I can't get ahold of the Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer for U.S. Senate campaign.

It's my fault, since I procrastinated and only e-mailed them Friday...but I still want to go.  Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer's campaign meant so much to me, as a progressive.

And now it's in 4 hours.

If you know where it is, please click here and contact me by using a "personal contact form" I have on the internet.

I would be ever so grateful, and if we bump into each other at the party, I will share fresh strawberries or whatever I manage to bring w/ you. :-D

Thank you,
KitKat

First ballot.  61% or so.

With both Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Al Franken saying they will abide by the Conventions endorsement the winner will likely be the DFL nominee for Senate (Somebody else could jump into the Primary)

I'm a long-time Minnesota progressive and proud Kossack, so this is not a  troll or concern diary.

Rather, as someone who supported, worked for and had my heart broken by Paul Wellstone (when his plane crashed), I want his Senate seat back.  This cycle.

I always felt a little leery about Al Franken.  I just didn't see how a ribald New York comedian would be the perfect match for one of the great democratic party institutions in America--a party, Democratic-Farmer-Labor, that has produced Floyd B. Olson, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Eugene McCarthy, not to mention, Paul Wellstone

Now look what is exploding on the media scene just as the DFL heads into its convention next week.

OK...this is a bit of an irritation for me....but most anywhere beyond state borders you read about the Minnesota Senate Race, the only name that appears on the Dem side is Al Franken.  I understand this from the mainstream media, but I am perplexed by myopic attention on Franken on the KOS.  Franken has not yet been nominated, and faces a credible challenger in Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.  Pallmeyer has been steadily receiving delegate committments, and the court is definitely still adjourned on whether Franken will walk away with the nomination.  I find this even more surprising because Pallmeyer is the kind of progressive that seems popular with readers at the KOS.  More about Jack below the fold.

Al Franken has been smeared by the Republicans, smeared by their minions and taken a tremendous amount of heat from just about everybody for his tax problems.  Despite that, Norm hasn't taken a commanding lead.  A 7% lead is not commanding.  Not this far out from the election.  And its not like Minnesotans suddenly like Norm a whole lot more.

However, the sidebars provide just a few crucial details that the Strib fails to mention.  Such as 64% say that Al's tax problems don't matter to them.  Funny how these interesting little bits don't get mentioned.  Great picture of Norm with Dick Cheney, btw.

In this morning's edition of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Minnesotans read about how mediocre, Bush-supporting, empty-suit, incumbent Republican senator Norm Coleman is  still beating DFL frontrunner Al Franken in the latest poll.

This piece comes from over three months ago, and it is not mine.  It is from a friend of mine named Rich Broderick, who among other things started Minnesota Poets Against the War.  I post it now because it has become even more relevant over the months.  In the intervening time, superlawyer Mike Ciresi has dropped out of the race.  In the past few weeks, frontrunner Al Franken has had problems with the mainstream media echoing the Republican blogger slime machine.   But the underlying issue of electability remains as it was outlined by Rick some months ago, and I think it deserves another look.

Several notes:  DFL stands for Democratic-Farmer-Labor and is the Minnesota incarnation of the Democratic Party.  The endorsing convention is on June 6 to 8, when the state Democratic party can choose to endorse a candidate for U.S. Senate.  Anyone can choose to run in the state primary in September, thus winning the official Democratic Party label in the November general election, but both Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer have promised not to run against the endorsed candidate.

A great many people are probably not even aware that in the Minnesota senate race that Al Franken even has an opponent for the DFL (as the Democratic Party in MN is called) nomination. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer has been running a true grassroots progressive campaign against the "inevitable" (sound familiar?) Al Franken. A big complaint made by JNP supporters has been the lack of media coverage by the local paper, the Minneapolis-based Star-Tribune. In Sunday's edition JNP is mentioned prominently not once, but twice.

Al Franken is fighting for the DFL (Democratic) nomination for the US Senate from Minnesota to meet Norm Coleman in the general election this Fall.  Franken faces a challenge from progressive Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, a Peace and Justice professor from St. Thomas University in St. Paul.  The battle between national commentator and university professor has brought out passionate arguments on both sides.  I'm working for Al, and this why.

The local paper here, the Star Tribune ("the Strib" for short) has a front page story on new revelations of tax-paying problems by Franken's show business enterprise in California. This "mini-scandal", coupled with an earlier "mini-scandal" where Franken was in trouble with the state of New York for not paying worker's comp. premiums may make Franken's (surprisingly difficult) quest to unseat Norm Coleman that much more difficult.

Al Franken made a sort of unofficial announcement at my university in the Law School atrium a few years back (2/24/05) that he would be returning to Minnesota to run for the US Senate seat held by Norm Coleman.  I was thrilled!  I had read his books and had seen him on Saturday Night Live.  I thought he was hilarious, intelligent, well spoken and a great comedian.  Leaving the event I thought he would be a sure fire thing for the DFL nomination - that's the MN Democratic party endorsement - and would run circles around Norm Coleman.  Franken said he would be a serious candidate... run as a serious politician.

My local paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune has finally had an article (on the front page no less!) about the "other" candidate for Norm Coleman's US Senate seat, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. Most people here at DailyKos are probably not even aware that Al Franken even had other opponents for the DFL nomination for the late, great Paul Wellstone's old seat.

mnblue member K created K's Most Excellent Delegate Count in an effort to find out where the delegates stand.  So if you're a Minnesotan and you know how your Senate District broke in terms of the Senate race, please post a comment.

Guesses are fine, just please let everyone know your level of certainty.

Looks like "super lawyer" Mike Ciresi got tired of spending his personal fortune, and has decided to drop out of the race. This leaves Al Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer as the lone DFL (Democratic Farmer Labor) candidates.

From the StarTrib

Attorney Mike Ciresi said this afternoon that he is dropping out of the race for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in Minnesota.

Ciresi, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2000, said in a statement that "continuing the endorsement race would only lead to an unnecessary floor fight. It is time to step aside."

Al Franken's campaign plays stupid, alienates DFLers at Minnesota county conventions

 This will be something different, a non-presidential Democratic candidate selection diary.

 Today Minnesota Congressional District 3, State Senate district 43 held its Caucus.  We have in CD-3 an opportunity at an open seat as Republican representative Jim Ramstad has announced his retirement.  Also on the docket is the endorsement of an opponent to Republican US Senator Norm Coleman.  All together now,  YUCK!

(cross posted at mnblue)

Today was the Minnesota Senate District 50 Convention. The most important activity at this convention was to elect delegates (18 delegates plus 18 alternates) to the State DFL Convention to be held in Rochester, MN this June. The delegates at the state convention will determine who will receive the DFL endorsement for the US Senate race and have the honor of facing incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman. The three DFL candidates are Al Franken, Mike Ciresi, and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.