Olmsted County Convention Is Largest In Our State
03/29/2008
Paul Munnis
The largest DFL County Convention in Minnesota convened today at Century H.S. in Rochester, MN, with an overflow crowd packing the school auditorium. This convention is unique in that it offers a feature seldom found anymore in politics: “Walking sub-caucuses.”
Attendees to the convention (Delegates) do what all conventions do first; they elect their officers for the coming period of service. Lynn Wilson was re-elected as County Chairman for another term. A tight contest between her and Dianne Hellie was resolved in a tight vote, 300 to 280. After the vote many delegates were heard to say that they want the Democratic Party to keep on growing in Olmsted County and so they voted for the person who has rebuilt the Party from the ground up. All were signaling a determination to strengthen the Democratic Party and defeat Republicans in every contest this fall.
Tim Walz came and he received a standing ovation and prolonged applause from a group of people delighted with his service in Washington. The ex-Mankato High School Teacher was applauded time and time again as he spoke of the challenges facing Democrats in the coming weeks of legislation in Washington. He reminded people that the government is their government and it doesn’t belong to the Republicans and that they need to re-exert their ownership rights on issue after issue from education to War in Iraq and Afghanistan. He spoke of his tour in Iraq and Afghanistan and of the young men and women he met while visiting and asserted that the best way to Support our Troops is to get Iraqis to take responsibility for their own nation. He spoke of a need to protect Veterans rights and he spoke of the unselfish service he has witnessed from Minnesota soldiers in the combat zones of the mid-east. He also spoke of the stresses on them and their families reminding us that more than physical stress is a burden on young shoulders serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A box lunch was served and every table in both wings of the Cafeteria was filled with animated Democrats enjoying a social hour with old friends and neighbors.
Rep. Tina Liebling spoke of her experiences in St. Paul as a legislator, Rep. Andy Welti was also present building his campaign team, and Rep. Kim Norton was present. She had just come in from speaking to a rather hostile Republican crowd at the Eggs and Issues group of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce and Sen. Ann Lynch was also there.
On the platform Matt Entrenza helped in presiding over the Convention and he kept things moving along at a brisk pace. Lots of people both old and young were present wearing WALTZ T-shirts. They were leaving to go out in the afternoon to knock on Rochester doors and remind people that Tim is in Washington working for them and that he is seeking their vote for re-election come November.
Patrick Stallman read the Affirmative Action Statement, The rules and agenda was adopted, and Frank Hawthorne gave the Resolution Balloting Instructions. Then officers were elected and State Central Committee Members and Alternates were chosen. County Unit Central Committee officers were then ratified and the State Convention Delegates and Alternates were chosen. After that people attended the walking sub-caucuses.
I engaged people on the subject of the tight contest between Hillary and Obama. Nobody indicated that they thought that the race should end immediately. Obama supporters thought he was just getting stronger and Hillary supporters thought she should hang in there. The opinions from my informal straw-poll was that Hillary should just keep pushing on and that it was generating wonderful free press for Democrats with new people signing up daily to join our Party. “If we had to buy advertising to get that much coverage then we’d be dead-broke by now,” said one practical person.
If you do not know what walking sub-caucuses are why you’ll just have to attend a Minnesota Democratic Convention Meeting in Olmsted County to learn all about them. They are sure different, they have a long history, and they are a peculiar method of determining political outcomes found in a few Minnesota Democratic circles.