Caucuses are quieter and line up for Rybak

Dateline Minneapolis isn't running for anything, so we didn't try to drop in on all 150 or so DFL precinct caucuses held in Minneapolis one night last week. Instead, we sat in on part of the vote-rich 13th Ward in southwest Minneapolis, home to Mayor R.T. Rybak and challenger Bob Miller.

The falloff in attendance from last year's Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton precinct caucus contest was dramatic, as might be guessed given the lower profile of city elections. Young people in particular were missing.

"Last year at this time you couldn't have parked this close," related Paul Strickland, an inveterate caucus attendee, as he parked across Irving Avenue from Anthony Middle School.

We also asked members of the Minneapolis Issues Forum, an online discussion list, to report in from their caucuses. Their scattered reports from about 20 precincts don't give Hizzoner any reason to lose sleep. Typically, attendees reported that several times as many Rybak supporters were elected delegates to the city convention as Miller supporters, with uncommitted delegates sometimes leading Miller. Many delegate spots for ward endorsing conventions went begging.

Moreover, Rybak seemed to have a stronger campaign presence in the hallways of the schools, park buildings, churches and other places where caucuses were held. At Anthony, his followers passed out shirt stickers in the mayor's campaign colors, along with a four-page campaign brochure. It was dense with lists of the accomplishments that Rybak claims, with a long list of politicians and other players who support the mayor.

By contrast, Miller's more modest piece featured his letter to delegates and eight areas where he claimed to be working outside the box, copping a Rybak phrase.

In Strickland's precinct 6, the mayor's literature was augmented by a personal pitch by Grace Rybak, the mayor's daughter, who is heading off to Columbia University. "He wakes up every morning excited to go to work," she told the 32 caucus-goers, citing her dad's work on reducing youth violence and encouraging students to take active steps to plan their college and career futures.

That came close to the reasons why Strickland favors Rybak. "I like his style. In my opinion, he's been good for the city. He's got a good, moderately liberal approach," he said.

Paul Lohman also favors Rybak. He's worked with the mayor as a neighborhood leader, including a housing initiative and a master plan for developing the south end of Lyndale Avenue once the Crosstown project is done. He likes Rybak's support for affordable housing projects in the area. "I think that R.T.'s just masterful at that -- pulling people together," he said.

Dateline also sought out a couple of Miller supporters. Neither bears ill will toward Rybak, but both find Miller more appealing. Former area council member Carol Johnson regards competition for the mayoral endorsement as healthy and praised Miller's intelligence and long public service. Shahmaz Coyer said Rybak has done great things but that she yearns for the grassroots feelings of the 1960s and the Hubert Humphrey era. "Bob just impresses me; he's economically very shrewd. He's very smart with money," Coyer said. "I just have the idea that the city doesn't need to be flashy anymore."

Precinct 6 was allotted 16 delegates to the May 16 convention that will decide if either man gets the party's endorsement. Counting alternates, we found 11 people wearing R.T. stickers who signed up for the convention versus six who wore no sticker.

The caucuses marked the end of one stage of the city's election season. Campaigns for mayor, council and other city offices now shift from turning out folks to run for delegate to working over a finite group of delegates on behalf of their candidate. Although Rybak has failed in two attempts to win party endorsement, he's getting heavy labor endorsements this year for the first time and solidified his position as a party man by heading the Obama campaign last year in Minnesota. And he has proved that he's electable without endorsement.

The earth moves

First they renovated the Grain Belt brewhouse. Next they laid plans to complete the East Side's missing parkway link. Now they tell us that Mark Stenglein has shown up at a DFL precinct caucus and taken the party pledge.

Is there no end to the earth-shaking news to come out of Northeast?

The Hennepin County commissioner was elected in 1996 with backing from what is now the Independence Party. He has since backed Republicans and independents for office, according to voter's guides, with the odd DFLer who was challenging the party endorsee for good measure. But he's been consistent in his scorn for some of the excesses of DFL-dominated city government.

The normally loquacious Stenglein hadn't returned our inquiry by this column's deadline. We noticed a couple of months ago that Stenglein, who vied with Rybak in the 2001 mayoral primary, was among the co-sponsors of the mayor's annual New Year's Eve fundraiser. And he shows up on Rybak's latest campaign piece as a backer.