I’m 2 days out of a cult called DFL…

Is the DFL Party a cult?

While the party does a lot of things well, endorsements for statewide office ain’t one of them. This cycle was no exception, as the state convention got hacked by special interest groups resulting in the nomination of a governor candidate who’s polling at 11% and a newbie lawyer endorsed for Attorney General whose name we need plastic beach toys to remember. Now that would be survivable if the party would have just stepped aside and let the voters decide. But mafias, corrupt corporations, the Trump administration, and cults don’t say “oops” and correct the problem- They double and triple down on their error as the whole organization provides cover.

So now a couple of days away from the toxic environment of the DFL party my mind is clearing and I can see the illogic of the DFL “support the endorsed candidate no matter what” policy for what it is… Insane. Thus the sane DFLers, which seems to be half the party at least, have left. The “problem on Plato Boulevard” is a shambles, with a few newbies still trying to figure out which switch works what. While the DFL finally gave in and opened some rural campaign offices, they’re mostly closed, so many DFL staffers having left that our remaining local staffer has four offices to cover by himself. None the less, like the generals whose army has deserted them, the DFL party leadership that remains keeps barking out orders demanding absolute support of their sinking candidates for governor and AG.

Two days ago I quit being Minnesota nice, told the assembled remaining couple of DFL officers that I’d been pretty much purged, and walked out of the meeting. The meeting was over anyways so I’d done my duty, and didn’t care to stay for the parade to help promote the previously mentioned failing candidates. I’m sleeping better, been out kayaking twice for the first time this summer, and enjoying life again.

Problem for the DFL is, the half of the party they’ve pushed out may not come back after the primary. Worse yet, by backing candidates who can only play a spoiler role, the DFL may hand the endorsement to Swanson, and the “Never Swanson” hashtag is already out there… If a bunch of dissenting DFLers stay home on election day that 11% lead over Pawlenty could easily disappear.

So I’m quite happy being out of DFL party leadership. But as this blog attests, I’m clearly still having a lot of fun with politics! Pretty soon the MN campaign finance filings will be out and it’ll be fun dissecting them. Then this weekend I’ll be in Iowa and Wisconsin and hope to get some “ground truth” on the races there to blog about. One of the nice things about my location is that I’m within day trip range of 9 states and visit Florida every winter, so I’ll be blogging other states democratic politics and the Iowa caucuses in the next cycle.

“Freedoms just another word for nothing less to lose”… Especially positions in the DFL!