Wednesday, June 06, 2018
Keith Ellison-- what?
Since moving to Minnesota, I have been represented in Congress by Keith Ellison, who has a fairly prominent profile nationally. For me, it's a wonderful thing, since he supports nearly every issue I care deeply about (plus, we were both born in Detroit in the same year). The times I've met him, too, we have gotten along pretty well.
Yesterday he announced that he is going to give up his seat in Congress and run for Minnesota Attorney General.
I'm a little baffled by this, but here are some guesses as to why it might make sense:
1) Being in Congress seems like a lousy gig these days, and maybe it's the right time to come home to continue his public service.
2) If you want to staunch the bad policy coming out of Washington (from either party), it might be easier to do it as a state AG than a member of Congress.
3) If he wins, he gets to be on the Pardon Board (along with the Governor and the Chief Justice)-- which is one of the weirdest and most interesting deliberative bodies I have ever observed!
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Perhaps he is tired of all the infighting in DC and doesn't see it improving any time soon. Even if the Dems retake the House the polarization will continue and we still have the same crazy man sitting in the White House bulldozing over everyone and everything as he seems to think he can.
The thing is he can always run for Congress again in the future if he wishes.
The thing is he can always run for Congress again in the future if he wishes.
Thank you, Mark. You read my mind. As soon as I heard about this I was curious about your take. Logical speculation. Very good.
I like that national politicians who get a lot of personal power and perks in DC--but must be increasingly frustrated by their impotence in terms of real policy power--are looking more kindly to local government.
I will also note that state Atty General is also a time-honored stepping stone to bigger and better things: 1) the AG to Senate pipeline and 2) the AG to GOV to presidential candidate road map.
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I like that national politicians who get a lot of personal power and perks in DC--but must be increasingly frustrated by their impotence in terms of real policy power--are looking more kindly to local government.
I will also note that state Atty General is also a time-honored stepping stone to bigger and better things: 1) the AG to Senate pipeline and 2) the AG to GOV to presidential candidate road map.
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