Mayor Coleman just kicked debate on lightrail development along the central corridor (University Avenue) into high gear by launching a website,
http://stpaul.gov/initiatives/centralcorridor/. The website has a lot of information about the planning process: schedules, press releases, meeting minutes, contact information, etc.
This is a huge local issue which affects us as college students and as Democrats. Lightrail transportation along University would make it possible for us to travel quickly and cheaply from St. Paul to Minneapolis--it would extend our ability to experience the Twin Cities. At the same time, there are many small businesses along University that would be aversely affected during the construction period and several cultural communities that could be destroyed by the introduction of lightrail just as the heart of the African American community around Marshall was ripped out by the building of I94.
Give the website a read-over when you have a moment, and come back here to share you thoughts. It would be great to have a presence in the planning if we could, but to do so requires that we inform ourselves as best we can. If you're around St. Paul this summer, try to swing by one of the meetings, take some notes, and send them to us:
macdems@macalester.edu. We'll post them and continue this discussion here.
Matt took one for the team here but he should not have had to do it. I'm not sure in the long run if this will help the DFL, there is nothing worse or more pathetic in politics than party infighting (unless it’s the GOP, though it never is). Matt is a great man and a progressive leader. He’ll be back and the Mac Dems will be by his side.
The most troubling thing for me about all of this is that we are being asked to honor Mike Hatch's endorsement. Mike Hatch sought to get someone else to run against the DFL-endorsed candidate, and nowhere throughout the endorsement process did he respect the people participating in it: he didn't attempt to connect with precinct caucus-goers, he didn't announce his running mate in a timely fashion, and throughout it all he made it very clear that it didn't matter to him: he was going to be in this race to the September primary regardless. The sanctity of this man's DFL-endorsement is non-existent.
For me, it's not about Matt "taking one for the team" too much. I just wonder why DFL caucus-goers nominated this conservative man who obviously does not give a damn about the process our party uses to decide who represent us. I wonder why Mike Hatch opposinig the DFL-endorsed candidate for Attorney General takes a backseat to an attorney doing routine campaign background checks--I'll bet you the DFL had such research done about Hatch and has it on file.
I will be absent in the fall working on a campaign of my own in Oregon, but I would encourage Mac Dems to support someone other than Mike Hatch in the September primary--Becky Lourey. If not Becky Lourey, look to Peter Hutchinson, a progressive candidate running as an Independent. I hate Pawlenty, but I will not vote for Mike Hatch.
Amen