Hooray!

I had never voted for a winner in an election before yesterday.

President Bush’s inspiring, patriotic, un-political speech on Monday night got me all fired up to do my civic duty. So I went and voted in the primary election yesterday.

I voted for the first time in the 2000 presidential election at the impressionable age of 18. Since then I've voted for Al Gore, Roger Moe, Walter Mondale, and John Kerry. Now, I've finally picked a winner! (OK, I probably voted for Dayton in 2000 and Sabo in 2000, 2002 and 2004, but I don't really remember those and they kind of seemed like sure things anyway.)

And my winner is not Mike Hatch. I certainly did not vote for that angry, bloated, party-line weirdo, although I'll have to vote for him in November now. My winner was Keith Ellison. http://www.keithellison.org.

Not only is he really progressive, but he will be the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Congress. Who would of thought the first Muslim in congress would come from Minnesota? He'll also be the first black Minnesotan to serve in Congress. I think both of those are badly needed in Congress.

I realize this is assuming he wins in the general election in November, but let's be serious. This is Minneapolis we're talking about. There's no way a republican will win.

Besides, Ellison is from north Minneapolis, arguably the most violent neighborhood in the entire state. I know he'll keep that in mind while living in Washington, D.C. and figuring how to fix what a huge disaster our country is.

Only in Minneapolis can we cheer for the most progressive candidates and then they actually have a chance to win. There’s no compromising for middle-of-the-road candidates because we think they’ll actually get elected.

Here's the Washington Post's article on Ellison.