Thoughts on the DFL Ward 2 convention

Well, I could sum it up myself, but I'll just let you read what the Minneapolis Observer's Ballot Box has to say...

After a tense, four-ballot struggle this afternoon, Cara Letofsky won the DFL endorsement for City Council in the 2nd Ward. Letofsky, who we considered the favorite when she entered the race, took 41 percent on the first ballot, with challengers Dan Miller garnering 31 percent and Bill Svrluga taking 28 percent. Svrluga lost ground in the second ballot and withdrew. On the third ballot, Letofsky’s total jumped to 53 percent, with Miller getting 45. But on the pivotal fourth ballot, Letofsky attracted 55 percent of the vote and Miller graciously conceded. In a brief acceptance speech, Letofsky acknowledged the coming race against Green Party candidate Cam Gordon and pledged to work with all residents of the ward.

Afterward, the exuberant, but slightly shaken Letofsky told us that the convention vote “went the way I was hoping it would go.” From our vantage point, her campaign workers did a great job maintaining Letofsky’s considerable base and slowly bringing the Svrluga delegates into the fold. They took nothing for granted. Of her coming campaign against Gordon, Letofsky noted that she and Gordon are friends and that she expects a lively and civil campaign. “I think I have a good chance to win in the fall,” she said.

Though he didn’t prevail today, Miller proved to be the strongest speaker of the candidates here and did a marvelous job of mobilizing his U of M campus base. We expect we haven’t seen the last of him.

[Emphasis mine.]

I have been looking at other media for their convention stories, but I've come up with nothing. I guess they don't do a very good job covering local politics. Not even the Minnesota Daily, which ran at least three or four articles (all basically the same) about Dan Miller's campaign, gave it a mention.

So I guess I will add my own take on the convention. It was interesting, but at the same time incredibly boring. But, in the end, I'm glad I went. It was "an experience."

Poor Dan Miller. At first, I supported him because I think we need young people to get elected to office if things are ever going to change in this country. Think of the things he could do if he were elected to the City Council at age 25. However, as I got more informed about the race, and listened to all the candidates, I came to really believe that Dan was the best candidate and would make the best councilmember.

He definitely showed that he was the best politician out of the three candidates. His speech was great, and he was successful in the Q&A sessions. He was the only candidate that succeeded in connecting local issues with national issues and the identity crisis in the Democratic Party. He showed he had a good grasp of all the issues, especially in the Q&A segment-- especially compared to Letofsky, who sometimes stumbled and looked unconfident, and then tried to cover it up with lame jokes. Svrluga did OK, but he just didn't connect with me. The entire crowd seemed receptive to him, but whereas both Cara and Dan got huge cheers from their respective delegations, old Bill only received polite applause.

I believe that the main thing that killed Dan's campaign was that he relied too heavily on students. The third and fourth ballots were very close, with Letofsky getting 53 and 55, while Dan remained at around 45. If he had just been able to turn out a few more students... who knows what would have happened? I don't believe that the delegates in that gymnasium truly represented Ward 2. Cara Letofsky succeeded because she had a hardcore, dedicated base that did the thing that was most important-- they showed up, got themselves elected delegates, and then showed up at the convention.

Who knows how many students were unable to attend precinct caucuses, or became delegates and then couldn't make it to the convention, or discovered just how excruciatingly boring a DFL convention truly is and left halfway through? I know quite a few people who fit into one of those categories.

Dan Miller really connected with students, but he couldn't reach out to the older demographics as well. (Although I did see one elderly couple who were very enthusiastic Miller supporters, and it made me happy.) People just didn't take him seriously. I saw a good example of this when talking to a middle-aged, pony-tailed, probably ex-hippie delegate, who didn't even seem to recognize that Dan was a serious candidate. He kept referring to "both" candidates, meaning Letofsky and Svrluga, implying that they were the only two in the race. It's sad, but I guess people like that couldn't get past Dan's youngish appearance. (It also didn't help that someone started spreading the ludicrous rumor that Dan had interned for George W. Bush in Washington, D.C., a rumor which, he claimed, he had to repeatedly deny. Apparently this race wasn't as "clean" as some thought.)

Well, that's my take on the convention. We'll have to see if Cara Letofsky can defeat Cam Gordon, a founding member and the former state chair of the Green Party of Minnesota. Who knows, maybe I'll write more on this later. Right now I'm just disappointed with the local Democratic party, and I need to go to class.

Posted by smit2174 at April 11, 2005 01:17 PM | TrackBack