Brian Melendez sent an upbeat letter about 2008 election.

[Eric J in MN]

I would have preferred if he had written:

We failed to get 5 more State House seats for a veto-proof majority.
We failed to gain more US House seats.
We failed to win the US Senate seat on the first count.

We NEED to do things differently for 2010.

His email, which I received today:

Subject: Oh, yes, we did

Dear Eric,


Change. Hope! They feel great, don’t they? And you helped make them real. Margaret Mead’s words were never more true: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Thank you for being one of the “thoughtful, committed citizens” who just changed our future for the better.

The election isn’t over yet: a seat in the United States Senate hangs in the balance, and we are headed into a recount after the latest unofficial returns, as of this writing, show Al Franken behind by only 336 votes out of nearly 2.9 million cast (or just over 1/100th of 1 percent). By late Tuesday evening, the DFL Coordinated Campaign had already swung into action, working hand in hand with Team Franken, in order to ensure a fair, accurate, and transparent recount. We have heard a few stories of vote suppression and possible voting irregularities: if you know of any, please call the Franken campaign at [phone] or [phone], or DFL headquarters at [phone] or [phone]. That information is extremely valuable.

Meanwhile, we had a great election. We helped take back the White House, and set America on the path out of the Bush administration and into a brighter future for the United States. We picked up two seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives — just three seats shy of a veto-proof majority, and significantly better than many pundits expected. And while we didn’t pick up any congressional seats, every DFL incumbent sailed easily to reelection; and we significantly improved our margin from 2006 in every Republican-held seat, laying the groundwork for future challenges. (The Republicans are claiming a success just because they lost as few seats as they did, proving that you can call anything a win if you set the bar low enough.)

Thank you all for your help and support. It couldn’t have happened without you.



Brian Melendez

Chair

Minnesota DFL Party

[MNReformer]

1. Stolen election, again.

The Repubs knew they couldn't beat Obama and so they concentrated on blocking U.S. Senate and state seats so we couldn't have a veto-proof majority.

It's pretty clear to me. The raw data from the exit polls is being analyzed at http://www.electiondefensealliance.org Have a look.