Contributed Photo, And Thank God For That The Star Tribune kept an oh-so-straight face today when reporting on the results of the recent citywide DFL convention, which handily endorsed Mayor Rybak up against only Al "I-Am-The-Community" Flowers, charitably described in the STrib as a "community activist" but widely regarded as an unstable nutcase heckler-at-large.
A little birdie sent me some of the more entertaining details of the convention, stuff that didn't make it into the STrib like, oh gee, the actual freaking vote numbers.
Here they are...
Mayor R.T. Rybak, 75 Percent (591 votes)
No Endorsement, 16.2 Percent (128 votes)
Al FLowers, 8.8 Percent (69 votes)
My source put it this way: Al Flowers must have been running as some kind of anti-anti-establishment candidate, because he lost to the anti-establishment "No Endorsement" vote.
Reportedly, during his speech, Al Flowers talked about building "lie-berries." One participant in the convention, texting at that moment, wondered if the "lie-berries" would be for the "medium income" (sic) people Al Flowers often talks about. This bout of texting during the speech of Al Flowers caused fears among a handful of delegates that they might pee their pants laughing.
I was told (but have not confirmed it) this is the first time in the history of Minneapolis that a "question and answer session" has been skipped at this kind of convention. To which I say: those who say "first time in history" are usually talking about their own historical memory, and assuming or inferring much from that. When an actual historian tells me, then I might believe it. They say those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it, but so often "repeat it" just means "repeat what somebody else said about it."
Johnny Northside approaches all "first time in history" claims with deep cynicism.
In any case...
Hopefully, Al Flowers will stay in the race for comic relief, which is sorely needed during this recession.
ADDENDUM: Total ballots, 788. Spoiled ballots, 14.
