Results speak for themselves. Perovich at twice the Olmon support, Olmon at twice the Starr support. That's SD 48, and the total number of votes being substantially above votes in the other two polls suggests attention was greater, with perhaps one-time visitors sharing a role as well as regular readers. I expect the Bachmann poll numbers is closer to any core readership numbers. There the dislike for Bachmann is apparent, whereas on some GOP website the numbers might flip. The don't care votes are a surprise. With such a polarizing person, don't care is not an expected response.
For governor, it is interesting that the Marty support came in as high as it did. Had I included Rybak, would the distribution have differed? I left Rybak off because of a personal choice, he is okay, surely several notches above Sertich and, well, Emmer is Emmer and we can all complete the thought about the GOP.
Kelliher and Entenza - no surprise on Entenza. He's not shown much traction anywhere so far, and should drop out and leave the primary to Dayton, the endorsed candidate, whoever. But he's got the family wealth, and the will to spend it. Kelliher seems to be second or third, fourth choice to many, I suppose.
Again - my support at SD 48 will be strongest for John Marty.
I believe the Governor race is the big item this year, dwarfing the Congressional seat because the state has eight current reps., but only one governor, and the future will be set in large part during redistricting, especially if a seat is lost.
In that regard, census underreporting will be a negative factor, and Bachmann's anti-census spiel has done no good. That is especially true for the fact that the form this cycle is a quite short one.
Again - I favor Maureen Reed over Tarryl Clark for the House, with both candidates quality people.
Reed knows healthcare from the inside out. She has in my view the right set of answers and shows the will to take on the issue. It most certainly will not be wrapped up by the current Congress, regardless of what the current pass-something politics produces as a signed-by-the-President reality. Fixing and cost and incentive modifications will be needed. Single payer might even ultimately prevail. Reed, and others with direct knowledge of healthcare such as Jim McDermott of Washington State, will be essential to the vast number of lawyers crafting some final solution that is not unmindful of what the market realities, and the health needs of a nation with aging baby-boomers will be and the implications attaching to that. Clark is a lawyer with legislative experience, and I am not dismissive of that, but DC has plenty with that background in the House already and Reed will bring a background that would diversify things, for the better, in my view.
For SD 48, to run against Mike Jungbauer - I back Laurie Olmon. An interesting viewpoint and approach is always welcome. Olmon does not produce a feel-good shopping list of I will do this, or that, but realistically talks on her website of her background and experiences and what that would bring to the St.Paul hilltop. Having all the answers up front with little or no experience and the reality being that if Jungbauer is unseated the DFL winner would be a junior person learning the ropes, not a leadership person from the start, and Olmon seems best oriented to that understanding.
I have exchanged an email or two with Mike Jungbauer, in the course of gaining as full a response as I could on the water availability issue, and how it might impact growth in the north metro suburbs, and his observation is that of the DFL candidates, without naming names, one has sought him out on issues and concerns, two have not, and the ability to work in a bipartisan manner, to me, is suggested by that as one favored above the others that way. Hopefully, how the three candidates have shown activity before becoming candidates this cycle will be something each will discuss to help enable SD 48 DFL convention delegates to best choose among them.
Olmon has been active on health issues, particularly epilepsy, and on growth because of how it is reaching now, at least in Comprehensive Planning, into City of Nowthen, from the south, from City of Ramsey.
Olmon has been steadfast in support of families stressed by long National Guard deployments in current situations, being spouse to a Guard member. She has shown an intent to advance her concerns in an ambient and not a confrontational or partisan manner. I see her as well equiped to take a realistic and pragmatic attitude to the job, should she win it.
Mike Jungbauer had a close race last cycle from Mike Starr, but survived the 2006 DFL and nationwide benefit in reaction to the ending years of Bush-Cheney mismanagement of the economy and the wars and all else. Whether he will have an easier time this cycle, or as difficult a reelection effort is the future that faces us all having to guess and predict, and in hindsight we can always say we knew this-and-that all along, but that's a falsehood, so why fall into it?