Secrets of the City

I don’t even know what to say about this, so I’m just going to let you and City Pages do the talking:

Jonathon “The Impaler” Sharkey, a self-described vampire who says he’s running to be Minnesota’s next governor, popped the question to a 16-year-old girl the other day via YouTube — she evidently said yes — and has set off a firestorm of comments from folks calling him a sick pedophile.

There may also be a search on for the girl. A Facebook page has been set up to ask for people’s help finding Paige Marie Brewer. That page says there’s an Amber Alert out for the girl. However, her name does not turn up in a national database search at the Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Web site.

WTF?!

For the politically-inclined nerds around here, tonight is your precinct caucus.  This will include a straw poll for gubernatorial candidates.  So.  Are you going?  Who will you vote for, and why?  What issues will you advocate for your party to prioritize?  Anyone going to try to continue to the district-level?

“I love Minnesota and I love public service, but this is not the right time for me and my family to conduct a campaign for Governor,” wrote Norm Coleman on his Facebook page late Sunday night. “At the moment, I am tremendously energized by the work I am currently involved in to create a positive, center right agenda for this country. Anger on the left and anger on the right will get us nowhere. In Minnesota, we face a jobs deficit, a budget deficit and a bipartisanship deficit.”

“Without Coleman in the race,” writes the Washington Post, “the open seat contest to replace retiring Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is pursuing a run for the Republican presidential nomination, will be a far more low-key affair without any of the national attention that a candidacy by the controversial Coleman would have caused.”

Shhhh.

So, who is going to step in? Politics in Minnesota says, “Norm Coleman’s surprise announcement that he won’t be running for governor, combined with Rep. Marty Seifert’s (R-Marshall) self-proclaimed status as the front runner in the contest for the GOP endorsement, mean that the guy in the race to watch right now is Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Delano).”

But MNPublius’s Matt Martin isn’t buying it. “Seifert’s going to be the guy because he’s been working harder, hustling better, and just plain seems to want it more.”

But what about Tom Horner? “The GOP candidates are far-right, the DFL will go to a primary, and now there’s no alternative in Norm Coleman: Horner’s a bright guy and I’m sure he realizes this is the best shot an IP candidate will have in a long while.”

What do you think? How is this all going to play out?

John Alfred Sharkey, self-described vampyre and former candidate for Minnesota Governor, was jailed after harrassing his 16-year-old internet girlfriend. She tried to break it to him gently by telling him she was an part of an elite vampire hunting group and it would be hazardous to his health if they kept in contact.

MinnPost has listed the candidates who have shown interest in the DFL nomination for governor in 2010. So: who’s ready for another election? Anyone? And who would you like to see nominated?