The Democratic mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota has endorsed President Bush for reelection:
“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.”
Note that the previous mayor, Norm Coleman, now Minnesota’s GOP Senator was also a former Democrat.
I’ve been predicting for some time that the 9/11 Democrats would be a political force in this election – this is one more piece of evidence in support of that contention. Kelly is hardly a member of the VRWC, but even he understands that John Kerry is not the kind of leader this country needs at this critical juncture in history.
Kelly’s reasoning is moronic. What would he have said if this had been the end of Bush’s second term? That since he’s the sitting President, we should disregard the term limits and let Bush ride another four years so as “not to rock the boat”? This is a guy who’s about to prohibit cigarette smoking in bars. We’re not dealing with a genius here. The fact that he’s supporting Bush comes as little surprise. We’ll see how it affects his re-election bid next year in the Democratic stronghold of St. Paul where former mayor Norm Coleman won a grand total of zero out of the city’s 119 precincts in his 2002 Senate bid after getting too cozy with the Bush administration.
Mark, the wave of banning cigarette smoking in bars here is being driven by the liberal/progressive representatives at the local and district level, which I’m betting is the same kind of “genius” at work in St. Paul. So what does banning cigarette smoking in bars have to with the war on terror? Are you saying because Kelly is more comfortable with Bush on this issue that he is now a Nazi?
The reasoning employed by Kelly is the exact same reason that FDR offered to voters as reason for reelection in 1944.
Trice, the comparison to Kelly’s support for Bush on the basis of “a war President deserves unquestioned public support at the polls for as long as he requests it” is logically comparable to the concept of prohibiting smoking in bars. While advocating smoking bans was largely a misguided tactic of the left in the beginning, it is now an issue pushed forward by bipartisan foolishness, with a number of not-exactly-left-wing-bastion institutions advocating and/or instituting them, ranging from the gated communities of Eden Prairie, Minnesota; to the heart of tobacco country Lexington, Kentucky; to those fanatical lefties in the Georgia State Senate.
Regardless of what Mark writes about smoking in bars in an attempt to take us off topic, the bottom line is that a Democratic mayor of a major city in a key swing state has endorsed Bush…and that is great for Bush but can’t bode well for Kerry.
AT, the only person this is bad for is Randy Kelly, who most likely wrote his political obituary with his endorsement. After his predecessor Norm Coleman changed party affiliation, he came in third place in St. Paul in a 1998 gubernatorial contest and won zero out of 119 St. Paul precincts in his bid of the U.S. Senate. Now that Kelly has shown he’s guided by such foolhardy reasoning skills, countless St. Paul Democrats are likely to seek his job when he’s up for re-election next year….and these St. Paul Democrats will share the presidential preference of 70% of St. Paul residents, unlike Mayor Kelly.
Mark: You may be correct about Kelly’s political future…who knows? However, I would not cite Norm Coleman as your example of someone who switched from Dem to Rep and failed…after all, right now Coleman is a United States Senator, which is not exactly too shabby.
However, regardless of Kelly’s future, let’s focus on the here and now, and this current election cycle. In the presidential election, this represents a victory for Bush and a slap in the face to Kerry. You cannot spin it any differently.
A victory for Bush? I wouldn’t bet on that. I doubt there are many outside of the city of St. Paul who hang on the words of the St. Paul Mayor. Even those who do live in St. Paul are unlikely to allow him to decide who they will vote for, particularly given the city’s unilateral support for Democratic candidates by 2-1 margins or better. The race in Minnesota would have to be closer than Florida 2000 election for Randy Kelly’s endorsement to determine the victor. Possible, but not likely.
As for the Coleman situation, he was a two-term St. Paul Mayor that constantly made headlines for himself for a number of reasons, not the least of which being the fact that he’s never met a TV camera he hasn’t stuck his face in front of. Kelly gets far less media coverage than Coleman did when he was St. Paul Mayor, and Kelly only has one term behind him. I suppose it’s plausible that Kelly could switch to a Republican and run for statewide after a single term as St. Paul Mayor, but he wouldn’t have a very effective resume to run on.
Mark: you mininterpret my comments. When I say that this recommendation is a victory for Bush, I certainly am not saying it gives him victory in the election as a whole.
I am just saying that it is definitely a positive for Bush, and a real slap in the face for Kerry.
Once again, Mark, you prove the master of trying to take the discussion off topic.
Another Thought, for weeks you’ve been insisting I’m a slow-witted dolt incapable of achieving the success of my parents and grandparents, but now you declare me “the master” of misdirection…a calculated Machiavelli clone responsible for taking over every conversation and shifting it to my personal debating preference. Which is it?
Mark: allow me to clarify for you: it is you who admitted that you underperform your parents/grandparents; I never suggested a reason for that, with the possible exception of motivation.
As to you being the master of misdirection, that doesn’t take a genius or supertalent…just someone wishing to drop a verbal bomb in the middle of a discussion…actually, it doesn’t take much talent at all…
But no matter what, the bottom line is that the Dem mayor of St. Paul Minn has endorsed Bush, which must be at least a little embarrassing to Kerry.
AT, posting here has really taken over your life hasn’t it?