"...they didn't have the endorsement of the DFL, and they didn't have signed permission to use Obama's name.... Its a selfish arrogant attitude that they have the right to vote for two people at the same time....they are ignoring the fact that for some people this will be difficult to do."
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Excerpts of the interview transcribed below:
"you have to have a signed written permission to us anybodies name, such as the President of the United States, before you can put it in a piece of campaign literature use it.... and they clearly didn't have that, they didn't have the endorsement of the league, they didn't have the endorsement of the DFL, and they didn't have signed permission to use Obama's name. And they won the election by 1 percentage point...thats as close as it can be, and if you don't think 600 people were influenced by DFL endorsement or the President of the United States, then you don't understand campaigns.....
I don't need to have them pay a fine... I've done politics in St Paul for 35 years, I've never seen a more blatant stealing of the DFL endorsement than than, never seen a worse distortion of the League of Women Voters than that... never seen anything sillier than claiming the endorsement of the president of the United States.
Except, I would think we should be able to show that the DFL index.. the DFL winning big had an influence on the election... when you claim DFL support...
I advocated against it. I think what will happen here... we've won the probable cause which says we basically have a case... then we have an evidentiary hearing... that will determine whether it will go to the county attorney and.. then the judge will overthrow the results of the election.
If if fails, if my efforts to actually require a fair election in St Paul... fails..then what will ultimately happen here is what happened in Takoma... Takoma just threw IRV out 3-1 there....
Now Willlie Brown of San Francisco, who they tout, they tout San Francisco as the icon of how good instant runoff voting is, Willie Brown just did a radio interview on the third that says the reason why no one wants to run for office in SF anymore and we can't have a good contest is because of instant runoff voting..
There are administrative judges that will look at the evidence... we are claiming that they had false statements in their literature...may have had an impact on the election...and that should go to the county attorney for prosecution.
...I really think that what sways people at the end... this was this close, they spent thousands of dollars sending this... it comes at the same time that the DFL sample ballot comes.... it says DFL endorsed... and thats who went out to the polls...
If people would have known how its (IRV) not going to be used .. there are a lot of people who won't use the 2nd choices.. and what happens to them.. people who don't make a second choices... they don't actually get a choice in the final election....it does cause you harm if there's a runoff and your candidate is not one of the top two....
Folks in my party will start to see that there wasn't really any debate in Minneapolis... we had more debate in St Paul with the old system than they had with the new system..
That they had that kind of literature, lying about what their endorsements were...I think the public was.. .the movement was going our way... and then they deliberately, intentionally and with as much malice as possible claimed false endorsements and mailed that stuff out to try and save the election....if nothing else, its worth it just to me, as someone whose ran campaigns... to stand up to people who deliberately lie to the public...
We're talking about a couple hundred votes difference...their tie to the DFL party was deliberate and intentional....and they did it to win an election that they wouldn't have won otherwise....
I'd do anything to stop this thing because its just that bad. It has the potential to really hurt people when they have no idea what they are doing in the voting booth. and I am stunned that people in my party people from the left have not become more angered by that..
Its one of those things we have fought for 50 years. to make sure that the ballot is simple so that everybody can understand it. Literacy tests should not be allowed.. and if you don't think this is a literacy test then I think we're just thinking beyond ourself...
Its a selfish arrogant attitude that they have the right to vote for two people at the same time....they are ignoring the fact that for some people this will be difficult to do...."
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