That is a question the Independence Party of Minnesota is asking.
I'm on the Independence Party's mailing list because I contributed to a couple of gubernatorial candidates from the Independence Party in the past. Being a "Party of One", I don't contribute to parties but I do to candidates who I believe in.
Anyhow, the rest of this entry is an edited (reduced and for typos:>) version of an interesting email I received today. Take whatever action you feel appropriate. But whatever you do, be sure to show up and vote on Tuesday, whether it is for certain candidates, against certain candidates, or for none of the above. Remember, an uncast ballot is not counted, but a blank ballot is counted.
"How political parties don't matter
"Today we have witnessed a remarkably bad transformation in Minnesota's political landscape, something that has never happened before in over 160 years of state history.
I'm on the Independence Party's mailing list because I contributed to a couple of gubernatorial candidates from the Independence Party in the past. Being a "Party of One", I don't contribute to parties but I do to candidates who I believe in.
Anyhow, the rest of this entry is an edited (reduced and for typos:>) version of an interesting email I received today. Take whatever action you feel appropriate. But whatever you do, be sure to show up and vote on Tuesday, whether it is for certain candidates, against certain candidates, or for none of the above. Remember, an uncast ballot is not counted, but a blank ballot is counted.
"How political parties don't matter
"Today we have witnessed a remarkably bad transformation in Minnesota's political landscape, something that has never happened before in over 160 years of state history.
"Outside political interest groups, we will call them "quasi-parties", are now overcoming the DFL and Republican parties as the dominant powers on the left and the right. Campaign finance reports filed just yesterday, show that ALLIANCE FOR A BETTER MINNESOTA, an organization on the left which aggressively attacks Republicans, has expenditures of around $5 million this year. MINNESOTA FORWARD and MINNESOTA FUTURE, two right-wing organizations which aggressively attack Democrats, have combined expenditures of around $3 million. They are overtaking the parties which use to be the leaders on the left and right.
"What does this mean?
"It means that these groups are now the functional heads of the liberal and conservative politics in the State of Minnesota. They are now passing the parties they support, they use the ugliest attack ad politics possible, and they are not accountable to the public in any meaningful caucus or primary. If you need a Halloween tale, that is it.
"What can you do?
"Please talk to your friends from the left and right and help them understand that politics should not be about hatred and mudslinging, and then ask them to do the one thing that will prove to them what is going on. Ask them to demand that candidates from Mark Dayton and Tom Emmer on down, thoroughly reject and rebuke the actions of these groups and tell Minnesotans that this is no way to express their politics in Minnesota...and they had better be sincere (one candidate tried it earlier in the year despite knowing that family members were donating to a group).
"If your friends don't get a straight answer, ask them to consider if they are really voting for someone or against! Then tell them to vote for candidates with real ideas and solutions."
BTW, a Google search of "are blank ballots counted", without the quotes, yields over 55,000 hits.
