In the Tribune this last week:
I’ve been hearing about the recent pilgrimages of most of the school board candidates to DFL screening committees and learned some interesting details about how their campaigns are proceeding.
At-large candidate, Renee Van Net, was endorsed before school board filings had even opened. The 2nd and 3rd District endorsement conventions will be next week. I’ll wait to offer a full report until after the DFL delegates decide whether to bestow their blessing on any of the candidates.
I don’t blame the candidates for asking for it. If I was still attending DFL precinct caucuses I’d ask for it too. I’d just be very stingy with my promises.
Here’s what I told one school board candidate about the endorsement process:
I do think the leadership of the DFL suffers from a combination of ignorance and arrogance. That question put to you about not running against the endorsed candidate, should there be one, is evidence of the ignorance. There is no partisan primary for local Minnesota offices. The legislature has made sure that local politics are generally free from partisan politics by making them non partisan. Of course, political parties have every right to endorse any candidate down to dog catcher. That’s where the DFL’s arrogance kicks in.
In Minnesota its generally only the “Cities of the First Class” where political endorsements are [awarded] to sympathetic local candidates. I don’t recall the Republicans ever doing this but that is probably a pragmatic decision. Big cities have not been cordial to the GOP and candidates who lean their direction don’t generally want that kind of attention. For the DFL its part of the process of recruitment and grooming. Ask ambitious candidates to make promises about what they stand for and then hold them to their promises after their election. Its especially good for labor unions especially public employee unions. It makes contract bargaining easier.
