Yesterday was a tough call in Minnesota’s newsrooms. The Pioneer Press gave 2/3 of a page to the amazing news that I’ll still be cheering for Joe Mauer when I’m 44. The Strib instead gave 2/3 of their front page to the news that the United States is no longer a barbaric, backward land where health care is granted only to those who can either (a) work for a soulless corporate empire until they forget what it was like to be healthy, or (b) swear under oath that they’ve never, ever been sick before in their entire life.

USA! USA! Win Twins! Win Twins!

P.S. On big news days like today, you really are missing out if you don’t walk down to the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue where you can view all of our nation’s large and medium sized daily periodicals’ front pages and mingle with / eavesdrop on your fellow countrymen.

…That was the chant apparently led by Al Franken at an event last night in Minnesota. While I’ve been putting together my thoughts on this past weeks’ historic events, the lingering uncertainty over the Franken vs. Coleman race for U.S. Senate back home has made it difficult for me to move on to a feeling of closure. How does an internet geek deal with that nervous energy? By building a tool that automatically does subtraction using the latest numbers on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s election results page. I bring you: http://MNrecount.com/

P.S. If you know who did the stylized Franken image after Sheperd Fairey’s iconic Obama posters, please let me know. Would like to give credit where credit is due.

I am truly moved by last night’s clinching of the Democratic nomination by Senator Obama. It is a good day to be an American after so many not-so-good ones. Might I suggest now is a good time to donate to the nominee’s campaign.

…And Historic Documentation in St. Paul

Some reports claim 50,000 turned up last night for the 18,000 seats in the Xcel Center. From TV coverage, it looked as though nearly everyone brought a camera. It is no surprise then that flickr is accumulating huge pools of images dated yesterday and tagged “obama minnesota,” “obama stpaul,” or “obama xcel.”

Someday will we re-assemble in virtual reality massively documented events such as this? Imagine if we had 10,000 small cameras at Lincoln’s inaugural.

Somehow my consumer choices have made it possible for marketers to confidently address me as “Yankees Fan.” I’m not sure where it all went wrong. Was it the arugula?

P.S. Win Twins!

On the cold weekend morning when Sen. Obama announced his candidacy last winter, I had been living in Chicago for about four months. The widespread enthusiasm for Obama in Chicagoland seemed genuine, honest, and – despite constant fawning from media sources I tend to distrust – unmanufactured. As I worked on Chris Dodd’s campaign over the intervening year, I watched cable news dig into and tear apart every minute detail of the “top tier” candidates’ personal and political lives to justify their omnipresent “BREAKING NEWS” graphic. Amid this caustic environment, Obama has continued to turn out huge crowds and energize groups that have historically had little voice in the nominating process. His campaign has raised absurd amounts of money through small online donations, making him much more of a true “people’s candidate” than a candidate of corporations and the wealthy. His early decision to pursue community organizing in crime and poverty-ravaged neighborhoods of Chicago rather than the easy money of corporate law shows the kind of commitment to common good that should be at the core of a progressive Presidency.

Al Franken’s netroots-savvy campaign has similarly energized Minnesota progressives. Over the past several years he has done serious legwork across the state to prove that he is not a novelty candidate merely coasting on his celebrity. In his years as a comedian (sorry, “satirist”), author and radio commentator he has been a leading voice in the effort to reject the very framing of American politics: we do not live in a blue and red nation, but in a have and have-not nation – with the disparity growing rapidly. As a Minnesotan, I will be honored to have Franken take on Norm Coleman in November and add his name to the proud list of prominent progressive Minnesotans that includes Humphrey, Mondale, and Wellstone.

I didn’t think the city was powered by magic fairy dust, but did think there would be more dirty coal and at least a little more than 1% renewable energy. ComEd is owned by Exelon, the same not-so-great company that owns Philadelphia’s PECO. In Pennsylvania they offered me an opt-in wind energy program that has seen lots of people electing to pay higher rates for renewable electricity. There seems to be no comparable program here (I think the program was mandated by the state of Pennsylvania). It’s true that anyone can go out and buy green energy credits on their own, but having the option appear on your monthly electric bill surely raises awareness and participation quite a bit. Still, green energy shouldn’t be a luxury item — it should be a mandated part of the mix for the entire system, as it is in some progressive states.

*Technically, the server that hosts this blog is in Arizona. I don’t have the breakdown for that state.

1. The Science of Sleep – A delightful portrayal of the life of an artist struggling in the “real world” of work. I wonder why this one appealed to me. Fun stop motion animation and imaginative art/machines. Irresistible acting from Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Directed by Michel Gondry.
2. Little Miss Sunshine – I really wasn’t all that excited by this film’s child beauty pageant premise going in, so I probably wouldn’t have gone to see it if it hadn’t been playing at the much-loved, cheap, and retro Riverview Theater when I went home to Minneapolis. Little Miss Sunshine really made me laugh out loud a few times and despite its absurdity and quirky Wes Anderson-esque family, it felt true to life. Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

That’s it. I’ve mentally processed about three hundred top ten lists in the past month, and don’t feel like I’m missing anything here. There was plenty I didn’t see since I spent much of my viewing time on nonfiction, but I don’t see any prominent films that come close to these. Most of what I saw this year was just O.K. That includes Borat. You may, of course, disagree in the comments.

Voters in Minneapolis have the opportunity to avoid that problem – at least in future municipal elections. A charter amendment that would allow Instant Runoff Voting is on the ballot. The supporters created this animated explanation:

The move would create more competitive races between Greens and Democrats in a city where Greens have already made major inroads. Emopage endorses a Yes vote. Hopefully that isn’t what takes them over the top.

And of course, I’m a little bit disappointed that I won’t be able to vote against Rick Santorum back in Pennsylvania. I trust everyone back there will be able to do the job – even if Casey isn’t exactly a progressive candidate.