SD16 – The Olson Problem – Fix It
Michael Brodkorb unleashed on Olson, the Strib has an Editorial dinging the party, and the DFL Blog is giddy at the prospects of party wide attacks. AND IT HAS BEEN JUST ONE WEEK since Rep. Mark Olson was endorsed to run in the Minnesota Senate special election.Â
Luckily the Senate Caucus is going to support the other person in the Primary. Â
I’d caught wind of the predicament many leaders in the party had, but with held comment until the news broke. I had a post drafted, but it got eaten in the intertubes thanks to my fat polish fingers.
I feel this is just the beginning of the saga regarding Mark Olson running for office.
Props:Â
Purely as a Legislator Rep. Olson has been better than average for Republicans. I haven’t followed his career that long, but last session he was a hero on the Transit tax Bill. Despite being thrown out of the House Republican Caucus, he still fought the good fight.
But, there is that other problem, the 800 pound gorilla the rest of the Republicans will have to deal. Mark Olson and his legal matter with his wife.
Thanks, but no thanks:
We as Republicans need to police our own. We can’t let a few votes here there make up for major indiscretions of an individual. Whether it be their foolish undying support for liberal causes or personal conduct that is unbecoming for members of the party of family values.Â
For the last decade, we didn’t care what Republicans did as long as they voted the right way on the Speaker vote. The Caucus mentality that a lot of leaders lived by has left the party on the verge of moral bankrupcy and with skeleton Minorities. And when some polls show voters more confident that the tax and spend liberals can handle the economy better, all that special interest bidding has been counter productive to the cause.Â
If Olson is on thew ballot, it will be a heavy weight hanging around every Republican’s neck across the state. I can see the lit pieces now: “Wife Beater Republican Welcomed With Open Arms”Â
When our House candidates are going door to door, we don’t want them having to answer for why Olson was endorsed in SD16. We want them talking about low taxes, responsible spending, and liberty for individuals, not what did or did not happen in one guys house in another part of the state.Â
It is and was a huge mistake to endorse Olson. I do support the endorsement process, but sometimes people get it wrong. Most of the time it is a problem that only they have to live with, but this time we will all have to deal with it, so I feel we have a say.Â
I mean just think about it. How can the Senate Caucus welcome Olson if he should win, when the House Republicans threw him out on his bum unanimously.Â
As Michael noted, the Senate Caucus is not going to support Olson in the Primary. How could they support him if he wins it? We can’t afford to lose any more seats in the Senate, heck the Democrats already have a veto proof majority there.Â
Allison Krueger is going to be on the Primary ballot. I believe they had a pledge to abide by the endorsement and not campaign for the Primary. So if we are going to clean up our party, someone will need to make that document disappear, or go campaign for her. Frankly this may be one pledge worth breaking. I have the feeling that there will be others coming out against Olson too.Â
Luckily the Democrats, mouths watering at the prospects of having another scandal to attack all Republicans with, have their own Primary battles. Al Franken is facing like 3 dozen other Dems plus there is a battle in one of the House races in SD16. Otherwise they could cross over and slip Olson right on through.Â
It was a huge mistake for Olson not to retire after the session. Thankfully the Delegates in 16B did the right thing and endorsed Mary Kiffmeyer. It was an even bigger mistake for Olson to run for the Senate nod, and an even bigger one for him to get endorsed for the Senate given his past.Â
We must clean up our own party. We must hold our own to higher moral standards. We must remove any doubt to voters that we do have principles, that we do stand for strong family values, and we will not tolerate such behavior.Â
There is still time to clean up this mess.
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Unlike you & Michael, I let my views be known immediately.
It’s apparent that the three of us agree that Mark Olson’s voting record is just fine but that isn’t the defining issue.
We must police ourselves. When a man is convicted of domestic assault, that should be the end of his political career. PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE.
While Republicans are the party of local control, that doesn’t mean that we trust that their decisions are flawless. They aren’t. When a candidate is endorsed that outsiders think is too squishy, we should keep our silence. It’s that endorsing convention’s decision.
When a convicted criminal is endorsed, especially considering the nature of his offense, that is where we need to draw the line.
As for pledges for abiding by the endorsement process, this is one time when I’d applaud the breaking of that promise. I’ve met Alison Krueger. She’ll make a great state senator if given the opportunity. Now it’s time for the people of SD-16 to give her that opportunity.
I don’t pretend to know all the details in Olson’s criminal case, but as I understand it, he was aquitted of the domestic violence charge and slapped on the wrist for “scaring” his wife. Based on that, I think the situation seems a bit overblown. What I do know is Olson’s conservative voting record is rock-solid. Should he be thrown overboard by the Caucus, State Party and the voters? What’s his primary opponent like? I don’t know anything about him.
Oops! I mean her. Apologies to Allison.
Why was he not reinstated in the House Caucus?
If he wins in November, how can the Senate Caucus just up say the House was wrong and welcome him with open arms? How will voters see that in 2010 when we get to hold the Senate accountable? (Jeez, even with in the party, Republicans don’t agree, why should we trust the Republicans and throw some of these Senate Dems out of office?)
Has his career record been perfect? His ratings from groups seem a bit inconsistent over the years.
http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=3815&type=category&category=10&go.x=5&go.y=11
Heck Ron Erhardt had a better taxpayer score in 2003.
http://www.taxpayersleague.org/pdf/legscorecard2003.pdf
Well, yeah. He gets high scores from the conservaive groups and low scores from the liberal ones. I don’t have a horse in this race – Not my district and I don’t know enough about the challenger (Krueger), but I am concerned that Olson is getting beat up by elements in his own party over a seriously overblown issue. This really smacks of “When did you stop beating your wife?” And it’s coming from his own party.
Well then Dan, I certainly hope Minnesota Majority will stop taking out those negative ads about elected officials they can’t vote for. Afterall, if you can’t vote in the private closed meeting endorsement, then surely you don’t have a right to complain about the choice made.
And you certainly don’t have any leg to stand on when said persons end up passing very devastating legislation that affects the entire state, let alone the image of the Republican party.
We either have this debate now, since we were not given time before the election, or we wait til the Democrats start dropping lit pieces in every single close District come mid October.
Gee, let me think. Get this crap out of the way, and hopefully remove any doubt of it possibly being true, now? Or wait til there is no time to respond when all the voters are paying attention?
This whole thing is really lame and the attacks those of us who have come out against Olson’s endorsement are really lame. Oh and so is the Shut up! argument. No seriously, I hope that there will be a strong push for the Republican party to pull out of the primary election process in Minnesota and change state law. Since if only party conventions can select a candidate, then we are wasting taxpayer money on primary elections. It is settled, done, over at the party’s private conventions.