As expected, the three DFL U.S. Senate candidates all declared victory Tuesday night in the wake of Minnesota’s wildly disorganized caucuses.
Mike Ciresi, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Al Franken tried to convince those around them — and perhaps themselves — that they came out of last night’s chaos with strong support at district conventions, which will be held across Minnesota from the end of this month until April.
It is at those conventions that delegates will be selected for the state convention in June. It is finally at the state convention where delegates will bestow the party’s endorsement on one of the three. And because all three have said they will honor the process, the endorsed candidate will win the right to run against Republican Sen. Norm Coleman in November.
Candidates positioning for endorsement battle’s next phase
So, which of the three is in the best shape as the process moves to Step Two?
“We’re just getting started!” said Ciresi, sounding upbeat at the end of caucus night.
“We’re feeling good!” said Nelson-Pallmeyer.
But some of Nelson-Pallmeyer’s supporters weren’t so optimistic.
“He started too late,” said Gary Schiff, a Minneapolis City Council member and Nelson-Pallmeyer supporter. “It’s going to be Franken on the first ballot.”
Other DFLers were saying the same sorts of things Tuesday night.
Interestingly, Franken was the most cautious in assessing the situation: “It sounds like we sent a lot of people to the district conventions.”
That’s not exactly a snappy response, Franken was told.
“Many a slip twixt cup and lip,” he said.
A reporter and a couple of Franken supporters looked at the candidate, blankly.
“What did you say?”
“You guys never heard that?” said Franken.
He went slower for the reporter.
“Many a slip twixt. . . .”
“Twixt?” the reporter asked.
“Yes,” said Franken. “Many a slip TWIXT cup and lip.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know who said it,” said Franken, “Google it. But it means a lot can go wrong between the start and finish.”
In truth, that’s what Franken’s foes now seem to be banking on. That somehow Franken will stumble — with a slip of his lip — between now and the state convention.
Ciresi seems confident he’ll prevail
In one-on-one conversation, Ciresi still seems supremely confident that he’s going to win endorsement.
Laughing he noted that he’s certain to have at least two delegates at the district convention. Both he and his wife, Ann, were chosen at their caucus.
“That’s two,” he said. “Hmm. Maybe one for sure. She might abstain.”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m with you.”
They laughed. The two do seem to be enjoying this race.
But they’ll need an additional 600 delegate votes to win endorsement. And here’s what makes you believe that doubts are starting to get larger among Ciresi’s supporters: Like every other underdog in America, they’re now comparing themselves to the New York Giants, who pulled off a big upset over the New England Patriots in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
“We’re the Giants,” said Ciresi aide Leslie Sandberg to anyone who would listen. “Tonight is just the beginning.”
Perhaps Ciresi is the Giants.With the list of delegates more defined — there are about 10,000 delegates to the district conventions — perhaps Ciresi’s campaign can suddenly catch fire. “The universe has been contracted,” Ciresi said. “The playing field is more defined.”
Nelson-Pallmeyer banking on his persuasive powers
Or perhaps, Nelson-Pallmeyer is right and that over the course of the next few weeks he can persuade delegates to follow their progressive hearts and join him.
Nelson-Pallmeyer is bright and thoughtful. And he is a skilled debater, so skilled that Ciresi and Franken often end up siding with him in candidate debates. Tuesday noon, for example, the three debated on Minnesota Public Radio, and both Ciresi and Franken frequently said, “As Jack was saying. . . .” Or, “I agree with Jack on that.”
Nelson-Pallmeyer chuckles about how often that happens. But the reality is, debating points don’t lead directly to delegate support. The system isn’t that rational.
In fact, there was nothing rational about the DFL caucus system Tuesday night. Throughout the state, there were reports of traffic jams and ballot shortages and general disorganization.
DFL party leaders were trying to say that the chaos just shows the passion for the DFL this time around. But it could be argued that wasn’t passion out there. That was just a mess.
Caucuses are supposed to be a chance for neighbors to get together to talk about their favorite candidates. But just getting the presidential preference ballots into the hands of those who were patient enough to stand in line was such a time-consuming task, there was almost no time for discussion of the Senate race.
Discussion time gets lost amid caucus chaos
One small example of the Senate “discussion” process:
At the south Minneapolis caucus I attended, Obama clobbered Clinton. But the other business of the night was the selection of 64 people to be delegates or alternates to the Senate District convention.
The caucus leader asked who was interested. Sixty-four people stumbled to the front of the room, ready, willing and able to be a delegate or alternate. But just about the time the whole crew was ready to be signed up, someone in the crowd yelled, “Who do they support?’
This question seemed to come as a surprise. Those attending the caucus actually wanted to know which Senate candidates were going to get support?
Rules were read. Hurried discussions were held. Walking sub-caucuses were set up. Franken supporters were to go to one corner, Ciresi supporters to another, and Nelson-Pallmeyer supporters to another. Those who didn’t want to commit to any candidate were to go to another.
“OK. Two minutes to try to persuade people to join with you,” the caucus leader said.
That was it. Two minutes of discussion for people to talk U.S. Senate politics. Two minutes for people in the Ciresi corner to try to persuade somebody from the Uncommitted corner to join them. Two minutes for neighborly discussion about what will be one of the most important Senate races in the nation this fall.
It should be noted that in this one precinct, Franken’s support was huge. Ciresi’s was almost nonexistent. Nelson-Pallmeyer finished second, and Uncommitted was third.
But there was a problem with this slate, which proportionately represented the political views of the caucus. The new slate wasn’t gender-balanced. DFL rules require gender balance among delegates.
“We have more women than men!” the caucus leader said. “We need men.”
Men and women scrambled to get out of the building, clearly wanting no more of this exercise in democracy.
It was Franken who put the evening in perspective.
“Just say the night was a victory for Minnesota — or whatever,” said the man who likely is the leader in the Senate race, unless he slips twixt cup and lip.
Doug Grow, a former metro columnist for the Star Tribune, writes about public affairs, state politics and other topics. He can be reached at dgrow [at] minnpost [dot] com.
I hate to disagree with my Council Member Gary Schiff, but Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is very much in this race despite his late start. As others have noted (including Mr. Grow in this article referring to the NPR debate) Nelson-Pallmeyer has the ability to connect with people and to communicate and debate clearly on complex policy issues leaving his opponents with only the option to agree with his position.
As more DFLers meet Nelson-Pallmeyer, more will move their support to his campaign.
In my precinct the sub-caucus resulted in our delegates being evenly split between Nelson-Pallmeyer and Franken. I had to make the case for Jack as most of the folks in our camp were busy as volunteers helping everyone sign in and vote in the presidential straw poll and couldn’t talk with other participants.
A couple of the Franken supporters approached me after the caucus and told me that they are with Jack on the issues, but they are buying into the self fulfilling prophecy that a Franken nomination is a fait accompli.
DFLers: listen to the MPR debate yourselves, look at the three candidates policy platforms and you will see that Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer understands the priorities and needs of Minnesotans and he will by far be the most effective Senator we have to choose from today. Whether it’s on the economy, health care, transportation, energy policy, international relations, education or trade Nelson-Pallmeyer shines above the competition.
As a NY member of the Minnesota Diaspora I woke up this morning curious to see what happened with Al Franken. I searched the internet and the Star and Tribune and came up empty. When I read your story I can see why others were reluctant to tackle the confusion but your efforts were greatly appreciated. Thanks.
At the Dovre Township DFL caucus, 20 delegates were elected to go to the local county convention. When polled on their U.S. Senate candidate choice, the results were as follows:
15 – Franken
5 – Undecided/unknown
If this is any indication of the trend, Mr. Franken seems to be doing quite well. At the very least, he is running strong in Northern Kandiyhi County.
Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer wows audiences any time he speaks or debates his opponents. At one recent candidates’ forum in Minneapolis, for example, a member of the audience came up to Jack afterwards, removed the opponent’s campaign button from his shirt, and wrote Jack a $2000 check.
St. Paul voters, unfortunately, have not yet been graced with a debate or forum. Although two debates were scheduled, they had to be cancelled when another candidate developed scheduling conflicts and had to back out.
Makes me wonder how many delegates will have a chance to hear him in person before the senate district convention. I would encourage them to attend a house party or other event if there is no debate.
I caucused in Nelson-Pallmeyer’s home precinct and he got 30 delegates (neighbors) to Franken’s 18, with a couple bunches of uncommitted.
A friend of mine explained his Nelson-Pallmeyer support was “symbolic,” meaning that he likes Jack’s views but understands that Franken is the likely candidate. I would almost agree, except that I could never support a theologian for Senator–do we really need politicians who try to wrestle some notion of “justice” from God and the Bible (doesn’t matter if it’s on the Left or Right)?
Yes, he could be the Senator of Seward Neighborhood with his precinct margin–oops, that is already taken by our honorable Senator Patricia Torres Ray!
Practically speaking, the DFL understands that Coleman’s $6M in the bank is not to be underestimated–Franken could match that, Ciresi wouldn’t dig that deep into his pockets, and Nelson-Pallmeyer has a “symbolic” (anti-war) chest.
From Wikiquote:
There’s many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip.
* This comes from a Greek legend, as follows: One of the Argonauts returned from his voyage, and went home to his winery. He called for the local soothsayer, who had predicted before his voyage that he would die before he tasted another drop of his wine, from his vinery. As he finished saying this, he raised a cup filled with wine to his lips, in toast to the soothsayer, who said something in reply. Just then, he was called away to hunt a wild boar that was approaching, and died in his attempt to kill it. The phrase that the soothsayer said is translated best as, There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip
We first heard Al Franken speak as he worked to see other candidates elected. At the time we were supporting Tim Walz in his race for Congress. Al Franken was there to speak out for Tim.
Time and again, we heard Al speak out for others. We found ourselves wanting Al to run for office. We felt his deep compassion for the people of Minnesota and his love for the state where he was raised. We appreciated the fact that he had for years been taking on the right and exposing their untruths. We saw his intelligence and knew he had done his homework on every issue that weighed heavy on this country. We watched as he spoke one on one with people and knew he felt their concerns and would work to make a difference in their lives.
Al also has Franni at his side. She will be her own force when Al is Senator. We feel we are getting two for one in this race.
Al is a homegrown Minnesotan who has the compassion, the intelligence and the charisma to triumph over Coleman. We call him a progressive, a visionary…. but most of all, we want to call him our Senator.
Randi & Philip Reitan