A 3 way race in the 6th?

On my way home from work last night, I spoke to a few bloggers and other party insiders about the growing race in the 6th.

The story originally broke over at Dump Bachmann earlier this week. One side of the DB story has been verified. Elwyn Tinklenberg has joined the DFL endorsement race in the 6th CD.

Minnesota Campaign Report is covering the story as well!

The other side of the DB story was that Bob Hill would drop out of the race. At this time, it's only a rumor, but DB had the story at least a day before anyone in the mainstream media.

There may be something to it.

I was caught off guard by Tinklenberg entering the race. I took his statement in May 2007 to mean that he was not running for Congress.

Elwyn Tinklenberg, a former state transportation commissioner, said he has decided against seeking the DFL Party endorsement in the 2008 race for Minnesota's 6th District congressional seat. Tinklenberg had said in March that he was considering another run for Congress. But he told the St. Cloud Times last week that he's decided against seeking the DFL endorsement because it's too soon after his last campaign. Tinklenberg lost the party's endorsement for the 2006 election to Patty Wetterling, who was defeated by Republican Michele Bachman.

I feel a bit of irony here. Wetterling came into the 6th CD campaign after promising she wouldn't, after she left the US Senate race.

Tinklenberg, his campaign, and his supporters were livid that Wetterling "broke a promise".

Activists across the 6th have been seeking out a candidate who can send Congresswoman Bachmann back to Stillwater on a more permanent basis. It's been a long process and we have found a candidate to rally around and support, Bob Olson.

Tinklenberg is playing the same cards Wetterling did in 06, and activists in our area are not happy. It appears to many of us that its another case of the DCCC pushing a candidate upon the voters of the 6th. I'm not happy about that either!

Did the bridge collapse "push" Tinklenberg to reconsider is motives in the 6th?

It will be interesting to see all of this unfold over the coming months.

CD 6 candidates on Iraq

Bob Olson's Iraq piece originated at Minnesota Campaign Report and has now made the SC Times.

It's time to hold elected Iraqi leaders accountable for their actions (or lack thereof). As we learned in Vietnam, when a weak government can count on foreigners to do the heavy lifting it always will. The Baghdad government has no incentive to take responsibility for its people and produce results that generate public confidence if Americans are the ones doing all the hard work, the fighting and the dying.

Our troops are the best in the world, and we should be very proud of them. They have performed brilliantly and long ago won the military component of this war. It's time to admit their job is done and that our policy should be one of phased redeployment, not escalation.

Indeed, Democrats strongly support our troops, despite what the chickenhawks on the right say. Iraqi leaders must be held accountable. We cannot continue to hold their hand and sacrifice our loved ones while the Iraqi government fails to accept any accountability on the quagmire in Iraq.

Although, it's tough for us to call chide the Iraqi government for a lack of accountability when elected leaders like Michele Bachmann continue to pass the accountability buck as well.

Bob Hill also has a powerful statement on Iraq.

"We were misled into this war" Hill asserted. "Things are going so badly that our troops don't know what our mission over there is anymore. We need to get them out of there. We need a strategic withdrawal to the borders and monitor the situation from there. We need a multi-lateral peace initiative to find a solution. I believe that eventually Iraq will be divided into three states -- Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni -- hopefully as a confederation, but possibly separate. It's just incredibly arrogant for us to go in there and install our brand of democracy. We are not the world's policeman and we shouldn't play that role."

Having spoken on Veterans and other issues around the war, I concur. Simply put, we cannot deploy democracy.

The Startribune's attempt to create a race

H/T to Ollie at Bluestem Prairie for this gem!

The Strib ran a story on Congressman Walz and his reelection efforts, including the fallible foursome of Mark Meyer, Senator Dick Day, Rep Randy Demmer, and Brian Davis.

This fourpack of GOPers, running against each other for the opportunity to get thumped by the most personable politician this state has seen since Paul Wellstone, have raised the paltry amount of about $176,000 between the 4 of them.

Yet the Strib decides that this is a race? Did Sid Hartman write this piece? He's been delusional about the Twins, Vikings, Wolves, and Gophers for decades now. Perhaps someone was drinking from Sid's sippy cup...

The Startribune is creating a Congressional race in the Fighting 1st where one doesn't really exist yet. On the heels of the fluff piece in the Strib a few Sunday's ago about Congresswoman Bachmann, it would appear as though the Strib would endorse the ineffective and embarrassing soccer mom over the highly effective and personable teacher and Veteran.

I'm confused as how the largest daily publication in Minnesota can't recall that they actually ran a story about how Bob Olson switched from the Senate race to the House race. Even more baffling is the fact that Bob Hill has been in the 6th CD race since he has been in the race since at least March of this past year.

Despite the deep cuts to the staff at the Strib, someone ought to have the ability to do a Google search before running the statement that Congresswoman Bachmann only had one opponent.

In addition, Hill has more resources on hand, over $200,000, than the 4 Walz opponents combined. Furthermore, both Hill and Olson have had a strong presence at the County Fair circuit. I have heard both men speak publicly about the importance of building the foundation of a movement in Greater Minnesota. They have both spoken on how our "representative" in Washington does not represent the values of Minnesotans and the 6th CD.

While Bachmann will be the toughest GOP incumbent to beat in Minnesota going into 08, "The Bob's", Hill and Olson, stand a great chance in doing so.

By printing the Bachmann fluff piece two weeks ago, failing to do a fact check on the who's who of the CD 6 race, and failing to report on her politicization of the 35W bridge, shows a complete lack of intellectual honesty on the part of the Startribune and their editorial staff.

I'd rather be a Democrat running against Bachmann and her tumultuous first year in Congress, than being the Republican running against the Congressman who has kept true to his word before departing for Washington and has been very active amongst constituents throughout their district.

Instead of creating a race in the Fighting First, perhaps the Strib ought to cover the one brewing here in the 6th!

*Update* Dump Bachmann is covering the story as well!

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.