Posted on 08/01/2004 12:12:00 PM PDT by veronica
St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly broke Democratic Party ranks on Sunday to announce his support for President Bush's re-election.
"George Bush and I do not agree on a lot of issues," Kelly said in a statement. "But in turbulent times, what the American people need more than anything is continuity of government, even with some imperfect policies."
Kelly, who said he's remaining a Democrat, said the economy is going in the right direction. "There's no reason to believe a change of course will produce better or quicker results," he said.
And the mayor said the United States will bring the troops home from Iraq a lot sooner if "we don't try to bring in a whole new leadership team to run the show. We must stay the course."
Governor Tim Pawlenty, who co-chairs the Bush-Cheney campaign in Minnesota, praised Kelly. "His bold decision is courageous and a welcome move toward working across party lines," Pawlenty said in a statement.
U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, the Bush-Cheney campaign's other co-chair in Minnesota, called Kelly's announcement "bipartisanship at its finest."
"Mayor Kelly recognizes that jobs are being created and that tax cuts have stimulated that job growth. He has done the same for St. Paul," said Coleman, Kelly's predecessor as mayor of Minnesota's capital city.
But the St. Paul DFL Party said Kelly "has traded the values of St. Paul for the agenda of the Republican Party's far right."
"Rather than advocating the needs of St. Paul, Mayor Kelly's decision to not support John Kerry's strategy for building our cities does the voters of St. Paul a disservice," the party said.
Kelly, who was elected mayor in 2001, is up for re-election next year.
*The [Minnesota] Vikes have extended an invitation for President Bush to attend a practice at training camp. Bush, who will be making a campaign whistle stop in Mankato Wednesday,likely doesn't have the logisitics to set up a side trip toMinnesota State-Mankato, but the team hoped the invitation would allow him to squeeze in a short visit.
http://story.theinsiders.com/a.z?s=69&p=2&c=279340
That took a lot of courage on Mayor Kelly's part. Hopefully, he'll switch parties and seek statewide office in 2006.
If I have to move back there, I may just take up residence in St. Paul and change my FR username to "Ramsey_Freeman"
I was thinking that I heard that Coleman had switched parties midstream. Thanks for verifying. And good for Kelly!
Saint Paul Mayor Randy Kelly
390 City Hall, 15 West Kellogg Blvd., Saint Paul, MN 55102
651-266-8510 • fax 651-266-8513
lol
I saw on the news he said he saw recently an "I hate Bush" bumper sticker. He called it pathetic, last straw.
Bush should visit the Vikes. They own this state.
I actually like Damocrat better!
Yah, I knew all this. I thought he retired from being Mayor in 2001, and it looks like I was right. Pawlenty would be a decent Pres or Vice Pres choice, but barring that, is there any chance he's gonna run for the Senate in '06? It seems like thats what he wanted originally anyway, and he'd have a really good shot at that, and we could probably keep the Governors mansion anyway.
I think he can. He's only a little behind in the polls, and he only lost by 2% or so in 2000. With a new, popular R Governor and Senator, and with major D's endorsing him, it sure seems possible.
Now, if we can just oust Dayton in '06 and grab a couple more House seats, it'll be really great. If I'm correct, it's 4/4 right now right? Any chance at a pickup of any of those?
With the political air as it is being shown, YES!
Let us hope so!
The Republican seats should be safe, but I expect both Kline and Kennedy to face stiff challenges. Both are beatable if they become complacent. Luckily, I don't thik either will.
I thought about that after I posted my correction.
Yeah, Damocrat fits the likes of Hillary, Kennedy, Kerry and thier ilk.
;0)
It's not just Zell Miller (conservative) Democrats. I think there are lots of Democrats who have become 9/11 Americans and don't see any other issue besides the war on (Islamist) terror.
Yah, I know he wanted to run against Wellstone, that's why I was wondering.
Since I'm not a Minnisota resident, I'd obviously rather him be in the Senate, as having one more R in the Senate would help me more then having a Governor in a state I don't live in, but I can understand you wanting to keep him.
I do have two questions: A. How old is he? and B. Do you have term limits for Governor?
I think that might affect his decision. If he wants to be in politics for a long time, he'll probably run for Senate. If not, probably stay as Governor.
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