Jack Nelson-pallmeyer

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, perhaps the only Minnesota politician with the word “peace” in his job title, says the Nobel Peace Prize for President Obama is “deeply problematic. It rewards rhetoric over substance.”

Minnesota GOP chair Ron Carey calls Rep. Keith Ellison’s arrest during a Darfur protest Monday “unbecoming” of the office. But Ellison and his fellow protesters weren’t alone: Their action comes almost exactly three years after a similar set of arrests by Democratic legislators over the same issue – and nearly five years after a unanimous House vote declared the killing in Darfur “genocide.” Given the lack of change in Darfur, who can blame him for waiting around for more “becoming” methods?

When locals gather to choose delegates at DFL precinct caucuses Tuesday, three Minneapolis City Council candidates will be looking for the first signs of success from skills they picked up at a recent weekend at Camp Wellstone.

As Afghanistan’s profile rises in America’s foreign-war portfolio, political progressives — both nationally and closer to home — are putting increasing emphasis on questions of troop escalation and United States policy there. In Minnesota, progressive activity on Afghanistan is taking the form of discussion, demonstrations and formation of a new coalition focused on pressuring the state’s congressional delegation on peace issues.

Over the weekend Mike Ciresi took Norm Coleman’s bait and told the Star Tribune he would have whooped Coleman by double-digits. (Coleman said last week that “any Democrat other than Al Franken would have been elected.”) The other also-ran in the race to be the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s 2005 U.S. Senate candidate takes a different tack. To the question “Would you have won?” Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer tells the Minnesota Independent: “I don’t know.”

Well, that was anti-climatic. DFL delegates endorsed Al Franken on the first ballot to run against Republican Sen. Norm Coleman. The radio host and comedian garnered support from 62 percent of delegates, just over the threshold required for party backing.
Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, who received support from 35 percent of voters, immediately conceded and the party faithful [...]

Al Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer just finished addressing the convention. They’re now conducting a 15-minute Q-&-A session (Lord knows why we need another one). Then they’ll get down to voting.

Nelson-Pallmeyer gave a fiery speech that emphasized hope and idealism, repeatedly invoking Paul Wellstone. “We never change the world by saying what can’t be done,” he [...]

There were no surprise nominations from the convention floor this morning. Most notably, the name Mike Ciresi was not uttered by any delegates. That means the endorsement battle will come down to Al Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer (unless Mr. No Endorsement shows up).

Among the primary gripes about Al Franken’s candidacy in the long lead up [...]

In October, Barb Olsen drove from her Duluth home to Augsburg College in order to watch Al Franken speak at a forum. She was extremely excited about the radio host and satirist’s then-fledgling senatorial campaign.

“I listened to Al Franken for all the years that he was on Air America,” says Olsen, a veteran Democratic Party [...]

Just when the furor over Al Franken’s 2000 Playboy article seemed to have dissipated, another Democrat has resuscitated the controversy. This time it’s Rep. Jim Oberstar, the powerful Iron Range DFLer who chairs the House transportation committee, criticizing the U.S. Senate candidate.

In a statement released yesterday, Oberstar labeled the sex fantasy column “amateur and silly,” [...]