The Wright County Fair with "the Bob's"

What a great day!

I just got back from spending about 8 hours at the Wright County Fair in Howard Lake and it was a great day!

It was great seeing Chris Brazelton from Delano interacting with people about the issues that matter to them. Whether it was transportation, health care, or education, more and more people were sharing their displeasure with elected obstructionists like Tom Emmer and Dean Urdahl.

The booth had a high level of activity throughout the day, people coming by for the free balloons and Ciresi bumper stickers! Even more came by for some engaging conversations.

In my opinion, we had more activity this year than last year, although it was about 15 degrees cooler this year as well.

The highlight of the day was my "meeting with the Bob's". Bob Hill and Bob Olson, both candidates to unseat Congresswoman Bachmann and send her back to her IRS Tax Enforcement Agent days.

Both campaigns had staff members their for the majority of the day, which was highly appreciated!

Both Hill and Olson came in from the Stearns County Fair in Sauk Centre to visit with people sweating it out in Howard Lake.

One of Hill's biggest strengths is his ability to put people at ease with a bit of humor mixed with a powerful and positive message of hope. I witnessed several conversations where Hill mixed a dose of humor with solid public policy discussion while engaging voters.

Giving kids kazoo's with the Bob Hill for Congress logo didn't hurt either! While meant for the kids, I can't even begin to count how many parents were playing with those things all throughout the fairgrounds!

Olson was impressive as well. I will cover a discussion I had with Olson in another dairy on the blog.

Olson and I had a lengthy discussion about Iraq and the issues behind the Military Industrial Complex and how groups like Vinnell, DynaCorps, Blackwater, United Defense and others, are profiting over this quagmire in Iraq, paying their workers 4-10 times what a typical enlisted soldier performing the same duties would earn, and sleeping every night under that same soldier's protection.

With all of the talk of Linda Pfeilsticker "dodging a debate" in Southern MN, I wonder how the righties will react when Bachmann, Kline, and Coleman duck forums this summer set up to discuss the quagmire in Iraq.

More to follow on those...

Olson left to go to the Anoka County Fair as well, Hill stayed a few more hours and chatted with more and more people. It was great that I was able to chat with Hill in between visitors to the booth and Hill's time spent walking amongst the fairgoers, finding out what was on their minds. Whether it was a discussion of health care, transportation, or Veterans issues, Hill was well versed and had strong positions on all of these issues.

It was a great opportunity for the voters in Wright County and the 6th CD to meet both Hill and Olson, as well as engaging Chris Brazelton, candidate for the House Seat in 19B. While Olson made at least one trip to the fair, and Hill at least two, Bachmann was notably AWOL.