New Minnesota Political Documentary to be Previewed on Minneapolis Bus Tour September 2nd

New Minnesota Political Documentary to be Previewed on Minneapolis Bus Tour September 2nd

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, September 2nd, extended excerpts of a new political documentary will be premiered on a bus tour (a 56 passenger coach, with an on-board DVD system, and departures from Minneapolis and Saint Paul). The tour is open to members of the media, Republican Convention delegates, and Minnesota legislators. Seats can be reserved on-line by e-mail, at http://www.republicancontract.com/.

Video excerpts are being put on-line, with links at http://www.republicancontract.com/.

The documentary is the first in a series, called Escape from History, which: views history as largely a disaster -- considers both U.S. history, and the history of the Republican party, as giant escape attempts -- and examines the pitfalls that await when we don't know what we're escaping from.

Escape From History, Part I -- the Minnesota Legislature:
-- Presents video interview excerpts and speeches from Representatives
Jim Abeler and Kathy Tinglestad, two of the six Minnesota House
Republicans who voted to override Governor Pawlenty's veto of the 2008
Transportation bill. Speaking of part of the retaliation against the
six that resulted, Tinglestad said: "... knowing that, the day after
we took the initial vote, that that would be the penalty for following
through with the veto override, and the six of us all went in kind of
with our eyes opened, and we needed to decide -- whether we thought
our leadership position was more important than our roads, for me
personally it was the 13 people that died in the I35W bridge collapse,
and the transportation system for our state. And I said, 'you know,
I'm willing to give up my leadership role in the caucus, in order to
do something that I believe is right for our state.' And then, so,
all six of us, voted to override the Governor, along with the 85
Democrats, that was enough to get that through then, despite the
Governor's veto."
-- Introduces a call for a return to a non-partisan legislature, issued
by Lyall Schwartzkopf, a long-time Minnesota Republican leader (and as
we'll see, a "Lindsey Republican,") and former chief of staff for
Republican Governor Arne Carlson. A non-partisan legislature was
established in Minnesota in 1913. Speaking of the move to a partisan
legislature in 1974, something he supported at the time as a Minnesota
House member, Schwartzkopf said: "That was a severe mistake -- very,
very severe mistake, and what happened out of that is the enormous
partisanship that we have today. To break that partisanship that we
have today, we need to go back to a non-partisan legislature... I was
wrong. I voted wrong to convince the people to change the [Minnesota]
Constitution to a partisan legislature."
-- Introduces "A Minnesota Republican State Legislator's Contract with
Voters," ("the contract") with video interview comments on each point
by Steve Sviggum, Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
until 2007. Sviggum appears to agree with seven of the eight points.
Both the contract, and this entire project, are designed to return the
Minnesota Republican party to what has been historically a more
moderate approach to politics. As a follow-up to one of these points,
Sviggum is presented with, and decides he can support, an alternative
approach to the so-called "marriage amendment."
-- Examines in video essay format, two examples of "post 9/11"
architecture in Downtown Minneapolis: the new Guthrie Theater, and the
new Minneapolis Central Library.
-- Begins a study of the history of the Minneapolis Park System, viewing
it as infrastructure, and viewing its development as a model that can
be applied in other U.S. cities, to develop a new kind of combined
parks and transportation infrastructure that will be well suited for
use by future generations.

The bus tour route will be a loop, from:
-- Near the Xcel center in Saint Paul, to
-- a downtown Minneapolis boarding location, to
-- the historic downtown Minneapolis milling district, and then
-- around the southern part of the Minneapolis parkway Grand Rounds to
Minnehaha Falls. Note: people who boarded in downtown Minneapolis
can be dropped off at the 46th street transit station and can take the
light rail train back to downtown Minneapolis. And then,
-- back to the Xcel center.

We'll stop for photo opportunities.

Senator John McCain, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, and the entire Minnesota Legislature (all parties) are being invited to go on the bus tour. The tour will run three times during the day, with Saint Paul departures at 10:00, 12:30, and 3:00 (Minneapolis departures are 20 minutes later.) Each run will take about two and a half hours.

The bus tour includes most of the segment on the founding of the Minneapolis park system in 1883, and its first seven years of operation. "The Minneapolis park system is world famous, but it didn't just happen," said Bob Carney Jr., writer, narrator, and producer. "Almost no one realizes what a central impact the formation and building of this system has had on Minnesota," Carney noted. "At its root was a gigantic real estate scheme. But the people who planned and launched our park system also valued: being good stewards of the earth, thinking ahead 100 years, preserving the natural beauty of Minneapolis for future generations, and making parks available and accessible to everyone. The Minneapolis park system is a model for coordinating public and private interests in the political process. This model has given shape to the entire political history of the state. Our park system is a big reason for why the media are reporting that the Republican National Convention is in Minneapolis, not Saint Paul," Carney concluded.

Disclosure: Carney is an inventor, and in connection with work being done for one client, is filing two patents for form work hardware for bridge becking.

Source: www.republicancontract.com

CONTACT: Cassandra Harvey, Publicist of www.republicancontract.com,
+1-218-591-6678, cassie@republicancontract.com

Web site: http://www.republicancontract.com/

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