[Speed Gibson,
Tuesday February 12, 2008 at 8:11pm]
TMI - Too Much Incumbency
What happened to my Legislator? I knew her from her City Council days. She was a citizen, resident, and parent first, and while a DFL'er, willing to challenge some of the liberal sacred cows. No longer. According to the Taxpayer's League 2007 Scorecard, she is now a zero, 0 for 12 as far as the taxpayer is concerned. I think I, my family, and my district deserve better.
Zero is the voting record of a party hack. One might argue that 100 would be also be a (GOP) party hack and I'll agree with that. But the number matters. Zero is achieved by deliberately and consciously taking away my liberty and money. One hundred at least represents the effort to preserve the latter, sometimes reclaiming some such as with Eminent Domain reform and tax cuts.
She has one of the safer seats in the Legislature and just got her first committee chairmanship this term. And, she's going to law school. Life is good, and no doubt better if you tow the party line. Alas, incumbency has drawn another to the dark side.
Zero is the voting record of a party hack. One might argue that 100 would be also be a (GOP) party hack and I'll agree with that. But the number matters. Zero is achieved by deliberately and consciously taking away my liberty and money. One hundred at least represents the effort to preserve the latter, sometimes reclaiming some such as with Eminent Domain reform and tax cuts.
She has one of the safer seats in the Legislature and just got her first committee chairmanship this term. And, she's going to law school. Life is good, and no doubt better if you tow the party line. Alas, incumbency has drawn another to the dark side.
Is there a real conservative you know that can run against her? Are you doing anything to make a difference? What if a moderate seeks the GOP endorsement?
I guess what I'm looking for is that now is the time to be an influence on who the candidate is on the ballot in Nov. Too many people wait until June-July-August-September to pay attention to who is running for the seat and by that time if the moderates have endorsed their candidates, well, it's too late....