Primary thoughts

So the results are in. To me, the most surprising thing was Lori Swanson's win. I'm not as surprised by Keith Ellison's win, although it definitely is a big story. The other races were pretty ho hum. But Lori Swanson? I thought that she would put up a good fight against Steve Kelley but ultimately lose. Why she won is a bit of a mystery to me. It is probably partly due to Hatch's support, partly due to Steve Kelley's stadium support (though by no means is that the major reason). Other than that...I don't know.

Another surprising thing was the Republican AG race. Jeff Johnson won, as expected, but somebody named Sharon Anderson got 42% of the vote? I didn't even know Johnson had an opponent. That came out of nowhere; maybe it is a testament to having a Scandinavian name.

About Ellison: the Republicans and MDE (they are pretty much the same thing) are going to waste no time in smearing Ellison from now until he is elected to Congress. They have already started. They have no shame. Want proof? This literally just appeared. Nice.

These attacks are going to come from two directions. First, his race. A not insignificant part of the Republican party is racist: just take a look at Senator George "Macaca" Allen or Representative Tom Tancredo. But outright racist attacks are pretty disgusting in this day and age, even for Republicans, and they know that being obviously racist is going to lose more votes than it will win most of the time.

So that leaves the obvious attack, the one that everybody will be focusing on: his religion. I find this utterly ridiculous, but it is happening all the same. Sure, for a lot of mouth-breathers out there, they think that "Muslim=Terrorist" because their leaders have told them so. In reality, of course, it's a bit more nuanced than that. Just because somebody is a Muslim doesn't mean that they are fundamentalist, just as all Christians are not fundamentalists.

But what is worse? Who is really dangerous? Was it a Muslim or a Christian who said that God let 9/11 happen because America tolerates abortion and homosexuality? When a very prominent person running for the Senate in a certain large state said that voters need to vote in politicians of a certain religion, because otherwise you will get sinful legislation, was she saying that we should be voting in Muslims or Christians?

There are a lot of politicians out there who sincerely believe that we must replace America's secular government with a government that is based on their interpretation of Christianity. In other words, a theocracy. To me, living under a Christian theocracy would be no better than living under a Muslim one, but do Republicans see the same threat? Of course not; you generally don't see your base as a "threat." No, they are so devoid of any sense of irony that they can bash Ellison while advocating their own theocracy.

Keith Ellison, unlike many prominent Republicans, is not a fundamentalist. You will never hear him trash homosexuals, you will never hear him denigrate women, and you will never hear him talk about how we need to get rid of the separation of church and state and get ourselves an Islamic theocracy. He's a moderate to liberal Muslim, just like Farheen Hakeem. They exist. Imagine that! And yet Republicans are going to bash him for his religion, all the while trying to force their own down everybody's throats.

I think that 5th CD voters are going to be a bit smarter than that, but that won't stop Republicans from trying. It could become a very ugly campaign season.