Welcome back my friends to the election that never ends.
I spent a lot of time and effort on the Minneapolis Election 2017. A major reason being that it was an off-year election in which every municipal office was in play, so my work had a good chance to influence the outcomes. A very rough measure of our reach was the ratio of total video views to the total number of votes cast in the election. We scored 7 – 9% depending on votes for the two city-wide races, Mayor and MPRB Commissioner at Large. Not tallied are City Council votes, Park District votes, and videos uploaded directly to FB. The most viewed political clip featured Russ Henry and clocks in at 1.4% of MPRB at Large votes. I understand these numbers are not anywhere near viral, or even worth monetizing, but they still make me believe that something more came from my work than simply relieving the pressure in my head by helping me to better understand what was going on. More than a few people have told me that the videos and analyses were helpful. I’m gonna go ahead and call the Election 2017 Project a partial success.
The 2018 election takes place on a much larger scale, the State of Minnesota. We’ll be electing a Governor, Attorney General, State Auditor, US House members, a US Senator, and a bevy of county officials. My approach to the 2017 election coverage was to show up at campaign events with my camera and capture raw video. Rarely was I questioned or checked for any kind of credentials. When I was challenged, I was able to talk my way into the event. I’m not sure how successful that approach would be for the Governor’s race. The race for Governor gets a lot more media attention than those for Minneapolis Parks and Recreation, City Council, or even Mayor, so I’ll be competing more directly with huge media outlets. The first test will be on December 8, 2017 when I go to the Candidate Forum in Minneapolis. Stay tuned.
Seriously though, I do not relish traveling all over Minnesota making video of people that are going to be getting a lot of media attention anyway. The aspect of state-wide races that intrigues me is the so-called “urban/rural divide”. If the apparent progressive wave that swept Minneapolis in 2017 is going to become a progressive swell that can take over the Democratic Party by winning elections outside cities, that divide has to be bridged. I am certain that there are progressives living in more rural parts of the Minnesota, even if they do not identify as Democrats. Instead of solely focusing on how potential Governors plan to campaign outside the urban centers, I think it is more critical that we listen to the people they are trying to win over. That means meeting conservatives, Republicans, and Trumpists, too. If this idea makes sense to you, I humbly ask for your help. Can you point me toward out-state organizations and groups that might be willing to work with New Hughes? Are you willing to work with us? Let me know.