The U.S. Constitution defines this unique system of electing
presidents, Gremmels said.  Each state has one member from each
congressional district and one for each of the two senate positions. In
Minnesota, each party chooses 10 electors.  The party that carries the
state receives all the electors for their candidate.  Those chosen
electors may cast their ballot for anyone they choose, “but only in
rare cases do they support anyone but their endorsed candidate,”
Gremmels explained.
“It would be the kiss of death for you if you didn’t cast your vote
for the party’s endorsed candidate,” he explained.  “That’s the reason
you are elected and why the party elects long-time party advocates.”
Gremmels is certainly one of the DFL party’s long-time leaders.  He
has been a member of the DFL party for 40 years and chaired the Pope
County DFL party for more years than he’d like to remember.  He  has
co-chaired the state DFL rules committee.  “As they say, ‘he who
controls the rules controls the convention’ and that’s where you get
the real party junkies,” he said.
Gremmels also served on the endorsements committee when Hubert H.
Humphrey ran for Minnesota’s U.S. Senate position for the last time.
One of the highlights of his nearly 40 years of membership in the DFL
party was when Senate candidate Joan Growe won the party’s endorsement
after almost 100 ballots.  “I met some very outstanding and principled
people at that convention,” he said.
One of the biggest disappointments with the party was when DFL Senate
candidate Don Frazier lost the primary to Bob Short who went on to lose
the Minnesota senate race to Dave Durenberger.  “That was the beginning
of the end of the party endorsement system,” he said.
He also was proud of Pope County when Sen. George McGovern carried the
county, one of only a few out-state counties to support McGovern in
that election. “We really worked hard that year,” he said.
He saw that same hard work on the ground level for Sen. Barack Obama
in the last election, he said.  “There were a lot of people working
very hard and we had some of the best attendance at our meetings that
we’ve had in a long time.”  Helen (Stafsholt) really did a superb job
here,” Gremmels added.
He said he and Amy Lee worked hard but had a lot of fun over the
years.  “If you’re in politics you have to have a sense of humor,” he
said with a smile.  “If you don’t have a sense of humor it will drive
you crazy.”
He said he has always been proud of the Minnesota DFL party, “because
it’s been a very open and inviting party, able to attract young people
and that’s a very healthy situation for the party in the long run.”
Jim and his wife, Ruth, have already received their official
invitation to the presidential inauguration at which Obama will be
sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.
“I’ll be a footnote to history, casting an electoral vote for the
first African American President,” Gremmels said.