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UPDATE: After I posted this I was made aware of the article appearing in the MN Daily today (http://tinyurl.com/bnb9jp) detailing allegations and admissions regarding Charles and pretty serious mental illness. In short, Charles admitted to being diagnosed with a form of Schizophrenia.
There is a lot of stuff in the article ... and honestly a lot of it is mind-blowing. Obviously Charles is a very high-functioning individual.
There is a lot to be written on mental illness and politics. But one thing in this case that concerns me is reports that people are spreading this article around as a reason to mock Charles. And to those who are doing this ... you are ***holes. Regardless of the politics and personal this is clearly a case where compassion is called for.
Yesterday, Sunday, March 1st, Charles Carlson announced that he would be dropping out of the race for City Council in Minneapolis Ward Two, leaving no DFL candidate. He made the announcement at screenings held by the Stonewall DFL Caucus at the Minneapolis Central Library.
At the meeting and in an email to supporters today he cited a new job as a professional tennis judge that would take him out of town too often to be able to run an effective campaign. At the screening he also alluded to various negative posts around the ole Internet and "harassment", although he offered no specifics.
Charles faced many hurdles in his race. One is the relative popularity of the incumbent, Green Party member Cam Gordon, in the Ward, even with DFLer's. According to one prototypical political "hack" there was a brewing plot to actually have 1-2 people run against Charles at the DFL Ward Convention in order to block an endorsement only to have them drop out later. Apparently some of the DFLer's in the area are wishing Gordon would cross over and seek the DFL endorsement.
I have to comment that Charles was very classy in the way he addressed the Stonewall Caucus yesterday. It had to be heartbreaking to call off his campaign after putting so much work in and he could have just phoned to cancel his appointment without anyone thinking less of him. But, he came in, sat down and explained his decision. (This compared with an incumbent Council Member, to be named in another post, who showed up an hour late and offered no explanation or apology as to why.)
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