Liberal in the Land of Conservative

In a matter of days, Minnesotans will go to their local caucuses and make decisions that will affect the direction of our country in the coming years. Those decisions, between old and new, change and stagnation, or between the establishment and the people will define what types of individuals will be making decisions and representing you and I. This blog has been a labor of love over the past 6 months and has yielded what appears to be some influence. Therefore, I make these caucus recommendations:

Democrats must be honest with ourselves and realize that we have had a truly amazing set of choices this election season. Down the line, with the possible exception of curmudgeon Mike Gravel, Democratic choices have been difficult only because we had to choose from the best of the best while the Republicans have spent much of the season wondering if it might be possible to dig up Ronald Reagan and run him as a resurrected human possibly negating the 22nd Amendment. My candidate of immediate choice, Joe Biden, took a quick exit in this contest to regain the White House. Since that time I have either mulled over my choices or completely ignored the field all together. However, it is time to ante up and decide which of the remaining candidates can best bring this country back to a state of "normalcy". That is why I, for one, will be caucusing for Barack Obama on February 5th.

Over the past months I have seen a man develop from a relatively empty candidate with a brilliant knack for oratory to a man that has withstood the Clinton machine and lived to tell the tale. His understanding of issues has been tested and honed in this contest against more experienced candidates and it has served to combine brilliant oratory with the less glamorous knowledge of details.

This decision has been equally as difficult as the Presidential race, not because of a choice between Franken, Ciresi, and Nelson-Pallmeyer, but rather due to the decision between Ciresi and Nelson-Pallmeyer. As I have stated before, I simply cannot and will not support a Franken nomination.

While my friend Blue Man (and Blue Woman) has clearly chosen Nelson-Pallmeyer and I encourage everyone to check out his reasons (here, here, here, and here), I am throwing my hat into the ring for Mike Ciresi. After researching, reading, and listening to Mr. Ciresi I believe it is he who understands the issues facing myself and other educators across the state. Obviously, education tops my list of issues and tends to dictate my choices in candidates. I have heard the arguments about mandates and the arguments about punishment over praise of failing schools, but it the issue of testing that really drives my opposition to NCLB. When I heard Mike Ciresi describe the utter foolishness in the method by which we test our students I immediately connected with his message. I have been thinking and saying this all along and it boggles the mind that others don't see how useless it is to determine progress in education by comparing one class to another over determining progress on the basis of a class or a student over time. This, coupled with the fact that testing does little to evaluate critical thinking skills, leads me to believe that Mike Ciresi sees what I see.

When you couple that message with the fantastic things Ciresi has done through the Foundation for Children that I have discussed earlier, I simply cannot see myself supporting someone else. That is why I, for one, will be caucusing for Mike Ciresi on February 5th.


This is going to be an amazing election season with many difficult battles ahead of us and I truly believe that nominating these two individuals will benefit Minnesota and the United States. I encourage everyone, whomever they are caucusing for, to attend their caucuses to have their voice heard so that we can elect the best and brightest to a government that hasn't always been filled with the best and brightest.

On a side note: I recently learned that my wife, who I had assumed I had brainwashed enough to give me a second liberal vote, had considered voting for Rudy Giuliani! Obviously, I am still somewhat distraught by this development and would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Also, remember that this Monday, February 4th I will be hosting a live chat here to discuss the Presidential race, Minnesota races, and all things politics in the official chat room of Liberal in the Land of Conservative. For details, check out this blog post or shoot me an email. I am hoping for a good turnout and would encourage those of all political stripes to chime in. In fact, I have it on good authority that one of the standard bearers of the conservative movement, Gary Gross, will be joining the conversation.