My problem with the Independence Party

I have looked at the IP with a fair amount of hope and having listened to interviews with many of their candidates I have come to a very simple conclusion. They are nothing more than Democrats. My first evidence is when I saw Tammy Lee's first flier that she printed. I read through it and found nothing that was off the beat of the DNC. In fact more to point some things were worded almost identically. Alright, so I waived it off and figured it must be some sort of fluke, maybe it was a brochure to cater to Democrats. Then I got to listen to her on the radio and she sounded much like Howard Dean, Amy Klobuchar, or Mike Hatch. This caused me to look at some of the things he says...and it isn't much. He refuses to comment on "Guns, gay marriage, God, gambling, gynecology, green cards, stadiums for gladiators, and today, the guillotine"... Basically any social issues.

If we elect a governor who refuses to deal with social issues, or even tell us where he stands, why should I vote for him? Whether he thinks they are issues or not, he needs to address the people on where he stands. This is hurting the IP's chance of winning office, especially since social issues are huge topics.

I am sorry Mr. Hutchinson, but until you show me your hand, your other views appear to be in line with Mike Hatch, so I might as well vote for him.

Hi Ken,

Glad you're looking at IP candidates. Tammy Lee is rather out of touch on some key issues. Redesigning insurance forms is not going to solve our health care problems. What a ridiculous notion. HSA's are a terrible idea and are a conservative Republican concept, not a Democratic one. Her insurance pooling idea is right out of GWB's playbook. I don't know how you can consider her just like a Democrat.

She clearly doesn't understand how transportation works. There are ALREADY federal grants for transit (though they are far lower than for highways). The problem is on the state end of things in MN. The legislature refuses to put up the state match.

I'm an Ellison guy myself. He's made it abundantly clear where he stands and I respect that. Lee seems to be going for the "don't rock the boat" vote.

Ellison has also demonstrated a remarkable ability to work across partisan lines. He managed to pass some significant legislation at the state level as a minority party member. This is what we need in Congress.

I have to take issue with your analysis of Hutchinson. He's clearly staked out some important positions that are different from Hatch. Take transportation. Hatch has taken an increased gas tax off the table, Hutchinson has not. Hatch has all but dismissed public transportation, Hutchinson understands the need for a dedicated source of funding for transit (though he could say more on the subject). Hatch does not seem to understand metro transportation issues, Hitchnson has not been playing off the metro and greater MN on transportation issues. Hatch has done exactly that which will only hurt progress on transportation in the long run. The gridlock on transportation is not an issue of partisanship, it's an issue of geography. Either Hatch doesn't understand that or he doesn't care. Neither bodes well for progress.

Hatch and Hutchinson have taken different stands on immigration. Hutchinson supports the DREAM act, Hatch does not.

I haven't fully made up my mind on the governor's race yet but I'm voting striaght DFL on everything except AG (John James rejects the death penalty, Johnson and Swanson support it). If Hatch and Hutchinson were the same on the issues, this wouldn't be the case with me.

Why should you vote for a candidate that doesn't talk about "social issues?" Because those "social issues" are designed to be divisive and distracting. It's not appropriate to focus on these issues when we know that we won't resolve them any time soon. We have very pressing needs in MN, needs that have been ignored due to the focus on abortion, the marriage amendment, etc.

David,

Maybe you are an elitest millionaire feeling guilt about his wealth, I am not (on either account). Tammy Lee was in the Martin Sabo staff and her political platform and his are very very close. In fact she has taken lines from him almost verbatim. Ellison of course falls into the same category as Tammy Lee. They both support massive mass transit (which as already pointed out earlier in this blog is no the solution to metro area transit), Tammy supports it even more than Ellison.

HSA's were a terrific concept but practically can't be done without outlawing insurance and going to a personal pay system, while pooling isn't a better solution. But to call it Bush's idea is absurd as Democrats have run that into the ground during this election season...Or maybe you missed the many ad's stating that Bush's plan didn't allow medicare to pool for bargining on prices?

Now on to your Hutch the Hatch debate....Hatch has stated many times that there are "no taxes off the table", you took a simple audio clip and caught him in one of his many double talks. Remember, War is peace? Hatch is for light rail, Hutch is for light rail, hatch is against building more roads, hutch is against building more roads....Where is the difference? The fact that they differ on how much rail to build and where to build it makes no difference to me. Light rail doesnt solve transit problems, especially with a decline in mass transit ridership nation wide.

Although I do give credit if you can find me some quotation of Hatch saying he doesn't support the dream act, as people who have already broken the law should not be given the ability to approve their own pardon.

Social issues are as much "divisive and distracting" as the economic ones. The difference is that I want to know where a politician stands on everything. There are certain things I will not vote for. For example I will not vote for a candidate who believes in banning guns. But your beloved Hutch seems to think it isn't worth promoting his view on that. If he won't disclose his position, he won't get my vote.

We do have very pressing needs, but like everything else, social issues and economic issues have equal weight in the political realm and Hutch seems to like hiding his issues. Is that because they might not get him votes?

But you plan to vote straight DFL ticket, I can't expect you to even see the difference between light blue and powder blue