"Floodwood Forum" video at www.youtube.com & at www.republicancontract.com

Carney offers analysis of Governor races in three Minnesota major party primaries

Contact: Bob Carney Jr. -- (612)-824-4479 (home and business)

Note: please use this e-mail temporarily -- bobcarneyjr@msn.com

My e-mail address at republicancontract currently has technical problems -- Bob

Note: if you prefer to receive news releases at another e-mail address, please let me know -- Bob

For an archive of all news releases, and more information, please visit: www.republicancontract.com

For immediate release                                                                              

Minneapolis, MN, June 2, 2010 -- Bob Carney Jr. and Bill McGaughey filed for the Minnesota Republican primary for Governor and Lt. Governor yesterday, the last day of the filing period.

"I'm delighted to be running with Bill -- we're exchanging e-mails several times a day, forming and launching initiatives. Bill has an extensive and outstanding background, and is ideally suited for championing issues that are vital to Minnesota, our country, and our world. People will be hearing a lot from both of us," Carney said.

"What we need now is a man of professorial temperament in the governor's office who engages all kinds of persons of good will in mutually instructive dialogue until, hopefully, a policy consensus forms on issues of the day. That is how I see Bob Carney. That is why I am proud to be his Lieutenant Governor running mate," McGaughey said.

There are now four candidates for Governor in the Republican primary, and a total of thirteen candidates in all three primaries. Eleven days earlier, four of those candidates participated in a unique event -- a candidate forum sponsored by the Third Grade class in Floodwood Minnesota, a city of about 500 people, about forty five miles west of Duluth.

The Floodwood Third Grade Governor Candidates Informational Forum
 

"Can you put more police in banks?"

That question was from Keith, a member of the Floodwood Third Grade class.

The class, taught by Ms. Geraldine Davidson posed questions for ninety minutes to Matt Entenza (DFL), John Uldrich and Rob Hahn (IP) and Carney on Friday, May 21st.

Carney and Uldrich had plenty of time to talk about the forum -- Carney rode with Uldrich, and the two traveled about 400 mines round trip. Uldrich responded to another question -- "why are you running for Governor?" -- this way:

"This response calls for standing up, because it's kind of an emotional one for me, but I'm running for all of you. And I'm particularly running for the young people in the front, because they remind me of my grandchildren. And when I thought about what I could bring to the Governor's race, I thought about my grandchildren, and I also thought that they're not going to have the same opportunities that I have had, and I find that to be egregious, you can look that word up, and discuss what that word means, it's not good. And my intent basically is to try to get the Government of the State of Minnesota to provide you with the opportunities as nearly as I possibly can to the opportunities I have been given by the State of Minnesota."

Another highlight of the event was Rep. Tom Rukavina's answer to the question: "What is it like to run for Governor?" Rukavina participated in the panel as an "candidate emeritus" -- he did not continue his campaign beyond the DFL endorsing convention. Rukavina concluded: "... there's a couple of millionaires in this race, and then there's the endorsed candidate. And so, you know I was hoping this election would be about raising people's hopes -- in these times we need a lot of hope -- and not about raising money... but it didn't turn out that way."

Carney commented: "This was a really unique event. As you can see in the video, the kids are really cute. But you can also see that they had some serious questions, and they made it clear to us that they wanted -- and expected -- answers to those questions. We all tried our best to answer them. At the end, one of the students thanked school officials '...for approving this project so we could have this great experience.' That summed it up perfectly."

Carney produced a nine minute video of the forum, available on youtube.com (enter: "Floodwood Forum" in the search box), and at www.republicancontract.com.

 

Filing is complete -- Carney/McGaughey poised to challenge Emmer
 

Tom Emmer, the endorsed Republican candidate, appears to be attempting to "buypass the primary," according to Carney. "That's b-u-y-p-a-s-s," Carney emphasized. But can he get away with it? "The 'Money Media' may help Mr. Emmer -- but the 'Free Media' -- youtube.com, the internet, e-mail, and the 'bells and whistles' stuff, offers an alternative. An effective campaign of 'guerrilla marketing' and 'person to person politics' may make this a year of upsets," Carney said.

MPR's May 4th Polinaut reported IP endorsed candidate Tom Horner sees an opportunity this year "... to win those 30 percent of Republicans, who I believe absolutely will not vote for Tom Emmer."

Carney responded: "Both Tom Horner and I see the hundreds of thousands of moderate and independent-minded Republicans -- people who have been driven out of today's Republican party, but who haven't been driven out of the state. The real question is who will these Republicans -- and they are Republicans -- vote for in the primary? When these folks find out that the Carney/McGaughey ticket offers a real, reasonable, alternative to Emmer on the Republican primary ballot -- a choice, not a reverb -- the result from this group alone could be a real shocker on August 11th. An important part of their message will be to their fellow Republicans: 'We're still here -- we're still Republicans -- it's time you stopped trying to control us and drive us away.'"

Carney added: "Bill and I aren't stopping with Republicans who know better than Emmer -- we have a lot to say to young people who are looking for a future."

Carney offered this analysis of the two other candidates who will be on the Republican primary ballot:

Ole Savior -- "Ole has a following, but he has always run in the DFL primary in the past. I'm glad he's 'seen the light', and will be bringing people to the Republican alternative. However, when you throw in the 'Elvis impersonator', I don't think he is going to be seen as the best alternative by my core group of prospective supporters -- the hundreds of thousands of moderate Republicans who welcome an opportunity to say: 'NO!!!... AND...' to Tom Emmer."

Leslie Davis -- "As with Ole, Leslie has a following, and I'm glad he has also 'seen the light', and will be introducing people to the Republican primary ballot. I told Leslie I would like to do a video interview with him about his 'Money Plan', the centerpiece of his campaign. Leslie said he'd like to -- but we haven't firmed this up. While I'm open to persuasion, at this point I don't think Leslie has an adequate understanding of either the real problems in our financial system, or potential solutions. As the campaign proceeds, the domination of our financial system at the Federal level by an oligarchy may be an issue in the Governor's campaign," Carney said.
 

A continuing challenge to bi-partisan unallotment irresponsibility

Carney filed the first "unallotment lawsuit" in July of 2009, challenging the Pawlenty administration's illegal unallotment of the Political Contribution Refund ("PCR") program. Carney is not an attorney, is acting pro se, and is preparing a brief in his lawsuit that is based on recent events, including both the Minnesota Supreme Court's ruling that Governor Pawlenty's unallotments were illegal, and the Legislature's passage of an omnibus budget bill during the Special Session called and completed on May 17, 2010. Carney's lawsuit is now in the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

"The Pawlenty administration has shot all of us in the foot again -- by calling a special session to pass the so-called omnibus budget bill on the one day of the year when our Minnesota Constitution forbids passage of a bill," Carney said. Because the Legislature defunded the PCR program, the constitutionality of the ominbus budget bill is now a crucial issue in Carney's case.

"As I see it, Governor Pawlenty and the Legislature -- with Speaker Kelliher leading the way -- have colluded to kick the unallotment 'cuts' into the next biennium, with no way to pay for them. These so-called 'cuts' aren't 'cuts' at all -- they're deferrals," Carney said.

Carney is advocating a special session, to put on the ballot a Constitutional amendment to "fix the unallotment mess" -- providing for payment over ten years for the money illegally unallotted. Representative Lyndon Carlson, Chairman of the Finance Committee had an amendment "jacketed" and ready to move forward as the regular session came to a close. Senator Bakk told Carney: "If Representative Carlson wants to jacket it, send me the Senate jackets."

"A special session could put this up to the voters -- by a majority vote of both Houses -- with no participation by Governor Pawlenty. If the Court holds the omnibus budget bill was passed in violation of our Constitution -- and I think that is likely, the Constitutional language is very clear on this point -- a special session to put this question to the voters is the best way to clean up Governor Pawlenty's unallotment mess," Carney said.

Carney concluded:

"Here's the bottom line. From the point of view of both process and policy -- Carney/McGaughey is really the only reasonable alternative for the 30% of Minnesota Republicans Mr. Horner says 'absolutely will not vote for Emmer.' As these folks find out there is a reasonable alternative on the Republican primary ballot, the foundation for a tremendous upset will be in place."

Carney's first episode of "Tom and me" is in production. "This is an old story... David v Goliath... but with improved technology -- camcorders instead of a sling shot. The camcorder is already widely acknowledge to be a weapon of political mass destruction, and I know how to use it," Carney said.

 

"Citizens Working" -- upsets ahead: next five months

Another upset may be looming in the Independence party (IP) primary.

In addition to Tom Horner, the endorsed IP candidate, John Uldrich, a retired business executive with a long and unsummarizable background, is also on the IP ballot, along with businessman Rob Hahn and long-time Republican activist Phil Ratte. Carney handicaps this race as follows:

Tom Horner -- (www.horner2010.com) is widely seen as the front runner -- but there are two huge questions here. First: which primary will Moderate Republicans vote in? Carney/McGaughey isn't yielding an inch to Horner -- 'nuff said about that for now. Second, who will vote in the IP primary? Horner could lose the IP primary if Moderate Republicans stay Republican, and if independents rally to a candidate who is more like Jesse than like, "...well,... Tom isn't like Jesse,..." Carney said.

And John Uldrich -- (www.uldrich2010.com) might be such a guy -- this year's Jesse, or maybe "Dad of Jesse." Uldrich is very personable, and he has the most extensive military background of any candidate for Governor. But John's appeal goes way beyond that -- he's an original, out-of-the-box thinker, with a decades-long track record of accomplishments. The Carney and Uldrich tickets are already working together, and Carney/McGaughey are willing to work with other challengers in all of the primary races, including but not limited to...

Rob Hahn -- (www.hahn2010.com), the youngest of the IP candidates, businessman Rob Hahn is also very personable, and is an accomplished public speaker. He has campaigned actively, and has succeeded in garnering a substantial amount of publicity. Hahn has "fresh face" potential, and his "untained by politics" past can be spun as an asset.... but this may also work against him. Hahn's lack of detailed knowledge of public policy issues might lead prospective voters to "see the lite" as they consider his candidacy, possibly turning then to...

Phil Ratte -- (no web site listed, philratte@gmail.com), close in age to John Uldrich, Phil was active in the Republican party for years, but has switched to IP, at least for this year. Ratte has an engineering background, and is another highly intelligent candidate. He is unafraid to take "conspiracy theories" seriously, as befits a person whose world view is rooted in an understanding of human fallibility. Phil can draw on many current and former Republican contacts, and has been active in the Minnesota Tea Party movement. Rounding out the IP field is...

Rahn Workcuff -- (no web site or e-mail listed), who participated in an early and major "all candidate" forum hosted by Gary Eichten but hasn't been heard from much since. He will be on the IP ballot.
 

"Millionaires" Working (or so they say) -- the DFL primary

Challengers in all primaries will benefit from the many public service announcements that Minnesotans are likely to hear from now to August 10. This will probably be mostly paid for by DFL Millionaires: Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza. The endorsed DFL candidate, House Speaker Margaret Kelliher, will also likely contribute all she raises by the primary -- since continuing to the general election is no sure thing. These candidates are already well known, and widely reported on, but a fourth name will be on the DFL primary ballot:

Peter Idusogie -- (no web site or e-mail listed, but see mnpeterforgovernor.com), who was born in London England, spent his youth in Europe and Africa, and graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College, majoring in Political Science. Idusogie's slogan is: "People Are Everything". "Peter was on a candidate panel with me at Hamline University on April 15th. He impressed me as an intelligent and articulate person -- I hope he will campaign together with Uldrich, myself, and others. One thing's for sure: Peter will be 'none of the above' on the DFL primary ballot in August. Who knows what might happen?" Carney said.

 

And then there were 201
 

This fall there will be eleven IP State House candidates and seven IP State Senate candidates on the ballot. This is known, because: a) that is the total number of candidates who filed, b) they all filed in different districts, and c) once filing is closed, there is no way to put a major party candidate on the general election ballot for a partisan office in Minnesota if no one filed in that party's primary.

"This is truly unfortunate -- it reflects very badly on the Independence party to have won automatic access to a spot on the General Election ballot for every Legislative seat if someone will plop down $100, and then to let over 90% of these seats go uncontested," Carney said.

"As we move towards the General Election, I think we all need to start considering a widespread effort to recruit independent minded people to stand for the Legislature as 'write-in' candidates. The fact is this: a spot on the General Election ballot is a convenience -- not a necessity. Maybe this will be the year Minnesotans 'take back their ballot', snatching reality from the jaws of duopoly," Carney concluded.

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