League of Women Voters forums are (boringly) impartial
Anyone who has attended a candidate forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters knows the forum is impartial.
Don Heinzman
It is so impartial and so middle of the road with its questions that the forums sometimes become a little boring.
That’s not the way four running for county commissioner in Carver County and the mayor of the city of Ramsey see it.
They refused to go to the League’s forums, because of what they call liberal bias, claiming that as conservatives they wouldn’t get a fair shake.
The four commissioners contend if such a forum were to be fair, it would have to be co-sponsored by a conservative group like the Tea Party.
Carver County Commissioner Tom Workman told a newspaper reporter, “Take your eyes off the seemingly gray hairs of these honorable ladies and they sure do have an agenda. They like to stick it to Republicans.”
Granted the league has taken some positions the commissioners don’t like on gun control, national health insurance, immigration and opposition to the marriage amendment among others.
Mayor Bob Ramsey, running for reelection in Ramsey, says the league has a very aggressive and liberal agenda.
Laura Fredrick Wang, executive director of the Minnesota League of Women Voters, says the league does not endorse candidates and parties. “We work on issues, not candidates,” she said.
As for cancellations of forums, there are two or three every election cycle, just as there are new ones.
The league, however, is opposing the amendments on same-sex marriage and voter identification, which some could say is a liberal agenda.
You have to wonder how questions about Carver County and the city of Ramsey could be skewed toward a liberal agenda.
Come now. These questions for the commissioners and the mayor weren’t going to be about the national debt or the new affordable health care act. They were going to be about the issues involving Carver County and the city of Ramsey; both are supposed to be non-partisan.
Instead of talking about county and city issues, these candidates are taking on the League of Women Voters.
The Ramsey forum has been cancelled and the Carver one featured one race, depriving voters of a good discussion of issues.
Isn’t that what the election should be all about?
Don Heinzman is an editorial writer and columnist for ECM Publishers, Inc.
I am a woman (72 yrs old) and do not understand how any woman with a little age on them can be so obama crazy! His policies are against women as well as everybody else. You want government to “take care of everything” do you realize you loose all your rights when that happens. It has not worked in any other country and it wont work in ours. Obama is laughing at you just like he is at all the rest of us. He has shown no responsibility for any of his wild venters – wild spending – taking away our right to defend ourselvers (while the bad guys have all the guns etc) I He has taken away the rights of our soldiers to vote because he would not allow the offices that took care of that to be opened because “there were not enough funds” but he can fly all over the place on our tax dollars and dump money into all those green collapses, etc. and no telling what all else. Four years and he still doesnt even have a budget!! I guess his thinking is if you dont have a budget then you dont have to worry about what you spend because he sure had a good time spending! And it didnt help you or me or anybody else! At least not on a permanent basis. He has the muslim brotherhood in the whitehouse now. Tell me how much he cares about women, children, us old folks, he is cramming a health care plan down our throats that could only be considered constitutional if Changed to being called a tax! and that done on the spot by our supreme court! No justice what so ever. He has contricited himself so many times its not funny and has no plans to fix the mess hes put us in. Yes he inhereted a mess but he has tripled it – did nothing to fix if because that was not his plan – his plan was to destroy America Thats what he wants to finish!! Have you watched 2016? Obama wants to make us a third world country. He approves of anything that will destroy your character, your life, your country! I dont understand how people take abortion so lightly – if its alive and you abort for foolish reasons which is obamas thoughts – then that life has been murdered. How can you do it? YOu don’t want it – then give it away. There are so many “hungry for a child ” arms that would take that precious baby and love it and take care of it – and you would be the better person for it! I am praying for the women of this country that are so obama crazed that you would at least look at the big picture. That you would do your homework – really look at that person you are supporting and hopefully realize you dont want to be a part of that! I am praying for this country that God will bless us with the president that will truly bring us back to America, to morals worth having, and a life for each of us especially our children to be able to flourish and grow and be happy. God bless each of us as we strive to be and do the best we can and may he bless our country!