Seems like we have a lot of DU'ers going on to caucus for Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer at SD conventions

[Mister Ed]

IM1. RU12?

[Kilroy003]

1. It's because we care...

And we take time to think about it first. This is not to say Al Franken and Mike Cireci wouldn't make fine senators, just that Jack is the better of the three, IMHO.

[Minnesota Raindog]

2. We'll be two more at SD 52

Franken lost me on his dissing of the Sierra Club, and I'll be converting some more by the time of the convention.

FWIW, Ciresi never stood a chance with me.

[Mister Ed]

3. Hey, I guess I'll be seeing you there!

As long as you promise not to beat me up for liking Franken second best!

But I tell you this: I honestly think any Dem can beat Coleman this year. That means I have the luxury of asking myself who I would most like to have there in that Senate seat, doing the day-in-and-day-out work of the Senate. For that work, I think Nelson-Pallmeyer would be absolutely ideal.

:hi:

[Kira]

4. How does this system work?

When do you decide who goes up against Coleman?

[Mister Ed]

6. How does the system work? It's as simple as Quantum Physics!

(cue the film projector...)

Next comes the Senate District (SD) conventions! Your Senate District is the area represented in the Minnesota Legislature by your particular State Senator.

At the precinct caucuses last Tuesday, delegates from each precinct were chosen to go to the Senate District convention. There, they will do several things:

1) Hobnob about and listen to speeches by various Democratic candidate.

2) Vote to choose the Democratic candidate for State Senator and State Representative for their district.

3) Participate in the walking caucus. Here's where it gets weird. Groups (caucuses) of delegates will coalesce around various candidates, issues, or themes - the "Fair Trade Coffee" caucus, for example, or the "Jane Doe for Senate" caucus. A caucus must have a certain number of members to be considered viable. Those that are too small will merge with other caucuses to become large enough to be viable. In '06, I remember that the "Labor Union" caucus merged with the "Michele Bachmann's a Nut" caucus, and then were joined by the "Elwyn Tinklenberg for Congress" caucus, thus becoming large enough to be viable.

Within each of the viable caucuses, persons who wish to serve as delegates representing that caucus at the Congressional District and/or State conventions will identify themselves. The caucus members will then vote to select the delegates they'll send to the conventions.

Next comes the Congressional District (CD) conventions. Your Congressional District is the area represented by your U.S. congressperson. At the CD convention, delegates will vote to select the DFL nominee in the race for that seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Finally, there's the State DFL Convention. It's there that the delegates from the SD conventions all over the state will gather to eat bad food, party in the hotels at night, fight with each other over every issue great and small, and finally select the DFL nominee for the U.S. Senate race. And after all that, the decision is non-binding! Candidates dissatisfied with the outcome sometimes choose to take their case to the public at large, who can vote in the September primaries. But I understand that all of the Senate candidates this year have pledged to honor the decision made at the State Convention.

So there it is. I hope you've been taking notes, because there'll be a short quiz next period...;)

[dflprincess]

11. And, in a presidential year, the subcaucus must include a presidential preference or "uncommitted"

so it could be "Uncommitted Progressive Issues" subcaucus or "Uncommittd, Jane Doe for Senate, really, really Progressive" subcaucus.

There tends to be a lot of subcaucuses formed at first because everyone thinks if they nominate a caucus and it turns out to be viable they have a better chance of being elected a delegate.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. I would have but due to work pressures, I couldn't run for delegate

:-(

[Demrock6]

7. Im caucusing for Jack!

He has the best record on the war, on the environment, and has no personal baggage to be used against him.

Not to mention he is a very convincing charter, and he will continue to do well in the debates against his DFL opponents as well as Coleman.

I was undecided about whom a second choice would be. After hearing Ciresi on the MPR debate, using false attacks on Franken, self-funding against his word: Al Franken is my second choice.

But I will do what I can to make sure Jack Nelson Pallmeyer is the first choice.

[kenfrequed]

8. Yup

Caucusing for Jack as well!

[goodhue]

9. Yes, indeed

I'm on track with Jack . . .

[indigo32]

10. Dunno if I'll make it all the way or not

I did 2 years ago for Becky Laurie but I've moved since and it's a presidential year,
but I'll happily caucus for Jack,
and was pleased to see visible support for him in my precinct.

[geardaddy]

12. Yes, definitely! n/t