windelina | For my own information and edification

I was pretty on top of my elected officials in the old neighborhood, but realized I hadn't looked it up for the new house yet.

So, here are the people who represent me (supposedly):
My US Senators are Mark Dayton and Norm Coleman (I knew that without looking it up)
My US Representative is Martin Olav Sabo (I also knew that without looking it up, although I usually blank on his name and just remember "the three name guy")

I am in district 58(A) which means
My state representative is Joe Mullery
My state senator is Linda Higgins

I am in Minneapolis Ward 4, so my city councilperson is Barbara Johnson

Now, I need to do some homework on a few of those to find out who much they truly represent me.

And in closing, I could name at least three cabinet-level departments, and could've guessed at about 5 more.
The full list:
Agriculture
Commerce
Defense
Education
Energy
Health & Human Services
Homeland Secuirty
Housing and Urban Development
Interior (Gale Norton I hate you!)
Labor
State (bend over a little farther Powell)
Transportation
Treasury
Veterans Affairs (I had NO idea this department existed)
Attorney General

And of course, the Veep sits on the cabinet as well.

Thus concludes your civics lesson for the day.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(ee! Oh, you did like the picture I found for you! How fun.)

Except for Senator Coleman, Governor Pawlenty, and relatively minor officials -the (MN) Secretary of State and State Auditor- all your elected officials at the city. state and federal level are DFL, so I imagine they reflect your views pretty well. The same goes for your county commissioner, parks commissioners, and school board members. I can say that with some assurance because the sole Green park commissioner is from the district where I used to live, and she's pretty much the only non-DFL elected official in the city, IIRC.

Just because they are DFL does not guarantee they will reflect my views well.
It's more likely than a GOP candidate, definitely, but it still bears investigation.
Obviously.

OK, maybe I should have said "your views as I know them", but I thought that was a given. Obviously there are different factions within the Minneapolis DFL, not all of whose priorities match yours, but I don't know your views on local issues as well as your views on national issues. Since moving out of Minneapolis last year I haven't paid much attention to Minneapolis politics; it's done wonders for my stress.

The odds of any elected official being enough of a raging liberal to truly represent me are so slim...*grin*

What about Ralph Nader? I think he's the only real Communist left now that Gus Hall up and died on us. ^__^

Ralph Nader is a fool. He has some good ideas, and some valid arguments. But if he was truly serious about his political aspirations, he would lower his sights a bit (how about running for Representative? And proving you know what you're doing?). And he wouldn't take money from right-wing groups.

As it stands, he would be a terrible president. Congress wouldn't work with him, he wouldn't work with Congress.

I admire idealism, but I respect a healthy dose of realism - which Nader has yet to display in the political arena. In my very humble opinion.

I have to agree that he's been rather Quixotic in his political moves, and would have been smarter to start off running for Congress or maybe the Senate. I also think you're right that even if he had been elected President he would have been ineffective. There's nothing in his history that indicates any ability to work with people; he's always struck me as one of these "My way or the highway" guys.

dayton sabo mullery and higgins are all cool to me in terms of being alright with the gays.

coleman is a total prick on that issue.

dayton has been actively outspoken and mullery sabo and higgins have consistently voted pro-gay.

i tend to be a single issue voter that way. like to me it reveals alot about someone's character. if they're pro-gay then they get some respect and are potentially cool.

also i've gotten tons of responses from sabo over the years from letters i've sent him and i think he is a good politician.

something weird lately that is an issue (why now it must be because of the elections!) is the whole flag burning issue has come up.

and dayton supports it! weird. i wrote him a letter about it and got this stupid letter back that was stupidly patriotic
------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Prust:

Thank you for your letter concerning flag burning. I am a proud
cosponsor of legislation to create a Constitutional Amendment to ban the
burning of the flag. In supporting this Amendment, I am not seeking to
compromise or sacrifice the basic and essential freedoms of the First
Amendment, which the United States Supreme Court has interpreted to
include the burning or desecration of the American flag. However, in
acknowledging and respecting the complete and essential protections of the
First Amendment, I seek to place the American flag, the great symbol of
our country, our freedoms, and our great democracy above our individual
political protests.

My best regards.
Sincerely,

Mark Dayton
United States Senator
----------------------------------------------------------

that just seems really weird concerning his stance on other things.

Starved, ignored, and just about toothless now that the WWII vets are at the Last Post, and the Korean vets are getting there, and the Vietnam vets had to do it themselves...and then us who only went to the sandbox in "unimportant" numbers...but it exists. We're a "Fire and Forget" country.

But they all seem to be, these days. {edits rest of comment in the interest of not frothing at the mouth} Suffice it to say that neither the G-Oh-Effing-Pee nor the Dem Others do a damn thing for vets, past sending them out to catch shrapnel.

For my own information and edification

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Veterans Affairs (I had NO idea this department existed)