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How to win the Iron Range
This is the second long post in a series about the political climate on Northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. I cross post these kinds of things with www.mnblue.com and my own www.minnesotabrown.blogspot.com.
Last week I talked about how Range politics centers on personal relationships. The region blends social conservatism with economic liberalism to create a unique environment that plays a big role in state politics and a bigger role in state DFL politics. Though the only Iron Ranger to hold statewide office was Gov. Rudy Perpich, the region has influenced the path of every Democrat and/or Farmer-Laborite elected to statewide office in Minnesota since Floyd B. Olson. But like the statewide DFL, any path to victory must include coalition building.
There are three big factions that make up the DFL’s majority coalition on the Iron Range. This configuration might also apply to many other parts of Minnesota (and the nation, for that matter) but I am focusing on the Range because I’ve run campaigns here. Apply this to your neighborhood how you see fit.
LABOR
Most people associate the Range with labor for good reason. The labor movement has its roots here. I don’t just mean Minnesota’s labor movement. I mean THE LABOR MOVEMENT. There were Wobblies and red flags in the streets here in 1907.
Today’s labor faction on the Range includes old powers like the Steelworkers, Teamsters and all the building trades, but increasingly the word “labor” on the Range refers equally to professional and service workers like AFSCME and Education Minnesota. They usually endorse and work for the same candidate in a primary (notable exception: the Steelworkers and AFSCME on the Iron Range are currently split between Al Franken and Mike Ciresi, respectively, for U.S. Senate).
Labor also represents a steady, though not enormous, source of political financing for local candidates and parties.
PROGRESSIVES
The current progressive voters on the Iron Range are strongly motivated by the Iraq war issue, but they’ve been around a lot longer than that. In fact, this faction has existed since the beginning of the Range and was in the 1910s and ‘20s an offshoot of the Republican Party. They are moralistic, pro-environment and generally refuse to compromise with those in power on issues important to them. Today they vote DFL (and sometimes Independence or Green). For example, Becky Lourey’s gubernatorial campaign in 2006 drew much of its strength from 8th CD progressives. This group fights with the Iron Range legislative delegation all the time, usually behind closed doors but sometimes out front. (Conservative DFL State Rep. David Dill’s 2002 and 2004 primary challenger Bill Hansen was DFL endorsed, due in large part to progressive activists … but Hansen lost both times … more on that later).
Like labor, the progressives are good at making things happen during a campaign but unlike labor they won’t work for candidates they don’t love. Similarly, progressives can raise lots of money if they really like a candidate but raise nothing for those they don’t like.
OPINION LEADERS
Past and present state legislators, party leaders, mayors, city councilors and county commissioners, and – increasingly – lobbyists, consultants and developers. Add to that newspaper editors/publishers, prominent citizens and anyone else who holds more sway on the street than Joe or Jane Ranger. I’d include bloggers if I weren’t the only political blogger I know of on the Iron Range and if my blog got more than 200 hits a week. In the old days, this collection of people would get together and form what we used to call a political machine. There are vestigial remainders of “machine” politics on the Range, but by and large this group is neither unified nor organized. When they DO get together on a candidate or issue, they can sometimes overrule the will of the labor and progressive factions within the DFL (That’s how David Dill beat Bill Hansen twice). However, when they are divided, a unified labor and progressive coalition can beat the conventional wisdom. That’s how State Rep. Tom Anzelc beat Bob Anderson in the 2006 DFL primary for District 3A even though Anderson had the same last name and is related to outgoing State Rep. Irv Anderson. (I ran Tom’s campaign).
Opinion Leaders hold a bit more sway than any other faction because opinion leaders often control the greatest amount of public influence and campaign funding, the latter disproportionately influenced by the aforementioned lobbyists, consultants and developers.
Oh, and Opinion Leaders are not necessarily Democrats. They only trend that way because of the power structure on the Range.
The Republicans have their factions as well.
SOCIAL/RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVES
This is the core of the Republican Party on the Iron Range (and the entire 8th Congressional District, for that matter). Deeply pro-life and anti-gay marriage, this group also rivals labor unions in their ability to organize. Unlike labor, their numbers grow each year – even on the Iron Range. I think there’s a ceiling on that, but it’s worth noting.
BUSINESS LEADERS
Business owners, bank managers, stock brokers and others like them have trended Republican since the beginning of the Iron Range. When all the immigrant laborers couldn’t vote – in the 1900s and ‘10s, the Iron Range was a Republican bastion. The last Republican elected in the core of the Iron Range was the late former State Rep. Carl D’Aquila, a Hibbing businessman, who served in the 1950s. Unlike social conservatives, business leaders will cross over to the DFL if the Democrat is more moderate (especially in local races).
LIBERTARIAN/GUN RIGHTS
Democrat or Republican, a NRA endorsement will move 10 and sometimes 20 points in your favor in the general election. Gun rights are a major issue here. The rural edges of the Iron Range – the places where I grew up and currently live – hold a disproportionate number of “libertarian” style voters who distrust government, oppose gun control and vote accordingly. They will vote for gun rights DFLers, but seldom vote for the Democrat in a presidential election.
As I said last time, by the numbers the Iron Range is a solid but improbable DFL stronghold. However, like another Democratic stronghold – the South of the early- to mid-20th Century –the Iron Range elects conservatives and liberals same as anywhere else. We just do all our campaigning in the primary. Business Leaders and libertarians will cross over under the right circumstances, which is why guys like House Majority Leader Tony Sertich will sometimes outperform the DFL’s statewide ticket by 10 or 15 points.
I’ll continue this series in a few days with a piece about the challenges of keeping the positive aspects of Range political tradition while modernizing the parts that no longer work (or never worked). No easy task. One commenter posted that my analysis glosses over the Iron Range’s “cult of personality” that overshadows issues and genuine progress. There’s something to that. I’ll explain.
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Great politcal treats
All this information is so sweet to a political junkie like me, so forgive me if I have a few more questions:
1) How does corporate and small farms work out politically? What percentage do you have of each?
2) What crops do you have and how susceptible are they to weather and global warming issues?
3) Do people believe in global warming?
4) Social conservatives - how can they be pro life, pro war and opposed to health care for children?
5) Do they realize how valuable water is?
6) Do they know about mercury and fertilizer affecting lakes and rivers?
7) Do they know about the corruption in this government?
8) Are they fiscally conservative, and if so do they support the current neocon spendthrift corrupt wasteful Republicans?
9) Is the news told differently there?
10) What are attitudes about diverse ethnic groups and races? Do you have any diversity?
A lengthy response
Grace --
I'll respond in order:
1) You know, in 1998 I was a delegate at the DFL state convention committed to Doug Johnson for governor. He released his delegates and I was wooed by the Mike Freeman and Skip Humphrey people. At one point, Skip's son Buck was lobbying me. He asked where I was from and I said "the Iron Range." He said, "Oh, my dad is for farmers. He did something last year that helped a bunch of farmers buy tractors and all that." I walked away shaking my head.
The problem with this particular question and Buck's comments is that farming is a very, very tiny portion of the Range economy. Our soil is half iron and our seasons are rough. I mentioned before that Cherry, where I grew up, has an active farming area. I was in the Iron Range's only active FFA club, mostly to get out of school for the meets. This is a big-time exception to the rule. Many Finnish miners settled in Cherry in the early 1900s when they were blacklisted from working the mines because they organized unions. They were farmers in Finland, so they tried to farm on the Range. It was very rough. Today, the few remaining farms are either dairy/livestock or hayfields. Most farmers have full time jobs outside their farms. I can only think of two or three exceptions. And there are no corporate farms at all. Corporate mines, however....
2)See above ... and I'll get to global warming.
3)I haven't seen a poll about people's views of global warming. I'd say that the numbers wouldn't vary much from the rest of the state. The Range is not known as a haven for environmentalist, so I'd say there are more skeptics per capita than you'd see in Minneapolis. We've seen minor climate change already, and that has opened people's minds a little. But every time we have a good snow and normal temperatures, the issue drops off people's radar.
4) You'd have to ask them. The big issue is one that I respect. Life. I'm pro-choice, but I don't like abortion and think we Democrats could do more to show that we respect life. I've talked to people in this demographic who believe that the sanctity of life is the most important thing, support the war because they believe we are fighting people who don't respect life, and oppose universal health care because it would mandate one system of health care that may not necessarily match their philosophy on life and force them to use health services they don't agree with.
5) Good question. No. I don't think people on the Range or in northern Minnesota realize how valuable their water resources are and how much they'll be worth in the future.
6) On the street, not so much. I don't know. Like I said, only a handful of people here think like environmentalists. We have lake associations who follow this stuff ... but they aren't universally beloved.
7) Iron Rangers are raised from an early age not to trust governments or big business. We are taught to only trust people from the Range. That's our culture in a nutshell.
8) Many of our public services are paid for by mining tax revenue, and these taxes also keep property taxes relatively low here. So those taxes are politically popular, as are income taxes on rich people. Property tax increases are reviled. That's why Pawlenty is so very unpopular here, much more so than Norm Coleman.
9) Our TV news in northeastern Minnesota is above average, but not much better than TV news in general which is fairly lightweight. Our newspapers are also OK, though some have a fair amount of bias toward boosterism. Again, not much different than other quasi-rural areas.
10) The Range is an immigrant area; most of our people's ancestors came here within the last 100 years. However, immigrants have always come in waves corresponding with up-ticks in the economy. Thus, new immigrants often have a hard time because the "natives" perceive them as taking jobs away from the "locals." We're now hearing about new people who might come for the proposed steel plant and other projects. I expect there will be some growing pains. As far as ethnic diversity right now, there isn't much and like any homogenous place there are pockets of intolerance. Again, no more or less than you'd expect for a blue collar place like this.
~AB
&&&&
MinnesotaBrown is Aaron J. Brown, a writer, college instructor and political organizer from northern Minnesota's Iron Range. Read more at www.minnesotabrown.blogspot.com.
Thank you
I grew up in a total farming community and I did not realize that farming was not that important in the range. And that the farming that does exist is tough. I guess I would rather be perceived as idiotic (as the next comment says), and have my errors fixed, than remain an idiot by not asking. I have visited the Iron Range, although obviously not enough. So I ask questions to learn, sorry if they seem naive. I am trying to fix that by asking.
So unions and corporations are important issues? How many choices of jobs do people have? Are unions the only protection that people have in their jobs? So some of us are thinking that we need homegrown wind turbine factories, which needs a big factory space. Is that the kind of industry that would be welcome? Do young people stay? Is there enough jobs?
One of rural legislators posts a list of outstate articles and editorials. Actually, since the Star&Tribune changed ownership, that rural list had better coverage than our two major newspapers. We had sparse coverage of the health concern controversy.
"Iron Rangers are raised from an early age not to trust governments or big business. We are taught to only trust people from the Range. That's our culture in a nutshell." I grew up a similar culture. What does it take for an outsider to become an insider and get respect? If someone came talking about wind power, what would make that person credible? How are outside speakers on topics perceived?
The property tax has been hitting hard in our area too - a 14.9% increase along with many foreclosed houses. Not everyone realizes that it is Governor Pawlenty's decision, so I am impressed if that is your local knowledge.
Thanks again, sorry if the questions seem obviously stupid. Perhaps this will give you some clues on future articles to enlighten us all. I will greatly look forward to learning more about the Iron Range community.
I'm sorry, but those are
I'm sorry, but those are idiotic questions Grace. You sound like the Range is some social experiment in a sociology class. Your questions had a very metro-centric condescending tone to them. The Iron Range is just like anywhere else. Go up there. Get to know the people. It is not a foreign country.
So I am an idiot
I spent 16 years on a farm, and 5 years in Brainerd, so I am just idiot. I was not meaning to have very metro-centric condescending tone. I am learning, so I don't stay an idiot. So are you taking lessons in courtesy?
Go Grace
I love the questions :)
The Iron Range is certainly one of those oft forgotten places that us DFL'ers need to remember more fully. That is one place I would campaign a lot in if running for state-wide, great place to shore up votes and support, especially from old school DFL'ers who can be really helpful. Driving through northwestern Wisconsin yesturday made me wish I lived up on the Iron Range a little bit, would be nice to enjoy the scenery a bit more.
Yes, more questions
Mudcat is advocating this kind of plan on DailyKOS. what do you think?
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*Rural voters are no more racist as many have friends of different races.
*Parents who are losing their jobs and wondering if they can feed their kids are not going to be concerned if gay people threaten their marriage.
*Guns are used by hunters for legitimate purposes such as duck or quail hunting. Whether we approve of hunting, this is a way of life in rural areas. Brian Schweitzer and John Tester are prime examples of hunters who are also populists.
*Health care is unaffordable and distance-wise, more remote, in rural areas; rural voters want better health care and particularly for veterans, do not wish to drive 50 miles to the next VA hospital if they have an emergency
*Rural Americans want a better education too, or else jobs become more scarce
Also would any of the persuasions in a previous article on the prolife/prochoice framing have a chance of working?
Wind
Develop wind turbine plants on the range, and support wind power.
This plan is tossed out alot, what do you think?
More answers
Always with the questions, Grace! :-)
Actually, I appreciate it. I'd rather hear questions than for people to make assumptions about my homeland and my people. (Who, as pointed out, are unique, but not unlike regular folks in most places)
I'll go in order:
On Mudcat's analysis ... he's right on. Jon Tester/Tim Walz/Ed Schultz Democrats are becoming very popular in rural areas. Again, our social and public infrastructure are a little different in the core of the Range, but consider the following:
I live in a rural part of Itasca County, about 15 miles north of the iron formation (where all the mines and towns are). It's an area with a HUGE divide between rich and poor. The "poor" are more conservative than the region's political index, because of all the reasons I've said before (religion, life, guns, culture, etc.). However, many in these kind of townships make their living piecing together many different kinds of work. For instance, a guy that works construction in the summer might work for a logger in the winter. He might not receive benefits for either job. If he's providing for a family, that's an uninsured low income family. If you could explain that the DFL plan would provide universal health care, keep his property taxes low, income taxes stable, and allow him to continue making a living and keep his hunting/fishing/gun owning rights ... you could make a sale. Many people in this situation DO support local DFLers, especially when they're pro-life, but can't quite trust the statewide or national ticket to keep this scenario intact.
On the matter of the choice/life debate, as you know there are many on both sides who will never change their positions. However, where the Democrats have lost ground is with the vast majority of Americans who fall in the middle: who believe people should be allowed to make their own decisions but are troubled by excessive abortions (I'm analyzing here, that's all). If Democrats can somehow rally around an initiative to reduce abortions without taking away rights or access, we can neutralize this debate (not easy).
On a side note, the one of the most important aspects of Roe v Wade has to do with what consitutes a fetuses viability outside the womb. If and when science could preserve the life of the fetus WHILE removing it from the mother, we have a paradigm shift.
And wind. I am ALL ABOUT wind on the Range. I was writing editorials about it in 2001, which wasn't long ago but even then people thought it was crazy. Next year, Minnesota Power will be building wind turbines on U.S. Steel's mine dumps near its Minntac plant. We have tall man-made hills across the Range that could serve as adequate sources of wind power. If the pilot project works, I expect that's where we could generate a large minority of our power. We can't compete with the steady sustained winds of SW Minnesota, but the Range is topographically high and has winds near the middle of the scale they use to determine wind power viability.
MinnesotaBrown is Aaron J. Brown, a writer, college instructor and political organizer from northern Minnesota's Iron Range. Read more at www.minnesotabrown.blogspot.com.
Thanks
You have given me more to think about. I hope that you will write even more.
mercury
There was a report of a high value of mercury found in the waters from lake Tahoe ski resorts and this was a problem for tourists. The local businesses were required to stop any activities and all the tourists that had prior reservations were called to stay home and received their money back. It seems the mercury can be in the snow as well.