ST PAUL -- In an effort to make itself politically relevant for the first time in decades, Minnesota has adopted legislation that schedules its 2012 presidential primary for November 5th, 2008 -- less than 12 hours after the polls close for the 2008 general election.
"From now on, we go the first Wednesday after the first Tuesday in November of the prior presidential election year," said Majority Leader Nels Nelson (Independent, Velcro). "Let's see South Carolina or Florida top that."
The move is intended to reverse a trend toward low self-esteem among politically aware Minnesotans that began with the perennial and futile candidacies of Harold Stassen, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president nine times between 1948 and 1992.
Across the aisle, state Republicans are quick to point to Hubert Humphrey's 1968 loss to Richard Nixon, several efforts by Eugene McCarthy, and Walter Mondale's tenure as vice president, followed by Mondale's 49 states-to-1 loss to Ronald Reagan in 1980 as reasons for low self-esteem and less political relevance in their own right.
"Let's face it," said Nelson. "We're about as influential as a yard sign halfway up a dead end street."
The trend toward low political self esteem and relevance is compounded by a trend toward irrelevance among Minnesota senators in Washington.
"Other than Paul Wellstone repeatedly voting and losing on principle, and that time Rudy Boschwitz co-sponsored legislation authorizing National Power Tool Month, we got jack-squat," said Nelson.
That should change with the decision to go with a Day-After-The-General Primary.
To make certain no other state can preempt Minnesota, the legislation authorizes a one-day-every-four-years name change to "AAA-Aardvark Minnesota" and a one-day-every-four-years change in time zone, mandating that all clocks in the state be set one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
At the national level, reaction from either party's is yet to come in, although a "Kucinich '12" exploratory committee has filed paperwork at the Blue Earth County Courthouse in Mankato.
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