Yecke dropping from the race

Cheri Yecke has accepted a position to become the top education administrator in Florida, the very position that the Democrat controlled Minnesota Senate said she was not qualified to occupy in this state. Though I know the public's memory is too ADHD-infested, I wish the public would hold the DFL Senate responsible for putting politics above very needed education reform.

Yecke's move was announced in the Gainsville Sun

A Republican candidate for Congress in Minnesota who was removed as her state's education commissioner when the Senate refused to confirm her was hired as Florida's K-12 chancellor.

Cheri Yecke was picked by Education Commissioner John Winn to replace Jim Warford, who resigned last month after supervising the public school system for two years.

Critics in the Democratic controlled Minnesota Senate considered Yecke a divisive ideologue and didn't agree with her approach to education policy.

But her ideas will fit in well with Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.

She's a social conservative who supports the idea of vouchers, aggressive testing and accountability measures for schools. Like the governor, she created a system to grade schools. She also embraces the federal No Child Left Act that was pushed through by Bush's brother, President Bush.

Yecke, 50, has also served as Virginia's education secretary.

A lot of blogs have their comments (check First Ring, SCSU Scholars, Republican MN (the best place to follow for updates), Residual Forces (not a personal fav of this blogger but I have to give him props when deserved), Captain Fishsticks (reports but not opinion/analysis), Kennedy v Machine, and Mitch Berg (though I cannot get the link to work right now).

A couple of blogs are now mentioning that a friend of mine, Dan Nygaard, is looking to announce. I hope so because Nygaard would be the best candidate of the then 5 candidates, but I hope not because it would make it very difficult for me to decide between him and the one candidate that as of yesterday was the frontrunner for my vote.

Another comment on the remaining field is that some of the blogs are falling over themselves to say that Bachmann benefits from Yecke's departure. I think that Krinkie benefits as most of the delegates I have spoken to and most of the bloggers had been reporting that the frontrunners were Krinkie/Yecke or Krinkie/Bachmann or Krinkie/Yecke/Bachmann or some combination always including Krinkie. The reason Krinkie has been listed as a front runner in each combination is because many delegates (at least at the convention and in private conversations) are either solidly Krinkie or torn between Krinkie and Yecke/Bachmann. Yecke's departure helps to answer that question for many of the undecided delegates.

There is one more thing that I want to point out. I was previously critical of Yecke's close association with the College Republicans. Perhaps the writing on the wall should have been how many lightly experienced CRs were in key positions on her campaign staff. Resume building opportunities while she knew the possibility of her leaving for another state? Without that criticism I tried to keep as much of the sharp eye open but the sharp tongue concealed. That is, until I read today's reporting on the reaction from Bachmann. Here is my first public complaint about Bachmann's candidacy: I think it was absolutely classless to call delegate, show elation, etc on the day of Yecke's announcement. To win my vote she will have to work twice as hard to overcome that. But I am just one delegate.

----------UPDATE----------
Article in the Strib tries to dance on her departure (the partisan hackery pros that they are).

Yecke had been education commissioner for more than a year when she was booted out of office by the DFL-controlled Senate in May 2004.

DFLers said that they were dismayed by the amount of criticism they heard about Yecke from constituents, especially teachers, and that the commissioner hurt education by polarizing parents and the education community over a right-wing agenda and support for too much student testing.

But Republicans said that Yecke had a mandate from Gov. Tim Pawlenty to make education more answerable to parents and minority students, and that the governor has a right to appoint commissioners who reflect his views.

Yecke argued that schools had gone off course, that academics were mired in political correctness, and student "self-esteem" had become more important than achievement.

She had to have been doing something right...another state asked her to come and fix their K-12 and higher ed issues.

They also think that this is good for Bachmann...which means "watch out".

Yecke's withdrawal leaves four candidates seeking the Republican endorsement for the congressional seat. Veteran political observers said her departure would probably be a plus for Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, who won't have to compete with Yecke for the votes of social-conservative Republicans.

"It's going to help her in the battle for the Republican endorsement because of the tides of social conservatives and the Republican Party sway under social conservatives," said Lawrence Jacobs, a University of Minnesota political scientist.

and

"I do think she had a claim on the votes of some social conservatives in the primary, and that now disappears and the other candidate with the most similar profile is Michele Bachmann," said Steven Schier, a political science professor at Carleton College in Northfield. "It probably helps her."

If a poli sci prof at the University of Marxism, poli sci prof and Communism College and the Strib are saying something positive for Bachmann then something is amiss. Perhaps they think that Bachmann is the defeatable candidate and are trying to drum up Republican support for her endorsement. Kind of the same way that we want Hatch as the DFL's choice for Governor.

----------UPDATE 2----------
Wind Beneath the Right Wing is predicting a Bachmann victory in the race with Yecke's departure.