Last modified on July 19, 2022, at 07:35

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Party Chairman Ken Martin
Senate Leader Tom Bakk
House Speaker
House Leader Paul Thissen
Founded April 15, 1944
Headquarters 255 Plato Blvd E
Saint Paul, MN 55107-1623
Political ideology Liberalism
Socialism
Political position Fiscal: Socialist
Social: Liberal
International affiliation
Color(s) Blue (unofficial)
Website www.dfl.org

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) is a separate but affiliated branch of the national Democrat Party that uniquely operates in Minnesota. It was formed on April 15, 1944, when the state's Democrat and Farmer-Labor parties merged with the instrumental assistance of Hubert H. Humphrey.[1]

Some DFL members are pro-life: during the 2021-22 legislative session, 4 DFL members of the Minnesota House are pro-life and support restricting abortion:[2] dsPaul Marquart (teacher), Mary Murphy (teacher and historical preservationist), Gene Pelowski (teacher and a golf professional), and Julie Sandstede (music teacher and vacation Bible school volunteer).

The formation of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party took place in a context of intense factional struggle between Popular Front liberals and a more moderate bloc that lasted from the death of Governor Floyd B. Olson in 1936 to the election of Hubert Humphrey to the U.S. Senate in 1948. Many of Humphrey's allies became active in national politics—Orville Freeman, Eugene McCarthy, Walter Mondale, Donald Fraser, —and did not oppose Cold War foreign policy till well into the Vietnam war era.[3]

For many years, the DFL has championed the causes of farmers and skilled union workers, though in recent years, the former has taken a distant backseat to the latter as well as to the interests and goals of the national Democrat Party. All Democrat politicians in and from Minnesota work under the DFL header, though this has become more of a matter of tradition than of any substantive meaning.

Outside the state, DFLers are typically referred to by their colleagues in the United States Congress and by the mainstream media simply as "Democrats."

The DFL, which has had virtual single party control for 70 years in Minnesota and is a powerful influence in both the Democratic National Committee and national political affairs through its two vice presidents and two Democrat presidential nominees, has this to say about its African American Caucus:

"We hope to live in a Minnesota where African Americans will have full access to all opportunities and their interests are seen as critical to the wellbeing of the state."[4]

Evidently after 70 years of a near totalitarian grip on the state, and undue influence in Washington, D.C., Minnesota has not overcome its systemic racism. While blacks are still "hoping for opportunities," their white Democrat plantation massas see "their interests as critical" to white Democrat electoral success. The DFL has also since formed Feminist, Muslim, Somali, Latino, Progressive, Environmental, Seniors, Disability, Veterans, American Indian, Asia-Pacific, Asian Indian, Hmong, and LGBT caucuses, as well. Its Hunting and Fishing caucus presumably is its good 'ol boy network.

In 2018 the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party deputy communications director William Davis made a Facebook post that called for bringing Republicans "to the guillotines."[5]

Ballot harvesting

On September 27, 2020 James O'Keefe of Project Veritas posted a report on illegal ballot harvesting for cash in Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar's district.[6][7][8] On October 16, 2020 Facebook sent notification warnings to every user that reposted the Project Veritas' report.[9]

A 17 year-old campaign staffer for Lacy Johnson, the Republican opponent running against Ilhan Omar, was shot and killed outside a gas station in Minneapolis.[10]

Further reading

See also

References

  1. https://www.dfl.org/about-our-party/overview-dfl-history/
  2. https://www.minnpost.com/elections/2022/07/handful-of-dflers-who-oppose-abortion-could-be-key-to-dfl-keeping-mn-house-control/
  3. https://www.amazon.com/Dubious-Alliance-Making-Minnesotas-Party/dp/0816613249
  4. https://www.dfl.org/about/caucuses-and-organizations/
  5. https://thewashingtonstandard.com/minnesota-democratic-farmer-labor-party-calls-for-guillotines-for-republicans/
  6. https://youtu.be/ZWK56l2VaLY
  7. https://youtu.be/MV7oDl8yDZk
  8. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/minneapolis-police-omar-ballot-harvesting
  9. https://youtu.be/TioDPg91uH4
  10. Multiple references: