District 50 North Metro Mayors Forum - Dull, but revealing

After watching the video of the event it doesn't appear that anything terribly exciting happened. All of the GOPers (Gina Bauman for SD50 Senate, Tim Utz for HD50A House, and Russ Bertsch for HD50B House) presented their Conservative case well in spite of the shallowness of the softball questions while the libs showed their true socialist leanings. Hopefully those who generally don’t follow politics will watch one of the many replays or the internet feed and conclude that all of the DFLers need to be denied election or re-election to office as they all showed they are clueless when it comes to what the people want or need.

There were no major gaffs, and very little in the way of surprises to those of us who pay attention to politics. Conservatives Gina Bauman, Tim Utz, and Russ Bertsch all agreed that taxes are too high and should not be raised, and the spending that is driving the high taxes must be cut. The three hard-core left-wingers Barb Goodwin, Carolyn Laine, and Kate Knuth admitted that they viewed tax increases as inevitable, though Knuth carefully avoided using the phrase and substituted variations of "revenue increases". "Independent" Rae Hart Anderson pretty much prattled on through her allotted time with her usual incoherent steam of semi-consciousness.

Apparently the fun stuff occurred after the cameras stopped rolling as related by HD50A GOP Chair John Anderson. After the forum Carolyn Laine would not pose for pictures with the GOP challenger for her seat, Tim Utz. It's understandable that Carolyn Laine was upset as one can see in the video that Tim pretty much sanitized her clock throughout the forum and goaded her into revealing that her political ideology is to the left of Karl Marx. She actually came out and said the Minnesotans are not over taxed (what planet does she live on?), and that we have a high tax rate because we have so many high income people who can afford to pay it(!). Unfortunately the other candidates are not visible in the video while the camera is on the speaker, but I heard from someone who attended the event that Laine spent most of the evening with a sucking-on-a-lemon expression as Tim put the smack on her with his customary in-your-face, yet droll, delivery.

Although it’s doubtful many minds were changed among the politically engaged I thought the Conservatives came off well, the libs showed what they’re all about (mostly more government and taxes), and Rae Anderson occupied space and consumed time. Now that the election is about a month away there will probably be an increase in interest and I encourage those looking to get up to speed to watch the replay of this forum as well as the many other upcoming forums.

Tim Utz gave some good advice in his closing statement when he recommended that viewers check out the web sites of all the candidates:

District 50 Senate:
Gina Bauman (GOP Endorsed)
Barb Goodwin (DFL Endorsed)
Rae Hart Anderson (not GOP endorsed, in spite of what she may imply on her "house calls" - in fact she was kicked out of the GOP)

District 50A House:
Tim Utz (GOP Endorsed)
Carolyn Laine (DFL Endorsed)

District 50B House:
Russ Bertsch (GOP Endorsed)
Kate Knuth (DFL Endorsed)

I think people will find that the GOP has fielded a great group of truly Conservative candidates, the DFLers are actually much more liberal (or downright socialist) than they portray in their public appearances and one-minute sound bites, and the "Independent" pretty much marches out of step to the beat of various irrhythmic drummers.

Take the time to visit all the various sections on each web site and carefully check out the philosophy and positions of each candidate, as well as the individuals and groups who support and associate with them - it’s often very revealing on what kind of legislator they will be.