Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Open thread

I overslept this morning and so I don't have time to post anything. Open thread time!

7 comments:

W.B. Picklesworth said...

I would have liked to oversleep this morning. Instead, at 5 am the little boy declared insistently, "I'm awake." "You're awake, eh? And now I am too. Spanking time." He's actually learned to be patient and play quietly in his room when he wakes up. Maybe once a month he tries selfishness again only to discover that it's still a bad option.

Mr. D said...

Funny — my son woke me up today, too. And in his case, I appreciated it.

Brad said...

Former MN House member and State Senator out of Edina, Keith Downey, declared he is running for Chair of the MN Republican Party.

I like Keith but I'm waiting to see who else jumps into the fray.

First Ringer said...

I ran into Keith at a coffee shop in Edina this morning and I'm glad to see he's staying involved politically despite what happened in November.

We'll see who else gets involved, but Downey's level of organization in all of his campaigns would be something the State GOP should aspire to match.

Anonymous said...

Details, please. I've never heard of the gentleman.

J. Ewing

Mr. D said...

I don't know Keith, but if FR likes him, that's a good sign. Would like to see if others are willing to get involved.

I'd like to see Dave Thompson consider a run for statewide office in the next cycle -- he's one of the best communicators of Republican policy and philosophy we have in the state. He blew away Erin Murphy on KARE's 10 p.m. news last night.

First Ringer said...

J Ewing,

I won't try and summarize much on Downey, except to highlight his introduction of a 15% reduction in state govt (largely by not replacing some retiring workers). The unions hated that and when the govt shutdown happened in 2011 and the unions protested, they called their camps on the state capitol grounds "Downeyville." Not bad for a sophomore legislator at the time.

My support for Keith would be largely for his organizational skill. He created his own database of voters in his district that far surpassed the Voter Vault system the state party distributes to the BPOUs and endorsed candidates. He literally had block capitals on almost every street in Edina/West Bloomington. He had more votes than any other Republican senate candidate in the state in the last election.

Unfortunately, the unions made his race the most expensive in MN and he lost. The MN GOP really needs fundraisers and organizers and Downey can do both. We'll see who else declares, but he'd be a strong choice. I'm frankly surprised he'd want the job.