Trump & The Transfiguration Of American Politics

The Emperor & the Empress at his Inaugural Ball. 

I've been asked to contribute to Common Sense, a quarterly publication of the non-profit organization Action for Liberty run by Jake Duisenberg. The magazine is currently not online. Consequently, I have posted my debut article here, submitted September 26, so some references are dated as to then.




Donald Trump is president. That short, four-word sentence belies the enormity of what it represents for American politics. Last year’s primary and then general election was unlike anything we’d seen before and for good reason. The political rot of both parties had set in so deeply that a singular candidate like Trump could sweep them both away. Remember, the man hadn’t run for anything before, fatally putting the lie to the need for parasitic consultants and career politicians of stunning mediocrity.

Republicans were aghast to learn that the “base” didn’t care to eat the dog food it arrayed before them last year. “The deepest bench” of candidates turned out to be simply a large number of political apparatchiks, eager to continue to do the bidding of their donors, only this time from the Oval Office.

Democrats were horrified to see--even in the primary--Trump steal what used to be considered their issues and were then flattened when they realized he had stolen their voters in order to beat the deeply corrupt Hillary Clinton. Like Republicans, Democrats had long abandoned their traditional base while paying only the most disingenuous lip service to them. People aren’t stupid.

President Trump represents what Marine Le Pen said the day after his victory: “the free people of the United States.” We didn’t vote as commanded. Media worked nonstop to disparage him and felt free to denigrate his supporters in ways not seen in modern politics. No one, someone said, deserved to lose the election more than the media.

* * * *

Trump is a political force of nature; he creates his own weather. Yet he both is and isn’t the story. As a supporter, people mistakenly think I blindly support him at every turn. I don’t: no one should blindly support any politician. But given the epochal changes he is bringing, I’m more than happy to push back against the laughable narratives that a Rubio, or a Jeb, or even a Cruz would do as well or better. Sorry, those men are the product of the system against which the American people just rebelled and it shows, painfully so at times.

Roger Simon recently wrote that Trump is reinventing what it means to be a politician and I think that’s exactly right. Mark Steyn said just last month that Trump revealed the “sheer artificiality” of modern politicians. Go back and watch the Republican presidential primary debates. Almost all other contenders look like something from a political antique store; canned, programmed and fake is what used to pass for good political skills. Those days are gone, never to return.

Simon notes “these days Donald’s getting better and more precise at his core strategy--saying things that many, often most of us think but don’t have the courage to utter.” His comments about kneeling at football games are just the latest example of this instinct to say what he believes is right. The Regressive Left and its media allies are wholly dependent on name-calling and general abuse toward others with whom they disagree in order to stay in power.

Trump’s election, I’d suggest, shows the limits of that power. How many names, over how many months, were his supporters called? Media power depends upon enforcing political correctness. Trump mortally wounded that in the course of his campaign and now we see the death throes.

Simon correctly observes, “Trump has completely reinvented the template of what it means to be a politician and it’s no surprise that so many other politicians (not just John McCain) are publicly or privately appalled. He has unmasked them.”

This unmasking is likely to continue throughout the eight years of Trump’s presidency. Yes, eight years because no one who is paying attention honestly thinks the Democrats have a candidate that can provide a credible alternative to Trump. Put it another way: what Democrat can win Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania after Trump’s historic win of them? The economy is already set to have a GDP of 3%, something the experts said wasn’t possible. The Trump administration is only eight months old.

* * * *

As important as Trump is, it’s essential to look past him in order to obtain a fuller understanding of the current political environment. That’s because, I believe, he represents conditions that have existed for some time but which no one before had the ability to see or, if they did, the courage to act upon. He saw and acted and is now President.

The culture wars used to be important to Conservative, Inc. until Trump joined them and routed the opposition, as he is doing currently with the national anthem and football games. Kurt Schlichter has called out the frauds on the right: “It was all a scam, a lie, a pose for us rubes. The Tru Cons didn’t actually mean it.”

The breathtaking incompetence--if not outright dishonesty--of Congressional Republicans has been on daily display for all to see since January 21, 2017. Who really knew though, before Trump, that it was this bad? Probably only those members in good standing of The Swamp who likely were pleased with themselves for keeping the deception going for as long as they had. With Trump, that corrupt jig is up.

Again, though, the point is larger than Trump. “Conservatism has become a racket,” Schlicter correctly says, “and everything happening now is a result of its members hoping to wait out Trump and the demand for change he represents. Maybe if they do nothing, but say all the right things, we normals will get tired and go back to our jobs and keep providing those votes and renting those cruise cabins. But that’s not happening. We aren’t going away; business as usual is over. We aren’t just giving up, tossing away our country, and submitting to the ruling caste. We were nice with the Tea Party. Trump’s not as nice. What’s coming after is going to be much, much less nice.”

Nice or not, everything has changed and there’s no going back. Democrats have marooned themselves on the Island of Identity Politics from which no rescue apart from themselves changing is possible. There’s no evidence that they are capable of such change and their doubling down on divisiveness that suggests the condition of electoral powerlessness will last for some time.

Similarly, Republicans have been unmasked as so many servants to their donors. The spectacular, ongoing failure to repeal Obamacare isn’t the only indication of this but surely it is the best, the most obvious and the most disgusting, given they ran for eight years on that promise. As Johnny Rotten, of all people, famously said long ago “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”

* * * *

The political class of America has failed the American people for decades while pretending they were serving its interests. This masquerade was finally undone by a person who didn’t need the job and hadn’t spent his life pursuing it according to the dictates of endless focus groups. Given the chance to vote for someone who would put them truly first for a change, and despite obvious flaws and imperfections, the American people took courage in both hands and elected Trump.

In turn, Trump has governed thus far as our first independent President. Willing to give the Republican establishment first dibs on making good his campaign promises, Trump recently made a deal with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to raise the debt ceiling and put an end to the stale kabuki of a threatened government shutdown. That’s the old order and it is passing away.

He gave notice of the new order immediately after being sworn in as our 45th President. Among other things in his inaugural address, he said:

“Today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.

For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.

Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth.

Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.

The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.”

* * * * 

A government that genuinely belongs, once again, to the people represents the transfiguration of politics as we have known it. Having given themselves this necessary gift, the American people will not readily give it up again.

That’s because they know, as Trump said, “What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.”

Minnesota Conservatives' Year In Review

I cast about for something to say in summary fashion, as is the custom, for year end think pieces. Then I realized that I had said everything about the year just expiring in this space. Consequently, I review highlights of what I've written and decide whether those posts remain accurate or wide of the mark, along with some current observations.

January

At the start of the year I wrote "The Coming of Governor Tina Flint Smith." At the end of the year, she's still coming, carefully shielded from any MN Sure disaster fallout by Gov. Dayton and the media. Sen. Tom Bakk could pose a challenge to her if he's able to marshall to his side the issues that gave Trump a win in 78 out of 89 counties. Others have and will announce for the DFL endorsement but I don't see them as first tier candidates, with the possible exception of Attorney General Lori Swanson.

That post can be read by clicking here.

February

There was no more important story this month than the loss of Justice Antonin Scalia. His death put in stark relief the stakes at issue in this election. Loathsome Never Trumpers would never mention the Supreme Court was in the balance. To be fair, this was February, lots of time for the national version of Minnesota republicans to shove into the meat grinder of Hillary Clinton someone unexceptional.

I wrote about the loss of Scalia here.

March

The republican presidential debate that month should have been all the warning the cosseted, insular GOPe set should have needed to know that things were very different this election cycle. But they were cosseted and insular and remained so. Just like the MNGOPe only less so.

"The End of the Republican Party As We Know It" was my take.

That post can be read by clicking here. 

April

One of the most important things I wrote in 2016 was: "Do Minnesota Republicans Believe In Anything?"

I concluded: not much or all the wrong things. Take your pick. Nothing has changed since then, believe me.

I wrote about it here. 

May

That month I looked at Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek's appearance before the Minnesota Republican Party State Convention in my piece "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Stanek." Stanek, I ventured to say, could run for governor and win. 

Since that time, I've concluded he might be the only republican who can. 

My post can be read by clicking here.

June

Brexit was the only story worldwide in June and with good reason. I tried to apply its lessons to republican politics locally when I wrote "How Much Zeitgeist Can Minnesota Republicans Ignore?"

Turns out in the time since then, a great deal, which continues to this moment. 

My post can be read by clicking here.

July

Donald Trump accepted the republican nomination in Cleveland, Ohio that month. Virtually all conventional wisdom had said, time and again, such would never happened. Only it did. 

I wrote "Minnesota Republicans in the Age of Trump" as my sole blog post that month and for good reason: I had nothing else to say. 

My post can be read by clicking here.

August

Donald Trump held a private fundraiser that month in downtown Minneapolis. Upon leaving, his peaceful supporters were viciously attacked by fascist thugs on the left. I didn't attend the event but helped man the Twitter ramparts to get the news out. The story went nationwide in less than a day yet the then chair of the RPM didn't see fit to speak about it until three days later. Local media were more disgraceful than usual in covering it up or papering it over, with one newspaper headline claiming Trump supporters were "taunted." No one deserved to lose the presidential election more than media.

"Minneapolis Disgraces Itself: State Sanctioned Violence Against Peaceful Trump Supporters" would turn out to be my most read article. 

It can be read by clicking here.

September

I wrote nothing that month because I had nothing to say. More should follow the practice but I don't tell people how to blog or tweet. Perhaps I was getting ready for my trip to Athens, Greece the next month, when seemingly the bottom fell out of the Trump campaign.

October

Upon my return, I wrote about the release of the infamous, eleven year old "Access Hollywood" video and republican reaction to it in "The Stupid Party Outdoes Itself." It really did. Only Trump's furious counter-attack and excellent performance in the subsequent debate staunched the bleeding. 

It can be read by clicking here.

November

Donald Trump became president-elect that month, the 45th President of the United States. It was astonishing, thrilling and glorious all at the same time. What was said could never happen, happened, with worldwide consequences. 

I wrote "President Trump & The End of the MNGOPe" and followed it up with "Trump: The Transformation of Minnesota Politics." If I do say so myself, both are worth a reread at year's end.

The first can be read by clicking here. 

The second by clicking here.

December

I ended this fantastic year by writing "What I Saw At Pete Hegeth's Christmas Party" and it seems an unusually apt note upon which to end. My concern was that the Minnesota republicans in attendance had no idea how to capitalize on Trump winning 78 out of Minnesota's 87 counties. In the few weeks that have elapsed since, I'm convinced at this point they manifestly do not. New thinking doesn't come easily, usually at all, to these types. 

My post can be read by clicking here.

2017

I'd like to thank my readers for slogging through this extraordinary year with me.  

My best wishes to you for a happy & healthy New Year. It's going to be huge.

Trump: The Transformation of Minnesota Politics

I've watched, fascinated, as the magnitude and depth of Donald Trump's victory in Minnesota has been absorbed by establishment republicans and democrats alike, with Minnesota media playing its traditional role of trying to catch up with the present, to say nothing of the future. Be sure to catch them on the next TPT Almanac media panel because I surely won't. Not that you'll learn anything: they saw none of this coming but will pretend to know what it portends. Fake news, local version.

I had planned on writing about Speaker Daudt's disastrous step too far in calling, just last month, for now President elect Trump to withdraw entirely from the race. Not even Rep. Erik Paulsen did that. Yah Allah, as my muslim friends would say. No, alone among a wide array of elected and influential Minnesota republicans only Speaker Daudt demanded to-be-President 45 quit. Please clap.

Why this extravagant display of panic, of bad political instincts? Worse, why pretend no one noticed? An article last week in MinnPost, and a master class in throne sniffing, attempted the painful, intellectually insulting task of making the Speaker look good on this score. He doesn't and he shouldn't. But this, apparently, is what the inner circle of the Speaker thinks will still work.

The planted article was more alarming to me than the original mistake. The Speaker should admit in whatever fashion he can that his call for Trump to leave the race was a mistake and move on. Even privately will do; no one expects him to call a press conference about it. But continuing to insult those who were paying attention (he wasn't: Trump almost won the state and is now president elect) by suggesting this display of vacillation is indicative of leadership skills, won't help him, either in the upcoming legislative session or in any future plans he may have, by which I mean his run for governor. Everything coming from the house next year must necessarily be seen through this prism. No one expects bold leadership.

Daudt made a hash of things with his senate colleagues by colluding with DFL Sen. Tom Bakk in taking out Senate Minority Leader David Hann, the man who gave Minnesota republicans its senate majority for the next four years. They didn't expect republicans to flip the senate. Only Minnesota republicans are disappointed in their own success.

It's above my paygrade to suggest how the Speaker is now seen as loyal and a man of integrity by the superior chamber's republicans. As an aside, I hear rumors of a place for Hann (if he wants it) in Trump's Washington but beyond that I couldn't possibly comment.

Republicans in the Minnesota house gained seats this election and the Speaker more or less took sole credit. As a friend remarked, that's just doing his job. But good for him in any event. This is one conservative who'll never tire of republicans in Minnesota winning. The caveat is that they should actually make a substantive difference with those wins, something I've yet to see materialize. A real opposition party instead of a speed bump en route to a one party state, to quote myself.

Trump fired Paul Manafort when he realized his advice and counsel served him badly. Whether Kurt Daudt can draw the necessary inference, and possesses the requisite self-assurance and political skills, from this heavy handed reference of mine isn't really, well, in doubt. Still, the analogy was too good not to suggest it. Are you not entertained?

* * * * 

Weirdly and not weirdly, Minnesota democrats seem better positioned this early on to take advantage of how well Trump did here than republicans. To be sure, democrats are none too happy with the great unwashed who voted not to become a Third World country accustomed to corruption as usual given the Clinton Crime Family's sordid history. After all, those voters used to be theirs and Trump is likely to continue to steal democrat issues and then (more) of their voters.

From my initial observations, they seem to understand the transformation of Minnesota politics that the Trump results herald. By contrast, Minnesota republicans, resentful at being shown up as comprehensively clueless by those results, appear poised to double down in their fantasy that the next two years will be politics as usual, hence the MinnPost article that essentially argues we should go back to sleep once woke. No can do.

* * * * 

With swamp creatures Norm Coleman & Vin Weber still controlling Minnesota republican politics (go to GuideStar and input American Action Network or Minnesota Action Network for the former--the 990's is where monetary truth is revealed--or Google Mercury Partners for the latter, I can't do all your work for you), the election of Donald Trump as president means slim pickings for the politically dependent class here at home. Sorry those Ignatius of Loyola banners or Darelene Miller campaign things didn't work out for you. No DC job for you. It would take a heart of stone not to laugh. Oscar Wilde was Irish. 

* * * * 

Minnesota republicans have a once in a lifetime chance to fashion themselves into a permanent majority in Minnesota. That chance is wholly dependent upon them realizing and capitalizing upon Trump's amazing performance here. Perhaps the most noxious idea from the MinnPost puff piece about the Speaker was that Trump supporters constitute the purity faction when the facts of this election prove precisely the opposite. 

Very few establishment republicans supported our next president and I mentioned them by name in my last column. The overwhelming majority did not and it is they who are in control of Minnesota republican politics. Talk about flying blind.

Get ready, as Sue Jeffers said yesterday upon her return to radio, for a litany of excuses from MNGOPe as to why republicans shouldn't expect much to get accomplished with them controlling the legislature: we don't have the executive branch. Sound familiar?

It was the mirror opposite, of course, when Pawlenty was governor with a DFL controlled legislature. He had to "work with them," something democrats never say.

Preemptive surrender by Minnesota republicans isn't so much an article of faith as a way of living. Old habits die hard (especially when monetized) and the opportunities presented by Trump winning 79 out of 87 counties seem destined to be ignored, lest republicans become politically sentient.

* * * * 

Wisconsin republicans are far superior in every regard to Minnesota republicans. I've often wondered why that is the case and why we can't learn from them.

Then again, I realize they don't have the suffocating, self-interested presence of Vin Weber or Norm Coleman to sacrifice themselves on the altar of their clients. Everything here is subordinate to them. Follow the money; the political incompetence follows in short order.

Only the money didn't work this time, nor did our corrupt media, national or local. Donald Trump heralds the end of political business as usual except amongst the captives of Minnesota republican apparatchiks.

Tom Bakk, it seems to me, understands perfectly well Trump's showing in Minnesota and is most likely already moving to use it against Tina Flint Smith, urban out of touch liberal, handmaiden to our zombie governor and Our Lady of the Curette, to quote myself once more.

The political reality at the present moment is that one of these two will likely be our next governor.

Unless and until Minnesota republicans understand and avail themselves of the president elect's transformative opportunities, from whom they have foolishly distanced themselves, the election of 2018 will mark an even dozen years in which they were unable to win a statewide race.

Unlike our country, through the election of President Trump, this will mark a point of no return for Minnesota.





Image credit: MinnPost. Click to enlarge and you really should.

President Trump & The End of the MNGOPe

"There's a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."

--Leonard Cohen 1934-2016

Requiescat In Pace

The day Donald Trump's rally in the Twin Cities was announced, to be held the Sunday before the election, a variety of people were skeptical and said so. One well known political observer, who knows a fair amount about the Minnesota political process, tweeted that he thought Trump was making a huge mistake, suggesting that the event would take away needed volunteers from other critical republican races in the state. Many others joined in that assessment. I don't think I'm being unfair to characterize them as not Trump supporters. Still, what would make sense in any other political cycle didn't end up making sense in this instance, as has been the case for so much of the presidential race of 2016. Then again, I've been a much mocked and derided outlier this entire season, until I wasn't.

I also knew at the time of the announcement that Trump's internals had him behind by a polling error of 3%. If you never swing, you can't even miss. Lonny Leitner and Andy Post understood this and made the glorious Trump rally happen. As Coleridge would say, it was one of those "spots of time."

Approximately 25,000 people turned out for Trump on 24 hours notice. Only 5,000 could fit in the airport hanger with me. Even Trump, when he took the podium, mocked our crowd, saying the rally should have been held outside to accommodate the far greater numbers. "What genius was in charge of this?" he asked. We all laughed, knowing that we were going to win.

The Trump rally was like no political event this state had seen before. Even local media were forced to report it honestly, something of a rarity for them. The crowd was exuberant and legitimately diverse. Race baiting Minnesota democrats would have had a field day checking their identity politics boxes, only, paradoxically, this group had moved far past that failed, poisonous mindset.

Two days later America had to wait until the day after the election to find out how Minnesota voted for president. Kindly name me the last time that happened. Trump lost this bluest of states by a mere 40,000 votes or approximately 1.5%.

Astonishingly Trump won the iconic, Iron Range located, DFL stronghold city of Hibbing, the first time a republican has done so since Herbert Hoover. Yes, it was only by seven votes but ask Rep. Mary Franson the value of a vote. Don't look for the Minnesota republican establishment to appreciate what that means. I call them the dumbest republicans in the nation for a reason.

* * * * 

Trump won the presidency in the greatest electoral upset in American history. My own low point last Tuesday night came outside "Golden Chow Mein"on West Seventh Street in Saint Paul, idling in my car waiting for vegetable fried rice. Florida looked sketchy, even bad. I was fed poisonous information from the RNC that it was lost. Then again, Jeff Larson, (there's a local angle here to be explored further, lazy media) was hardly supportive of Trump. Like Pat Shortridge, former Chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he and his cohorts have been entirely displaced by the Trump phenomenon. Don't get me started on the odious Rick Wilson, eagerly willing to lose the Supreme Court, and indeed the nation, to line his own pockets. All republican consultants are the same and all deserve to end up on Fifth Avenue, shot. We could retire the national debt by raffling off the pleasure. 

* * * * 

I went to bed early Wednesday morning at a time I usually awake, which is early. When I awoke to an appalling amount of emails, texts, voice mail messages and DM's on Twitter, I learned I was some sort of political genius. Please. I'm Irish and we're congenitally allergic to complements. Here I'd arrived and I was irritated because arriving has never interested me. Especially in Minnesota, the bar is low for discerning the obvious and I was having none of it. I didn't respond to any of the communications save for one text from a PR professional who asked if I was still alive, to which I responded "silence, cunning and exile." I stayed off Twitter the entire day, a record for me and a wise move. 

* * * * 

When I forced myself to pay attention to the high school level of Minnesota politics, I learned republicans expanded their majority in the house, which was expected, and regained the senate by one seat, which most had not expected, much like Trump becoming President elect. Conventional wisdom has a certain symmetry, one supposes. 

House Speaker Kurt Daudt, and his consigliere, Ben Golnik, apparently moved up the food chain to be defeated by either Elena Ceaușescu, as I call Lt. Gov. Tina Flint Smith, or DFL Sen. Tom Bakk, for governor in 2018. For Minnesota republicans, it's never about winning a statewide race so much as who makes money while losing. If you're looking for a succinct definition of Minnesota republican Never Trump, I've just given it to you.

Republicans regaining the state senate was the real story in Minnesota politics. What wasn't reported were the efforts by Speaker Daudt and Golnik to actively work against Sen. David Hann, the minority leader. Numerous sources regaled me with time and place instances of them lobbying personally against Hann, flatly declaring his race lost weeks before the election and encouraging lobbyists not to donate. Minnesota republicans are so obtuse they are forced to win despite themselves, not because of them.

The senate caucus was encouraged, so to speak, to find a more moderate leader than Hann whether he survived or not. To its credit the caucus responded to this unseemly, gubernatorial race driven pressure, by electing Sen. Paul Gazelka as majority leader. When that news broke I thought "both hands have a middle finger; if you don't like one, have the other."

Patrick Cooligan wrote a somewhat perfunctory story (understandable, his party lost) about the senate win. Credit to Hann was given but more of the story was given over to process, because that's all media, state or national, care about most. It spares them thinking or having to deliver substance.

David Hann alone identified the senate seats that could be flipped and personally recruited high quality candidates who could work hard, who did work hard and who won. No Hann, no senate republican majority. His reward was to be actively done in by his so called colleagues in the other chamber.

Norm Coleman's group "Minnesota Action Network," led by a talented woman, was cited by Cooligan as being outsourced by the senate to message in the race and you'd be forgiven for thinking the senate wouldn't have flipped without it. You'd be wrong, of course.

When Cooligan's story broke on Twitter the usual suck ups sucked up to her. They're all variations on Tracy Flick from "Election." None of them congratulated Hann, the man who made this actually possible, of course. To a person these people are Never Trump, politically clueless but sucking on the right political or lobbyist teet, the one that generates a paycheck.

* * * * 

Trump won every county in Minnesota save eight. Because the political machinery in this state on the republican side is in the mediocre hands of the Never Trump people, the significance of this achievement will be downplayed at best and ignored altogether as a matter of habit. Trump scrambled Minnesota politics but we don't possess a republican party capable or willing to capitalize on it. Believe me.

MinnPost reporters Greta Kaul and Tom Nehil have a fascinating story of how Trump did and where in Minnesota. Iron Range DFL activist Aaron Browne, to my mind the most thoughtful and insightful observer of that part of the state, was quoted as saying “Really as far as the future goes, we need ideas to solve the problem, whether they come from Trump or someone else, or Democrats or Republicans, people want solutions.”

This is true but a clear understanding of what the problems are is essential to fashioning effective solutions. The problems are the result of Democrat policies but I'm uncertain timid Minnesota republicans will act on that fact. It doesn't have to be this way, that entrenched mindset of weakness should be capable of being changed. As a friend of mine said "you can only eat so much oatmeal."

Kaul & Nehil's excellent story can be read by clicking here.

* * * * 

Jason Lewis won election to Congress in his first attempt from Minnesota's CD 2. Stewart Mills lost his second attempt to go to Congress from Minnesota's CD 8. The expectation from MNGOPe was precisely the opposite.

After the Trump landslide, no other win gave me as much pleasure as did Jason's. His republican detractors were embarrassingly small minded, thinking themselves politically sophisticated by bleating "one word destroys a campaign," alluding to Lewis' previous career as a radio talk host. Lewis ran an underfunded but message strong campaign in the age of Trump and won. It's a lesson his critics aren't bright enough to learn from. 

By contrast, the race was Stewart Mills' to lose and he alone lost it. There was no excuse for such a narrow loss given Trump's historically strong showing in his district. He can now grow his hair long again and go back to playing bong cribbage.

* * * * 

I watched online the republican panel from last Friday's TPT's Almanac. Is there a dumber Minnesota republican than Andy Brehm? The competition is stiff but still. He makes Jeb! look like Trump. His father is wealthy but he's no Trump offspring: competent, capable, hard working and smart. This man has no idea what just happened in a transformed America. 

I positively wanted to lick my computer monitor when Sheri Auclair spoke. With grace but a deadly acidity, she put Brehm in  his place. It's a new day and he has no place in it. Former state senator Julianne Ortman ran a close second to Auclair, emphasizing the permanent damage electing the corrupt Hillary would have inflicted on this great nation. Slow off the mark but coming rapidly up to speed was Marty Seifert. Kudos to the three of them. Andy is a relic of the status quo decisively rejected by the voters. 

Unfortunately the MNGOPe is Andy. 

* * * * 

Kingdom of Saud lobbyist Norm Coleman, and Putin lobbyist (Gazprom) Vin Weber, essentially control and shape Minnesota republican politics. Trump destroyed their types this cycle, delivering a comprehensive rebuke the likes of which they not only didn't see coming but never thought possible. Both Coleman & Weber were mindlessly Never Trump and their fetid world of influence and immorality is threatened to the point of extinction by a Trump presidency. They'd have made out like the bandits they are had Lady Macbeth become president. When Trump says he wants to drain the swamp, these are precisely the people he has in mind.

The problem with the MNGOPe is that the loathsome Coleman & Weber lobbyist types, and their state analogs, are the role models for the younger set.

Can we recruit actual talent or are we stuck with the self-selected? Because that's not working out too well and holds no promise of seizing upon the new, transformed, realigned political realities of a Trump America. Most of the good republican talent under 40 have fled the state to be quickly hired elsewhere where their skills are recognized and rewarded, leaving us with simpletons who obsess on craft beer, burgers and inconsequential issues like Sunday sales or to run for no account city councils.

There's never been a wave election Minnesota republicans have failed to ride completely. Trump's election offers a never-to-come again chance of reversing our slide into a cry bully Democrat one party state.

That chance will have to be seized upon by the Trump voters of Minnesota--democrat, republican, independent--who didn't want our country turned into the Third World or our state to become a cold California.

Like Trump before them, they'll have to fight both parties in order to succeed.






Photo credit: President elect Donald J. Trump, Facebook

Minneapolis Disgraces Itself: State Sanctioned Violence Against Peaceful Trump Supporters

The influential Blois Olson asked me on Twitter why I wasn't at the Trump fundraiser in downtown Minneapolis last Friday. I responded with the most famous of James Joyce quotes: "Silence, exile and cunning." Lord knows how many got the reference; doubtless few in the MNGOPe. Several republican leaders had previously made a point of signalling their absence from the event.

"I'm just not going. I got better stuff to do" said the hapless republican Speaker of the House in response to why he wouldn't be attending. His language is as slovenly as his dress.

But not even I was prepared for what followed: a sustained assault on citizens attempting to leave that venue while Minneapolis police stood by, for the most part. Some performed admirably and to them much credit should be given. Yet it wasn't nearly enough.

There were first hand reports of people being spat upon, physically assaulted and some who had their property stolen. There were even reports of people themselves being spray painted. Many of those committing the assaults on white people were identified as black, but certainly not exclusively.

Minneapolis has become a lawless city, on the verge of becoming yet another Third World City, and last Friday night proved it beyond doubt. Those who have a different political view from the reigning majority were persecuted for simply exercising their constitutional right of assembly.

Twin Cities media reporting of the night's events proved a mixed bag. There is no doubt that had the political polarities been reversed the coverage would have been far more extensive, breathless and condemnatory. But because the victims were republicans, much was glossed over. Which is to say, the violence.

Minnesota media should be ashamed of itself but it doesn't really possess the capacity.

I live tweeted reports coming in from friends and acquaintances in real time. No one in local media retweeted me even with the customary "this can't be independently confirmed." Yet time and again I've seen them retweet things favoring the Left agenda with far less credibility. Curious.

The Star Tribune's Patrick Condon filed a report that did include some of the violence but the rest of his piece is an accomplished bit of apologia, including this tidbit: "The demonstration was organized by the Minnesota Immigrants Rights Action Committee."

As far as I know, he's the only local reporter who reported this and so good for him. I try to be fair. Yet Condon gives his readers no idea who this group is or how they are funded. He gives a one sentence report which is an almost nostalgic throwback to when reporters bothered with the truth.

He then quotes one Giselda Gutierrez, a "protester who lives in Minneapolis." Great but where is she from? Has she broken into America and is one of those illegals to whom Hillary has promised instant citizenship should she become president? You'll learn nothing further from Condon's reportage about that or who funds what is likely an astroturf group that promotes illegals.

If Kate Steinle was murdered by an illegal in the Twin Cities it's doubtful we'd learn about it. Illegal alien crime simply isn't reported here. Once, though, we learned that blacks were beating up and robbing hispanics along Lake street in Minneapolis after they got paid in cash. With no white person to blame, that reporting died a quick death. I'm surprised any of it saw the light of media day, however briefly. This very much is the state of Minnesota media: dishonest.

Condon goes out of his way to note how donors arrived: "Guests began arriving around dinner time, some in limousines and other chauffeured vehicles." Forgive me for not noticing the same reporting about those attending fundraisers in Minnesota for Hillary Clinton.

He also makes much about Trump not appearing in public. Really? Trump doesn't and his supporters are still beaten? Remind me when the Star Tribune last complained about Lady Macbeth not appearing in public when she rolled into town to treat this servile state as her personal ATM and the manner of arrival of her corrupt donors.

Condon writes puff pieces about Lt. Governor Tina Flint Smith which are attempted to be passed off as either hard news or analysis. They're tiresome and transparent, fooling only those who pretend the articles aren't an in kind contribution to the DFL. Condon can at least write, however biasedly, something that can't be said about the author of the Star Tribune's Morning Hot Dish. Managing Editor Suki Dardarian's hires, as I've written previously, vary wildly in quality.

* * * * 

By contrast the Pioneer Press got the story more right than wrong and with appreciable less water carrying for the democrat establishment that runs the failing city of Minneapolis. As of this writing reporter Jaime DeLage alone reached out to contact someone who was there and a victim of the violence from the thug Left. Full disclosure: I put him in touch with said person but those two took it from there. I'm proud of my friend Cynthia Schanno for coming forth and speaking honestly about the terror she experienced. Kudos to DeLage for doing what reporters used to do before most of them became an arm of the Democratic Party.

Minnesota Public Radio remains the worst, most dishonest and biased news outlet in the state and by some distance. Their story had no individual byline and mention no violence at the event. None. MPR tends to push stories praising terrorist linked MN CAIR. If you want a quick glance at the sickness of white guilty liberals all in one place, you can't do worse than MPR.

* * * *

If DFL chair Ken Martin's people had been attacked in the same way as republicans were last Friday night, he'd have scheduled a press conference for a reasonable hour on Saturday (eleven o'clock or noon, say) to blast the police for failing in their essential job: to keep citizens participating in the political process safe from violent thugs.

Did republicans do anything at all in this regard? Of course not. Getting the story out to a wider audience was left, frankly, to me and other activists on social media. When we awoke Saturday the violence and willful abandonment of peaceful citizens to thugs and scum had made the Drudge Report. Videos of the violent assault on elderly people and others were posted at Gateway Pundit and other well respected alternative media sites. 

Despite Twin City media's politically motivated under reporting of the violence, word got out. 

Minneapolis disgraced itself in front of the nation, sending a clear signal that it treats its citizens differently based upon their political beliefs. Mayor Hodges and Police Chief Harteau already preside over the decline of a once great city. They now add to their roster of incompetence and shame what many are reporting as specific instructions to the police to stand down and not interfere with the protesters who committed such violence. 

* * * *

Last Friday was a shocking turning point for many. I myself lost an enormous amount of respect for many of the local liberals I follow on Twitter. Some actually excused the violence while most simply remained silent. These are people who think themselves possessed of integrity. Yet when it came time to demonstrate it, they were unable or unwilling to do so. 

Minnesota republicans failed to seize upon this outrage to shine a light upon what is taking place in this state and attempt to reverse it. We don't have leaders, we have mediocre politicians beholden to their donors, advised by people who simply aren't very good at their jobs. Not that they don't keep them. 

The targeted, sustained abuse of peaceful Trump supporters, abetted by a politicized Minneapolis police force force, and tacitly condoned by a corrupt media, marks a descent into Third World politics. 

You can pretend this is overstating the case but only if you haven't been paying attention. 

Photo credit: Renee Jones Schneider, Star Tribune

Masterful: Tom Emmer's Embrace Of Trump

One of the most interesting developments in Minnesota republican politics in the Age of Trump has been Congressman Tom Emmer's shrewd, deft embrace of him. Surprisingly, this has received very little analysis, especially in republican circles.

To be sure, his comments are reported on in the Twin Cities and other media. He's not making them to obscure or limited market news outlets. All the more reason to praise him.

Yes, praise Rep. Emmer for getting it at a time when most Minnesota republicans simply do not. I don't want to take away from that praise when I say that it isn't difficult to do what he has done, but at the same time his very doing of it constitutes an essential difference between him and virtually every other elected Minnesota republican.

The word leadership comes to mind.

For those outside the bubble of Minnesota republicans, which apparently are the majority of Minnesota voters, Emmer in his first term as a member of Congress has played against the type that he ran on as a candidate. Seeking to succeed Michele Bachmann, he positioned himself just slightly to the left of her. Once in office, he has resembled a traditionally conservative Minnesota republican not at all.

Some have found fault with that development and they're entitled to their opinion. To take just one issue, it's extremely unreasonable to have expected the freshman Congressman to have voted against John Boehner as Speaker. This isn't the place for an extended discussion of those issues. I simply note that Tom Emmer has surprised many since becoming a member of Congress.

* * * *

Trump came in third in the Minnesota republican caucuses, behind Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Minnesota republicans have yet to get behind Trump in the way one would normally expect.

Sen. Rubio, to his credit, has become full throated in his support of Trump for President but this appears to move his Minnesota supporters very little. They're a tiresome, dense lot. And Ted Cruz is so politically inept I've made him an honorary member of MNGOPe.

Here, then, comes Rep. Emmer not only falling into line but making an excellent, affirmative case for Trump, sharply contrasting him to the most corrupt person ever to run for the presidency of the republic. The sheer mechanics of how he does this is quite impressive.

On August 1st he gave an interview to MPR's Tom Weber in which he skillfully avoided the landmines of the media trap known as Khizr Khan. Trump's reaction to Khan's political attack on him at the DNC, using the death of  his heroic son as a shield to any criticism, was overplayed by the media as the literal end of the election: President Hillary, please clap.

That week's polling showed very bad numbers for Trump although the quality of polling outfits varied. No one is sure how to project turnout this fall given the large numbers of first time or fallen away voters Trump may generate. Interestingly, just yesterday we learned that the Trump campaign has hired the political consulting firm widely credited with the Brexit win: it specializes in identifying and turning out first time voters.

A Reuters/IPSOS poll released two days ago has the race a dead heat: Hillary ahead by less than three. This put a damper on the celebrations of the media and some Never Trump republicans. Suddenly the Khan flap seems a very long time ago.

Emmer's MPR interview is a bit less than fifteen minutes. I encourage readers to listen to it; no recapitulation by me can do it justice. Note especially the stale, tired questions formulated by Weber (men may find a drop in their testosterone levels given the sound of his voice), including bringing up Mexican rapists, something from June of last year.

But then pay special attention to how Emmer responds: astutely, concisely and with measured, projected confidence. When I heard him respond to a question previously asked "Listen, I've given you that already Tom," I knew Emmer was operating on a more sophisticated, accomplished level than any other republican in the state. He's mastered the art of a Minnesota republican unapologetically defending and prosecuting the case for Trump and made it look easy. Those skills will serve Emmer well in the future, whether Trump wins or loses.

You can hear his interview by clicking here.  

* * * *

Congressman Emmer's support for Trump is all the more remarkable given the skittish nature of other elected republican officials, both federal and state. In some ways, given the unconventional nature of Trump's candidacy, one could have expected Emmer to elide the subject as much as possible. 

Only he hasn't done so, in fact he's done the opposite. By so doing he shows by example how to advance the political argument for republicans in an increasingly one party state. Those elected officials, candidates, party officials, and activists who feign political agnosticism when it comes to Trump are made to look shallow and venal. Emmer makes a persuasive case for Never Hillary and does so without rancor or sharp edges. 

Congressman Emmer's interview with MPR is political brilliance. His pitch perfect support of Donald Trump makes him the state's leading republican and offers much needed hope that the party will not go the way of California republicans. He should be widely imitated.

Minnesota Republicans In The Age Of Trump

Donald Trump delivered what was required of him last Thursday night: the speech of a lifetime in which he accepted the Republican Party's nomination for president. It was a remarkable climax to a year in which every bit of political wisdom was discarded outright or turned on it's head. The acclaim for his speech was near universal: even critics praised it before condemning it. Of course, the media were quick to see its effectiveness and branded it as dark, possibly dangerous.

In a 76 minute performance that never flagged, Trump leveled with the American people, telling them that the time for lies was over, that he'd talk about those things they never see on television or in their newspapers.

He then set out in systematic and devastating fashion to describe our current condition. Afterward, a CNN instant poll found 75% of those who saw it had a positive view of the speech. This was not what media wanted and they commenced to redouble their efforts to talk it down. Too late: the American people liked what they heard.

Earlier in the week Michael Moore told Bill Maher that Trump will win the election. The despair on the left was almost complete. It's worth seeing the video when Moore speaks the truth few democrats will utter: click here.

Ivanka Trump introduced her father and herself delivered a thoughtful and well received speech. Having his children speak each night of the campaign was Trump's idea and highly unusual for a political convention. It proved to be a masterstroke. Fashion mavens pointed out that the modest but beautiful dress Ivanka wore was from her own collection and cost $138. I'm told women noticed: millennial women in particular.

Remember: Trump has no idea what he's doing.

* * * * 

For the most part, the Minnesota republican delegation to Cleveland acted consistently with how I've branded them: the dumbest republicans in the nation. Again, in case you're not a regular reader, I mean this collectively and on the political plane, not in any individual case or ad hominem manner. Political acumen, or its absence really, is what I'm speaking about. 

It would be easier to explain if most of the delegates weren't bright but that's just not the case (well, for the most part). Accordingly, the mystery as to why Minnesota republicans seem unable to grasp the times in which they live this political cycle and use it to their advantage only deepens. 

The delegation made a fool of itself Monday night when it joined, then withdrew, from a last gasp Never Trump effort to have a roll call vote on issues that had been addressed in the Rules Committee, which met the week before. Apart from that, Minnesota was largely invisible nationally, fit only to be the subject of stories by the hapless local democrat reporters who were sent to cover them. In typical grifter fashion, a couple MNGOPe types thanked them for their coverage. 

But Minnesota media's coverage of the convention was uniformly mediocre and unimaginative, although the cover of that Friday's Star Tribune made up for it somewhat, eliciting complaints from liberals that the coverage wasn't tilted toward them for a change. Click here to see the front page of the Star Tribune the morning after Trump's speech. 

* * * * 

I don't know how republicans in Minnesota will do this fall but I'm fairly certain it will be less well than should be the case. The mentally retarded political reaction to Trump in this state by the republican establishment was simultaneously nauseating & infuriating. They forced me into calling them the dumbest republicans in the nation: I had nothing to do with it.

Initial reluctance to embrace Trump was completely understandable. People forget I started out as a Scott Walker supporter. His shrewd decision to leave the race early only helps his stature now. I moved to Trump by degrees, by fits and starts really. I hadn't seen anything like him before either.

There was no one moment I can recall being the tipping point. It's like how dreams have no beginning: we're just in them, that's all we recall, never the beginning.

At one point I understood. The Trump "red pill effect"some call it and there is something to that. Outside of up and coming apparatchiks, can anyone take the "rising stars" in the party seriously? Can anyone avoid the obvious influence of donors who make indentured servants out of those laughable "stalwart conservatives" who preen but never deliver?

The majority of Minnesota republicans didn't get it, preferring virtue signaling instead of substantive engagement. These types get taken down by their provincialism every time. The problem is that they have so much company at the bottom.

They're so Minnesota-centric it's no wonder we miss out on national wave elections.

Now we have crouched down Minnesota republicans, unknowingly used by local media to play into their anti-republican narratives, republicans who are spooked by not knowing what they stand for.

How could such a hollow group not be threatened by Trump?

* * * * 

When I look at Minnesota republican politics I never see a plan, a strategy, some sort of political IQ over 85. Instead, I see a disparate set of often conflicting policy positions, reflecting its ad hoc nature which is one neither of principle nor certainly of competence, engaged in by people who know each other but who just aren't very good at politics.

Trump opened enormous opportunities for a variety of republican interests in Minnesota to message against the dominant culture here. The themes were endless and could be tailored to any particular locale  in the state. 

Virtually no republicans have picked up on this amazing chance. Democrats in this state wouldn't win at the rates they do if we had a competent opposition party. We do not.