There is so much that has happened since Election Day. The fact that we now have a legislature that will concentrate on fiscal stability, on education, and on protecting the working-class still casts a glow of excitement on conversations. I am so proud of Minnesotans for opposing the two constitutional amendments that were meant to divide and demean. They certainly did nothing to help the budget crisis or improve the job situation.
The DFL House Caucus met to elect its leaders for the upcoming session. We were privileged to have Governor Dayton come in at the beginning and address us. The result of the elections was that Representative Paul Thissen emerged as the new Speaker and Representative Erin Murphy as the Majority Leader, they have experience taking on tough issues in the legislature and their incredible effort to help DFL candidates’ campaign illustrates their ability to work with a host of diverse organizations.
The newly-elected House candidates met on Friday of that same week for orientation. It looks like a good group that is excited about the prospects before them.
There have been several appreciation and celebration events. The number of volunteers and the extent of their involvement was overwhelming. It was their hard work that made the success on Election Day possible.
Last, a friend and I finally got around to celebrating our birthdays. Instead of our annual dinner out, we decided to see Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band at the X-Cel. It was a marvelous evening; I can see why he is so popular. He came out and the energy level in the building immediately went way up and it never really went down. An extremely talented group of people kept the audience totally engaged all evening.