Alan Miller interviews Patrick Klinger Minnesota Twins Vice President and Steve Hunegs, Jewish Community Relations Council Executive Director about their recent trip to Kuweit and other topics.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: access, democracy

Alan Miller interviews Mike Obermueller. Mike was looking to be endorsed by CD2 for US Congress. On 4-28-2012, DFL Congressional District 2 endorsed Mike Obermuerller to be its candidate for the position.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: access, democracy

Alan Miller interviews Hy Berman. Prof. Berman is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota and is considered “Minnesota’s Historian”.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: access, democracy

Alan Miller interviews Mike Ciresi, an “attorney’s attorney” extraordinaire!

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: access, democracy

On at least three occasions, including on “Access to Democracy” Maguire said he would be bound by the convention vote — would not run a primary — if the other candidates agreed to be bound by the vote.  He even renewed that pledge before the entire convention.  Apparently that pledge meant little to Maguire.  Some excellent bloggers and reporters have covered the situation very well, so I won’t belabor it.

There were four ballots before Carlson reached the super majority of 60% required for the endorsement of the DFL.  Carlson never had less than a healthy majority;  Maguire started out  with less than 45%, and fell with each succeeding ballot until he ended with less than 40% which gave Carlson over 60%, over 20% better than Maguire.  Maguire proudly boasted that he had never previously lost an election, particularly his mayoral campaigns against lightweight, almost non-opponents, but now he has lost four times.  So he resorted to the tool of a sore loser — attack the convention and the vote count.  There may have been some errors (none of which was raised as improprieties by his appointed teller and the witnesses who authenticated the results);  they amounted to a few votes, not nearly sufficient to alter the results.  In addition, this maneuver amounts to a direct attack on the Senate District 51 leadership, a well organized convention which took an entire day, and the efforts of dedicated volunteers and delegates whose sole purpose was to endorse a candidate to win in November.

What Maguire and his supporters, who obviously felt he would be ordained to the candidacy and not face the organization and dedication of Carlson’s camp, failed to do was to organize a winning strategy.  They panicked when the vote for him continued downhill after the third ballot, and insisted that his wife, Janelle Waldock, be allowed to address the convention because of an alleged misrepresentation as to her status.  The chair acceded, (although there should not have been any further floor discussion) under strict guidelines, but her somewhat hysterical rant broke those guidelines, and the displeasure of the delegates was obvious.  If anything pushed Carlson over the top, it was that bush league and amatuerish performance.

It was also curious that Maguire chose as one of his five floor managers a man who was publicly castigated and thrown out of the Wetterling Congressional campaign a few years ago for unethical conduct, a man whose delegate credentials for this convention were deemed ineligible, and who fled the convention as the Sergeants at Arms were seeking him out for admonition after he hurled obscenity-laced vitriol at multiple Carlson delegates.

Yet Maguire, who waited almost a month to present his challenge (in violation of a ten-day rule) did so with a flourish and well-in-advance prepared press releases and notifications to guarantee the utmost publicity.  Lost in all this is the damage done by not focusing on the ALEC-sponsored incumbent — by possibly pushing a candidacy back until after the August primaries, with just weeks until the November election.  It is a classic case of egomania over ethics, of narcissism over the good of one’s party and community, and making what would be a tough election  far more difficult.

One can only wonder whether this entire charade was not planned out well in advance,  because of its well organized orchestration, to attack the results of the convention no matter what.  Now the validity of the delegates’ endorsement is up to a hearing, and vote before the DFL Constitution Committee on May 12th.

All this, of course, has nothing to do with Carlson, who becomes the victim, and whose endorsement is challenged when there should never have been any question.  Maguire’s tactics can only drive a wedge into what was a unified Senate District.  And all because a man’s word, and his pledge, were meaningless.

Alan Miller interviews Jim Carlson, candidate for senator in Minnesota State Senate in District 51, Eagan and Burnsville.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: access, democracy

Alan Miller interviews Colleen Rowley, attorney and social activist.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: access, democracy

Alan Miller interviews Charles Samuelson. Mr. Samuelson is the Executive Director of ACLU in Minnesota.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: access, democracy

Alan Miller interviews David Schultz. David Schultz is an attorney with Maslon Law firm and works with the Minnesota Innocence Project http://www.ipmn.org. The project employs state of the art forensic technology and investigative talent to investigate and work for the exoneration of people falseley convicted of crimes they have not committed.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: access, democracy

Alan Miller interviews Ramon Ruiz, Andiamo Italian Restaurant in Eagan, and Jerry Willenburg, General Manager Sodexo Corporate Services at Thomson Reuters.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Tags: access, democracy