Ellison

Down here in GOPland, I watched the primary returns for Minneapolis with interest. I was happy to see Keith Ellison win the four-way race (half attending to the campaigning, it seemed that at least two of the other candidates would have made good DFL candidates and successors to Martin Olav Sabo). As this appreciation of Ellison suggests, I wish I could vote for him in November - not that he'll need the help, in one of the more staunchly DFL districts in the state - if only to be able to claim that I helped send the first Muslim to the U.S. Congress. Alas, I hope my fellow A.S.S. bloggers can do it in my stead. (On the other hand, the election judges in Nokomis don't know I moved, do they?)

On to November!

(But while I'm on the topic, let me give KARE-11 a big Bronx cheer for the idiotic decision to lead tonight's 10 p.m. news with an long, overblown story about Francisco Liriano's injury [he's "the franchise"? Ever heard of Johan Santana?] rather than a story about how the Fifth C.D., in selecting Ellison as the DFL candidate and successor to Sabo, last night staked a claim to be the most progressive district in the country. Replacing a veteran DFLer who was also a white Norwegian Lutheran with an up-and-comer who is also African-American Muslim is audacious and, I think, worthy of great praise. When they finally did get around to Ellison, most of the story was a soundbite of his Republican opponent being insulted that Ellison participated in the Million-Man March.)