No U.S. Senate candidate has Range advantage

The Iron Range doesn’t always line up votes in statewide endorsement battles, but often it will. Not so this year. If you recall some of my earlier posts about Range politics (Part 1 and Part 2) the Range has three basic DFL factions: labor, progressives and opinion leaders. Sometimes they line up and sometimes they divide into coalitions. What’s unique about the U.S. Senate race this year is that all three are divided and subdivided between three different candidates.

Range Labor is splitting its support between Al Franken (Teamsters, Steelworkes) and Mike Ciresi (AFSCME Council 65). Opinion leaders are divided between Franken, Ciresi and “None of the Above.” One group this is starting to unite, however, is the Progressives. Tonight in Grand Rapids, the Itasca DFL (think western Iron Range) progressive caucus is hosting Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer for an event. I think this may portend strong support from the progressives for Nelson-Pallmeyer at the caucuses. This is significant because the “worker bees” on the Iron Range are labor and progressives. If labor is divided or sits on its hands, progressives will get a free shot to push their candidate at caucuses.

Notable is the fact that Al Franken is a strong second choice for Range progressives and he would benefit most in the likely event that Nelson-Pallmeyer falls short in the endorsement fight. However, it makes JNP something of a kingmaker.

Point of order: A guy with a hyphenated last name cannot win the state of Minnesota. Wish we lived in a better world, but that’s just my gut feeling.

Remember progressives are only 1/3 of the DFL mix on the Iron Range, but if they’re the only ones who are working they could sneak away with several dozen delegates in a DFL bastion.

On a side note, if anyone from Franken’s campaign reads this, you should be on TV right now running ads that define Franken as a thoughtful writer of satire who is running for all the right reasons. Don’t mention Coleman. Don’t even complain about Bush except maybe a veiled reference. Happy. Happy. Smart. Friendly. Happy. Happy. Do it now because after Coleman runs his first SNL attack ad it will look contrived. Also, by running ads now you will get an inevitability bump before the caucuses and all-important county conventions.

CHEATER NOTES FOR SUBURBANITES AND 24-YEAR-OLD IMPORTED CAMPAIGN WORKERS: The “Iron Range” in political terms includes MN Senate districts 3, 5 and a big part of 6. We are married to Duluth but don’t really love them anymore, if we ever really did. (We think they’re cheating on us). Counties directly or loosely affiliated with the Range include St. Louis, Itasca, Cook, Lake, Koochiching, Aitkin and Carlton. We like whiskey and beer.

Comments

  1. Insightful post. Thanks.

  2. About the “hyphen disadvantage” Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer supposedly has: A New York Jew ex-Democrat turned Republican who is totally in bed with Big Money, and is a big city fast talker is the Republican opponent. I don’t think my Blackduck relatives are going to vote for Norm because the other guy, a Minnesotan, has a hyphen.

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