I cannot resist a little commentary on today's Ward 8 DFL convention (based
on the observations of a first-time participant in that ward). First
briefly on the city council race: (Disclaimer - i decided shortly before
the convention to support Brian Herron based on a determination i have not
always been satisfied with his votes but he has the right basic instincts
and none of the opponents offered a better alternative. That impression was
very much confirmed at the convention). Brian clearly came across as the
most qualified and capable candidate who could express a thorough and
coherent understanding and approach to the variety of concerns of the
residents of the Ward.
The most notable and possibly revealing aspect of the Ward 8 convention,
however, was the low turnout. It appears that Ward 8 had the fewest
participants of any Ward that has had a convention (except I have not heard
a report on Ward 5), even though there were two visible challengers to the
incumbent city council member. Ward 8, of course is the Mayor's home Ward.
I was informed by a reliable longtime Ward 8 activist that there was a much
larger turnout for the Ward 8 convention in 1997. Even though there was
not a hotly contensted Ward 8 council race in 1997, there was apparently
tremendous enthusiasm for the Mayor which appeared to draw people. Not only
did the Mayor fail to attract any sort of respectable turnout in her home
Ward, but she also clearly did not receive a very enthusiastic reception
from the audience when she spoke today (and this is after discounting the
couple of us rude hecklers who could not resist reacting to claims of taking
leadership roles on racial profiling and affordable housing). It was my
impression, validated by a couple of others, that RT Ryback and Lisa
McDonalds received substantially more applause than the Mayor. Could this
trouble on her "home turf" be a sign that the Mayor is in trouble?
Jordan Kushner
Powderhorn
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