Betty's Out!

While Patrick over at MNGOP Watch is handling the cannibalism on the Right, there were a couple announcements that slid under the radar. Mainly because they weren't all that surprising.

From the STRIB:

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said Monday that she will not run for Minnesota's open U.S. Senate seat in 2006 but that she will seek a fourth term to the U.S. House.

McCollum, who represents Minnesota's Fourth District, had been considering a Senate bid after Democratic Sen. Mark Dayton announced last month that he would not run for a second term next year.

"After much personal reflection I have decided to continue serving my Fourth District constituents and fighting for Minnesota families in Congress," she said in a statement.

and further into the article:

DFL Chair Mike Erlandson, who had been considering a candidacy, said Monday that he would not run. He said that with two young children and his duties as party chair through the end of his term in May, this was not the year to run.

While the GOP has crowned their candidate, with internal skirmishes getting as many headlines as their crowned king, the DFL is maneuvering slowly and respectfully, allowing the nomination process to do it's job. You don't hear Hatch, or Erlandson, Mondale's, or Humphrey's interfering in the process. There is a level of respect towards the electorate that the Left has, and the Right is sorely lacking.

Flash