Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, the only anti-war choice left in Minn for US Senate...

[Tom Joad]

With the drop out of Mike Ciresi from the Minnesota race, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is the clear choice of anti-war democrats.

If you loved Bush's war in Iraq, you have other choices in the race. You have the Al Franken (for some folks it might be refreshing to have a war supporter with a sense of humor in the Senate) or Norm Coleman. For the rest of us, the choice is clear.

The following is from Jack's campaign website, written by Erik Peterson.
http://www.jackforsenate.org/LaborWorld-01092008.htm

There are many reasons to support Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer for U.S. Senate, but what won me over was his clarity, focus and urgency about core issues and his vision and courage, which remind me of Paul Wellstone, the seat Jack is running to fill. Jack grabbed my attention the first time we met. I asked him why he was running, a question I ask all candidates and one that most completely muff. Jack’s response was crisp, clear and compelling: “The next ten years will be the most important decade,” he began.

He went on to make an irrefutable case. All of the issues that matter most to me – global climate change and global trade, the war and health care – will be decided in the next ten years, for good or ill, with implications for generations to come. “We didn’t choose these challenges,” Jack continued, “but this is our moment in history and it’s our responsibility to make the right decisions.” Makes sense to me, yet no other candidate running for Senate talks with this sense of urgency, passion or clearness of purpose.

On global trade, Jack is by far the strongest proponent of fair trade, not free trade. For years he worked in the U.S. and Central America fighting for economic fairness and against NAFTA, FTAA and CAFTA. In contrast, Mike Ciresi thinks the main problem is the lack of enforcement of current trade agreements, and Al Franken simply doesn’t mention trade, unless he’s talking to a union.

Jack is the only candidate who has signed onto the One Sky Initiative on global climate change that meets what scientists say is necessary to save the planet. Based on a lifetime of activism, Jack has credibility when he describes global warming as our biggest national (and global) security threat and outlines a new “Marshall Plan” to rebuild our energy infrastructure in a sustainable and renewable way. This is not only good energy policy, it will create hundreds of thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs. On the war, Jack is the only candidate who did not support it in the beginning, has been opposed all along, and calls for immediate withdrawal of our troops over the next six months – a position shared by an ever-increasing bevy of generals. We must be tough on terrorism, of course, but our national security is also served equally (even more so) by fighting poverty, providing health care, education, and opportunity here at home and abroad. On health care, Jack is the only candidate saying that we should have a single payer, universal health care system that provides comprehensive coverage free from the insurance industry. Whether this is possible to achieve in the short-term, or whether some other “universal” plan is more politically feasible along the way can be debated. But Jack gets the fundamental point of all collective bargaining: if we sacrifice our goal to political necessity before we even start the fight we will never reach our goal.

The second reason I am supporting Jack is deeply personal. I, like many folks, still consider this seat Paul’s seat. And I, like many, want to defeat Norm Coleman so badly I can taste it. Maybe Al or Mike can win. And if either of them do win, they will cast a decent vote, most of the time. But for me, it is not enough to settle for just a decent vote in Paul Wellstone’s seat. I want more than a vote – I want a voice that speaks out, is never silenced, and is always courageous, always pushing for what is necessary and in doing so is redefining what is possible. That’s what Paul did so eloquently and effectively. There will be compromises, of course. That is simply part of getting things done. But like Paul Wellstone, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer will never sacrifice his principles, or his ideals.

[Occam Bandage]

1. My sister is an uncommitted MN state delegate. Now that Ciresi dropped, she's leaning heavily JNP.

[Tom Joad]

2. It just seems that any person that supported the Iraq war should be

be cleaning political offices, not running them.

[Tom Joad]

3. It depends if you want a politician like Wellstone, or Lieberman.

for most of us, the choice is clear.

Go Jack!