The road to St. Paul is ....through St. Paul

"The ultimate goal of what we are trying to do, is to get to St. Paul. And to get to St. Paul, we need to go through St. Paul. And Minneapolis. And soon St. Cloud, Rochester and Duluth. Just saying. The numbers don't lie."  

Yesterday was a very revealing, and somewhat healing day. As with most of us, the day did not start out well for me. I was raw, bitter, sad, and a couple hundred other feelings, all rolled into one. But as the day wore on, I was able to put things into perspective. My "mumbo jumbo" set of feelings were replaced with only one thing - resolve. Not an angry resolve, but a resolve to do what I can to help fix things.

Why bother fixing things? Why not just leave? For one thing, this is the state of my birth. My parents birth. My kids and grand kids birth. In other words, this is home. I grew up here. Lived a good part of my adult life here. And after this election, it became more evident than ever, this state is broken - badly. It is on an unsustainable trajectory to become the California of the Midwest - or worse. The wants and the needs of the blue party far outstrip the ability to pay for them. Once again - unsustainable.

I chatted with a good friend of mine yesterday. He too, feels the need to fight instead of taking flight. One thing we kept coming back to - the Twin Cities. Yesterday, I really blistered those two cities. Blamed them for the loss of most of the Red Team. But here is the main thing. We can hate on the Twin Cities until we are (excuse the expression), blue in the face. That will solve nothing. Or - we can try and figure our how to crack the code. Convince people who are avowed progressives and socialists, there is a better way. Our way. 

That is a tall order. Maybe possible, maybe impossible. Convincing people who have been told for decades they can get free stuff for doing nothing, except voting blue every election, to try it our way instead, is going to be a heavy lift. For example, even though for the past year or so, the economy has been doing so well, black and brown unemployment is at a historic lows - had no effect on voting. They still pulled mostly blue. If this economy cannot convince people, I don't know what will.

One more thing. The Republicans have got to stop appearing to others as the party of the "old white folks". The message we have is hope and opportunity for ALL people, of ALL ages, of ALL races. We need many, many more young people involved in our politics. Why? Like I tell to my kids, Mom and I are past tense, the grand kids are future tense, but the kids are present tense. What does that mean? This is their world now. They have the helm. Our job is to only assist and guide them. THEY need to fix things, so their kids will not inherit a mess.

Looking at the election results map yesterday was a real eye opener. The Red Team won the state as it usually does. Regardless of what you hear on the news, Minnesota is not a blue state - it is a red state. That is if you look at only geography. However, when you mix in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, the color changes. Not to purple, but deep blue. Until we crack the code to those counties, we are done winning statewide elections - ever.

We all have to make our own decisions. None are bad. I fully understand. Some say, "Screw it - I have had enough! I am moving to (fill in the blank)!" Like I say, I understand. Others might want to cocoon, and wait to be assimilated by the dense blue fog which is spreading over the land. I understand that also. Or we can fight. Try to get our young people involved. Help them fix it. 

The ultimate goal of what we are trying to do, is to get to St. Paul. And to get to St. Paul, we need to go through St. Paul. And Minneapolis. And soon St. Cloud, Rochester and Duluth. Just saying. The numbers don't lie.