Live from the Twin Cities, it's Norm Coleman

I'm proud to say that one of the first politicians I ever supported financially was Norm Coleman in his race against Paul Wellstone and (after Wellstone's tragic death in a plane crash) Walter Mondale. Yesterday, Captain Ed went to a Bush rally in the Twin Cities, specifically in St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center (home of the Minnesota Wild hockey team) -- St. Paul's new arena. The Monk has been to both St. Paul and neighboring Minneapolis and liked them both, but Minneapolis had the better downtown area -- the Xcel Energy Center is part of St. Paul's downtown revitalization program.

Here is why Coleman can make a monk proud of his (modest) contribution, as quoted from Capt. Ed's site (hit link in title):

Keeping his remarks rather short as well, Coleman went over the ten reasons to keep George Bush in office:

10. Values Matter: "George Bush's values are America's values..."
9. It's The Economy, Stupid: "The Democrats put us into a recession and George Bush is bringing us out.
8. You Can't Beat Somethin' With Nothin': "The Democrats are the bubble-boy party of ideas. They want to stop the tax cuts, stop the churches, stop the highways ... they're a NASCAR racer with no gas pedal."
7. Darned Good Ideas: "He's a reformer with results."
6. Telling The Truth: "John Kerry voted for the war and against it, he voted for education reform and against it, for the Patriot act and against it. He's Wendy's for lunch when the cameras are on him, and shrimp vandallo when the cameras are off. If elected, he'd be the only President to give the State of the Union speech and the rebuttal."
5. Leadership Matters: "[John Kerry] picked his vice-presidential candidate not on the basis of accomplishment but on the basis of polls."
4. We Are At War: "Minnesotans know a work horse from a showhorse, and we don't change horses mid-stream ... We have committed to a goal, and we will finish the job."
3. Good Things Come To Those Who Wait: "The president knows we cannot change course and still come to our destination."
2. He's A Good Man: "He's one of us...He cares more about what Americans think than what the UN or the Europeans think."
1. He's Our President: "When the towers fell, he lifted our spirits; when the terrorists raged, he fired right back...This Xcel Energy center did not rise from words or good intentions, and neither will America rise unless she is led by a man with the courage of his convictions."

Coleman packed more into an eight-minute speech than most people can handle in an hour or more.

Nice.