On December 2nd, 2008, the RNC 8 officially endorsed Susan Gaertner for Governor of Minnesota at her fundraiser outside the Minneapolis Club. This decision was inspired by her highly principled prosecution of the 8, the first ever proseuction under Minnesota’s Patriot Act. “Susan’s position was one of strength against threats of terrorism, and it shouldn’t matter that those threats were completely unrealistic,” says defendant Erik Oseland. “It’s her unrelenting attitude that really matters.”

(See http://rnc8.org/2008/12/gaertner-party-crashing-1-a-success-plus-press-statement/)

Directly after this endorsement, Gaertner felt emboldened to add 3 more charges to the 8′s complaint, ensuring the 8 and their supporters that she was very serious about winning in this case and in the governor’s race. “We welcomed the added charges because we knew that Susie could handle them, and they would further bolster her resume for governor,” says defendant Garrett Fitzgerald. “After all, a good prosecutor knows that justice is a dish best served copiously in a restaurant filled with press.”

The recent decision to drop the two charges filed with terrorism enhancements worried the defendants, and had defendant Luce Guillen-Givens fearing the worst: “If Susan is elected governor and continues to follow this track record of flip-flopping on terrorism, we could have Somali pirates and Colombian drug-smugglers running our state, while she’s busy going after mere conspiracies like the one alleged against us.”

It remains to be seen what, if any, political leverage Gaertner can salvage from the RNC 8 case, but one thing is certain: If $50 million was spent on security to protect the RNC from terrorists, and the 8 alleged conspirators didn’t constitute that threat, then where are the real terrorists? Until Susan can answer that question, she is not a viable candidate to lead our state.