Precinct Caucuses on February 2, folks.

[MineralMan]

In most places the State Senate district will take place immediately after the precinct caucuses. Visit the DFL site for locations.

IF YOU AREN'T THERE, YOU DON'T REALLY CARE!

[dflprincess]

1. Per the calendar at the DFL website most the SD conventions

seem to be scheduled on the Saturdays beginning Feb 20 and running through March 13 (with a few earlier or later).

http://action.dfl.org/site/PageServer?pagename=EventCalendar

BTW I know 3 people who have been to every caucus since 1968 who are really thinking about sitting it out this year. They care, but they're fed up with both the state and national party. And I can't say I blame them.

[mascarax]

2. Why are they fed up with the state party?

I definitely understand the national party.

And I still don't know who I'm supporting for Governor, which is odd...and obviously says something.

[dflprincess]

3. They just see it as an extension of the national party

and it is - remember the way they shoved Klobuchar down our throats long before the state convention? That move turned a lot of us off. And, right or wrong, the poor performance of Congress, especially the health care sell out, is going to affect local parties and races.

It's a pity given that once upon a time the DFL took some pride in being a thorn in the side of the DNC.

[DFLforever]

4. It sounds like they're getting old

One does get tired of the process and people.

I personally think the party peaked around the time of the '68 anti-war caucuses. But so what.

As to health care, I don't think you can truthfully accuse people of selling out who never bought in. E.g., single payer: I challenge you to find a dozen senators who would consider it, let alone vote for it.

[dflprincess]

6. We are getting old

and we're tired of fighting the same battles over and over again as well as being fed up with a party that ignores its base after years of promising how much they could do if we only hung in there and worked to get Congress and the White House back.

We'll never know how many senators might have been persuaded to support single payer because they were never allowed to discuss it. It isn't that single payer wasn't passed, we knew going in that that was a stretch, its that we hae the Republican wing of the Democratic party begin their negotiations at what should have been the compromise position so we wind up with a bill that protects the insurance companies by forcing us to buy "coverage" while doing nothing to guarantee us access to care. At the very least, they might have included a clause that allows the states to find real solutions to the health care mess themselves, but they would rather we remain depenendent on the for profit insurers and employer based "coverage".

Promises to "fix" this scam don't inspire a whole lot of confidence as we're still waiting for them to fix NAFTA, NCLP, and the Patriot Act - to mention just some of the bad legislation the Democrats have helped pass.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. I'm going to caucus for Marty for governor

I don't CARE if the conventional wisdom is that he has no chance of winning.

I refuse to meekly vote for Matt Entenza or whoever the DFL insiders think should be the next governor.

We should all go and vote for the candidate WE REALLY WANT and the hell with the insiders.

If there's any statement that makes me crazy it's, "I really like Candidate X, but s/he can't win, so I'm going to vote for Candidate Y, who was endorsed by (Some Bigwig)."

It should be a no-brainer that you don't get what you want if you never ask for it.

[dflprincess]

7. I'm still torn between Marty and Dayton

I'd like to see Marty stay in the Senate and push his single payer bill. Dayton also supports that idea so it would be nice to have someone in the Executive branch for Marty to work with.

I think it's the DFL wheels might think Entenza is their guy (the same people who brought us Klobuchar) but I don't think he's especially popular among rank and file activists. I did hear someone who knows more than I say that the party is afraid to piss Entenza off because they need the money his family donates, especially with the Kaplans out of the game for a while.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. But if they can get the votes without the money, it's a win-win situation

But the Big Wheels don't think that way.

If they went for votes without money, they might have to actually do something.

[dflprincess]

9. True (n/t)

[ButterflyBlood]

10. I'm there, supporting Rybak

nt

[wellstone dem]

11. I'm going to caucus for Tarryl Clark!

Haven't decided about the Governor's race.