On Tuesday night, I attended my local senate district Republican convention. We elected delegates to the upcoming 5th Congressional district and state conventions and went through the painstaking process of culling a herd of resolutions (I left about 1/16th of the way through this exercise in tedium).
One bit of information that should warm Saint Paul's heart is that the state party is pushing hard, very hard, to get people to sign up to be poll watchers. In his role as election judge grand poobah, there's nothing more that he loves than poll watchers. The more the merrier, as he likes to say.
There were also a slew of guest speakers on hand. Flacks representing Mark Kennedy and Norm Coleman. Rich Stanek, who is considering a run for Hennepin County Sheriff, made a favorable impression. James Turnham , who is seeking the GOP endorsement in a Quixotic quest for the 5th Congressional district seat that will be vacated when Martin Sabo retires:
Minnesota's 5th Congressional District is one of the most Democratic in the country. In the last presidential election, John Kerry garnered over 70 percent of the vote, the largest margin of victory in any of the state's eight congressional districts. Rep. Martin Sabo, the area's 28-year DFL incumbent, hasn't faced a serious electoral fight in years, receiving at least 67 percent of the vote in his last four campaigns.
"For a liberal Democrat it's one of the most desirable spots to be in the country," Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota, says of the district, which includes all of Minneapolis, along with swatches of the northern and western suburbs. "It's kind of like a little Sweden there."
Except that the hockey is not nearly as good. Larry Jacobs quoted in a local media story? Imagine that.
Turnham came across as a competent, well-meaning Republican standard bearer. Which means he has absolutely no chance to win. It will be difficult, if not impossible, for Republicans to take the seat any time soon given the demographic makeup of the 5th district. The only possibility of breaking the stranglehold would be to run a non-traditional candidate with fresh ideas and policy approaches. I don't think that Turnham is that candidate.
The speaker who stood out from the pack was Harold Shudlick. Unfortunately, it wasn't for anything positive. Shudlick is seeking the GOP endorsement for the Senate seat that Mark Dayton is vacating. That endorsement has already all but been given to Congressman Mark Kennedy, but Shudlick is not giving up. Which is not a good thing.
I respect Shudlick's service to his country (Bronze Star in Vietnam) and he seems like a nice enough guy. But he doesn't belong in the political game. If you took John Kerry at his stiffest and combined it with Admiral Stockdale (may he rest in peace) at his most deer in the headlightest, you'd begin to get an idea of how Shudlick came across on Tuesday night. It was awkward. It was painful. It was at times embarrassing. For the audience.
His speech was wooden and stilted. But the real squirming in the seats began during the Q and A. Shudlick has some radio spots where he talks about "defending the Constitution against enemies both foreign AND domestic" and I don't doubt that he means it. He was asked about the war in Iraq on Tuesday and responded with the blinding insight that, "The problem in Iraq is the insurgents."
Yeah, and? Well, that was about the extent of it, although Shudlick did add, "Of course, we have our own insurgents in the West as well." Yikes. Yes, I do think that he is questioning your patriotism guys.
The low point came when Shudlick was asked about drilling in ANWAR, a question that Norm Coleman's representative was also asked. Shudlick replied that, "As long as the safety concerns were addressed, I would support drilling there." Safety concerns? Is he talking about the safety of the caribou while they're bumpin' and grindin'?
He then explained that he we should also be looking at alternative sources of energy, like water. "The Chinese are doing some very interesting things with water power and with all our rivers around here, we should look into that as well."
My jaw dropped and I was tempted to raise my hand and follow up with, "Um...Harold? Are you talking about dams? 'Cause if you are, we've been doing that for a few hundred years already."
Friends don't let friends run for high political office. In Shudlick's case, I think an intervention is in order. Who will stop the pain?
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