-- Cross-posted from mnblue.com, home of the Norm Coleman Weasel Meter --
Next Tuesday, Bob Olson will be officially joining the DFL US Senate race (MN-SEN) to send Norm Coleman back to the private sector. He joins Al Franken and Mike Ciresi who have also officially announced. I may have slightly 'misspoken' in my previous post ... Peter Agre is still only mulling joining the race.
I spoke to Olson's Campaign Manager Eric Mitchell. Bob lives in Orono and is a long-time DFL activist. He's a tax attorney and owns St. Stephen State Bank in St. Cloud. He's been on the DFL Central Committee off and on for around twenty years, according to Mitchell. He founded the American Sustainable Energy Council.
- American Sustainable Energy consists of two organizations working together with business, labor, community, and environmental organizations to change wind energy from being an alternative energy source to being a preferred energy source. While wind energy is accepted as an ‘alternative’ energy source, that is not enough. Wind energy must become a ‘preferred’ energy source if we, as a nation, are to overcome our dependence on foreign oil and pollution-generating energy sources.
(ASEC's website)
I'm a big fan of I like wind energy (sorry, had to remove the pun). While Al and Mike will do right by me on environmental issues, they haven't been activists. I also think someone verging on an economist (tax attorney and banker is close enough for me) plus the environmental activist angle is a very interesting mix of skills.
Here's the statement straight from the press release about Olson's position:
- Olson seeks a New Deal for a New Economy by moving the country towards energy independency, universal health care, and fair share taxation. Olson’s energy program will invigorate the economy, reducing the costs and environmental impact of global warming.
Eric Mitchell has a long track record working for Dem outsiders. This is his first Campaign Manager gig. He listed Becky Lourey for Governor, Patty Wetterling and PA-Dems John Kerry for President campaigns to me along with a slew of issue campaigns while working for organizations. I think he's particularly proud of his work on Beck Lourey's campaign because they pushed the Hatch campaign so far when, as Eric mentioned, "Hatch was the annointed candidate."
Speaking of Hatch, Eric said: "Bob was a classmate of ... wait ... scratch that ... Mike Hatch was a classmate of Bob's."
Eric is working for Olson because he likes it when outsiders challenge for office. "I'm not a big fan of annointments of the leading candidates." I agree that more qualified candidates running for endorsement make the eventual endorsed candidate better.
O yea ... I should mention that Bob Olson will abide by the DFL endorsement.
BTW ... this is not an endorsement. I like Al. I like Mike. Bob sounds good, too. It's going to be an interesting summer.
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mnblue.com, home of the Norm Coleman Weasel Meter
