Do you put Minnesota as securely in the Kerry camp as this wagering outfit does?
We've a very smart Republican Governor, a very large GOP majority in the House, and a very narrow DFL minority in the Senate.
Last session, the GOP arranged a deal with a couple of out-state Democrats, and steam-rollered the Senate DFL leadership on the budget and a number of social issues that have the urban liberal activists frothing at the mouth.
(Two billion dollar deficit dealt with without raising taxes, a shall-issue handgun carry permit law, a ban on partial-birth abortion, and the scrapping of Education Minnesota's "Profile of Learning" education standards.)
So this year, the Senate Dems were adamant that they wouldn't let it happen again. A position enhanced by the fact that the Senate isn't up for election again until 2006.
And they dug in their heels, and refused to compromise.
With the result that yesterday we ended a legislative session that did almost exactly nothing. Most notably, we ended the session without an amended budget and without passing a bonding bill.
We're dealing with times in which voters are concerned, and they want leadership. They may not be sure that Bush has the best approach, but they know that Bush has an approach - Kerry they're not so sure about.
Minnesota has been moving right, in recent years, as the DFL has been abandoning the concerns of the out-state democrats. Because of this, out-state democrats have been losing. With the result that the DFL caucus has been increasingly dominated by urban liberals, who then committed to policies that resulted in more and more out-state democrats abandoning the Party. It's been a viscious circle.
And in this year when the voters are looking for leadership, what have they seen from the DFL? A bunch of whiny children, holding their breath and shouting "don't wanna!"
Meanwhile, the MNGOP has spend the last three years engaged in a precinct-level grass-roots organizing effort that's unprecedented in modern political history.
The DFL doesn't realize it yet, but they're in line for a serious a**-whupping.