Richard Painter will be running as a Democrat in Minnesota Senate race

[dflprincess]

http://www.startribune.com/former-george-w-bush-ethics-lawyer-to-run-for-u-s-senate-as-a-democrat/481182291/

Former George W. Bush ethics lawyer ditches GOP, to seek U.S. Senate in Minn. as Democrat

Richard Painter, a longtime Republican who was chief ethics lawyer for George W. Bush's White House, intends to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota this year as a Democrat, according to a filing he made recently with federal elections officials.

Painter, a persistent and frequent critic of President Donald Trump on national cable TV news appearances and on Twitter, is expected to announce his candidacy at a Monday news conference.

He's running for Democrat Al Franken's former seat. Franken resigned Jan. 2 in the wake of numerous sexual harassment allegations.

I'm guessing he's skipping the June convention and will be taking this to a primary.

[tonyt53]

1. Imagine both he AND Romney after trump.

[Frustratedlady]

2. They may be wishing they'd left Franken in office.

Painter isn't shy about pointing out the ethics of it all. Once he gets his footing and learns of the corruption in Congress, maybe he can make some people cringe from having a watch dog inside the chambers. Of course, that is if they don't get to him first. Not sure anymore if we have a congress or a mafia.

They need to earn our respect, as they've been too busy making money and lost their way.

[question everything]

16. This wishful thinking has long passed its time

With every day bringing a new allegation, and Franken being busy apologizing it was distracting. He could no longer be effective. Yes, a shitty proposition but these are the facts of life in the limelight.

[spooky3]

3. I'm glad to hear this. I was concerned that he was running as an Independent

and would split the anti-Republican vote with Tina Smith, leading to the R getting elected.

[dflprincess]

4. The DFL having to waste time & money on a primary does not help us

especially as, at least at this time, it appears the Republicans will not have a primary for this seat.

[spooky3]

11. Agree, but given that he announced maybe a month ago that he was going to run

it's better that he is entering the Dem primary rather than peeling off votes from Smith in the general election, IMHO.

[S.E. TN Liberal]

5. What are his positions on the issues and what is his record?

Minnesota should not support him if he is just going to be DINO, (Democrat in Name Only).

[dflprincess]

6. True.

And while Tina Smith, the person appointed to replace Franken, is no Al Franken, she is a solid DFLer.

[question everything]

17. Indeed. Not only a DINO, but a former member of the Bush administration

And welcome to DU, S.E. TN Liberal

[spooky3]

18. Check out his website:

https://www.painterminnesota.com

He is on MSNBC a lot and is very direct. He also tweets frequently. So you can get a good sense of what he is about.

[S.E. TN Liberal]

19. Being direct and being disgusted with TraitorTrump are far from being worth having Democrats...

...support him.

Is he;

-Pro-choice?
-Pro-Unions?
-Supporting Social Security and Medicare?
-Pro-public option?

What I see on his website suggests he will simply be a DINO. He is hiding his positions on Progressive issues.

[spooky3]

23. Why not write and give him that feedback?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Interesting. I didn't expect that.

I thought sure he'd be running as either an independent or as a renegade GOPer. It will be interesting to see where this goes. If he has a better chance than Smith of beating Timmy the Tool, good.

[dflprincess]

8. Timmy's running for governor again.

I think the Republicans only have one candidate for the seat (so far) but I can't remember who.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Oh, right. I can't keep track of what that snake is up to.

The GOP candidates are Robert Barnheiser and Jim Newberger. I've never heard of either of them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. So I looked up Newberger - he's a real prize:

Newberger was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2012. In April 2015, he drew criticism for statements made on the Minnesota State House Floor linking North Minneapolis to the St. Cloud Prison. "Right on the edge of St. Cloud, maybe a half a mile, a quarter-mile, from the rail tracks is the St. Cloud State Prison.... Boy, wouldn't that be convenient, to have that rail line going from that prison to North Minneapolis..." This drew boos from other members of the House. Governor Mark Dayton later called for the House Leadership to punish Newberger. "I think [he] should be reprimanded, if not censured by his leadership" Dayton said. Shortly after the incident, Newberger made a public apology, saying that he did not mean to offend anyone, but to voice the concerns of the people in his district. Newberger agreed that he should have made his point differently, and said he would be careful about what he says in the future when trying to elucidate the concerns of District 15B. Shortly thereafter, Newberger was reprimanded once again for arguably violating general separation of powers principles in attempting to use his position as an elected official to influence the outcome of a judicial proceeding involving a donor, who was in a dispute that resulted in a judgment against the donor of about $250,000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Newberger

[dflprincess]

12. Sounds like he does fit in with today's Republicans

And you might know he lives in the 6th District.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. I was wrong - Newberger is running against Klobuchar.

Karin Housley is running against Smith. https://www.housleyforsenate.com/#social-media She looks like a rich suburban twit.

[shanny]

14. So as dimson bush's ethics lawyer

how did he feel about torture?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. He worked there from 2005-2007, well after

John Yoo's "torture memos" were written and disclosed, so he probably wasn't involved. But I'm sure he will be asked that question.

[question everything]

15. This should end his appearances as a commentator on cable news

And, how exactly will he run? As a member of the Bush administration? And he thinks that this should sit well with Democrats who do not miss the Bush administration?

Why is he better than Smith? She is - pleas god, no - a woman?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

22. He will definitely have to explain why he worked for Bush and what he did.

While I applaud his harsh criticism of Trump, he'll have to prove that he's rejecting not just Trump but everything the GOP stands for.

[S.E. TN Liberal]

20. Being Bush's Ethics Lawyer shows he was totally incompetent.

That administration lied us into a war and did all they could to screw the poor and middle class.

How many crimes did they commit?

Being pissed at TraitorTrump hardly makes him worthy of votes from Minnesotans.