Minnesota Independent » Craig Cox

New School Board member admits creating race-baiting Web site

Craig Cox — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:43:37 +0000

Chris Stewart, who on Tuesday won election to the Minneapolis School Board, yesterday admitted that he and some friends created a replica Tammy Lee for Congress Web site laden with racial epithets to lampoon Fifth District Congressman Martin Sabo’s support for Lee, the Independence Party candidate.

Stewart, who is black and is considered a rising star in the DFL Party, said the Web site was “an inside blogger joke that was never meant to be made public.

Lee campaign alleges new School Board member responsible for ‘racist’ parody Web site

Craig Cox — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 16:51:33 +0000

The Tammy Lee congressional campaign has traced what it calls a “racist, hate Web site

Now the IP will have to fight defections

Craig Cox — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 07:23:57 +0000

Despite its generally lackluster performance in Tuesday’s elections, the Independence Party will wake up Wednesday morning positioned to make a move against the major parties in ways it has never been before. The party has build a solid fundraising mechanism, a significant base of new volunteers, and can boast some of the state’s most intriguing young candidates.

But here’s the rub: Can those candidates withstand the siren song of the two major parties, who have been known to attract promising third-party candidates who want to actually win elections?

more insideThe IP’s Tammy Lee, who attracted more than 20 percent of the vote in an abbreviated Fifth District congressional campaign, is only one of several young IP candidates who might be lured away from the party by the prospect of major party support. Sixth District congressional candidate John Binkowski (7.8 percent), U.S. Senate hopeful Robert Fitzgerald (3 percent), and Joel Spoonheim (3 percent) in the secretary of state race are also promising young political stars who, I suspect, the DFL wouldn’t mind seeing on a sample ballot somewhere down the road.

Lee was evasive when I asked her about the attraction of a major party candidacy, noting that, “If the DFL or the Republicans embraced moderates, there wouldn’t be a need for the Independence Party.

Tammy Lee and the Independence Party

Craig Cox — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:45:56 +0000

10:50 p.m.
Hutchinson begins his concession speech (he trails a deadlocked Hatch and Pawlenty, 45 to 7 percent) with an anecdote about a marathon runner finishing last in the Olympics. “Minnesota didn’t sent us here just to start this race, they sent us here to finish it.

Parody Web site blasts Sabo’s endorsement of Lee

Craig Cox — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:00:36 +0000

In a nasty piece of reverse race-baiting, an anonymous hacker has created a Tammy Lee look-alike site that lampoons Rep. Martin Sabo’s endorsement of the Independence Party’s Fifth District congressional candidate Tammy Lee. The site, http://www.trailblz.info/leetammy/hatesite/hatesite.htm, is clearly marked as “political satire

‘Fiercely apolitical’ Gerold enjoying life on the stump

Craig Cox — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 04:19:37 +0000

Four months into a political campaign she could never have predicted, Lucy Gerold is well on her way to what she calls “a graduate degree in civics,

Benanav as ‘The Apprentice’?

Craig Cox — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 01:27:54 +0000

Jay Benanav’s campaign to unseat Ramsey County District Judge Elena Ostby got a small boost from what appears to be an unlikely source: Donald Trump.The Donald has donated $500 to the Benanav campaign, a contribution that Benanav said may not be as surprising as it may appear. “My brother used to work for him as an executive vice president,” Benanav told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “Apparently, he thinks I am good enough to be the No. 1 apprentice — at least in this race.”

The Ostby campaign begged to differ: “Ramsey County voters don’t need an apprentice. They need [a judge with] proven experience on the job,” said campaign manager Ron Lattin.

Kennedy says U.S. troops should stay in Iraq “until the terrorists can’t win”

Craig Cox — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 01:12:13 +0000

Britt Robson takes the local and national press to task for ignoring a Nov. 2 remark from Senate candidate Mark Kennedy that indicates the Republican endorsee is more than happy to allow U.S. troops to remain in Iraq forever.

Writing in The Blotter, Robson quotes Kennedy saying that American forces should leave Iraq only “after the terrorists can’t win.”

Given that President Bush’s “War on Terror” has always been packaged as an Orwellian state of permanent warfare, a condition that allows the administration and its Republican allies a way to consolidate political power, Kennedy’s quote appears to be an unfortunately candid admission that he, like his White House allies, have no intention of removing the U.S. military presence.

Even the most optimistic of the Bush neo-cons at the Pentagon admit now that the war on terror cannot be won in Iraq by military means and that the insurgency feeds on the U.S. occupation there. And yet, when a U.S. Senate candidate admits that he favors a permanent military presence in Iraq, the local media ignores him.

As Robson puts it, “Maybe the pundits and talking heads could break away from harpooning Kerry long enough to ask U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kennedy exactly what parameters and conditions are required to satisfy his ‘terrorists can’t win’ scenario.”

What’s next for the Independence Party?

Craig Cox — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:34 +0000

Nine days prior to his presumptive endorsement at the Independence Party’s June 24 state convention, gubernatorial candidate Peter Hutchinson and his campaign staff organized a coming out party at Metro State University in St. Paul for what he called “Team Minnesota.

Council rejects bid to regulate music choices at Dinkytown bar

Craig Cox — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 21:22:49 +0000

An attempt to dictate what style of music a Dinkytown restaurant can play sparked a lively debate on free speech at Friday’s Minneapolis City Council meeting.

Third Ward Council Member Diane Hofstede sought to amend a liquor license agreement between the city and the Loring Pasta Bar that would stipulate that any live music played at the bar on Mondays and Tuesdays would be the same style as that which is performed there the rest of the week. But that struck 10th Ward Council Member Ralph Remington, who represents dozens of bars in the Uptown area, as unreasonable.

“Can we regulate this?