Either one of the DFL's electors in Minnesota decided to make a political statement, or he or she could not remember the name of the Democratic nominee to write on the Electoral College ballot. Whichever the case, it does not reflect well on the DFL's efforts to project competence and relevance:

One of Minnesota's 10 presidential electors broke from the pack and cast a vote Monday for John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential running mate for John Kerry. ...

"I'm sure somebody made a mistake," said elector Michael Meuers of Bemidji. "I'm certainly glad that the Electoral College is not separated by one vote."

With all of the uproar from the Democrats about the importance of counting each vote, one would expect to see massive condemnations for the DFL elector who just disenfranchised 10% of the Minnesota vote in the Electoral College. Was it a mistake? In order to believe that, you have to believe that the Democrats chose an elector incapable of remembering their presidential nominee, a name in the news for a few days over the last year, after all. That option speaks well of neither the elector, the DFL party members who selected him or her, nor of the thoroughly forgettable candidate who ran a thoroughly forgettable campaign.

On the other hand, it's entirely possible that the elector filed the vote as some sort of weird protest against both John Kerry and George Bush. That would be an indictment of the relevancy of the DFL in this state, a party full of stupid, pointless gestures. Nice work, DFL.

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