April Knight: MATT ENTENZA RALLY

Entenzacycle

Late this afternoon I drove to North Minneapolis to attend the Matt Entenza rally. It was held at the Capri Theatre on West Broadway. What an energizing and uplifting experience! The more I'm around Matt and his staff and supporters, the more enthused I get about his campaign. Everyone is always so cheerful with big smiles on their faces. This is a high energy campaign and one that is definitely going places.

I've changed my mind about Matt Entenza since all the campaigning started last year. I started out with a lukewarm feeling toward him. All I had heard were stories from several years ago. Now that I've become a bit involved in the campaign, I can see that he's got his eyes on the future and what Minnesota can accomplish down the road. Green energy is high on his list of priorities. Minnesota can become the Silicon Valley of this new green energy.

Matt Entenza is one of the few people who has ever stood up to Governor Pawlenty and won. Remember back several years when Minnesota was about to lose MNCare? Guess who saved it? That's right. It was Matt. It took a government shutdown of a week to do it, but in the end Matt prevailed. MNCare was saved. People who were on it got to keep their insurance coverage thanks to Matt Entenza.

This was a great rally tonight. Keith Ellison was there. What an excellent speaker! He sure knows how to get the crowd motivated and revved up. I could listen to him for a long, long time and never be bored.

Entenza staffer Jason Hitchcock was also there. I swear that he has done more to convince me of the merits of the Entenza campaign than anyone could imagine. Jason talks fast and talks long, but what he says is right on target and makes a lot of sense. Matt needs to give the guy a raise! He could convince an Eskimo to buy a pair of sandals.

Matt gave a high energy speech. He was passionate and excited yet still reasonable. I notice that he uses a lot more gestures now than he used to. Using a lot of gestures doesn't come naturally to Norwegians (Entenza is Norwegian for Governor, right?), but Matt is getting the hang of it very nicely. I paid close attention to what he said tonight and discovered that he definitely has an excellent shot at the governorship. He's looking to the future, not to the past. He's got the resources to win and the staff and supporters to work hard to get him elected.

Here's some more pictures of the rally. Enjoy!