Matt Bostrom for Ramsey County Sheriff

[macphisto]

An endorsement by either of the two liberal bird cage liners is enough to make me consider the other candidate. Being endorsed by both???????????

Please reread the letter. Then review Felcher's greatest hits as sheriff.

[xd ED]

An endorsement by either of the two liberal bird cage liners is enough to make me consider the other candidate. Being endorsed by both???????????

Please reread the letter. Then review Felcher's greatest hits as sheriff.

As I understand it, the letter was not published until after the Bostrom campaign was approached for a policy stand on the permit issue, by a gun advocate. That doesn't mean it's BS, but it wasn't out there until late in the campaign. On it's own, it reads nicely...I'm sure that the candidate knew justa what the inquiring citizen wanted to hear. But it's doubtful he's touting that stance at the Crocus Hill fund-raising parties.

The endorsements Bostrom is receiving are a great concern. I wouldn't be surprised to see a photo of him bowing to Obama this weekend.
Matt comes out of the same St Paul dfl swamp that gave you Chris Coleman, Betty McCollum, etc
The Ramsey Cty board endorsed Bostrom because Fletcher 'wasn't easy to work with'( personally, I don't think all the incestuous, 'getting-along' is a good thing in politics, especially with the Ramsey Cty board)

Dan Bostrom, Matt's father- city councilman in St Paul, also a retired St Paul Police officer, ran as a centrist, and quickly turned left as another me-too city hall insider, doing little or anything for the district he represents(in which I live).

Many have stated their opposition to Fletcher due to permit issues, I don't know the specific of the denials, so it's hard to judge the reasonableness of those denials.

Fletcher has some serious baggage- there is no excuse for the 2 thugs that got busted by the feds(whether or not the investigation was politically motivated).
Fletcher, a bit of a conservative, will be scrutinized by the media far more than Bostrom, or any other dfl politician in the metro area.

Admittedly that letter is what I suspect any of us want to read as a policy. Absent other issues, it makes Bostrom look like my kind of guy.

But taken in context to the entire campaign, it doesn't get me past 'the-devil-you-know-vs-the-devil-you-don't-know' position as to who to vote for.

[nyffman]

I was thinking about the GOCRA endorsement earlier last night. While I don't know who the leaders of this group are, I know of some of those involved and seem to remember a rather embarrassing incident, also involving promises in return for political support by the, so called, "carry community" in a tough election. If I'm not mistaken, they even have the actual, rather than proverbial T shirt to prove it. Much to their dismay. Well, maybe things are vastly different, now that the "carry community" has ballooned to 75,000+. And, maybe not. This group was played like a cheap fiddle by Pawlenty. I'm not sure this isn't the second verse being played here by Bostrom. I'm not so sure the "carry community" is quite as homogeneous as some of the leaders and/or mouthpieces would like it to be. Experienced politicians probably see it that way too. And that's why they see little downside to jobbing this group. Getting them all lined up on an issue not directly affecting personal protection or carrying is not that straightforward. I read a blog the other day on this subject. The blogger used, among other things, a Strib article on raids conducted by the RCSO on the RNC protesters, suggesting that they were done illegally. I wonder if he's going after the judge who issued the warrants on those "illegal" searches? But, if that's the basis of anyone's dislike or mistrust of Fletcher, at least you're in the good company of none other than the one man St Paul wrecking firm of Dave Thune, who also just happens to like Matt Bostrom for Sheriff. And then, there's this whole "community policing" thing suported by Bostrom. It just sounds to me like more progressive tripe. On the bright side, maybe Bostrom is just jobbing Thune and his merry band of socialist thieves with that one. But, I don't think I want to gamble on that being the case. I think he's probably serious about it. Maybe that's a better idea for the SPPD to try out than to experiment on the whole county. As far as the permit denial rate, come on, it's primarily an urban county. I got my permit in less than two weeks. I think it's intellectually dishonest to try to compare the denial rates of the primarily urban counties of either Ramsey or Hennepin to some rural county with a much lower crime rate. And now for the personal story segment. A political yard sign for my state representative was delivered a few weeks ago by a retired SPPD officer of some rank. He was not just your average beat cop but I don't remember exactly what he did. And, in talking with him. he was very much in favor of RKBA and in general, quite conservative. And, he knew all the players, Fletcher and his buddies as well as Bostrom, Finney, etc. In his opinion, either one would be ok for the job. He felt that Bostrom had no realistic expectation of victory but was getting his name recognition points out there for the time when Fletcher would just decide not to run again. While I am still leaning toward Fletcher and GOCRA has not convinced me that Bostrom is messing with them in the manner of Pawlenty, the election isn't till Tuesday.

[Dick Unger]

The beauty of the Bostrom coalition is that it is NOT just a bunch of "conservatives". GOCRA does not pretend to be a "conservative" organization, it welcome all honest people who care about 2A issues for a variety of reasons. (Remember that Ramsey County voters are collectively probably the most liberal voters in Minnesota anyway.) Too, a Sheriff's duties are such that the liberal/conservative philosophy is almost irrelevant, it's a libertarian/statism orientation that will matter.

The Second Amendment is for everybody. And all poiticians need to feel our pressure. Right now, a liberal DFLer holding his Democratic incumbant accountable for bad gun control proposals probably has more influence than a hard line conservative who will vote Republican no matter what.

And yeah, from what I've heard about how Bostrom supported the street sweeps during the RNC, he ain't perfect for me either.

But wouldn't it be nice if all candidates wanted a GOCA endorsment when they ran for office?

[xd ED]

... As far as the permit denial rate, come on, it's primarily an urban county. I got my permit in less than two weeks. I think it's intellectually dishonest to try to compare the denial rates of the primarily urban counties of either Ramsey or Hennepin to some rural county with a much lower crime rate.... .... either one would be ok for the job.... the election isn't till Tuesday.

http://www.bostromforsheriff.com/pdf/op ... ndment.pdf
http://www.bostromforsheriff.com/news.shtml

(links and letter portion copied from a previous post)

OPEN LETTER FROM MATT BOSTROM
Upholding the Second Amendment and the Minnesota Citizens Personal Protection Act
October 13, 2010
"...Under my administration, the Ramsey County Sheriff will have a rate of granting permits consistent with those of other Minnesota sheriffs, because the people of Ramsey County are as responsible and law-abiding as those in the other 87 counties...." (emphasis mine)

The above excerpt from Bostrom's letter, along with nyffman's post, which articulates many of my concerns, and the long list of Bostrom endosements( see link below) are reasons I find to remain wary.

No one can predict who will apply for a gun permit, and again, Ramsey is an urban county, with all the socio-economic baggage that entails. To suggest that the permit numbers will look like those from out-state Minnesota is as insidious as any quota.
Even as a resident, I cannot support the suggestion that as a total population "...the people of Ramsey County are as responsible and law-abiding as those in the other 87 (sic)counties..."
When I applied for my permit, it was at the time when permits had been just 'brought back'. I had a pleasant bs session with the deputy handling the paperwork. In the process of discussing his observations, (and I was writing a check) he commented that he was aware of at least 3 cases where applicants had bounced checks, with no amends made. So I'm guessing, in the Bostrom administration, those 3 might have to be given permits to keep the 'numbers' inline with the rest of MN. (A bit of an absurd suggestion on my part, but it demonstrates the meaningless of any statistical guarantees regarding permit granting.)


http://www.bostromforsheriff.com/supporters.shtml

If one scrolls through the list of Bostrom endorsements they will see among others, the who's-who of Twin Cities DFL politics.
I don't pretend to recognize every name on the endorsement list, but the overwhelming number of elected officials are people I vote against, or would if I could.
Bostrom certainly has his political ducks in a row to campaign for Sheriff...or other office.... in this political environment.

Given his political alignments, I don't expect the media to scrutinize Bostrom as they have(and they should) Sherrif Fletcher.
Thus any truly objective reporting is not likely to be found for a source of information.

This, like most politics, is far from a good guy vs. bad guy race, regardless of who one favors.

[plblark]

ok, you tell me the denial rates going back to 2003 for let's say the counties of Dakota, Anoka, Washington, Hennepin, and Ramsey
Then get me the same number for the state excluding Ramsey county.

Then look at the number of permits applied for, active, and etc in each of them for the time period

Then look at the Uniform Crime Report for the counties in question for the time period.

I'll wait, I've DONE that homework!

What you'll find is this:

Ramsey county's crime per capita is among the lowest.
Ramsey county's valid permits is among the lowest
Ramsey County's denial rate is incredibly high comparatively!

The truth is, per capita, Ramsey County residents are no more likely to commit crimes. In fact, they're less so. So, why, other than artificial and arbitrary policies for over zealous denials, would Ramsey County have a much higher denial rate?

[lenny7]

Too, a Sheriff's duties are such that the liberal/conservative philosophy is almost irrelevant, it's a libertarian/statism orientation that will matter.

Dick, you've captured it exactly! He's not running as a congressman, but as a CLEO. He can't create new entitlements, provide stimulus money, vote on health care, or further burden the job makers with more regulation. He can't even raise your taxes. In the ways in which a sheriff can actually affect my life (were I to live in Ramsey County), I see him as a much better alternative to Fletcher.

I'd hazard a guess that 90% of my interaction with the Scott Co Sheriff and his staff had to do with my carry permit. Absent corruption, scandal or (which is certainly there with Fletcher), my two litmus tests...if you can have two...are 2A and libertarian/statism orientation.

[princewally]

I was thinking about the GOCRA endorsement earlier last night. While I don't know who the leaders of this group are, I know of some of those involved and seem to remember a rather embarrassing incident, also involving promises in return for political support by the, so called, "carry community" in a tough election.

That's one of the reasons why GOCRA-PAC is pushing for public promises.

[nyffman]

Very good points. Especially plblark, Dick Unger and princewally. It may very well be that GOCRA is adapting and adjusting. According to plblark,

Ramsey county's crime per capita is among the lowest.

I think Fletcher should receive some of the credit for that.

But wouldn't it be nice if all candidates wanted a GOCA endorsment when they ran for office?

Which brings up one of my earlier points. Are the 75,000 + permit holders really a politically powerful group? I think, not yet, but it could achieve that status, maybe 100,000, maybe it'll take much more than that. I think, more important than denial rates, etc, do you really believe that Mr. "comunity policing" is going to improve the quality of life Ramsey County?

[Dick Unger]

75,000 permit holders and family members. Many elections have a vote differential of less than that. I think about 3 to 5 % of people will vote mostly on 2A issues, if I was running for office I would not want to give that up. And of folks who do like gun controls, I don't think any of them really vote based on that.

But we have to make 2A an issue, or the politicians will side step it. I think if we make 2A stuff an ISSUE in a given election race, we should be able to get statements similar to what Bostrom said. Then, we can remind them later of what was said in the campaign.

If Dayton would simply make a big 2A statement, even NOW, he'd win Tuesday by a couple three points I think. Right now it's dead even, and he has forfeited this issue to Emmer. Instead they are spending millions of dollars to get him elected. It's crazy. He could win for free. It's crazy, I think.

[Jeff Bergquist]

If Dayton would simply make a big 2A statement, even NOW, he'd win Tuesday by a couple three points I think. Right now it's dead even, and he has forfeited this issue to Emmer. Instead they are spending millions of dollars to get him elected. It's crazy. He could win for free. It's crazy, I think.

Are you implying that Dayton should compromise his principals in order to get elected? (Sorry, couldn't keep a straight face, although this applies to the other side(s) as well.) Or more accurately, should he break faith with his base of support?

[macphisto]

There is NFW I would ever vote for Mark "Crazy Eyes" Dayton no matter what he said. I would rather hit myself in the head with a hammer. Just so we're clear.

[nyffman]

Based on his performance as Senator, I'd say that there's a high likelyhood that Dayton would wet himself and hide under his desk shortly after taking office, then loose interest and decide not to run for a 2nd term, all while delegating things for the remaining 3 or so years of his term to the Lt Gov. But, back on topic, Mr. Unger is almost convincing me. I just can't get past the fact of his late appeal to the 2nd amendment being like a deathbed conversion. And, the fact, as mentioned by plblark, the the low crime rate, was not accomplished by a guy experimenting with community policing. From what I've read on the subject, it can be a successful strategy, but one that is so different from the current methods, that it is sure to result in short term problems, at best.

[Tommy Gun]

Based on his performance as Senator, I'd say that there's a high likelyhood that Dayton would wet himself and hide under his desk shortly after taking office, then loose interest and decide not to run for a 2nd term, all while delegating things for the remaining 3 or so years of his term to the Lt Gov.

[plblark]

I received a personal E-mail from a staunch Republican in 54A. His personal endorsement was for Bostrom.

Bostrom is currently a deputy chief of police and is backed by many law enforcement people as a strong candidate who would do a great job as Sherriff. Bob Fletcher, the incumbent Sherriff, has been in office a long time and has his fair share of scandals associated with the office. Recently, his campaign was involved in a lawn sign brush-up, where sherriff’s deputies actually went to threaten arrest of someone who was working signs for the Bostrom campaign. Also, Matt Bostrom did come to our HD54A picnic this summer to speak to us, meet people, and ask for our vote as a law-and-order candidate.