I Don’t Hate America!

Via press release:

Margaret Anderson Kelliher DFL State Convention Speech

Thank you DFL’ers.
Many thanks to Jeff Hayden, Dave Fredrickson, and Maria Arago.
And to my campaign co-chairs Secretary of State Joan Grow and Vice President Walter Mondale.
My roots in the DFL party go way back.
The first convention I attended was as a college sophomore. I will never forget it. I couldn’t take my eyes off this cute red head from the old 2nd Congressional District.
Well, today that red head is my husband, David.
Let me introduce my family. Dave and our kids - Patrick and Franny.
And, my mom - Elaine.
My mom’s pretty excited to be here. As many of you know I was the Blue Earth County Dairy Princess. Mom always wanted me to win another contest.
She hoped I would be crowned – “Princess Kay of the Milky Way.” Her wish was that my head would be carved in butter and displayed at the state fair.
 Well… I’ve been trying to make it up to her ever since.
Do you realize it has been nearly a quarter century since we elected a DFL governor?
For far, too long the governor’s office has been run by big personalities.
And, individuals with even bigger ambitions.
Well… I’ve got a message for anyone who is resigned to thinking the phrase -

“DFL Governor” is an oxymoron.

It’s time to end the 24 year drought!

Are you ready to end the 24 year drought?

This year we are on the verge of adding a new chapter to our history.
We are strong and ready. As the leader of the House DFL Caucus I’ve been serious about rebuilding our party.
With your help we’ve elected Democrats in places like Rosemount - First DFL’er there in 24 years.
In Rochester. In North Branch.
In six years we’ve gone from a minority in the house to a 30 seat majority.
As I knock on doors in the suburbs and the cities. And visit farms and factories….
I’m reminded of what matters most to Minnesotans.
Too many people are looking for a job or worried about losing their job.
My own family has faced tough times. I remember a night on the farm when I was fourteen. We had just finished supper when my dad pushed his plate away. He put his head down on the table and started to cry.

My dad Carl was a proud man and I had never seen him cry before. I knew something was really wrong. Interest rates had skyrocketed and milk prices had bottomed out. We were in danger of losing the farm.

Today there are families at kitchen tables who face the same fears.
I’ve met people like Scott - an electrician in Shakopee. Scott has been out of work for more than a year. He worries about how he’ll make his next mortgage payment.
Dixie in Thief River Falls - who is afraid she will lose her union because of the airline merger.
And, the teachers struggling in Long Prairie - Grey Eagle who work for health care. Literally. Their entire pay check goes to pay for health care for their family.
In the last eight years we’ve had a governor who put his right wing ideology ahead of improving people’s lives.

We have endured a governor who would rather block and squander, than build and prosper.

We must and can do better. Minnesotans are hungry for a leader who shares their values.

We must and can do better. We need a governor who can connect with all of Minnesota.

That’s why I am running for governor.

And that’s why today I am asking for your endorsement.

I will do better.

I’ve stared down the Republican right. I’ve come out with wins.

The 35W bridge collapse was a time for strong leadership.

Governor Pawlenty ignored the wake up call. He vowed never to sign a comprehensive transportation bill.

I looked him in the eye and told him I would organize an override of his veto. He said go ahead and try. And, that’s exactly what I did.

I forged new partnerships with business, labor. Farmers, environmentalists. Democrats and Republicans.

Together, we won. And, Minnesota won.
Our roads and bridges are safer. And, we put Minnesotans back to work.

There is nothing more important than jobs.

In March, I led the effort to pass a jobs agenda. Economists project it will pull us out of the great recession more quickly. 20,000 Minnesotans will be back to work in the coming months and 10,000 more after that.

As Governor I will go farther.

I have the executive experience to hit the ground running. There is no time to waste. The new governor must deliver a budget in twelve short weeks.

As Speaker of the Minnesota House, I manage a 300 person staff with a multi-million dollar budget.

I have completed three - 34 billion dollar balanced state budgets. Hammering out a budget isn’t glamorous work. It takes more than being a cheerleader.

It matters because the budget touches every, single Minnesotan. Through job training for returning veterans, making college affordable, and insuring 40,000 more kids.

I have already put forward an economic roadmap. As Governor I will ensure economic recovery touches every corner of the state.

From Fergus Falls, where Greg and Jenny Stumbo are expanding their cafe…

To the technical college in Canby where students are learning how to repair wind turbines.

To McQuay International in Plymouth creating jobs for engineers and managers.

We cannot afford to have an opportunity gap between rural and metro Minnesota.

We will seize new possibilities. Like we did with the 2007 Renewable Energy Standard. Standards that Marty Seifert and Tom Emmer want to repeal.
We had the vision to set the strongest standards in the nation. This is good for the environment and good for jobs.
As governor I will position us for the future by setting priorities from day one as we govern together.
Dave and I are proud public school parents. As Governor I will ensure all kids succeed in college and work. It starts with early childhood education.
We will fix our school funding formula so that it is fair, predictable, and sustainable.
As Governor I will ensure every Minnesotan has health care. And, be steadfast in securing civil rights. Including racial justice.
And, marriage equality.
As your next Governor, these are my priorities. In good times and in bad.
My family was fortunate. We saved the farm. My parents scraped together every single penny - their life savings. We worked sun up to sun down. Those difficult days made me who I am today.

A tireless fighter.

This spring my brothers Craig and Ken are preparing for another planting season. As they break ground, they do so with a steady eye on the future.

So, must we. Together we can build a future filled with prosperity and opportunity.

This is the tradition of the DFL party.

Twenty-one years ago Dave and I sat with a college professor from Northfield when he decided to run for statewide office.

Paul Wellstone inspired so many of us.

Paul said “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
It is the DFL party that believes in the dreams of the little guy.

We are the party of Fitz Mondale and Hubert Humphrey. Champions of the people.

The DFL party is the party of pioneering women.
We sent Coya Knutson to Washington fifty years ago.
We are the party of: Alan Spear, Keith Ellison, and Amy Klobuchar.
The DFL party has been breaking ground for nearly a century.
It is time to come together again for one Minnesota.

Together, we can win in November!

I ask for your vote.

By now you may have heard the news that former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman has decided against running for governor in Minnesota.

While I am glad he has decided to finally get the hint from Minnesotans and stay away for a while, I’m quite disappointed as I would have been amused by the rioting that the hardcore conservatives surely would have started had he sought the endorsement at the GOP convention.

While pundits are predicting gloom and doom for Democrats this year, let’s not kid ourselves: the Republican Party of Minnesota is still fighting for its very soul. While I predict the Tom Emmer vs. Marty Seifert floor fight to be brutal, nothing other than perhaps a Jim Ramstad gubernatorial campaign speech would have launched the convention into armageddon quicker than a Coleman candidacy.  I’m sure sentiments from party activists like this one played into Norm’s decision to not take part in a probable blood bath.

This means we need to look to the past to find controversy from a Minnesota GOP convention. Purely for the heckuvit, let’s take a trip WAY back.

Dateline: June 20, 1986 at the old St. Paul Civic Center for the Independent-Republican Party convention.  Betty Wilson in the Strib reported:

The first fight at the Independent-Republican convention in St. Paul was over signs.

On Wednesday, the day before the convention opened, gubernatorial candidate Marion (Mike) Menning’s campaign staff put up what it contends is the largest sign ever hung in the St. Paul Civic Center. It is 84 feet long and 20 feet wide, bears Menning’s name in huge white letters against a blue background and is suspended from the ceiling and facing the delegate seats.

Another Menning sign, 30 feet by 20 feet, was also hanging from the ceiling to greet delegates as they came onto the convention floor. But the Menning people were told Thursday that they would have to take it down as a compromise to placate the other candidates.

After hearing about the Menning coup, representatives of the other candidates, David Jennings and Cal Ludeman, cried foul. The convention  rules prohibited putting up signs until 9 a.m. yesterday, according to the Jennings and Ludeman representatives. Party staff members told the Menning people that one sign would have to come down as the compromise.

Menning spokesmen explained that they had to have help from the Civic Center staff in putting up the signs, and staff members said they had to do it Wednesday. Tom Dahlberg, Menning’s campaign manager, said it took eight people more than two hours to mount the larger sign.

Menning also has about 8,000 balloons in nets above the convention floor, ready to be released today when he is nominated and his supporters stage a demonstration.

As we know, those balloons never needed to leave the nets as Ludeman, now Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s human services commissioner who infamously admitted T-Paw’s veto of General Assistance Medical Care would affect the sickest of the sick and the poorest of the poor, received IR endorsement.  Maybe it was because of his stellar outreach to underrepresented groups?

Not more than 10 of the 2,082 delegates to the Independent-Republican Party convention in St. Paul are minorities, according to IR chairman Leon Oistad.

He estimated that five or six Hispanics and three or four blacks are delegates.

“We have very active black and Hispanic (affiliates) with the party,” Oistad said. “For whatever reason, not a great many of them have been elected as delegates to this convention. We’re actively trying to recruit members of minorities into the party.”

Or maybe it was because of his choice to adopt a strategy of cutting-edge political fashion statements as opposed to cutting-edge political technology?

Menning will track delegate movement between ballots tonight with the help of two personal computers in his war room and one portable computer on the floor. A laser printer is standing by to generate personal letters, five per minute, to key delegates. The computer-generated information will be passed to Menning floor leaders via walkie-talkie.

Jennings plans to use one personal computer to help him make the same effort, said volunteer Vic Ellison. But Ellison downplayed the significance of the service the computer will provide. “A computer can’t help anybody now. We’re down to one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat now,” he said.

All three campaigns have distinctive identifications for their floor leaders. District floor leaders for Jennings are wearing orange cowboy hats, and about 100 unit leaders have orange caps with visors.

Menning workers have painter’s caps with Menning’s name and are wearing pins and carrying walkie-talkies.

Ludeman’s floor leaders have straw hats with Ludeman’s name and large buttons with his picture.

After surviving all of the sign shenanigans to get the party endorsement at the convention as well as the surviving IR primary, Ludeman went on to lose to Gov. Rudy Perpich.  This year I’m confident our DFL endorsed candidate will be able to hold off whichever candidate emerges from the GOP side.  Of course, I have my own idea of who that endorsed candidate should be, but that’s a discussion for another evening: specifically precinct caucus evening, which is approaching soon on February 2nd!

I’m pleased and proud to be listed amongst such great company. Former Congressman Martin Sabo. Former Secretary of State Joan Growe.  Former House Speakers Bob Vanasek and Dee Long. Many current and former local government officials and state legislators. Countless rank and file Minnesota DFLers.  I’d say this is quite the impressive list.

Sheesh, and to think, just over a month ago I was merely flipping burgers.