Urban league parade

Today I marched with Tammy Lee in the Urban league parade in North Minneapolis. As I arrived Leslie Davis went by in his campaign bus, and he gave me a good "please continue to hate me" glare, it was kind of shocking that he actually has a campaign bus given he doesn't do any meaningful campaigning.

Prior to the parade the newest Independence party candidate Brian Smith stopped by. Despite attempts from Mary Kiffmeyer to prevent him from appearing on the ballot Brian is running a strong campaign in 58B. This race has the potential to become the Independence Party's only competitive primary as he competes with 2 other IP candidates, as well as a friend of the IP who filed with the Republicans for the seat currently held by Keith Ellison.

While there wasn't a Republican candidate to be found, the people at the parade were very open to change in politics. These are exactly the kinds of places the Independence Party has an opportunity to thrive in. In 2002 Tim Penny only received 4.9% in the precinct however in that same Governors race Booker Hodges received 9.5%, with the help of people like Booker and a local candidate like Brian the combined 14.4% "independent vote" in 2002 is the starting point for Team Minnesota, Tammy Lee and Robert Fitzgerald to build off of. While the Republicans might not have as much hope to improve in the community it is sad to see they won't even enter urban territory.

Thursday is the New Brighton parade where I'm still deciding who I should march with as Robert Fitzgerald begins his tour of the metro area. I Hope to see as many volunteers as possible for both Robert and Tammy to make my decision easier.