Party Loyalty Watch

Party Loyalty Watch

On the Right, Minnesota Republicans are mad:

Delegates at the Republican Party State Central Committee on Saturday approved a two-year party ban on 18 high-profile Republicans who supported Independence Party candidate Tom Horner for governor in the November 2010 election.

The list includes former GOP governors Al Quie and Arne Carlson and former U.S. Sen. Dave Durenberger, and GOP donor George Pillsbury.

Donor. Pillsbury. Too easy:


On the left, Ed Fallon plans big announcements for tomorrow's radio show:

What I’m about to say would have meant political suicide had I said it while serving as an elected Democrat:

Thursday, I lay out the twelve-point agenda I expect my political party to champion. Norm, Sue, Jerry, Michael: If you’re reading this e-mail (you always do, and I thank you for that), I’m fed-up with lip service. I want action. And not just a few symbolic gestures, not ridiculously small baby steps. I WANT THE 'CHANGE-WE-CAN-BELIEVE-IN' THING. I WANT IT FOR REAL, AND I’M HARDLY ALONE!

So, stop whispering sweet nothings in my ear as I stand in the voting booth, one hand holding my pen, the other holding my nose. If the party you’re in charge of doesn’t intend to deliver, just level with me so I can get about the business of finding a new one.

Insert a Johnson County "Tax! The! Rich!" chant here.

One guess is that Ed's platform will include the VOICE public campaign finance bill, which even in the post-Citizens United era is still ahead of its time. It's DOA until we can find a soundbite that convinces skeptics that public finance is not " a taxpayer subsidy for politicians." The one campaign finance reform the public would support at present is a ban on spot ads and a strict spending limit, both of which have First Amendment issues.

True, there's significant support for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and presumably address the whole balance of free speech and money in a campaign context. But before we can amend the Constitution, an issue needs a consensus-level critical mass of support, almost impossible in today's hyperpartisanship. As long as the new status quo disproportionately benefits one party, that level of support becomes impossible.