Run Toni Run!

I will have another reason to pay close attention to Campaign 2012 news besides the presidential races and seeing whether the GOP or the Democrats get control of the House and Senate.  

One of my fave tell it like it T-I-S is people in the blogosphere has announced she's going to run for Congress in the 2012 election cycle.

She's shut down the Dyssonance blog for now and has moved her blogging presence to her campaign website.

Good luck Toni and hope you make history inside and outside the Grand Canyon State.   Would love the pleasure of addressing you as Congressmember D'orsay.

Who's Gonna Win NY-26?

When Congressman Christopher Lee (R-NY) got ensnared in his Craigslist scandal that forced him to resign this seat, little did we know at the time it would set up the first political test since the Paul Ryan Kill Medicare budget was rolled out by the Republifools.

NY 26 is a congressional district that has been in GOP hands since the Civil War  It has stayed in GOP hands despite various Democratic presidents taking New York State's electoral votes.  It was the late Jack Kemp's district.   It has a huge GOP registration advantage and lots of seniors.   .

But thanks to the Ryan budget, a Tea partier siphoning off votes, and a smart, competent Democratic candidate in Kathy Hochul who has hung that albatross of a budget around Jane Corwin's neck,  Hochul may have a shot at taking this district away from the Republicans.

They have been scrambling to find a way to spin their Kill Medicare budget now that they have been reminded once again why Medicare and Social Security are called the third rails of American politics.

The last poll that came out has Hochul up six points.   Will that lead hold up?   Will we be addressing her as 'Congresswoman Hochul' in a few hours?      

The polls open at 5 AM CDT my time.   We'll know in a few hours if she pulls it off.  

Marriage Battle Of Minnesota Set

Well, at the beginning of the New Year, it was expected in GL world that a marriage referendum would occur in a state beginning with the letter 'M'.

But surprise, surprise that state is Minnesota, not Maryland.

In another example GL peeps of elections mattering and what happens when you sit one out, the Minnesota House and Senate came under the control of the Republicans as a result of the 2010 midterms.

The DFL when they had control of the Legislature blocked that amendment.  But when you sit elections out, it's a vote for your GOP oppressors.

DFLer Mark Dayton is in the governor's mansion.   But when it comes to constitutional amendments, the governor can't do squat about them.   They don't require his signature, and he can't veto it if it passes.  All he can do is campaign either for or against it, and he's already on record as being opposed to it.

Minnesota law already bans same gender marriage, but the GOP legislators supporting the unjust amendment said it is necessary to prevent judges or lawmakers from legalizing it in the future.

What, no 'Jobs, jobs, jobs' legislation from the GOP majority?  


After six hours of emotional debate, the Minnesota House approved on a 70-62 nearly party line vote last night a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman.   Four Republicans voted 'NO' and two Democrats voted 'YES'.

The Republican controlled Minnesota Senate approved the proposed amendment by a 38-27 vote that also fell almost completely along party lines.   Only one DFL senator Leroy Stumpf voted for it.

It sets the stage for what is sure to be a contentious November 2012 ballot question smack dab in the middle of the 2012 presidential election that will spike conservafool voter turnout. 


As a reminder folks, when it comes to constitutional amendment same gender marriage bans, the Forces of Intolerance have momentum and a 31-0 record.  But can Minnesota be the state that bucks the trend?

60% of the state's population of 5.3 million people live in the Minneapolis-St Paul area. 

I also thought I'd point out that only 4.4% of the population of Minnesota is African-American, and Rep Keith Ellison, the first African American congressmember from Minnesota is in favor of marriage equality..   

So if that referenda record goes to 32-0, don't want to hear any rainbow shade thrown at African American voters.  Aim your Hateraid at the peeps who brought you this referendum pain, the Catholic Church, NOM and the Republican Party.


Well, it's going to be a 18 month long, hard, expensive and ugly battle.    You're going to see milllions of dollars and reams of campaign ads flow into the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  

Silver Lining In 2011 Canadian Elections

While my Canadian homegirl is still along with other progressive Canadians not happy that the Sweater Vest will be around for the next five years with a Conservative majority government to torment them, TransGriot reader Lareyne Leveult sent me an interesting e-mail which pointed out this factoid emanating from Monday's election . 

I know you like to follow the political successes of black people in Canada (e.g. your excellent articles tracking the career of the Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean) so I thought I'd mention that, in addition to Dr. Fry in Vancouver Centre, two new black MPs have been elected: Tyrone Benskin for the NDP in the Montreal riding of Jeanne-Le Ber (a film and stage actor, and artistic director of Montreal's Black Theatre Workshop); and Sadia Groguhé, also for the NDP, in Saint-Lambert on Montreal's south shore (a therapist and unemployment counsellor).

Many other candidates of colour were elected, including a number of new South Asian MPs (including Canada's first Tamil MP, the NDP's Rathika Sitsabaiesan in Scarborough--Rouge River in suburban Toronto); several East Asian, Arab, and Hispanic MPs, especially among the candidates caught up in the NDP's surge in Quebec; and a record seven Aboriginal MPs, including renowned Cree negotiator Roméo Saganash for the NDP in the northern Quebec riding of Abitibi--Baie-James--Nunavik--Eeyou.

That's wonderful news despite the fact that Marlene Jennings, who was one of the few Black MP's in the last Parliament, was unfortunately one of the Liberals who lost her seat in Quebec's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Lachine riding to an NDP challenger in the Montreal area.. 

Some of those new MP's of color are also Conservatives.

When the new Parliament kicks off in a month,  there will be a little more diversity at Parliament House even if it doesn't affect the policies expected to come from the Harper led Conservative majority.