Thank You, Edina

Edina and Edina (ēdīna and edēna). The person, and the city. They have a lot in common: they're rich, lots of shopping, big houses. They both have the white stuff. One Edina snorts it up her nose, the other one plows it off the streets. AbFab series 1 episode 3 is called France, and the main street in town is also called France. If you're from the Twin Cities area you know the saying, "That bitch got hair like an Edina housewife!" Edina has hair not unlike an Edina housewife. Coincidence? Totally.

The purpose of this very important, socio-political essay, is to point out the stark difference between the Edinas:

I used to love one, and hate the other.

Until Edina voted for a Democratic Presidential Candidate for the first time in its history, I used to make fun of those people. EDINA = Every Day I Need Attention. It was really easy to pick on the wealthy suburb, with its Galleria and Southdale mall.

I still don't like suburbs, but Edina could be worse. And of course AbFab's Edina kicks ass. Cheers, darlings.

Urban Archipelago

The editors of the Stranger (be sure to check out "Welcome to our World: Liberals Are the New Gay") have a new essay and website: the Urban Achipelago. They say a lot of things that I've thought lately: that urban America IS the 'blue' and the rest is the 'red'. It's not the states, it's the cities vs. non-city. And they lay out the case that instead of down-playing urban values, urban liberals and progressives need to promote urban life for what it is: a really good thing!

So how do we live and what are we for? Look around you, urbanite, at the multiplicity of cultures, ethnicities, and tribes that are smashed together in every urban center (yes, even Seattle): We're for that. We're for pluralism of thought, race, and identity. We're for a freedom of religion that includes the freedom from religion--not as some crazy aberration, but as an equally valid approach to life. We are for the right to choose one's own sexual and recreational behavior, to control one's own body and what one puts inside it. We are for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The people who just elected George W. Bush to a second term are frankly against every single idea outlined above.

I think it is no mistake that urban areas are 'blue.' We get what it is to live with people. We aren't xenophobic. Everyday we literally see and reap the benefits of taxation and government. We also see where reform is needed as we walk past panhandlers and drug dealers. We even see why the city attracts the panhandlers and drug dealers: opportunity, shelter, and most importantly other people.

And what about those folks who want the benefits of urban America without supporting urban America?

People who commute to the city for their livelihood and then attack urban areas and people in the voting booth are the worst kind of hypocrites. Commuters, we neither want nor need you. We welcome, however, new residents, new urbanites, the continual influx of people from other places who come here to stay (are you listening, liberal residents of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming?). These transplants help create the density we find so attractive, and they provide the plurality that makes cities thrive.

This is one aspect of state politics that has always frustrated me. We advocate for better mass transit, which we desperately need in urban areas, and the rest of the state is enraged. Well, guess what? The economic benefits of living in a state with a large metro area doesn't come from the fields or the mines, it comes from the city.

The essay definitely has a point. The Democratic Party needs to embrace urban politics and grow its urban base.

Minnesota: True Blue

Minnesota voted for John Kerry 51.1% to Bush's 47.6%.

Minnesota has voted Republican only once since 1960, and not since 1972. In 1984, it was the only state in the nation to vote for the Democratic candidate (MN native, Walter Mondale). It's had the longest streak of voting for a Democratic Presidential candidate than another other state in the nation. Only Washington DC has never voted for a Republican candidate (DC gained the right to vote in 1961).

According to the MN Secretary of State:

There are approximately 3,658,000 eligible voters in MN and 2,828,637 turned out at polls in MN. 77% of eligible voters turned out in Minnesota compared to 54% nationally. Once again Minnesota has the hightest voter turnout in the nation. Just another reason why Minnesota kicks all you other state's asses. Haha!