Karen DeSalle dodges questions on political future, confidantes say she will return to politics

Former Kalnier guv still active in government despite 2014 electoral loss

LAMBERTH, Kaln. -- On a brisk autumn morning, at a small café on Lamberth's south waterfront, donning a casual North Face fleece sweater and jeans, Karen DeSalle sat with reporter John Lerin from the Lamberth Regent.

It was not a secret meeting, but a non-descript one; a far cry from days past, when the two regularly met in the governor's office in Appenbaum.

This time they were not discussing the governor's agenda, political skirmishes or the campaign trail. They chatted about regrets, accomplishments the former governor is proud of, and her political future.

The big question: what will the ousted leader do next?

After her disappointing 47%-53% defeat in 2014 to her ascending Conservative opponent, businessman Tony Ritonio, DeSalle largely went into obscurity. Intentionally, she says.

"After being in public life for a long time and being in the thick of an intense campaign, and after losing, you need a break," said DeSalle.

First thing she did after her electoral defeat? A two week vacation to the British Virgin Islands for some rest and recuperation with her partner, Nick Patton.

But upon her return to Grassadellia, she stayed under the radar. She and Patton quietly bought a house in the leafy, upscale Mavocke suburb of Leightide, Roddenclanshire. Rumors began to swirl.

Would she be appointed to President Brenton Menuhaeo's cabinet? The common speculation was DeSalle, a longtime, loyal ally of Menuhaeo's, be appointed Secretary of Health and Social Services?

At the time, both DeSalle and the Menuhaeo Administration remained tight-lipped and still are.

DeSalle never was appointed to a cabinet position. But she has been serving as an informal adviser to Menuhaeo and to current secretary, Elizabeth Deedrick. Many suspect DeSalle is being groomed to replace Deedrick when she retires at the end of the year.

The former governor wouldn't comment to John Lerin on her specific plans. But she did say she plans to remain active in government, and she skillfully dodged a question about running for public office again.

"I don't know exactly where my path will lead, John. But I do plan to stay active in government life. In what role, I'm not sure. But I want to be active. I have a lot of experience and a lot to contribute, I think. And as far as running again, well, I just don't know what the future holds. I'm not planning on running for anything at the moment. But I will continue to contribute, working in Mavocke, and of course, traveling back to Kalnier regularly, as this is home," said DeSalle.

She praised Elizabeth Deedrick for her leadership of the DHSS. And she said she didn't want to wade into state politics, but she still had plenty to say about her successor in the governor's mansion.

"Look, he won, the people spoke with their vote, and I respect that. He is the governor, and just as I governed the way I wanted to, he has the ability and the right to govern the way he sees fit," said DeSalle, speaking of Tony Ritonio. "But am I worried about the direction Kalnier is headed? Yes, absolutely. Am I concerned about some of the policies he's espousing and implementing? Very much so. Do I think he's taking Kalnier backwards in terms of progress and equality, no doubt in my mind."

But she urged the people of Kalnier to oppose Mr. Ritonio's budget cuts, tax cuts, and legislation that weakens unions.

"He may be governor but he still has to answer to Kalnierans," she said.

While she hasn't joined any of the protest movements against Ritonio's policies, she has lent he support from afar in Mavocke.

And just last week, she penned a stinging critique for the Lamberth Regent denouncing Ritonio's efforts to limit the powers of labor unions.

"Kalnier has always been a state built on blue collar values. The governor himself has a rags-to-riches story, growing up in poverty in inner-city Lamberth, his dad working as a garbage man for the city, his mom working retail jobs to make ends meet. If anyone should understand the importance of labor unions and the vulnerable people they protect, it should be this governor. But sadly, he has been so blinded by his devoted allegiance to big business and the ultra-rich that he has lost sight of his working class roots," DeSalle wrote.

It sounds like she's still in campaign mode, but DeSalle insists she's not.

She also shot down questions she may run for president.

"Not a chance," she said, clearly amused. "That is not even close to being on my radar screen."

Would she run as the Nationalist candidate for vice president, if the NAT nominee offered her the job?

"Maybe. I never say never, but again, that's a long ways in the future and that's just wild speculation right now. I don't even know that I'd make anyone's short list."

For now, she appears content working in Mavocke as an adviser; her partner Nick Patton, whom she's been with for 17 years, working as a chemist for a major pharmaceutical company. Flying back to Kalnier once a month or more, serving as an advocate for liberal causes like combatting climate change, protecting labor, empowering the minorities rights movement, and her signature issue, women's reproductive health.

Friends and confidantes close to the former governor say they are certain she will run for political office again. Whether it be a campaign to regain the governorship, a Senate run, or running for vice president, they don't see Karen DeSalle leaving the political stage anytime soon.

"She loves campaigning, she loves governing. It's her passion. She has a real inner passion for government service and making accomplishments for progressive causes," said a college friend of DeSalle's, who did not want to be named for this story.

Even though she lost in 2014, DeSalle could feasibly mount a comeback. Kalnier leans liberal, with most political observers chocking Ritonio's 2014 win up to DeSalle's unpopularity and a national pro-Conservative tide. Most experts predict the governor's seat will revert to NAT hands in 2018 or 2022. That's plenty of time for DeSalle to redeem her popularity figures with the Kalnieran public.

A strong progressive, DeSalle defeated inaugural Gov. Joe Gramma (C) to serve  just one term from January 2011 to January 2015.

She is Kalnier's first NAT governor elected after the landmark 2007 Electoral Reform Law, and the first female governor elected. She is also the first and only unmarried governor of Kalnier, although she remains in a committed relationship with domestic partner Nick Patton.

DeSalle is from the North Woods region of northern Kalnier, and has a residence in Vitarick, about one hour north of Lamberth.

Almone says refugee ban wouldn't work, far-right doubles down

Refugee ban fails, bill increasing refugee scrutiny passes with bipartisan support; president vows to veto

LANSDALE -- She's not officially a candidate for president yet, but the prominent governor of POG is already weighing in on foreign policy issues.

Donna Almone, who is a leading potential Conservative candidate for president, told the GBC's Rebecca Ingraham in a sit-down interview that a proposed ban on Syrian refugees would not be effective in preventing terrorists from entering Grassadellia.

"If you ban people from one country or region, the terrorists will either sneak in anyway - they're very sneaky - or they will just go to another country and come in through another locale," said Almone. "There are many stepping stones to get here from international destinations, and a refugee ban is removing one stone, but the other stones are still there for terrorists to jump and zigzag across the stream."

Her comments come after many leaders in her own party - and  few in the Nationalist Party - have called for a ban on refugees from Syria and the middle east because of terrorism threats.

Biereland Gov. Ben Jordan, who made controversial anti-Islam comments following the Charlie Hebdo attacks that preceded last month's shooting attack in Paris, issued an executive order banning state agencies from processing immigrants from Syria and neighboring countries.

"I've ordered my cabinet to make it clear to state agencies that we will not accept any refugees from Syria or neighboring countries due to the increased threat of terrorism," he said.

Critics immediately pointed out that Jordan exempted Israel from his order, a move that Muslims and Muslim allies view as anti-Islam.

"So you put a ban on refugees from Syria and neighboring countries, but of course Israel is exempt because you Conservatives kiss the feet of Benjamin Netanyahu," tweeted Keith Camber, who is the director of Grassadellians Stand With Muslims, a pro-Islam advocacy group.

Muslims United, the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, said Jordan's position is not only "untenable and nonsensical, but explicitly dangerous."

"This kind of policy harkens back to the days of Hitler and the exodus of Jewish people out of Europe. Countries didn't want the Jewish migrants, and rejected them in a time of great genocide. We have the same situation now but xenophobia and racist, bigoted comments by people like Mr. Jordan are giving ISIS (the Islamic State terrorist group) the propaganda they need to strengthen their position," said Mohammad Al-Houdad, the group's executive vice president.

Jordan said his exemption for Israel and the country of Jordan was only because those two countries are "much safer" than Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon.

He defended himself in a tense interview with GNN's Michael Micardi.

"This isn't a matter of race or religious discrimination. It's just common sense. When you have a large group of people trying to kill you and do you harm, and they all hail from one particular corner of the world, it only makes sense to temporarily halt the acceptance of people from that area."

He added that the ban is only temporary "until things calm down there."

"If the terrorists were coming from Sweden, or Canada, or Thailand, or any country, we would do the same thing. This has nothing to do with race and religion and everything to do with political correctness gone mad in this country," said Jordan.

Jordan acknowledged that not all Muslims are bad people.

"In fact, the great majority of Muslims are wonderful, hard-working people who love peace and freedom. But the problem is, at this point, we can't distinguish who is who when we are bringing in refugees to this country. And as we saw in Paris last month, the attackers had come in through the refugee program. That will happen in this country someday if we don't do something right away."

He continued, "I have an oath to protect the people of Biereland. And that's why I've issued this executive order, because the safety and security of Biereland is my highest priority."

His order, however, likely will be overturned through the courts. Most legal scholars, including Federal Attorney General Joel Oelselbach, agree that a state governor cannot ban refugees from being located in their country.

"That's not his job. That's the federal government's job. No governor has that legal right. He can't refuse anyone into his state," said a clearly annoyed Oelselbach at a press conference last week.

That may be true, but a state governor can make it more difficult for immigrants to come to their state by creating more bureaucracy in state agencies.

"He can't stop them altogether, but he can make it a hassle and make it harder," says Joseph Levin, a law professor at Wilkonshire State University in Jaffling.

Meanwhile, two additional governors - Greg Laskie of South Ceona and Wade Quanson of Wellington - have said they will not accept refugees either.

Another eleven governors - all Conservatives except Onakiah Gov. Paula Tulane - have not called for a ban on refugees, but have called for the federal government to increase scrutiny on Syrian refugees.

Almone is among those eleven. She says the government should increase scrutiny and be vigilant. But not panicked and xenophobic.

"That kind of rhetoric from my colleague in Biereland is not helpful. It's divisive, it's hurtful, and that strategy won't work anyway. Instead of sewing discord and division, we should be more vigilant but we should still allow refugees here. These people are fleeing war-torn places. They want to start a new life," she said. "Our country is based on the belief that anyone who works hard can succeed and everyone should have the same opportunity to succeed. This is a national security issue but it's also a human rights issue, and we can't lose sight of that."

Last week, the Senate voted on two measures. The first was a proposal to ban refugees from Syria altogether, sponsored by Sen. Mark Eisinger (C-Remm.) and Sen. Brad Bearns (C-Biere.). It failed overwhelmingly, 21-71 votes. Three Nationalists voted for the bill.

A second measure, this one not banning Syrian refugees but calling for increased scrutiny and an audit of how refugees are processed, narrowly passed 47-45 with bipartisan support. Nine Nationalists joined with all the chamber's 38 Conservatives and one Independent to tip the scale in Conservatives' favor.

President Brenton Menuhaeo opposed both bills and has vowed to veto the second one, if it passes the National Assembly.

"We will not live in fear. This bill does nothing but amplify fear in this country and increase animosity toward Muslim Grassadellians," said Menuhaeo.

If the Assembly does pass the second bill, the Senate will not be able to override Menuhaeo's veto, as two thirds of the Senate are needed to override a presidential veto.

In the meantime, Nationalists took to the press beat to vilify their Conservative colleagues.

"I can't believe in this day and age that we have this kind of fear-mongering going on. I thought those days ended decades ago, " POG Sen. Diane Coke said at a Capitol Hill press conference.

Freshman Sen. Jamie Scousenovy (N-Lial) said the two refugee bills will breed Islamophobia.

"Don't we want to be a welcoming society? A society that isn't paralyzed by irrational fears that are unfounded but a society that values diversity and the belief that all men are created equal and have equal unhindered access to freedom and acceptance?" she said in a town hall meeting in Ansleigha.

The issue is a tense one that has spread throughout the country, but is felt more directly in states with large Muslim populations, such as Marchenay, North Ceona, Ansleigha, Trinton, Armana, Lial, Damoign and Wilkonshire.

As the most populous state by far, Damoign has more Muslims than any other state. But per capita, North Ceona has the most.

The city of Churchtown, Ansleigha has the highest number of Muslims per capita of any city in the country.

That didn't stop North Ceona's and Ansleigha's Conservative senators from supporting the "Syrian Refugee Protection Act (SRPA)," the latter of the two bills voted on last week.

It should be noted Sen. Elizabeth Graham (N-North Ceona) also voted for the SRPA. She voted against the controversially titled "Protect Grassadellia from Syrian Terrorists Act" that failed to pass.

Nationalist governors also took to the airwaves to denounce what they called "Islamophobia."

"This type of behavior is typical of the modern day Conservative Party. Vilify minorities, use fear to scare the white majority. It's really sickening that they would stoop to this level," Lial Gov. Todd Pergich said in his weekly address to the media.

Wilkonshire Gov. Caroline Jepsey, a longtime ally of the Muslim community, said she was disheartened by the rhetoric coming from the far-right.

"This Islamophobia that we are seeing today from Conservative politicians has got to stop. This is not about protecting our country from terrorism. This campaign they're on is about demonizing Muslim Grassadellians and inciting fear and bigotry, and it has no place in this country. We are better than that," the two-term Nationalist governor said.

Sen. Joseph Milhaughly, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said his committee will not cooperate with any audit the SRPA mandates.

"We won't do it. We will not participate in any activitiy that is blatantly unGrassadellian, unconstitutional, and inhumane. I will not let the committee take part in such activities, even if it is mandated by law," said the Marchenay senator.

The National Assembly will take up both issues this week.