Date: April 14, 2004
Subject: Circle the wagons

Carrie Lucking, a social studies teacher in state Sen. Steve Kelley's district and founder of the Alliance to Block the Confirmation of the Commissioner (ABC), is alarmed. According to a message sent to ABC members:

Ms. Yecke is circling the wagons. Her supporters are sending letters to the Senate at an alarming rate. This must be counteracted...The Senate says they’ve been hearing more from Yecke’s supporters lately than from us! This is a problem! We outnumber Ms. Yecke’s supporters, but our voices must be heard.

Well, I'll be the first to admit that ABC collected more (dubiously verifiable) petition signatures than yours truly (although Lucking's had a head start on the three pro-Yecke petitions, which were not posted until March). And the Twin Cities media — notably MPR, the PiPress, and the Strib — have made her their go-to gal for anti-Cheri Pierson Yecke sound bites. Does that mean that more Minnesotans are against Commissioner Yecke's confirmation than support it? The minor outpouring of support for the commissioner this week, even after the Strib laid its anti-Yecke OpEx egg on Easter Sunday, is coming from somewhere.

Circle the wagons, Pilgrims, at the Capitol rotunda tomorrow, 9:30 am. And keep those cards and letters, and e-mails and phone calls, coming.