Sharon Sund
gregladen | February 4, 2014First, a word to my fellow Minnesotans. Go the the damn caucus tonight! For the rest of you, please become aware of the political process where you live and get involved. Science-oriented people, people who understand that climate change is real and important and that we need to develop a green energy economy (with our without nuclear, that's a separate issue not an alternative) need to become more involved in the political process. Support candidates who understand these things and who will work towards saving us from driving of the cliff we are heading rapidly towards. Also, keep…
gregladen | February 3, 2014This is an open letter to potential CD3 congressional candidate Sharon Sund. There is no declared candidate in this district at this time, but there is an increasing interest in recruiting Sharon to run against Erik Paulsen.
Dear Sharon,
Three years ago I decided to get involved in the Minnesota Third Congressional District election. I had been involved in previous races, supporting various DFL candidates through the caucus, primary, and election process. But this time I decided to explicitly seek out a candidate who was science oriented, who would make issues like climate change a…
gregladen | March 29, 2012As many of you know, because you've not seen me around as much as usual, I've been devoting a considerable amount of my time to volunteering for a political campaign in my district. I'm trying to help Sharon Sund replace Erik Paulsen in the Third Congressional District of Minnesota. Erik is the Republican who took over the seat held by Jim Ramstad, who was a moderate Republican.
I wrote a blog post during the last congressional race addressing the question: Who is Erik Paulsen, anyway? Go read it if you have a chance, but I can summarize it for you: Have you seen the old Mission…
gregladen | March 26, 2012I have participated in Minnesota Democratic Party (officially known as the DFL1) activities in the past, but never as intimately as this year. In doing so, I've observed a number of very interesting things about how a political campaign works, and I'd like to share those observations with you. In particular, I'll contrast the campaign I'm volunteering for whenever I have a chance (Sharon Sund for US Congress) with the opposing campaign (Brian Barnes for US Congress).
The Sund-Barnes campaign is not over, and we don't yet know how it will turn out. At this point, the campaigns are about…
gregladen | March 25, 2012
This is what a Democratic Party Walking Caucus looks like. It is a thing we do in Minnesota. It is so arcane and complicated that the press never covers it, so no one has any idea that we are doing this to select our nominees for political office. We have a fake "primary" at the beginning of the process, and that is what the press reports, but the "primary" result has nothing to do with the outcome of the process.
In this particular caucus, in my State Senate District, one of the main issues was selecting delegates for US Congress. In this race, Sharon Sund's team more or less wiped the…
gregladen | March 18, 2012By "Controlling the Message" I mean setting the agenda, usually by putting something out there that causes other people to shift their own message to be more like yours. I can think of a few spectacular yet small scale examples that are safe to talk about. I'll give you one, although if certain people hear this they may not be happy.
When I first joined the Anthropology Department at the University of Minnesota, there was a meeting where everybody introduced themselves so new people could get a bead on the old, and the old people could test the new waters. Based entirely on where I was…
gregladen | March 8, 2012Tonight, in Minneapolis; bring your ideas and some money and we'll make things happen! I've already put my One Good Shirt in the laundry and hope to have it dry in time. See you there?
Key women leaders celebrate Sharon Sund on International Women's Day
To celebrate International Women's Day, a large group of prominent women leaders in government, business and the community are co-hosting a fundraising event for Sharon Sund, candidate for congress in Minnesota's Third District.
"I am honored that so many respected, talented, courageous women are standing up for me on a day when we need…
gregladen | February 5, 2012I support and endorse Sharon Sund for US Congress. Sharon will represent the Third District in Minnesota.
For years, the Third District, in which I live, was represented by a moderate Republican, Jim Ramstad. Though I never voted for him, it was not all that annoying that he was in Congress because, as I say, he was moderate. Ramstad was pro choice, suppored stem cell research, he was not anti science and he was pro gay rights (but did not support gay marriage). I mention all this because it should reflect the electorate of the 3rd District which he represented.
Around the time of his…