The MN Times Are A-Changin'

Minnesota DFL candidates won two elections by picking up a state Senate seat and retaining a state House seat!

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Two great wins for the voters in St. Cloud! Senate-elect DFLer Tarryl Clark soundly defeated Republican local personality Dan “the Ox” Ochsner in SD15 by 2,000 plus votes (55%). And, DFLer Representative-elect Larry Haws scored an overwhelming victory (70%) over Republican write-in challenger Kay Ek in HD15B.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

The Democratic Party is the party that fights for working families, not special interests. Throughout its history, the Democratic Party has been a leader in advancing the goals of this nation. Some examples of this are: Social Security and Medicare, Family & Medical Leave, Federal Aid for Education, The New Deal. Women's Suffrage, Minimum Wage Acts, The Voting Rights Act, The Civil Rights Act, Environmental Protection. All values that are also Minnesotan values! Our wins in St. Cloud weren't just by chance but clear indications that Minnesotan are tired of partisan game playing such as Pawlenty declaring this special election just two days after Christmas.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

As DFL Chair Brian Melendez says:

"The policies of the governor and the Republican Party are not resonating with Minnesotans. People are tired of Republicans playing games with the budget and driving a wedge through this state. We will keep talking about the issues that are most important to Minnesotans: education, health care, jobs, and transportation.”

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'

With the exception of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, every single progressive piece of legislation enacted into law has been a result of the Democratic Party. This means that the more Democrats we elect to local, state and national level office, the greater the chance of moving this nation forward. So as we prepare to move into the next millenium we must have progressive leaders that will fight for working families. This is the core of what the Democratic Party & Democratic candidates represent. This is why Minnesotans yesterday voted for DFL candidates and why by electing DFL candidates the great state of Minnesota also wins.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.