Emmer concedes

[plblark]

hmmm... how many races did they lose again? How many seats did they gain in the last election?

[mnglocker]

But their principles are rapidy approaching the right fringes of the spectrum of politics. Are you denying that the Republican party has taken a huge step to the right in the past 5 years?

The GOP may have taken a huge step to the right in the last five year, however the 15 years preceding that it took 3 huge steps to the left.

O.T. What the hell do you actually do here "autobahn" besides troll and prove your arrogance?

[Heffay]

The GOP may have taken a huge step to the right in the last five year, however the 15 years preceding that it took 3 huge steps to the left.

O.T. What the hell do you actually do here "autobahn" besides troll and prove your arrogance?

Troll? I don't think that word means what you think it means. Someone disagreeing with you isn't trolling. If you want to see trolling, I'll show you trolling.

Don't take 2010 as a referendum for the hard-core conservative values. Have the lessons of 2008 already been forgotten? The republicans took the house and the senate in Minnesota for the same reason that Obama got elected. People are angry and want change. If you think that America took a giant step to the right in November, you're going to be in for a rude awakening very soon.

Emmer lost because he was a horrible candidate. He was too far off of what most of the voters wanted, so they did exactly what they are supposed to do: sent him packing. Sutton should be fired for failing to make Emmer look even REMOTELY palatable to the general public. It's not hard. Kiss a few babies, shake a lot of hands, don't say anything really freaking stupid. Guess both Sutton and Emmer failed miserably at that. It's not Horner's fault Emmer didn't get elected.

[princewally]

But their principles are rapidy approaching the right fringes of the spectrum of politics. Are you denying that the Republican party has taken a huge step to the right in the past 5 years?

Funny. Bush and McCain were pure centrist. 40 years ago, they'd have been kicked out of the Democrat Party for being too liberal.

[Tommy Gun]

He lost because of ingrates like Arne Carlson, Al Quie and Dave Durenberger, et al. They decided to publicly support a candidate from another party because their guy didn't win the party nomination.

You're right, in America we can't have people supporting who they think would be the best for minnesota or having independent political thoughts! Always support the party, comrade or you will go to salt mine in siberia!

Did you ever think it's because the party is shifting to the extreme right and more and more Minnesotans that were formerly Republican don't support that shift?

Nobody twisted Arnie's, Al's or Dave's arm to join the Republican party. They did that freely. If they don't like the direction of the party, they should leave it. They can't have it both ways -- take advantage of the party when they are running for office and then thumb their noses at the party when it suits them. That's why I called them ingrates. At least Horner had the decency to leave and join another party. If they had done that, I'd have more respect for them.

[chudrockz]

In my opinion, notions of "right" and "left" are outdated to the point of near uselessness. In an age where GW Bush was considered "conservative" (?!?!) and B. Obama is considered "liberal" (editorial- they're both socialists) the terms have lost all meaning.

I propose replacing "conservative vs. liberal," or "left vs. right", with "free vs. not free".

And free gets my vote, every time.

For the record, I don't see anything of "troll" in autobahn. I think we might find plenty to disagree about, but that's not trolling.

[Tommy Gun]

In an age where GW Bush was considered "conservative" (?!?!)...

That's "compassionate conservative". Karl Rove worked really, really hard to come up with that phrase.

[ComradeBurg]

I propose replacing "conservative vs. liberal," or "left vs. right", with "free vs. not free".

Hear hear.

I don't give a crap what political party somebody is in, I care about their beliefs and voting record. Given the choice between a pro-liberty candidate and statist I'll always vote the pro-liberty one.

[R.E.T.]

Gee, I thought Emmer was going to hold out so that T-Paw could stay on as the Guv and the Eeeeee-vil Republicans could carry out their dastardly plan to take over Minnesota, then the USA and eventually the whole world. Bwahhhhh-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

That is what you get when you put a DUI forward as your best option for governer. Get quality canidate first and then lets talk. IMHO

I will admit that I was not happy that Emmer had a DUI arrest in his past because I knew that would be a political problem. However, that was 20+ freakin' years ago, not 20 weeks or months ago. Sure, it hurt Emmer, but that is not why he lost. He lost because of ingrates like Arne Carlson, Al Quie and Dave Durenberger, et al. They decided to publicly support a candidate from another party because their guy didn't win the party nomination. When political parties pick a candidate, there is always someone who isn't happy. That's the way it goes. Grown ups will suck it up and support the party nominee so they can keep the other party from winning. These guys aren't novices in party politics. If they don't want to support the party, they can proclaim their independence and go it alone . . . or join another party.

Plenty of folks in this state who do not drink and drive. Non-starter in my book. I do not care if it was 50 years ago. Not gubinitorial material. Find someone else.

50 years ago it was common for people to drive if they were too drunk to walk.And no one thought too much about it. Not saying it was the best thing, but that was the conventional thinking.

[1911fan]

Just remember, Arnie defected from the Democrats DFL party before he ran for Gov.

The issue with the parties is that the platforms both stand on, are inconsistent with how many people, if not most people, stand. A true fiscal conservative will look at the net cost of an issue and vote for whats the best deal, not the best headline. Often times, the best deal is not going to make the best soundbite, or be a position that is going to be easy to defend from smear or attack ads in campaign times.

Example: It can be argued that the number one clue to a life's outcome is going to be reading skills. I do not have the stats, but if you are behind grade level at age 12, the risk you becoming a less than productive member of society rises dramatically. Likewise, that stat will also be an indicator of your chances of avoiding criminal activity. There will always be exceptions, but the numbers say if you can't read, you're gonna have a rough go of it. Spending money on interventional schooling at before that age has shown to work, and to work well. It is labor intensive and expensive, and its tied to economic indicators as well, but it has consistently shown to work. The numbers show that is a great deal financially, for every $1 spent, it saves many more in costs later down the line, and if revenues are added in from taking that consumer of tax dollars and converts that to a generator of tax dollars, well, its close to a hundred fold return.

Unfortunately, those programs are often attacked by the Nominal Conservative as wasteful spending, Nanny Statism, etc.

Likewise, some programs designed to show conservative mettle are very costly, do little to fix the base issue but are great sound bites and make great political ads, yet show no long term effects in fixing whats wrong.

[autobahn]

50 years ago it was common for people to drive if they were too drunk to walk.And no one thought too much about it. Not saying it was the best thing, but that was the conventional thinking.

It wasn't the best thing? It was HORRIBLE! Talk about an understatement.

Highways were a damn bloodbath.

People don't realize how many magnitudes safer our highways are now.

[1911fan]

Lots of things contribute to that, DUI is a lesser one. WHy? because it seems to happen unabated no matter what the punishment.

Biggest improvements in highway safety are design, design of the barriers and posts, and car improvements, In fact, airbags and belts probably account for the vast majority of reduced fatalities.

Major factor increasing accidents is traffic.

[Heffay]

Remember the good old days when someone would kill a few people from drunken driving, and we'd all say "Ah, there goes Tom again! That scoundrel! But he's really a good guy at heart!"

[mattxd]

Remember the good old days when someone would kill a few people from drunken driving, and we'd all say "Ah, there goes Tom again! That scoundrel! But he's really a good guy at heart!"

that would be Teddy not Tom

[Heffay]

Remember the good old days when someone would kill a few people from drunken driving, and we'd all say "Ah, there goes Tom again! That scoundrel! But he's really a good guy at heart!"

that would be Teddy not Tom

It's only a matter of time. Scoundrels! They take breaks, but they are just so lovable they can never step away for long!