.

Candidate McFadden will have to attack Franken from the right. He’ll have to complain about Obama (who is still remarkably popular in Minnesota) and he’ll have to go after government spending – especially on entitlement programs. He should bear in mind that Obamacare is also popular in Minnesota (but he probably won’t).

And, a major strike against McFadden with a large, large percentage of Minnesotans, is his connection with retiring Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. It was the Congresswoman’s endorsement that put him over the top and took the endorsement away from a couple of long-time Republican regulars in the state. By all reports, the Tea Party is losing some of its gusto in Minnesota and that isn’t going to help any candidate endorsed by Bachmann. That endorsement will, however, send some of Bachmann’s old funding sources running to McFadden. Just remember, at this point, what happened to Bachmann the last time she tried stepping out of sixth district politics on to a bigger stage. She doesn’t function well on that bigger stage. I hope McFadden uses Bachmann extensively in the campaign – sending her everywhere in the state to speak for him – because that will be extremely damaging to his campaign.

Reports from the Republican’s state endorsing convention indicate that Tom Emmer, Republican candidate for congress in the sixth district, worked the crowd hard for McFadden. Emmer was a very divisive force in the last Republican campaign for governor here in Minnesota and he drove thousands to an alternative party in that election. He’ll be just as divisive in McFadden’s race and, like Bachmann, he’ll drive many voters away from the party’s regular candidate

So, the early betting is that Franken will win back his Senate seat in spite of huge amounts of money that McFadden will spend on this campaign if the dems can turnout a big percentage of their voters. This is the biggest worry about the election right now and it’s why Republicans have tried in every which way to make it more difficult for people to vote. I imagine a big part of Franken’s campaign will be a “get out the vote” effort. It has to be!

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Going Out in a Blaze of Glory

I’m going out in a blaze of glory folks. I’m moving closer and closer to two thousands blogs. That was the original ticking point for retiring from blogging. I’ve changed my perspective and goals a little bit and I’m now setting my retirement date (whatever number of blogs that will amount to). It’s 5 November 2014. On that day I’ll write my final blog here on Ad Astra.
by Charlie Leck

Most of you have already figured out why I’ve changed my exit strategy. It’s simple. I can’t walk away from carefully watching and writing about the upcoming election. I’ll hang around and write my last blog on the day after the election. Then I’ll tip my hat and say au revoir et bon chance!

During the 2008 election I wrote blogs from Mississippi, Chicago, Georgia, Texas, Oregon and France. From July through October, 90 percent of those blogs were about the presidential election and the race between John McCain and Barack Obama. During September and October of that year I averaged over 5,000 readers per blog. Also during that period, I was called by readers everything from “hate monger” to “idiot” to “prophet.”

The coming election features no presidential race, so the numbers of readers will not likely be so high. Nevertheless, this is an election that I intend to watch with as sharp and as careful an eye as I can. The major contest has nothing to do with a couple of individuals and everything to do with the two parties. The major question is: Can the Democrats hold their control of the Senate? If they do, Barack Obama will be able to continue to function somewhat comfortably in the White House. If the Republicans take over the Senate, the President’s remaining time in office may be absolute hell.

I did a pretty good job of reading the polls in 2008 and my predictions concerning the presidential race turned out to be basically perfect. I got very familiar with virtually every polling organization in American and I learned which ones I could trust, which ones tend to lean toward one party or the other, and which ones generally blew hot air.

It was very different in 2012 and it will be even more different this year. Now, you see, we have Nate Silver and 538. This is probably the only political analyst and poll watcher who can possibly claim 100 percent accuracy in the last two elections (2010 and 2012). So, the temptation is to simply read Nate Silver and take him as gospel. I’m certainly going to keep in very close touch with his polling analysis, but I’m not going to stop analyzing the polls myself.

Beginning this week, I will write at least weekly about what the polls are telling us about the 2014 U.S. Senate races. There will be several that will be watched very closely. I’ll have my eyes glued on the races in Georgia and Kentucky. There will also be important and hotly contested races in Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia; however, I’ll keep you informed about each and every single U.S. Senate race happening this fall (including the one right here in Minnesota between our incumbent Senator, Al Franken, and his conservative, businessman challenger, Mike Mcfadden).

And, oh yes, I’ll also be very closely watching one House race; and that will be the contest to take over Ms. Bachmann’s seat in Minnesota’s sixth congressional district. Tom Emmer, a politician I just detest, will be trying to take over Representative Bachmann’s seat. He will probably succeed unless he makes terrible, terrible mistakes (something of which he is very capable).

I look forward, nervously, to these elections.

Then, on the day after the election, I will happily bow out of the blogging world – and get back to reading more.

Those of you who get any inside information on these races, be sure to pass it along to me.

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Outta the Fryin’ Pan!

Well, there may be no retirement from blogging for me after all – not if Tom Emmer wins this fall’s election and becomes the 6th district congressman! And I thought we caught a break when Ms. Bachmann stepped down. Ugg!
by Charlie Leck

Well, he did it – as I predicted he might. Tom Emmer has announced that he is a candidate for the U.S. Congress from Minnesota's 6th District. Honest to God, it sends shivers down my spine. Could someone so outrageously stupid really serve in the U.S. Congress? You think Ms. Bachmann was bad? Pssshaw! She was nothin’ compared to this guy. He’s one of the biggest oafs you’ve ever met.

I had the displeasure of watching him in action as a city councilman here in my town (back when he lived here). His tactic was always intimidation. If someone from the audience stood up to speak against some action in which Emmer was in favor, he always did the scare the crap out of ‘em routine. He’d sneer! And, he’d snarl! And then he’d snap! He believes in intimidation; that is, make sure people are too frightened to stand up and speak against you. Tom Emmer is a political bully. He’s impolite, cantankerous, tetchy and puckish. You can always tell when he doesn’t know what he’s talking about because he begins to shout. When he starts shouting and stammering in a debate, you know he’s backed himself into trouble and he’s trying to work his way out of it while distracting anyone who might be witnessing his oafishness.

The 6th district was starting to get tired of Ms. Bachmann’s foolishness. Emmer will be even worse; and, perhaps, in that, there is some hope that the voters of the district will say they don’t want any more of those shenanigans or that behavior. Let’s hope so. It would be so nice if the district would send a polite and reasonable person out to Washington to represent them.

In the coming months we’ll look into Tom Emmer’s background and his behavior in his home town in the 6th district. There will be some interesting things to report. Our goal will be to try to show he doesn’t belong in the Congress.

Maybe the Republican Party will recognize his weaknesses and turn Emmer away.

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Why not become a follower?
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