Blog
The Effort to Disenfranchise 437,377
by Jim Moore
There is a massive effort by disgruntled DFL activists to disenfranchise the 437,377 of you who voted for Dean Barkley on Tuesday. Their effort has been aided by some less informed members of the media who are either blissfully ignorant of the facts, or too complacent to seek them out. Your principled vote did not elect Norm Coleman. It made the Independence Party and its centrist candiates an even stronger force for change.
The claims offered by our detractors simply do not hold up to the facts:
Claim: Dean Barkley cost Al Franken the election.
Facts:
- Al Franken failed to earn 240 more votes from the 361,955 who voted for Barack Obama and not Franken
- Al Franken failed to earn 240 more votes from the 25,000 who voted in the Presidential race but not the Senate race.
- The Star Tribune exit polling showed that if Barkley were not in the race a whopping 45% would not have voted in this race while the percentages that chose Al Franken or Norm Coleman were statistically even. The CNN exit polling revealed that an astonishing 75% of Barkley voters would have not voted in this race if Barkley was not on the ballot. Barkley gave a solid option in a miserably negative race.
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- If the recount places Franken on top, the Republicans would then be blasting us.
Claim: Independence PArty Candidates cost Ashwin Madia and El Tinklenberg their House Races.
Facts:
- If IP candidate David Dillon were not in the race, Ashwin Madia would have needed to earn 86% of his votes. Statistically impossible in a center right district.
- The IP cross-endorsed El Tinklenberg. Even if we could have excluded Bob Anderson from the ballot, Tinklenberg would have had to earn 65% of Andersons votes that came from more conservative areas of the District.
Claim: The Independence Party always hurts the Democratic Candidate
Facts:
- 1992 Barkley in 6th CDHouse Race: Republican wins (Grams)
- 1994 Barkley in US Senate Race: Republican wins (Grams again)
- 1996 Barkley in US Senate Race: Democrat wins (Wellstone)
- 1998 Jesse Ventura in Governors Race: Independent wins (Ventura)
- 2000 Tom Foley in 4th CD House Race: Democrat wins (McCollum)
- 2000 Jim Gibson in US Senate Race: Democrat wins (Dayton)
- 2002 Tim Penny in Governors Race: Republican wins (Pawlenty) -- Penny was leading until the tragic Wellstone death
- 2002 Jim Moore in US Senate Race: Republican wins (Coleman) -- Wellstone was well ahead prior to his tragic death
- 2006 Robert Fitzgerald in US Senate Race: Democrat wins (Klobuchar)
- 2006 Peter Hutchinson in Governors Race: Republican wins (Pawlenty)
- 2006 Tammy Lee in in 5th CD House Race: Democrat wins (Ellison)
- 2006 John Binkowski in 6th CD House Race: Republican wins (Bachman)
Pretty even outcomes. Democratic failures are in large part due to the weak and very abrasive candidates they ran in place of their rising stars: particularly Roger Moe, Mike Hatch, and Al Franken. Imagine if the Democrates had ran another Amy Klobuchar or Republicans had run an Arne Carlson. Alas, when you are beholden to the money train of special interests, it never works out that way.
To those 437,377 of you who voted for Dean Barkley, Thank You! While those who fail to see their own shortcomings vilify you, you have done this state a great service in ensuring that the parties that put forth these filthy campaigns and partisan candidates are put on notice. Marginalize us at your own risk. We're here to stay and we're here to win.
Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) would alleviate these concerns, but the powers that be do not have the courage to implement it, for it would show how weak their support truly is. All of Minnesota would love to know how this race would have turned out with IRV, but we lack a political scientist or a media outlet with the curiousity to test the undercurrent of our three party elections. Perhaps they fear losing their influence as well.
