Maureen Reed's Veterans Day Email

No spin...

Last week, an unspeakable tragedy occurred at the Fort Hood Military Base in Texas, when a gunman opened fire at his fellow servicemen and women. Never before has our nation faced such an action of this scale, and as the details unfold, my hope is that our energy, focus, and sympathy remain on the brave servicemen and women who are recovering from their injuries, as well as honoring the memory of those who sacrificed their lives because they felt the call to serve our nation.

Fort Hood's loss is a loss for all Americans and my campaign staff joins me in expressing our heartfelt sympathy and respect for all of our service men and women and their families at this time.

Veterans Day has always been a special day for me. I am grateful that the nation dedicated one day as a small token of our appreciation for the brave men and women in our military. Like many of you, the military has played a large role in my family, with my father serving in World War II.

He recalled to me that as a 35 year old on December 7th 1941, he heard the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor while standing at the corner of Oak and Washington streets in Minneapolis. Dad knew immediately that he had to answer the call to defend our country and enlist in the military. He served in the Navy as a signalman, using the Morse code to communicate with other ships in his convoy to protect oil tankers all over the globe, from the South Pacific to the North Sea.
In my life, I've worked to ensure that our veterans are taken care of not only when they are wearing their uniforms, but when they return home as well. As part of my internal medicine training, I worked at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis, taking care of veterans with service related injuries from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It was truly an honor to give back to our veterans. When I get to Congress, I will make sure veterans issues will be a top priority of our government.

I have two nephews who are in the military; one who served with the National Guard and is a Veteran of the Iraq War, the other is currently on active duty US Air Force, flying C-17's, ensuring that troops on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq have the supplies they need.

Today's heroes deserve our respect and gratitude. Stationed across the globe and around the nation, I admire their commitment to protecting our country. We must always remember their contributions long after today passes.

Ensuring that our veterans have quality physical healthcare, superior mental health counseling, tuition assistance and vocational training is a paramount responsibility of our elected officials, and not one I will take lightly. I would like to ask everyone to join me today in taking the time to reflect on the great efforts of the men and women in the military. While we only set aside one specific day a year for their efforts, it is important to keep their tremendous gifts in mind for the rest of the year as well.

Sincerely,

Maureen

Muse posts about Reed

Good work Muse!

Here's a fun experiment for anyone listening out there...

Set up a Google alert for Maureen Reed, Tarryl Clark, and Michele Bachmann.

Monitor what kind of traffic these Google alerts get for an entire week.

You'll see that both Bachmann and Clark get some significant headlines and relevant stories via Google alert.

With Maureen Reed? Not so much. I actually recall a two week period of time, in which I received a Google alert once a day on each of these candidates. Reed didn't have a relevant link or story for two whole weeks.

So you tell me...is that campaign sizzling or what?! That tells me a lot about the Reed for Congress campaign.

BTW, you're welcome for the Google alert caused by this post....

Maureen Reed: CD 6's Priscilla Lord Faris?

Let's nip this in the bud now...

We all remember the failed campaign of Priscilla Lord Faris. She ran a dirty and unimpressive campaign against US Senator Al Franken.

Her story and her campaign was the focus and a highlight of a conservative blogger.

Now in 2009, the names and the races have changed, but the tactics haven't.

Note to Dr Maureen Reed or Team Reed...

Getting your talking points displayed front and center at MDE does nothing for you. In fact, it ticks off a significant portion of the DFL base, the group you will need to win in the 6th.

“I know what independents think. I know what’s important to them. We know where they live, and we can speak directly to them,” said Reed. “In the 6th district, our DFL cannot win if it only gets DFL votes.”

Ok Dr Reed, in 2006 on the back end of Peter Hutchinson's ticket, you garnered a whooping 6.4%. In the 6th, you received 5.9% of the vote. Let me guess, Peter Hutchinson drug the ticket down right? With nearly 30% of the State and the 6th identifying themselves as independent, it seems you fell significantly short.

We've heard the argument before. A strong liberal cannot win in the 6th, that a more independent voice would shine through in the 6th.

In 2002, a moderate socially conservative DFLer ran against Mark Kennedy and lost...big time.

In 2004, liberal Patty Wetterling closed to within 8 points of Mark Kennedy, garnering 46% of the vote.

In 2006, Wetterling lost to Michele Bachmann, with the majority of the blame falling on a poor campaign.

2008, moderate Elwyn Tinklenberg lost to Bachmann by about 3 points.

My point is this, no one other than a Republican has won in the 6th since Bill Luther, which had only a portion of the district as it's encompassed now. Liberal, moderate, etc...all campaigns have failed. Reeds assertion that she can win as a moderate is unfounded.

Reed running as a moderate, lobbing verbal bombs at State Senator Tarryl Clark will do nothing to help her in the 6th.

If either candidate cannot run an effective campaign, the race in the 6th will be over.

Which is why many of us support Senator Clark. She's been through some rather tough races in the past, she's persevered. We know where Clark stands, we cannot say that for Reed, much like the failed Lord Faris campaign. No one knew where Lord Faris stood on the issues and the same holds true for Dr Reed.

Will Reed come out and denounce the MDE post?

We'll be watching closely...

Maureen Reed for Congress Blog Trolls

Is someone from Reed for Congress actually trolling the liberal blogs and posting positive things about the person paying them?

Taxpaying Liberal seems to have caught something funny going on with a poster named MnBlue and using an email address from maureenreedforcongress.com.

How can you not be smart enough to cover your tracks when trolling the blogs? Seriously!

It's turning into amateur hour around here...

And speaking of amateur hour...lets talk about COH.

Boasting that you are beating Senator Clark in COH figures when Clark has been in the race for 9 weeks is ludicrous.

Back in the 2nd quarter reporting period, Reed for Congress reported that raising $230,000 in 8 weeks was setting a "sizzling pace".

What does $308,000 in 9 weeks say?

So Reed has been in the race essentially 1 quarter more than Clark.

Holding a $30,000 COH lead when you've been in the race nearly 1 full quarter more than your opponent and having the audacity to brag about it shows the sheer desperation on the part of Reed for Congress.

Amateur hour...frickin amateur hour!

Good analysis on CD 6 race!

The Big E does a pretty good job looking at the CD 6 race.

Reed ignored some local folks with a myriad of campaign experience which resulted in a lack of excitement for many of us. Her recent staff hires might correct this, but the simple fact is that Tarryl Clark has had a rather open and honest discussion with many of us.

It comes down to trust for me. It's always been about trust, hence my hesitation on Elwyn Tinklenberg in 2006.

I know I can trust Tarryl Clark. I've marched at "Take Back the Night" with her. She's helped our candidates before. She's advocated for the issues I am passionate about.

I can't say that about Maureen Reed.

Clark Doubles Up Reed

Congressional candidate and State Senator Tarryl Clark had a big day today! Her campaign announced that they raised $308,000 in nine weeks!

9 weeks! Her significant fundraising places the Clark for Congress campaign among the top-raising campaigns nationally with only a handful of challengers having topped $300k in a single quarter.

We'll know more when the actual report is published but nonetheless this is a very impressive beginning for Senator Clark.

Her opponent, Maureen Reed announced that she raised more than $130,000 but highlighted her fundraising press release by noting that her Cash On Hand was more than $300,000.

"Maureen demonstrates the fundraising strength necessary to defeat Michele Bachmann," Reed's campaign manager, Jason Isaacson, said in a statement.

$130,000 does not demonstrate the fundraising strength to defeat Congresswoman Bachmann, in fact it marked a significant downturn in fundraising from the previous quarter. Future quarters like this make her DFL primary run an even more difficult run.

Reed won't abide by the DFL Endorsement

I hadn't really expected her to though...

MPR has the scoop.

Sixth District Congressional candidate Maureen Reed said she'll no longer pledge to abide by the DFL endorsement after being overlooked by labor unions.

Since entering the race, Maureen Reed has said she would seek the DFL endorsement to challenge incumbent Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. But Reed's pledge to abide is now wavering.

DFL state Sen. Tarry Clark of St. Cloud, who's also running in the 6th District, has been piling up endorsements from organized labor. Reed claims those groups never gave her a chance to be screened and she said that's making her reconsider the primary.

"If this isn't an open and a fair process here, maybe I should keep my options open," Reed said.

The Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council confirms Reed was not screened for its endorsement. But a Minnesota AFL-CIO spokeswoman said Reed was interviewed and didn't measure up to Clark.

Overlooked by labor unions...

I guess I look at it this way. Senator Tarryl Clark has paid her dues. She's worked countless DFL events across the 6th, she's been party building. She's helped numerous candidates across the district and provided some direction for many of us in Wright County (a mostly conservative area) and other areas.

Honestly, before her Political Muse broke the news on Reed's campaign announcement, I had never heard of her. While she appears to have some good credentials (health care background and U of M Board of Regents), I'm hearing from numerous groups that Reed is not impressive, sentiment obviously echoed by the AFL-CIO.

Rumors coming out of a recent SCC meeting indicated that Reed was very unimpressive. Other than her staff, I can honestly say I don't know anyone who is psyched about Maureen Reed for Congress.

I had also heard that Reed's focus was on fundraising and not delegate outreach. That strategy matches what was revealed today. Reed doesn't need to go after delegates, she'll need to raise a boatload of money to compete in a primary with a DFL endorsed and popular State Senator, Tarryl Clark.

But at least she's not going to run as an Independent...

Yet...

Why can't Maureen Reed answer a question?

After Dr. Reed's recent MinnPost debacle, one would think it would pay off for her Congressional campaign to open up a bit and actually answer some questions.

Which is why I was caught off guard by a post over at mnpAct!

I had hoped for a chance to compare policy positions between Dr. Reed and Ms. Clark but after a couple of requests to the campaigns, information has not been forthcoming. Reed's campaign never answered at all -- Clark's campaign indicated that they would answer my questions "sometime this fall". I am sure they are all very busy...especially Clark's campaign as they play some catch up.

Yes, I understand that Senator Clark did not answer questions either, but their campaign responded to the request. If Senator Clark and the Clark campaign fails to respond in the fall, they rightfully deserve criticism.

The fact that Team Reed didn't even respond bothers me.

Maureen Reed seeks to defeat a Congresswoman who fails to act on the requests of local media and constituents by failing to respond to local media and constituents?



I love "outside of the box" campaigns but I think this may be taking it too far Team Reed.

Senator Clark in the NY Times!

It's always good getting some national exposure!

Minnesota 2010 Democrats are, of course, coming up with their own 2010 hitlist and Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann might as well have a bull’s-eye on her forehead, especially now that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is supposedly out of the picture, writes Politico. The Democratic Party is doubling efforts to oust her in the upcoming election, backing state Senator Tarryl Clark, a potential gubernatorial candidate “widely regarded as a political heavy-hitter.”

And no vague descriptions of Maureen Reed...

Maureen Reed Waffles

Nope, IHOP has not endorsed a new dish after Dr. Marueen Reed's performance in a recent Eric Black MinnPost interview.

The headline says enough...almost!

Maureen Reed offers vague positions on abiding and abortion

Bob Olson was many things, vague was not one of them.

I'll say this...based on my experiences in DFL endorsement races, being vague on issues is bad. The last thing we need is someone who cannot clearly articulate a rational position on the issues important to us. It doesn't matter that a member of Congress has little influence on the issue of choice, people want to know where they stand on the issue.

On the endorsement:

“We’re going to get the endorsement. That is the plan. That is what we’re aiming at and that is where we’re focused... You can say that we’re planning to get the endorsement. All of our efforts are focused on that.”

Awesome. Bob Olson said the same thing, although he used 4 times as many words.

Newsflash to the Reed for Congress Campaign:

Senator Clark gaining the support of AFSCME and the SCSU College Democrats is merely the tip of the iceberg. I predict Clark will secure every labor endorsement available.

I admit to be impressed with Dr. Reeds fundraising figures. However...

I see this all the time at my work. A new salesperson comes in and cleans house for the first month or so, completely destroying their quota and quickly becoming the newest Tom Hopkins in our area. I always suggest that we check out the sales figures AFTER they've finished selling stuff to their friends and family. 9 times out of 10, the third and subsequent months are dismal.

I want to see Reed do that at least one more quarter before I believe it to be an actual movement and not the personal Rolodex, impressive as that may be.

"In terms of whether or not she will abide -- this is being pushed by supporters of Clark and Tinklenberg who want Maureen to make a statement on abiding by the endorsement. Why? Well, only they can really answer that question, but we believe the fact that Maureen has raised funds far north of $230,000 has made the other campaigns stop and realize she is an extremely viable candidate."

When you put this quote with the following quote, things get really interesting.

“I would not run on the IP line. I’m DFL. And that’s the line that I’ll be on.”

Wow! Paxil Bob just breathed a sigh of relief.

Having been the IP Lt Gov candidate in 2006, the IP ticket would have been a great fall back position.

Seriously.

If I were a woman, running for Congress in the 6th, and running against Senator Tarryl Clark and Congresswoman Bachmann, the middle ground of the IP would seemingly be the BEST place for me, wouldn't it?

And with $230,000 to spend in the 6th? Perhaps the ability to tap into some Ron Paul supporters and raise a cool $500k for the race?

Keep in mind, I bet the DFL candidate will need in excess of $4 million for this race, and with all due respect to Reed's folks, Clark will have an easier time approaching this number with the support of labor and a strong netroots presence.

But most disturbing to me is Dr. Reed's lack of an answer on the biggest issue facing us today, health care.

I know it's pretty complicated, BUT if I were a health care professional AND had this as a hallmark of MY campaign...my answer would be anything but non-committal.

“The goals that I would have are that we have to get expenses under control, cut the cost of administration and care. And we have to cover everybody. We need universal coverage and we need lower costs. And there are a lot of ways to accomplish those goals.

"People get so wedded to a particular method that they forget about the goal that we’re trying to achieve. People wind up with their feet in wet cement on their method, that my method trumps your method. To me the only thing that counts is that we fix it.”

It's not like asking Bob Olson about taxes...

Or is it?

Tarryl Clark to abide by endorsement

From her announcement email this morning.

I’ve won tough campaigns before and, with your support and help, I know we will do it again. I’m proud to have earned the DFL endorsement in each of my campaigns, and this campaign will be no different: I will seek and abide by the DFL endorsement, and I will not challenge the endorsement in a primary. The future of those in the 6th District is too important to let party politics get in the way.

Apparently Elwyn Tinklenberg will not abide by the DFL endorsement, but it is Wednesday night, that could change at virtually any moment.

Elwyn's past statements on DFL endorsements:

11/15/07: "I supported the party's endorsed candidate before," he said of his 2006 endorsement loss to Patty Wetterling. "I will certainly do that again."

12/13/07: "We will honor the endorsement if it is an honorable and straight forward process."

What does an honorable and straight forward process mean?

When will the DCCC pay their $250,000 IOU to Elwyn? I would assume only after he would win a DFL endorsement or win in a primary battle. Either way, that $250,000 IOU might come back to bite him in the tail.

Reed appears ready for a primary or an attempt to win this race by being an Independent.

"Our race is the same, regardless of who's in it."

Reed will seek both endorsements. When I asked whether, if she loses the Dem endorsement, she would run in a primary, Reed said:

"Plan A is to get the endorsement. Plan B is to make Plan A work."

So, we're about 9 months or so out from an endorsement. We'll see how the endorsement battle ensues, but I will support candidate(s) who abide by the DFL endorsement.

More on the race in CD 6

Muse has an excellent post up!

I would have to agree with Muse's analysis of the situation as it stands now.

Reed: I'm waiting to see more. Seems to me I've seen a group of focused web savvy people keep a Congressional campaign afloat for months merely though its web presence. Ah....yep. Bob Olson, 2006.

Tinklenberg: Are we going to have to launch Tinklenberg 3.0? Not a Blue Dog? Really? A debate between Tinklenberg 2006, Tinklenberg 2008, and Tinklenberg 2010 would be a thrilling debate. One candidate a socially conservative, fiscally conservative Democrat. Another a socially moderate, fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrat. The latter a Wellstone Democrat.

I'd love to see that debate, but I am sure we can pull up the quotes at a later time...

Despite my criticism of Tinklenberg, I gave him money in 2008 and supported him post endorsement.

Clark: Once she formally announces, she becomes the immediate frontrunner. At her announcement, all she needs to say is that "I will abide by the DFL endorsement, as I am a Democrat".

Labeling Clark as too liberal for the 6th is ludicrous. Remember, back in 2006 Amy Klobuchar defeated Mark Kennedy in Kennedy's home district.

As I stated in a post yesterday, Tarryl Clark has been party building in the 6th for quite some time, whether it's providing support to candidates or attending fundraisers in the conservative hot bed of Wright County, Tarryl Clark has been building party infrastructure and a solid base for years. Her name recognition is as solid as her credentials.

She is at a disadvantage initially due to the enormous fundraising by Reed, but that can be overcome. Reed will need to raise a lot more money to obtain a fraction of the name recogntion Clark and Tinklenberg have.

That said, I'd have to rank the candidates Clark, Reed, Tinklenberg, and I will support the endorsed candidate, although I strongly support Tarryl Clark.

Clark Files Paperwork!!

From Larry Schumacher and the SC Times.

I'm excited by Tarryl Clark's entry into the 6th CD DFL race. In my humble opinion, she immediately becomes the front runner.

Tinklenberg's feeble fundraising should be cause for concern to Team Tink. His recent statements that he will push this race to a primary also will not sit well with CD 6 delegates who will look to endorse. At this point, Team Tink can hope to block an endorsement...a highly unlikely scenario.

Maureen Reed has raised a significant amount of money and has a strong presence on the web, but lacks name recognition in the district.

Some argue that Clark is too liberal for the district.

I disagree.

Clark has extensive legislative and campaign experience. She has fought some seriously difficult races in St Cloud and has branched out in support of other DFL candidates in Greater Minnesota.

Furthermore, her positions on important issues is consistent and she can articulate her position well. This cannot be said about other candidate(s) in this race.

There will be more to follow after Tarryl Clark has a formal announcement, but I know that many of us are very excited for her entry into this race!

CD 6 Fundraising numbers

Well folks, it's real!

Maureen Reed raised $231,839 this past quarter and has almost $219,500 cash on hand. Just a quick look at who gave money to Reed shows no surprises, lots of money from the University of Minnesota and from the health care industry.

Elwyn Tinklenberg raised $54,891 this past quarter and has $198,548 cash on hand (and an IOU from the DCCC for $250,000). El also has three staff members on the payroll still as well, including his daughter. Tinklenberg really needs to step up the fundraising because raising less than $60,000 a quarter will not cut it!

Congresswoman Bachmann raised more than $285,000 this past quarter and has nearly $390,000 cash on hand. Of course, the majority of Bachmann's financial support comes from outside the State of Minnesota.

Reed's fundraising numbers are very impressive, we'll see what happens next quarter though, determining whether or not this is merely Reed tapping all her friends and colleagues for money or an actual political movement that can withstand the rigors of a long endorsement fight and general election.

Tarryl Clark Drafted?

Muse has an interesting take on the race in the 6th CD and Tarryl Clark's rumored entry.

I agree with Muse. This isn't 2008 where Bob Olson's challenge...well...despite 128 blog posts here about him...was futile at best.

I know Bob Olson, and Reed is definitely not a Bob Olson clone...did you hear me?

The 6th Congressional District is better served by having a good, open, and honest endorsement battle.

Enter Senator Tarryl Clark.

I've been hemming and hawing at this one for more than a week. Should Clark get into a large but shallow Gubernatorial pool? Or would Clark and Minnesota be better served by her running in the uber competitive 6th?

After Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher announced that Jaime Tincher is her campaign manager, I changed my mind on where Clark should run. Through my eyes, after working with Jaime as a State Senate candidate in 2006, MAK made the best hire of the 2010 election cycle.

Getting into the race in the 6th makes sense now. It immediately hurts both Tinklenberg and Reed.

Back in 2006, Tinklenberg received no less than $36,000 from labor PAC's before his failed endorsement run against Patty Wetterling. Post endorsement, labor wrote more checks to Patty Wetterling.

2008 was a smoother run for Tinklenberg as he garnered every major labor endorsement...and for that matter...every endorsement in the district in his bid to unseat Congresswoman Bachmann.

Clark's entry into the race changes that dynamic. Labor will not be so quick to give Elwyn boatloads of money with a candidate of Senator Clark's profile. It also neutralizes the strengths of Tinklenberg's new campaign manager.

Some argue that a woman will be the logical choice to beat Bachmann. While Reed shares the same chromosomes and has a strong background on health care and higher education, she lacks the strong name recognition and political guile possessed by Senator Clark.

Clark has been all over the 6th in the past, helping candidates at all levels, party building and being a leader. That will go a long way in a long endorsement fight.

So with that said...if Senator Tarryl Clark has not been drafted yet...then lets just get it on and get it done!

Maureen Reed posts big fundraising numbers!!

Caught an email in my spam folder from Maureen Reed for Congress...

You should be among the first to know: in our first eight weeks the campaign has set a sizzling pace. We have raised over $230,000! Given your history of political involvement, you know this is a “Wow!” number. You also know that fundraising is the earliest signal of strength, organization, hard work and public confidence.

Our campaign has had this incredible success because Minnesotans like you simply want to make a difference. And when Minnesotans are confident they can make a big difference, they are unbelievably generous. They know this campaign has exactly what it takes to beat Michele Bachmann.

So if that’s the current state of affairs, what’s the past? I was born in southern Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota undergraduate and medical schools. My husband Jim Hart and I have lived just west of Stillwater for almost three decades. I have practiced medicine in the Twin Cities for over 20 years, served as President of Aspen Medical Group and Medical Director of HealthPartners, led the Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota, and chaired the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.

And what’s the future? Real people, real problems, real opportunity. I am running for Congress to help 6th District residents with their real issues. The future that people want is that of business expansion, job growth, home ownership and lower health care costs. That’s the future that I see. That’s the future that can be. That’s why I’m running for Congress.

We are at the beginning of a very exciting race. Our first two months are just the first indication of the hard work, dedication and success you will come to expect from us. I hope you will be one of our earliest team members.

I invite you to visit our website at www.maureenreedforcongress.com to learn more about the campaign and join our effort.

Just as importantly, please help me learn more about you and your most important issues. Email me from the campaign website and give me your opinions, suggestions and advice. I look forward to hearing from you.

With determination,


Maureen Reed

I'm still waiting for the FEC reports to come out to put some perspective on this, but nonetheless, $230,000 is a big number!

Ladies and gentlemen...we have a race in the 6th.

BTW, Muse beat me to this about 8 hours ago...

*BREAKING* Reed raises $100K

Heard from a reliable source that CD 6 DFL candidate Maureen Reed has reached the $100,000 plateau in fundraising.

$100,000 since May 6th? $100K in 16 days?

Impressive!

More to follow...

Donate to Reed's campaign here!

Reed for Congress: Warp Factor 5?

Hold up now...you mean to tell me there's ANOTHER person running around the 6th with a video camera?

What the hell...

Anyway...

Muse has the scoop on Dr. Reed's first big event in the 6th.

I agree with Muse's astute assessment.

Reed has zero web/technology presence other than a few of us posting on our blogs. Reed needs to harness the power of the Internet in this race. The fact that I cannot even donate to her campaign on line at this point leaves me wondering what's going on here.

No website.

No Facebook.

No Twitter.

No online presence at all.

Hopefully, Reed has people behind the scenes now getting this stuff squared away.

Join the Discussion!!

A good discussion on the 2010 CD 6 race has broken out over at Liberal in the Land of Conservative!

Taxpaying Liberal is discussing matters with Aubrey Immelman (ran against Bachmann for GOP line on ballot), and Bob Anderson, the non-IP endorsed IP candidate in CD 6.

Honestly, I respect Aubrey for what he's trying to do, but don't necessarily agree. It's not as simple as getting 20,000 Dems to vote in the GOP Primary.

We already know the 2010 Governor's race is headed towards a primary in September 2010. Getting 20,000 Dems to ignore that race to put all our seeds in the primary basket seems a bit far fetched to me.

The pragmatic thing to do is to organize around the 2010 general election.

Like TPL, I helped the IP in 2008 as well. While I felt Dean Barkley was an obvious choice for the US Senate, after my initial rants and distrust in Elwyn Tinklenberg, we supported his candidacy.

I'd like to see the DFL extend a hand to the IP in our area in an effort to defeat Bachmann. Hell, if Anderson decides to do this again, maybe I'll have to take a shot at an IP primary in 2010, I could at least effectively stump to help defeat Congresswoman Bachmann, which afterall, is our goal.

Anyway, go hit up Political Muse's home on the blogosphere, he's got an interesting discussion going on over there.

Tinklenberg v. Reed: More CD 6 fodder

To quote Anchorman Ron Burgundy:

"Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean, that really got out of hand fast!"

About a week ago, we put out our vibe that Tinklenberg was definitely going to run in 2010.

And we all heard the news that Marueen Reed is challenging Bachmann as well.

Two days ago, we had no candidates...officially. Now we have two.

Yep, we were right. Elwyn's $250,000 gift to the DCCC will garner their support for his 2010 run.

My gut feeling? Tinklenberg has labor in his back pocket and a $250,000 IOU from the DCCC. There is no way Tinklenberg does not get the DFL endorsement in 2010, for another run at Michele Bachmann. Honestly, that would be a lot for Reed to overcome, not impossible though.

I'll try to keep an open mind for now. I'd like to see how Reed's initial fundraising goes, see how she performs in front of potential delegates and others.

Another big problem for Democrats out in "our parts"?

The Ron Paul Revolution is alive and well.

We've seen the stories of Bachmann cuddling up to Ron Paul for weekly economic studies. But even more interesting is that the new CD 6 GOP Chair is a big Ron Paul guy. Wright County was a big Ron Paul area, as was Meeker and McLeod Counties in the 7th.

So here's an idea...perhaps even a bold one.

So instead of posting photoshopped pictures and edited You Tube videos putting orgy and government wads together, why don't we actually work in a grassroots effort to organize our communities.

Seriously, I'm I the only one who looked at the Bachmann tax day video and noticed that orgy/government wad portion of said video was spliced together like a 3 year old playing Operation?

Mocking Michele Bachmann gets us nowhere.

Running an "anyone but Bachmann campaign" gets us nowhere.

Attacking the "soccer mom" gets us nowhere.

It only gets us 2 more years of Bachmann.

Bachmann will continue to do damage to herself in the mainstream media.

While we should ensure that her insane comments are disseminated, we have no need to doctor them to make them even more "juicy". She does that well enough.

We should talk about Bachmann's voting record and how her values are not congruent with her rhetoric.

Last but not least, leadership needs to get off its ass. I caught this wonderful quote earlier in the week.

The district is the most Republican in the state and will be an extremely difficult race for any Democrat. But Schumaker believes Tinklenberg would have won in 2008 if not for the presence of another (non-endorsed) IP candidate on the ballot, Bob Anderson, who garnered 10 percent of the vote. “For whatever reason the information was not put out there that El Tinklenberg was endorsed by both parties,” she says.

"For whatever reason..."

Really? WTF?

Tinklenberg was endorsed by the IP on June 22, 2009. You mean to tell me that neither Tinklenberg nor the 6th CD DFL took the time over the remaining 4 1/2 months from the IP endorsement to stress the endorsement.

"For whatever reason...?"

Maybe if...now this is a big maybe...they hadn't spent the waning weeks of the campaign still introducing Tinklenberg to voters, they would have known he was endorsed by BOTH the DFL and the IP.

Going back through the Blueman history of Tinklenberg campaign ads, none of the ads I found had any mention of Tinklenberg's cross endorsement of the DFL and IP.

So, stop blaming the IP for Tinklenberg losing in 2008.

We lost because we gambled and lost. We ran shitty campaigns in Wright and Sherburne Counties and could not capitalize on the cash cow caused by the pandemic known as the Bachmann2008 virus.