Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727

These days one of the things you learn on a road trip is how big the United States is. Then, how big individual states are. Finally the traveler discovers how each state is different. In Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727.

Get Off The Interstate

Most noteworthy is what happens when you get off the Interstate and onto the back roads. That’s when you really see how it is.

Covering Politics In 2018

2018 is an election year. I said I would cover the Minnesota political scene this year. The first stop is the Minnesota State Republican Convention. Duluth. On the shores of Lake Superior.

Minnesota History

Furthermore some of the state’s old hands don’t know Minnesota’s unique social and political history. We’ll discover it together in Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727.

Town Hall Is In Our Blood

Sure, we know our pioneer history. Especially relevant is the unique history of political grass roots and town hall style representation.

Minnesota’s first settlers were New Englanders and New Yorkers. They brought town halls with them. Later immigrants from Scandinavia, Germany and Ireland formed the bedrock of so called ‘progressive‘ politics in the state. Therefore, those ideas are still with us.

Yes Republicans Were Progressives and Populists Too

In addition while some people assume progressive politics these days is only the political left, republicans too have a long history of progressivism. Find out in Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727.

Tim Pawlenty Tries To Derail Caucus Process

Will the grassroots system survive in Minnesota? Former republican Governor Tim Pawlenty isn’t attending because he’ll be clinking crystal with rich guys at the Minneapolis Club. Pawlenty’s operatives will push the convention to refuse to endorse a candidate for governor. This is the main issue in Duluth this weekend.

Do We Really Want To Dump The Town Hall?

Moreover populists and progressives go back to the roots of Minnesota Republicans and democrats. Probably a big part of that process has been town hall style politics in the caucus system. Most of all do we really want to get rid of it?

Surprises In This Podcast

In conclusion as I researched this podcast I learned a few surprising facts. I think you will too.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Two things. First, it’s not 35W heading to Duluth, it’s just 35 North. Being a Twin Citiean, I have to get on 35W before 35 North. Second, for some reason I thought the State DFL convention – the democrats – was being held in Rochester, Minnesota the week after the Republican Convention in Duluth. Once again those sneaky democrats have managed to slip out of my grasp. It’s in the 40’s in Duluth and the 80’s in Rochester. Given the quality of the speeches in Duluth this weekend, I wish I had gone to Rochester!)

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727

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Podcast 456

Bad Omen. A special primary election in Minnesota’s 35th Senate District results in 60 percent of the vote for RINO Jim Abeler over the Tea Party and Republican Party endorsed candidate Andy Aplicowski and may be a bad omen for the general election in 2016. The Iowa Precinct Caucuses are on February 1st. Minnesota’s caucuses are on March 1st. With the national media reporting on the Republican Party ‘Civil War’, and the impact of the Tea Party in that ‘civil war’ it looks like the Tea Party is all show, and no go. Tea Party groups can’t seem to get out the vote for ‘principled’ conservatives. Is this a bad omen? Is it possible voters don’t agree with the Tea Party message? Are the Tea Party groups lazy? Or, maybe Tea Party groups are just ignorant of what real political organizing requires. If this happens nationwide in 2016 then the so called ‘grassroots surge’ of ‘principled’ conservatives in the Republican Party, supported by Tea Party chapters all over the country, may be one of the biggest busts, and thus one of the biggest stories of 2016 bad omen, or not. Offering excuses doesn’t cut it. Win, or go home. Sure, the story line of the Tea Party as kingmaker serves the mainstream media’s interests now, but if the Tea Party can’t produce results what the media gives will be taken away, mercilessly. What’s wrong? This might be considered a harsh analysis for some, but when the Tea Party candidate loses by sixty percent of the vote, it’s a criticism that should be heard and a story that’s not being told. Is there something these groups can do to improve their performance? What happens if they keep failing to win? Sponsored by Hydrus, Pride of Home and Luke Team Real Estate.

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Podcast 427 – Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann. The Bob Davis Podcasts caught up with former Congressman Michele Bachmann at the Citizens Council For Health Freedom annual dinner. Bachmann proves she is still a firehose and a firebrand when it comes to talk about politics. The CCHF is interested in repealing Obamacare, so this is where we start. Does the former congressman really think this congress, or the next, is going to actually repeal the ACA? How would that vote be taken? Sharing some of her experience from the presidential campaign trail in 2012, she talks about Jeb Bush and Donald Trump, and responds to a question about Trump’s seeming support of not repealing the ACA, saying Trump is willing to change his mind. She goes on to blast current republican leadership in the House of Representatives, and especially Minnesota Republican Leadership for not taking the fight to the left. She also takes on what she feels are the big issues in the 2016 race, starting with illegal immigration, and her analysis of what the republican base wants. Bachmann says Minnesota Republicans are risk averse, afraid to take on the democrats and the left, on the issues. In comments sure to ruffle some careful republican feathers, Bachmann says Minnesota’s Republicans at the state and federal level ‘don’t want editorial boards mad at them’. Bachmann says the Democrats are pushing hard left to their base, while the right is doing the opposite; pushing more to the center and ‘kicking its base in the shins’. Current Republican leadership in Minnesota really isn’t going to like her critique and explanation of why she thinks they are doing a bad job, but the base will celebrate what she says. Bachmann agrees with many of her former constituents who lament the loss of what she calls conservative leadership in Minnesota and reminds people on the sidelines in the Republican camp that one person can make a difference, providing a detailed history of how she got involved in politics in Minnesota in the first place, and then on to Congress and a presidential campaign. The former congressman and 2012 presidential candidate travels the country speaking, and proves in this interview she is as capable as ever of shaking things up. Is there another election in her future? Listen and find out. Sponsored by X Government Trucks and Eric and Erum Lucero of Pride of Homes and Luke Team Real Estate.

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