Posted at 11am. Read it. Now, at Polinaut.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2009/08/tinklenberg_dro.shtml
And post a comment there, too. They usually don't get many comments, at Polinaut.
Query: is this good news or bad news?
I know it's good news if you're a Tarryl Clark fan. Me: I have mixed feeling about it. Remember that the whole premise of a Tinklenberg candidacy was that he was "less liberal" than most Democrats. This was thought to be an advantage during a run against Bachmann in a congressional district dominated by conservative voters. The idea was that Tinklenberg, a Blue Dog, would run competitively than a more liberal DFL'r.
If it's Clark for the DFL--is she too liberal to win this conservative district? If you answer, remember to balance your political idealism with a healthy respect for the numbers of conservative and liberal voters in the district.
How about Reed? She has a couple of cards to play. Battle Clark for the DFL nod, or run as an Independent.
Who can cut into the 10% of voters that maverick candidate Bob Anderson netted in the last election? Anyone?
As for me: I'm grateful to ET for bowing out. I'm taking his stated reasons for doing so at face value: he wants to prevent a deadly fight between Dems next year--something that could only ensure Bachmann's re-election. We might end up with that kind of fight anyway, but at this writing I admire Tinklenberg for refusing to start it.
Showing posts with label Elwyn Tinklenberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elwyn Tinklenberg. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
More strangeness at the Kos/Tinklenberg makes it official
Every so often I check the Google news search for Michele Bachmann stories. I did so just now, and one of the links that came up is this one:
And that's all that appears, but it's a link to the entire diary on the Kos. The funny thing is, when I press on that link and go to the Kos site...the Kos site tells me that it can find this post--which Google says went up today, about five hours ago. (There is no Internet "cache" version of the post to access.) The tags to the post appear. I did a search of these and can't find the writer's story that way, either.
It looks like some Kos diarist is trying to explain the weird political dynamics in the Sixth. I don't know who it is, but I'd love to read what they have to say to the community that raised so much money for a "dump Bachmann" effort, last time around. The "post that the Kos can't seem to find" also seems to have 146 reader comments attached to it. That indicates a significant degree of interest in this post; I hope the Kos can find it soon. I'll keep looking.
In other news: The Star Tribune reports that Tinklenberg made his candidacy official today. Strib reporter Bob von Sternberg informs readers:
"Conservative pronouncements?" If all she did was make "conservative pronouncements" she wouldn't attract any kind of "media attention." Von Sternberg should have written "wacky lies," those are the Bachmann pronouncements that have been attracting media attention.
What Tinklenberg Isn't Telling You, & Why He Doesn't Deserve ...
Daily Kos - 5 hours ago
Right now, Bachmann - despite her insane statements - holds the advantage. That's because the anti-Bachmann vote is split between the Democrats and the ...
And that's all that appears, but it's a link to the entire diary on the Kos. The funny thing is, when I press on that link and go to the Kos site...the Kos site tells me that it can find this post--which Google says went up today, about five hours ago. (There is no Internet "cache" version of the post to access.) The tags to the post appear. I did a search of these and can't find the writer's story that way, either.
It looks like some Kos diarist is trying to explain the weird political dynamics in the Sixth. I don't know who it is, but I'd love to read what they have to say to the community that raised so much money for a "dump Bachmann" effort, last time around. The "post that the Kos can't seem to find" also seems to have 146 reader comments attached to it. That indicates a significant degree of interest in this post; I hope the Kos can find it soon. I'll keep looking.
In other news: The Star Tribune reports that Tinklenberg made his candidacy official today. Strib reporter Bob von Sternberg informs readers:
Bachmann, who routinely attracts media attention for her conservative pronouncements, became one of the Democrats' prime targets in 2008, but even a late influx of contributions for Tinklenberg weren't enough to beat her.
"Conservative pronouncements?" If all she did was make "conservative pronouncements" she wouldn't attract any kind of "media attention." Von Sternberg should have written "wacky lies," those are the Bachmann pronouncements that have been attracting media attention.
Commenter Liz: "Tarryl Clark announced today on MPR."
...but I can't find any confirmation on MPR's Polinaut site or the Google news wires, at this moment.
Commenter Liz wrote in twice this afternoon to say that she heard Clark "officially announce," on the radio. Commenter Liz reported twice that Clark "officially announced," at one p.m. today on MPR.
I will keep looking for confirmation of this. Did anyone else hear Clark "officially announce?"
All I can find on MPR right now is the same story that we have already been running for days--that Clark has filed FEC papers etc. that indicate she is running.
We did that here, already. If anyone else has a source for "Clark has officially announced" (which is different from just filing the papers to run) please send a link. If she has "officially announced," the timing of her "roll-out" is interesting--because this is the day after Tinklenberg began his big pitch for funds on the Kos.
Commenter Liz wrote in twice this afternoon to say that she heard Clark "officially announce," on the radio. Commenter Liz reported twice that Clark "officially announced," at one p.m. today on MPR.
I will keep looking for confirmation of this. Did anyone else hear Clark "officially announce?"
All I can find on MPR right now is the same story that we have already been running for days--that Clark has filed FEC papers etc. that indicate she is running.
We did that here, already. If anyone else has a source for "Clark has officially announced" (which is different from just filing the papers to run) please send a link. If she has "officially announced," the timing of her "roll-out" is interesting--because this is the day after Tinklenberg began his big pitch for funds on the Kos.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Elwyn Tinklenberg makes his pitch to the Daily Kos
...and gets a very positive reaction, for the most part. I'm writing this shortly after midnight, Minnesota time. In the "Recommended Diaries" section of the Kos (one of the most widely read political blogs in the United States) is piece by Elwyn himself, announcing his run against Bachmann.
It's generated 225 comments so far; a respectable total. And diaries don't get elevated to the coveted "Recommended Diaries" list without the intervention of Kos staffers, so they are paying attention, too. (Wrong, according to Karl in our comments thread.)
Tinklenberg aide Dana Houle is in the comments thread to the Tinklenberg announcement, fielding the occasional question from commenters. Most of the comments are quite supportive, some Kos readers are even donating money to Elwyn on the strength his announcement on the blog. As you may know, the Kos readership and other liberal/progressive blogs did an outstanding job raising funds for Tinklenberg in the final weeks of his last contest with Bachmann. Donations were received in small amounts from regular folks who hailed from every state in the union.
The incident that triggered the donations was not something Tinklenberg did. It was something Michele Bachmann did: her appearance on Chris Matthew's Hardball news show. When she called for a media investigation of her fellow congressmen and senators to check for anti-Americanism, the outrage at the Kos and other blogs was palpable--and readers reached for their checkbooks and credit cards.
Tinklenberg is an intelligent politician. So his diary in the Kos does not contain his other announcement: that he does not intend to abide by the decision of the DFL in the primary, if they do not select him to run against Bachmann. Pointing *that* out, would cause some people on the Kos to put away their checkbooks and credit cards--and generate quite a bit of hate mail in the comment thread, I suppose.
I doubt that very many of the commenters on the Kos tonight are from Minnesota. Their contempt for Bachmann and kooky lies is obvious, but so is their lack of knowledge about the strange election dynamics we have here in the Sixth District. A few commenters are critical of Tinklenberg, but that seems to be because he's a Blue Dog or because he failed to beat an obvious kook, despite all the help he received last time.
None of the Tinklenberg criticisms so far cite his "I'm going to ignore the Dem decision on the nominee, unless it's me" stand. None of the more than two hundred comments so far explain the possible consequences of that decision or the effect of the independence voters on the election.
Neither Tinklenberg nor Dana Houle seem inclined to mention those unpleasant realities to Kos readers tonight. I'm not wading into that comment thread to explain those issues either, because it's entirely possible that ET may end up being the Dem nominee again and I'm certainly not going to be the one to try to discredit a likely Dem candidate.
Tinklenberg and his managers have obviously decided to go after the netroots support now, before Clark officially announces. That's probably wise, from the ET camp's point of view. Though Clark has filed, she hasn't "rolled out" yet--and a strong show of financial and moral support from the netroots is going to be critical for any Dem candidate hoping to defeat Bachmann.
We can't blame Kos readers and editors for being naive or ill-informed about the election dynamics of the Sixth District of Minnesota. Bachmann's craziness makes headlines around the country, the election dynamics of the Sixth District don't. I would wager that most Minnesotans who live in and outside the Sixth District don't understand why a Bachmann victory is the statistical way to bet. Most of the Minnesota political press doesn't bother to explain how the different political interests in the district can generate a Bachmann plurality despite the awful state of her district. If most of the local reporters don't know or report, how could people outside the state understand?
I have explained election dynamics on the Kos before, but I'm just another diarist there--one of thousands. A *very* good day for one of my articles on the Kos generates only from ninety to a hundred comments, nothing like the attention that Tinklenberg is receiving tonight. Even if the Kos community doesn't have all the information it needs to make a good decision about which candidate to support, its heart is in the right place: they know what Bachmann is, and they want to help us get rid of her.
It's generated 225 comments so far; a respectable total. And diaries don't get elevated to the coveted "Recommended Diaries" list without the intervention of Kos staffers, so they are paying attention, too. (Wrong, according to Karl in our comments thread.)
Tinklenberg aide Dana Houle is in the comments thread to the Tinklenberg announcement, fielding the occasional question from commenters. Most of the comments are quite supportive, some Kos readers are even donating money to Elwyn on the strength his announcement on the blog. As you may know, the Kos readership and other liberal/progressive blogs did an outstanding job raising funds for Tinklenberg in the final weeks of his last contest with Bachmann. Donations were received in small amounts from regular folks who hailed from every state in the union.
The incident that triggered the donations was not something Tinklenberg did. It was something Michele Bachmann did: her appearance on Chris Matthew's Hardball news show. When she called for a media investigation of her fellow congressmen and senators to check for anti-Americanism, the outrage at the Kos and other blogs was palpable--and readers reached for their checkbooks and credit cards.
Tinklenberg is an intelligent politician. So his diary in the Kos does not contain his other announcement: that he does not intend to abide by the decision of the DFL in the primary, if they do not select him to run against Bachmann. Pointing *that* out, would cause some people on the Kos to put away their checkbooks and credit cards--and generate quite a bit of hate mail in the comment thread, I suppose.
I doubt that very many of the commenters on the Kos tonight are from Minnesota. Their contempt for Bachmann and kooky lies is obvious, but so is their lack of knowledge about the strange election dynamics we have here in the Sixth District. A few commenters are critical of Tinklenberg, but that seems to be because he's a Blue Dog or because he failed to beat an obvious kook, despite all the help he received last time.
None of the Tinklenberg criticisms so far cite his "I'm going to ignore the Dem decision on the nominee, unless it's me" stand. None of the more than two hundred comments so far explain the possible consequences of that decision or the effect of the independence voters on the election.
Neither Tinklenberg nor Dana Houle seem inclined to mention those unpleasant realities to Kos readers tonight. I'm not wading into that comment thread to explain those issues either, because it's entirely possible that ET may end up being the Dem nominee again and I'm certainly not going to be the one to try to discredit a likely Dem candidate.
Tinklenberg and his managers have obviously decided to go after the netroots support now, before Clark officially announces. That's probably wise, from the ET camp's point of view. Though Clark has filed, she hasn't "rolled out" yet--and a strong show of financial and moral support from the netroots is going to be critical for any Dem candidate hoping to defeat Bachmann.
We can't blame Kos readers and editors for being naive or ill-informed about the election dynamics of the Sixth District of Minnesota. Bachmann's craziness makes headlines around the country, the election dynamics of the Sixth District don't. I would wager that most Minnesotans who live in and outside the Sixth District don't understand why a Bachmann victory is the statistical way to bet. Most of the Minnesota political press doesn't bother to explain how the different political interests in the district can generate a Bachmann plurality despite the awful state of her district. If most of the local reporters don't know or report, how could people outside the state understand?
I have explained election dynamics on the Kos before, but I'm just another diarist there--one of thousands. A *very* good day for one of my articles on the Kos generates only from ninety to a hundred comments, nothing like the attention that Tinklenberg is receiving tonight. Even if the Kos community doesn't have all the information it needs to make a good decision about which candidate to support, its heart is in the right place: they know what Bachmann is, and they want to help us get rid of her.
Dana Houle Comments at Minnesota Progressive Report
Dana Houle, Tinklenberg's campaign manager answered questions about the upcoming 2010 6CD race in this post.
Some of the comments were about candidates not abiding by the endorsement.
Taxpaying Liberal is not happy about it:
I agree with Taxpaying Liberal, endorsement may not be important for the average voter, but party activists... the people who volunteer in campaigns, care a lot about endorsements for the reasons TL mentioned.
On a personal note, I don't see any point in blogging at Dump Bachmann if the opposition candidates spend more time and resources running against each other. It's a waste of my time.
Some of the comments were about candidates not abiding by the endorsement.
Taxpaying Liberal is not happy about it:
I'll tell you who feels strongly about the endorsement since you're not from Minnesota,
It's the people who leave their home on a Tues night in the middle of winter to attend a caucus for 3 hours, Then the spend a full day on one of the first spring Saturdays to attend a convention, Then they spend another full Saturday at the district convention, Then they spend a lot of time on weekends and evenings working for the candidate they endorsed. After the election they still meet once a month or more until the cycle starts again. Most of them pay for the privilege.
I guess those are the DFLers who feel strongly about the endorsement.
I agree with Taxpaying Liberal, endorsement may not be important for the average voter, but party activists... the people who volunteer in campaigns, care a lot about endorsements for the reasons TL mentioned.
On a personal note, I don't see any point in blogging at Dump Bachmann if the opposition candidates spend more time and resources running against each other. It's a waste of my time.
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