Political news is everywhere

Just saw on the news Barb Davis White held her announcement press conference for her congressional run against Keith Ellison in the 5th. As I said last week I had a chance to hear her speak to my local Republican convention back when I thought I might be able to be a Republican. She is a shamefully embarrassing candidate for anyone that believes in gay rights. Republicans will flock to her and she may very well do better then any Republican in many years, but she will also drive many that oppose Keith Ellison in many ways to select the lesser of two evils and vote for Keith Ellison, and thus Keith Ellison's hold on the seat will only become stronger. Of course if the 5th had instant run off voting she could be helpful in removing Ellison from office as she would bring out anti Ellison voters to the polls and it would simply be a matter of a Tammy Lee like candidate finishing 2nd with upwards of 25% of the vote. The freedom IRV gives voters to support a third party candidate would callow that to come a little easier then it seems.

We also have word today that Mike Cirisi is out of the race for Norm Cole mans senate run meaning Al Franken will be allowed to embarrass the Democrat party with no original ideas and no political skill. I'm glad I don't have major disagreements with Norm Colemans politics because he's going to be around for a while.

On the presidential side I ignored Michael Bloombergs announcement that he will not run as I was trying to be a Republican, he made the right choice not because the Democrats and Republicans have delivered overly acceptable candidates but because his run was hopeless. He just didn't have that indescribable "it" that Jesse Ventura and to a lesser extent Ross Perot had, and money was not going to change that. Of course Ron Paul formally withdrew from the race as he could not turn his support into delegates. It's a shame he had to be so vocal about his war stance as his message on other matters sells well.

Then we have the fun and games with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are playing. Hillary's political skill is fun to watch, while Barack seems to be in a little to deep, but may have been able to ride the wave long enough to win the nomination where he stands no chance against John McCain (mark my words he will not get 40% of the vote). There is also the interesting question of how the party handles Michigan and Florida, we need to remember here that the parties are not a part of the democratic process, and claims of disenfranchisement have no grounds (just look at the delegate counts certain states have and you will see the parties get to set the rules as they see fit). If people don't like how the parties operate they're only legal ground is to vote outside of that party come November.

Finally we have the matter of the six republicans who voted for the transportation tax. As I posted at the time I do not support the vote, and fully approve of how the Republicans have reacted in stripping them of committee chairs and this weekend not endorsing others, however I can respect them for voting as they saw fit. It seems as if the leaders in the Independence with there current fiscally moderate to fiscally liberal (which needs to change if the party ever wants to win without the luxury of being able to run an incumbent) approach are ready to support them if they do decide to continue on without the Republican endorsement.

I'm a not nearly as proud as I would like Independence today, and hope in the upcoming years the party can become what it once was which is anything but fiscally liberal. I also am actively looking for any candidate or party that will proudly promote both gay marriage and fiscal conservatism. I'll be more involved in the Independence Party in the coming months and hopefully will be able to provide some meaningful news. I am aware of a few candidates that sound adaquat, although clearly nothing of the Tammy Lee or Tim Penny level at this point.