A Bluestem Prairie

Labor Day Weekend Saturday Morning

Via Fold/Spindle/Mutilate,  WSJ national correspondent Jackie Calmes includes the Walz-Gutknecht race in her column "Republican Advantage on Issue Of National Security Erodes: Iraq and Handling of Katrina Shift Sentiment as Races For Congress Heat Up." Her article begins:

In both national elections since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Bush and congressional Republicans successfully played the national-security card to win big victories against the odds. Now, with their party’s control of Congress at stake, Republicans are betting on the issue again. But it may not be the trump card it used to be.

The public’s patience has frayed as the Iraq war grows bloodier in its fourth year, eroding confidence in Mr. Bush’s stewardship of national security. Mismanagement of the response to Hurricane Katrina contributed. Democrats, having ceded the security issue to Republicans in the past, now are on the offensive. They’re attacking the administration’s competence at home and abroad and fielding candidates with military experience.

Democrats are also pressing an argument opposite to the president’s: that Iraq isn’t central to the broader war on terror but distracts from it, and breeds more terrorists. How voters ultimately decide on that issue is “one of the most important dynamics of this election,” says Republican pollster David Winston.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in June, buttressed by other polls since, suggested Democrats have gained significant ground. It gave them a three-point advantage on the question of which party can best deal with Iraq, erasing Republicans’ 30-point edge of October 2002. Democrats had a nine-point edge on handling foreign policy, a swing from Republicans’ 18-point advantage in June 2002. Republicans did retain a 24-point advantage on “ensuring a strong national defense” — though that was down from a high of 41 points just before 9/11.  . . .

Later in the article, Calmes takes notes of MN-01, placing it in the context of the Republicans' "Cut and run" rhetoric:

In another break with recent campaign years, some conservatives have joined the chorus of war critics, providing cover for Democrats against the administration’s stepped-up assaults. Mr. Skelton’s comments would qualify him as a “cut-and-run Democrat” in the rhetoric that Republicans, led by the White House, took to using months ago. But lately, the phrase could apply as well to conservative pundits and Republican lawmakers seeking distance from the White House.

Moderate Republican Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut, hammered for months by Democrat Diane Farrell for backing the war, last week returned from his 14th trip to Iraq and called for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal. “The Iraqis lack the political will to be on a time frame to get this done,” he said. Minnesota’s Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht did likewise, calling the president’s course in Iraq “politically unsustainable.” His Democratic foe, former Army National Guard commander Tim Walz, has made Mr. Gutknecht’s formerly unquestioning support for the war a major part of his challenge.

No wonder many observers are cynical about Gutknecht's change of heart.  The Strib reported after Gutknecht's return from Baghdad:

What began as a routine tour of the troops turned into national story with a narrative hardly to Gutknecht's liking: Pro-Bush, Midwest conservative goes wobbly on the war, a poster child for Republican incumbents facing strong opposition and wrestling with their position on Iraq.

Gutknecht bristles at that characterization, although observers say he appears to be undergoing a genuine reassessment of the situation in Iraq.

"You make decisions based on the best information you have," he said. "When you get new information, you make a new decision. I think the American people feel the same way."

Analysts say Gutknecht's proposal for what he called a "symbolic" troop withdrawal was bound to shake things up in a political landscape hardened between the extremes of "stay the course" and "cut and run."It's a significant change for a congressman who has been a complete supporter of the Bush administration's war policy," said Joseph Kunkel, a political scientist at the Minnesota State University at Mankato.

The turnabout is also seen by analysts as a nod to Gutknecht's Democratic opponent, military veteran Tim Walz, who is challenging him in a district with a strong independent streak.

Carleton College political scientist Steven Schier said: "He's trying to say, 'I'm not the president's man, but I'm not a squish, either.' "

More incumbency campaigning for Gil, this time captured by the Albert Lea Tribune in "Gutknecht talks farm bill, ethanol, corn"

Speaking up for ethanol in rural Minnesota? It's a bipartisan issue.  Extending the farm bill? We'll explore that issue more at BSP, though it's fair to say that the proposal enjoys broad support in Minnesota's congressional delegation and their challengers.

OLLIE OX UPDATE: The Albert Lea Tribune outdoes itself in covering the incumbency campaign, devoting two paragraphs to Gil's speech at a hospital dedication:

Many prominent public and political figures were in attendance at the ground-breaking ceremony including Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn., who is running for re-election against DFL candidate Tim Walz.

“In many respects what we are doing here today is giving birth to a new baby,” Gutknecht said, referring to the words of poet Carl Sandburg. “It’s a baby that people have been thinking about and working on for a number of years.”

Given that the Walzes are expecting their second child next month, we suppose Representative Gutknecht has to try to take back the metaphor somehow.

 

The New Ulm Journal's editorial staff is skeptical about Bush's saber-rattling on Iran.  A reader from Gibbon remembers Katrina:

Anniversary of government failure

TO THE EDITOR: With the anniversary of Katrina, let us not forget the massive failure of our government to keep us safe. Today, a third of the trash has not been picked up, there are many people without homes, or without electricity.

This anniversary should serve as a reminder that we need change in this country and trying to shift the “blame” doesn’t cut it.

KAREN WITTGRAF
Gibbon

The Fillmore County Journal offers an indepth profile of Airman First Class Stevi Smith, who just returned stateside after serving at Balad Airforce Base in Iraq, in "The Young Who Serve: An Iraq War Story,"  a personal essay by Tom Driscoll. A family friend of the young woman,  Driscoll opposes the war and supports the troops.

A story we missed about a fundraiser for six Fighting Dems at a New York American Legion from the East Hampton Star. Retired General Wesley Clark was the headliner. Walz material:

Mr. Walz, a public school teacher who served for 24 years in the Army National Guard, spoke passionately of the sorrow he felt seeing young people he taught sent to a war he felt was wrong. He has outraised his opponent in his home district and is confident that Democrats around the country can secure the 15 new seats they need to shift the balance of power in Congress.

We had a scare--too common--with news of two more Minnesota National Guard members dying in Iraq.  One soldier's name wasn't released immediately, and so many National Guardmen's family members anxiously waited for their loved ones' calls.

A young woman of my acquaintance (recently moved south from Detroit Lakes) had heard from her husband yesterday morning. While she was relieved to take the call from Iraq, her husband related a story of a fallen comrade much like that reported in the Strib's article.

The Iraq war may be distant to some Americans, but few rural Minnesotans enjoy that privilege, given our tradition of National Guard service and our soldiers' deployment in the war.

NETROOTS
Evil Bobby likes the first Walz radio ad, pairing it with a parade photo.

Democracy for Minnesota noted the opportunity for another online endorsement:

DFA Link endorsed candidate, Tim Walz (MN-01) is the first MN race to pick up the netroots endorsement. So far Walz has over 130 new donors and over $4k in new donations in just a matter of days. Show your support by making a donation today (you can match mine).

If you haven't done so already, now is the time to add your name to the supporters list on Tim Walz's DFA Link Campaign page. Thank you to one of our newest DFA Link groups in MN, the Parade Brigade, for adding their group's support. Together we can help Tim Walz become the first MN DFA-List Candidate of 2006

NONPOLITICAL NEWS: LILACS IN AUGUST

The Dan and Therese Hall farm near Butterfield was hit by an F3 tornado on August 1. The twister wiped out the farmstead, which included a thriving direct-sales meat business.

But not all freaks of nature are playing cruel with the Halls this summer.

The Mountain Lake Observer/Butterfield Advocate has published a photo of Dan Hall standing by his lilacs, in bloom in August.

MN-01 Friday Update: Press conference audio; dead tree news

A few interesting items are coming through.  Isn't Friday supposed to be a slow news day intended for cat blogging?

WALZ & MASSA PRESS CONFERENCE AUDIO
An audio file of the entire DNC telephone press conference is available, according to the Walz Campaign communications director.  The conference was the source for this Washington Post story.

ROCHESTER'S "KATRINA"?
The good Government Center blogger provides the "dead tree" version of the Rochester Coalition's Rotary presentation about the MD & E. Audio here. Thanks!

MN-01: This is not your daddy's health care

OWATONNA SMALL BUSINESS FORUM
The Owatonna People's Press reports on another incumbency appearance by Gil Gutknecht, this time  at a small business forum (article is behind a subscription firewall--UPDATE\--the editor wants permission to run any length of quote from the OPP, so we're revising here, paraphrasing anything from the paper, regardless of how long or short the quote may be; contact the OPP for the actual text of the article)  "Health care costs stifle small business; Forum looks for ways to help businesses control costs of insuring employees."   Gutknecht invited Illinois Republican Rep. Donald Manzullo and Now Care CEO Bill Wenmark to discuss the costs of health care for small businesses.

Manzullo noted that insurance was shaped to protect real estate, not to help sick kids.

Actually, we always were under the impression that health insurance was intended to help pay medical bills when we were sick. What did we know?

Some interesting companions for the Congressman. A good sense of Manzullo's record can be found here.

Now Care operates urgent-care clinics in strip-malls, what an old Southern acquaintance loved to call "doc in the box" clinics.  CEO Wenmark is a large contributor to Republican coffers: the Republican Party of Minnesota, John Kline for Congress, Bachmann for Congress, and Gil Gutknecht, though it looks as if Wenmark is being something of a piker to Gil in this election cycle.

Health savings accounts (usually coupled with high-deductible, low premium insurance policies) are the panacea of the right for health care reform, with some going so far as to credit the very introduction of HSAs with lower health care cost increases relative to inflation, though others might see weak causality in the claim.

Think Progress rounds up the problems with HSAs as a health care reform measure: the number of uninsured is likely to climb, low-  and middle-income Americans gain little tax advantage from them,  out-of-pocket costs rise for consumers, (leading to skipped or delayed health care), and more.

OLLIE OX UPDATE:  Tim Walz's first radio ad is about health care.  Listen here. Contribute here.

MORE NEWS FROM MN-01
Rochester Post Bulletin blogger Jeff Pieters has posted an audio file of a presentation to the Rochester Rotary Club by the Rochester Coalition at Government Center. The Rochester Coalition opposes the DM & E expansion and loan in its current form, hoping instead for a bypass around the city.  Yesterday, Pieters asked readers whether or not the proposed federal loan could be called a subsidy.

In an editorial, the New Ulm Journal scolds a Republican-led congress for slashing funds for Walter Reed Hospital's traumatic brain injury treatment program:

Despite the fact that a combination of vastly improved battlefield first aid and particularly dastardly enemy tactics in Iraq has led to more U.S. soldiers surviving brain injuries, congressional appropriators slashed the Walter Reed brain injury appropriation in half, from $14 million to $7 million. This is within a total spending package of $468 billion. The official excuse given by appropriations committee staffers to inquiring reporters: The program lost out among “so many priorities.”

[snip]

But this case also demonstrates in stark fashion that, tempting as it may be to chuckle at the most egregious pork-barrel spending, there is a cost to reckless, irresponsible treasury raiding. Both major political parties are at fault, but the GOP, which not so long ago billed itself as the party of fiscal responsibility, is in the majority and controls the agenda. Its leaders need to reacquaint themselves with the principles they rode to power.

The shameful behavior involving the brain injury program at Walter Reed is not, sad to say, the only situation in which Congress has let our troops down. In addition to restoring money for the brain injury program, lawmakers should take a soul-searching look at other appropriations intended to serve both active-duty and retired members of the military.

MN-01 Netroots Thursday Night: Turn Up Your Radio!

It's a quiet night on the prairie, with Minnesota's netroots more focused on the upcoming DFL primary for the open seat in MN-05. Those who are covering the First are in fine form.

Tom Scheck at Polinaut leads his Daily Digest with an MN-01 round-up.   At Vox Verax and the Minnesota Monitor, Leigh Pomeroy also notes the national attention drawn to the Fighting First.   

The DNC is darned proud of that there Walz.  Smartie at Power Liberal takes note of the Andy Welti state House race in Rochester as a place for small state-refundable contributions (emphasis ours)

Welti is an incumbent who won his seat with a very narrow victory in 2004. Rightly or wrongly, Rochester is often viewed as a Republican stronghold, but it has been trending back to center and center/left candidates lately. This is a good place to help continue that trend. Bonus points to this race: helping to increase Dem. turnout in the 1st District helps Tim Walz for CD-1.

May we suggest that Welti contributors deposit their Minnesota political contribution refunds, then cut a check for Walz? (Contributions to federal candidates aren't eligible for this state-level program).

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that the Walz campaign has $244,000 in the bank, while the Gutknecht campaign didn't return phone calls.  For some reason, this oldie-but-goodie about Gil Gutknecht's Out-of-state Big Cheese Money at Minnesota Republican Watch shows up in Google Blog Search as only 14 hours old. Perhaps the story is just finely aged, like a great cheddar.

Help boost Walz's bank account by contributing here. The radio ads that we read about in the Mankato Free Press won't be all that cheap, even though a media dollar goes further in rural markets like those in MN-01.

Want to know what your dollar buys? MnPublius has the exclusive sound file of the first ad that's hitting WCCO. Go listen.

Checks & Balances: Gutknecht to go negative?

This item from the latest Checks & Balances uses an anonymous source.  Take "Is Gutknecht Preparing to Go Negative?" with a very large grain of salt:

A source with solid ties into Republican circles brought forward this interesting piece of information today.  It seems the internal polling by Congressman Gil Gutknecht (R-MN1) is not all that pleased to see he is trailing Democratic challenger Tim Walz by double digits in his attempt for a 7th term of office.

The advantage Walz has is his personal war record in the Persian Gulf war and Gutknecht's past support of President George W. Bush (R) in the current Iraqi war.  Gutknecht's own characterization of the war as not going well and being worse that people were first led to believe is not doing him any favors.

As much as we'd like to believe this story out on the Bluestem Prairie,  it's no substitute for solid polling and sourced copy. 

Here's hoping the Walz team depends more on hard work, smart campaigning, and aggressive fundraising than comforting rumors for the remaining weeks until November.  Help them out here.

New Ulm Journal: Walz's news & Gutknecht term limits

Sometimes a yoked ox pulls a plow longer than expected.  There's a wealth of news tonight from the Fighting First.  Let's start with the New Ulm Journal, located in conservative Brown County. It's also the home of the final National Guard unit in which Tim Walz served before he retired.

From the looks of its article about yesterday's conference call, the New Ulm Journal's reporter may have participated--or, at the very least, paid careful attention to the feed:

Walz criticizes Bush’s handling of war

By RON LARSEN  Journal Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Democrat veterans Tim Walz of Minnesota and Eric Massa of New York joined a former Democratic National Committee chairman in assailing President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq Wednesday.

Walz, who is seeking the First District Congressional seat now held by Republican Gil Gutknecht, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Massa in claiming the Bush administration, as well as Republicans in both houses of Congress, has failed to keep promises made to America’s veterans to bring them home. The trio spoke during a 25-minute, tele-news conference with reporters.

Massa, who is seeking New York’s 29th Congressional District seat for the first time, said the conduct of the war by the Bush administration has been “an assault upon our soldiers. The president can no longer use the military as a prop for his political goals [in the region].”

The Iraq war has been especially hard upon National Guard soldiers over in Iraq because “four in 10 National Guard soldiers lose income while they’re on active duty,” Walz said.

He claimed that use of the National Guard to help fight the war in Iraq has seriously weakened the nation’s ability to defend itself against aggressors here at home.

“We want National Guard soldiers brought home. We want true national security here at home,” Walz said.

“The Bush administration’s war effort was a failure right from the beginning,” and only by electing Democrats to gain control of one or both houses of Congress can the failure be corrected,” former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler said.

“I think the facts speak for themselves. It’s very difficult when you’re trying to get a macro image of an entire country, make no mistake about it, when you put an American soldier, sailor or marine on the ground, they’re going to do good work,” Walz said.

“It doesn’t change the fact at the macro level and the facts coming in that there’s an absolute failure of this. I think pointing to when the president said that major combat operations were done, we had less than 19 attacks a day. Now, we’re well over 90,” Walz said.

“The facts are pretty clear. The number of people that are getting killed; the number of attacks on United States forces are pretty clear. For him to say that, once again, it’s simply trying to sell us a war, sell us their theory on this, and if the Democrats are asking for a new course or a new plan on this, we are not supportive of this,” Walz said.

“That’s ridiculous. What we are is we are anti-failure people. What we want to see is this thing fixed.”

The paper also published a letter from a Dakota resident; Dakota is located in the eastern part of the district near Winona.

Gutknecht and term limits

TO THE EDITOR: According to Congressman Gil Gutknecht’s “Term Limit” pledge in the “Contract with America”, he should not be running for Congress this year. Gil promised to quit Congress after 12 years, but clearly he is violating his promise. He even tried to hide the truth by deleting the mention of this pledge in his own online encyclopedia article, but he was stopped. Then, Gil’s campaign manager told the press that people should get their information from a more reliable source! Of course, Gil was the guy trying to make the online article LESS reliable!

Of course, this all makes sense — Gil Gutknecht has gone right along with George Bush in trumpeting the false reasons for the Iraq invasion. Gil no doubt learned from George that if you repeat a lie, hide the facts, and discredit the people who are telling the truth, that many or most of the people will believe you. After all, 60 percent of Americans still believe that Iraq had a “weapons of mass destruction” program, even after the White House, the CIA, and U.S. military have all admitted that it didn’t exist. Keep up the deception, Gil! You might succeed yet! Not!

JON NICHOLSON
Dakota

MN-01 Netroots: Walz to Walz coverage

CATCHING ON
At Taegan Goddard's Political Wire, Carleton political scientist Steve Schier notices what local bloggers have long known:

One other US House race that may become more competitive is that of first district GOP Representative Gil Gutknecht, who is running against Iraq War veteran Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee.

WEGE RUSHES IN WHERE THE STRIB FEARS TO TREAD
The Wege feels threatened by The Bluestem Prairie's turf.  Or something like that:

I'm going to keep blogging about Tim Walz and how he's kicking Gil Gutknecht's incumbenticized butt.

We can live with that. Remember: the only real cow tipping is writing up MN-01 posts to which we'll link, or emails with news of the Walz-Gutknecht race.

SHAKEN AND STIRRED
The Martini Republic notes that House candidates Massa and Walz blasted Rumsfeld.

FUNDRAISING ROUNDUP
Swing State Project looks at the final numbers

MOTIVATION
The Macalester College Dems carry a call for volunteers for Walz:

Make a difference
Tim Walz for U.S. Congress(MN-01) - http://www.timwalz.org/ -
The Walz campaign promises to be the sleeper campaign of the Congressional sweep in November. Walz, an energetic and engaging populist has been holding opponent Gil Gutknecht's feet to the fire every day. [more]

Former Walz student Matt Klaber, now a DFL state party director, submitted the item to the Mac Dems. Klaber was one of two students tossed from a 2004 Bush rally in Mankato; the incidence is widely cited as one of the factors that prompted Tim Walz to run for office. Lesson: don't get mad--organize!

We have a busy morning--more in the afternoon.

Wake them up before September ends: Free Press, Time, NPR cover MN-01; Strib cuts local angle

Yesterday, Tim Walz joined Don Fowler, co-chair of the DNC's Veterans and Military Families Council, and fellow Fighting Dem candidate Eric Massa in a conference call about Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's recent remarks about the war.

Walz's remarks have generated headlines, like this one in Salt Lake City's Deseret News:

"Democrats lament Legion 'rhetoric,' efforts to sell war"
Stephen Speckman

Democrats in other parts of the country have a response to what they call the "rhetoric" coming out of the American Legion's 88th annual national convention in Salt Lake City."It's simply trying to sell us a war," said Tim Walz, a Legion member who is running for Congress in Minnesota.

Walz joined New York congressional Democratic candidate Eric Massa and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler in a conference call Wednesday morning with media. Walz didn't say he was against the war but rather against failure.

"What we want to see is this thing fixed," he said. "It has gotten worse — it has not gotten better."

Walz said he was offended by comments made at the convention Tuesday by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who Walz said is trying to market a "failed policy."

Walz, Massa and Fowler took particular aim at the Bush administration's handling of veteran benefits.

Walz said four in 10 National Guard and reserve soldiers are losing income while deployed and that some are losing their homes as a result.

"Staying the course is not a strategy, it's a talking point," Massa said, referring to President Bush's words of late.

Massa called for a "sensible" foreign policy that in time will allow this country to focus on "critical" domestic issues, such as health care, jobs being lost to China and the national deficit.

Fowler, current chairman of the DNC's Veterans and Military Families Council, accused Bush of reducing veteran benefits by $2 billion over five years, causing the families of Iraq "warriors" to rely on food stamps.

Fowler also called for an exit plan in Iraq.

"All we get is rhetoric, no solutions," he said. "We cannot persist in this wrong-headed policy of stay the course."

Walz is also quoted in AP coverage of the reaction to Rumsfeld's speech by Anne Plummer Flaherty in the New York Sun, ABC News, the Houston Chronicle and a host of other media.

In a chance encounter earlier this week, we met a young member of the Minnesota National Guard who came back from Iraq in February; she had driven a truck through the IED-laced roads. She is having hassles with obtaining benefits, but was happy that she has the chance to vote for Walz, with whom she and several family members had served stateside.

Too bad she and her proud family can't read about her former command sargeant major's response to Rumsfeld in this morning's Star Tribune online version of the AP copy.

The Strib edited Walz's remarks out of the story in the online version. Walz was the only Minnesotan quoted in Flaherty's piece.

Perhaps she'll get a chance to pick up the Free Press in nearby Mankato.  Mark Fischenich reports in "Walz draws national attention":

MANKATO— The day started around sunrise with Tim Walz recording radio ads.

Then came the conference call with a handful of reporters from across the nation, providing the Democratic response to an Iraq speech made by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

After that came interviews with Time magazine and National Public Radio for upcoming stories about the Mankato teacher’s attempt to defeat six-term incumbent Congressman Gil Gutknecht.

Then came the late-morning speech to hundreds of Mankato teachers and some quick volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity workers in North Mankato in the afternoon.

It ended with him talking to Rochester residents about the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Wednesday evening.

And it wasn’t an unusually busy day at this point in the campaign, Walz said.

“It’s starting to ramp up to be like this,” he said.

The activity isn’t the only thing ramping up. So’s his optimism.

On the air
After months of working to raise campaign cash — and outraising Gutknecht in the first part of the year — Walz is ready to spend some of it. His first broadcast ads will begin Friday on radio stations in Mankato and several other cities in southern Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District.

“We think we’ve been winning the ground war,” the former Army National Guard command sergeant said of the grassroots campaigning of the past year. “So now we go to the air war.”

The first ad will focus on health care. Walz recorded others as well at the pre-7 a.m. session at a Mankato recording studio, to be aired later.

 

WAPO: Blasting Rumsfeld

The Washington Post has published a short article generated by this morning's press conference call.  While the focus in "Democratic Candidate Blasts Rumsfeld" is statements by fellow Fighting Dem Eric Massa, Tim Walz gets in a few licks of his own:

Walz, a Minnesota schoolteacher and veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard, said the Bush administration has no effective plan to secure the country.

"This thing has disintegrated," Walz said of Iraq. "On the macro level, there's an absolute failure."

The Army Times picks up the story here.

OLLIE OX UPDATE
The DNC has posted a sound file of Tim Walz's statement from the press conference call from which the WaPo and Army Times stories are taken, as well as releasing a transcript of the remarks (below the fold)

MN-01 End of August: Wednesday morning

FORUM DOWN BY THE TRACKS
This afternoon, Tim Walz will hold a one-hour public conversation about his meetings with DM & E President Kevin Schieffer, GOTRAC representatives and Mayo CEO glenn Forbes, according to a campaign media advisory.

Today's discussion will take place at the Dukart Residence, 106 14th Ave NE, Rochester, from  5:30-6:30 p.m.  The Dukart home is next to DM & E track.  The public and members of the press are welcome.   A Walz staff member will moderate the forum.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH
One staple DM& E/GOTRAC talking point has been that Rochester's objections to the proposed line improvements are the single impediment to the loan's approval.

The Associated Press looked west and discovered a slightly different story. Agri News carried its report:

The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad has been sending letters to landowners along new lines that the Sioux Falls-based railroad proposes through western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming.

But in some cases, the landowners aren't interested.

Smithwick rancher Dale Molitor says the railroad offered him $200 for access to his land for survey crews.

He threw the letter in the garbage.

Molitor and some other ranchers have been fighting the DM&E's plans for nine years.

Rancher Nancy Darnell of Newcastle, Wyo., said it's way too early to talk about land acquisition. The railroad is trying to rush people with the letters seeking access, she said.

Jaf Karim, a DM&E spokesman, said the railroad has good working relations with most of the landowners.

But Darnell, of the opposition group Midwest Coalition for Progress, said only about 16 of an estimated 120 landowners who would be affected are working with the railroad.

If the project is approved and financed, DM&E would have the power of eminent domain to condemn and acquire right of way -- in most cases a 100-foot strip -- from landowners along the route. [more]

NETROOTS
The Wapo's Dionne column which we cited yesterday turns up all over the national blogosphere, and with it, news of Gutknecht's flip-flopping on Iraq. Pick of the litter: The Carpetbagger Report's conclusion:

The Dems' long-time positions, consistently labeled "out of the mainstream," have not only been embraced by most of the public, they're winning over the GOP as well.

As it turns out, Rumsfeld's "blame America first" crowd includes most of America.

Rumsfeld's remarks were made at the national VFW convention.  President Bush will address the American Legion's national convention later this week.

This morning,  Don Fowler, co-chair of the DNC's Veterans and Military Families Council, will lead a conference call for the press;  Fighting Dems Eric Massa and Tim Walz will join him. My work schedule doesn't allow me to participate, but we'll see if a transcript will be made available.

Chris Boese's Weblog notes how YouTube videos have been used in Montana and MN-01 races. She picks up on the MooTube theme from the Fighting First.

Vox Verax bemoans the state of access to the news on the web in rural Minnesota. We at Bluestem Prairie hold a far different view of the opportunities for gleaning news and views in Minnesota's First. While subscription firewalls are something of a barrier at some newspapers, we are able to find an abundance of information about the MN-01 in small town papers, forums, and other blogs. 

Vox also misses out on some of the accessible dailies in central and northwestern Minnesota. Willmar's West Central Tribune comes to mind. There's some fine reporting going on there on state senate (Dean Johnson) and house races--the misuse of a nonprofit's publications by Republican Bonnie Wilhelm a case in point.

But then, we're not one to think that the old model of centralized, top-down mass communication for passive consumers is peachy  The internet was designed as a distributed communications network.  As Kid Oakland astutely pointed out, BSP is a connector blog, gathering information about the race from that web and trying to tell the story for a community of readers.

And let's face it, we at BSP love reading weekly papers like the Caledonia Argus.  A good sheepshead column is hard to find.

Much of the Minnesota netroots are focused on the primary battle in the Fifth. Start with minvolved, where Mr. Sponge is once more threatening change.

MyDD reports on the final figures for the pre-Labor Day fundraising push for ActBlue Netroots Candidates.  There's still nine weeks left to contribute to Tim Walz at ActBlue.  Chris Bowers thanks contributors:

I am frankly blown away by your dedication. Give yourselves a pat on the back, and find some way to recharge your batteries this weekend. Come Tuesday, it is a straight nine-week sprint to a Democratic Congress.

MN-01 Actblue Netroots Candidate Fundraising for Walz

As of 10:30 p.m. CST,  348 ActBlue Netroots contributors have given $7,972.76 to Tim Walz since early Thursday evening when he was first put on the list. The Pre-Labor Day push ends at midnight. Walz will stay on the list, of course, would be great to push that figure over $8000. 

Walz's opponent has started airing radio ads this week (more on the content later).  Help the Walz campaign make media buys of its own by contributing here.

OLLIE OX UPDATE: It's over $8000. Keep giving.

Reminder: Tim Walz on KTSP Radio

Tim Walz will be back at the State Fair today; he will be interviewed by KSTP radio between 4:30-5 p.m. Those who already have made their sojourn to the fairgrounds (and Fairphobes) can tune in at AM 1500 or listen online.

Like what you hear? Give a contribution to him at ActBlue.

Katrina Time: Gutknecht and the Gulf

The Wege swiped Krugman's column yesterday.  Here's a choice lead:

The Bush administration likes to talk about all the money it has allocated to the region, and it plans a public relations blitz to persuade America that it’s doing a heck of a job aiding Katrina’s victims. But as the Iraqis learned, allocating money and actually using it for reconstruction are two different things, and so far the administration has done almost nothing to make good on last year’s promises.

Krugman's linking of aid to Katrina and aid to Iraq set us wondering what self-proclaimed budget hawk Gil Gutknecht (R-Wobbly) said about Katrina aid last year.  Through the memory hole that is Lexis-Nexis, we came across "Hurricane Katrina; Footing The Bill; Bush says taxes won't be raised; He said Congress will have to reduce spending," in the September 17, 2005 Star Tribune. Staff writer Rob Hotakainen wrote:

As President Bush ruled out a tax increase, White House officials said Friday that the cost of rebuilding the Gulf Coast will add to the federal deficit.

And it quickly became evident that the president will have to convince skeptical members of Congress to cooperate. "You bet, it's going to cost money," he said at the White House. "But I'm confident we can handle it and I'm confident we can handle our other priorities. It's going to mean that we're going to have to make sure we cut unnecessary spending."

Facing a reconstruction bill that may top $200 billion, Bush said "it's going to cost whatever it costs."

The White House declined to say what programs might be cut to keep his promise to trim the deficit in half by 2009. And many members of Congress are wary.

"It is not my definition of compassion to simply write checks from the federal government and expect our children and grandchildren" to pay for it," said Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn.

He said that "real leaders would step up and say, 'Here are three ways we can help pay for it.'-"

And what three ways did Gutknecht come up with?

On Capitol Hill, Gutknecht suggested three ways to pay for the effort: delay the new Medicare prescription-drug program by one or two years, trim transportation spending and reduce the armed force in Iraq.

"If the president of Iraq is saying we can start drawing down troops from Iraq, then maybe we ought to start taking it seriously," Gutknecht said on his weekly radio show. "So there are a lot of things we could do in Washington to help pay for this and, frankly, I think we have a moral obligation to our kids to do this."

We know how well that draw down went, and how in June Gutknecht warned those wanting to withdraw troops from Iraq not to go wobbly. Until he went wobbly.

MN-01 seniors might consider how willing he was to delay their prescription program, flawed as that program is.

Those people concerned about the cost and risk of the proposed low-cost federal loan to DM & E could ask Gutknecht if he had it in mind when he talked about trimming transportation spending.

And a real leader might not chose to link a bill born out of the need to provide housing aid for Katrina victims to suppressing voter registration drives.

From the Comments: The one about how Gutknecht works with local officials

In yesterday morning's post, we noted the looming impact of federal legislation on property tax increases, linking to a Minnesota Monitor piece on the subject. Leigh Pomeroy reprinted an article from the Mankato Free Press that included this bit:

Rep. Gil Gutknecht’s communications director, Jon Yarian, said the Republican congressman has been working since January to connect local and federal officials to clear up confusion about the legislation’s local impact.

We were pretty busy yesterday and didn't have time to follow-up.  Luckily for us, Minnesota Central stopped by and made the catch in our comments:

RE : FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS HIT LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PROPERTY TAXES

The impact to Minnesota was known to Congressman Gutknecht before the final vote.The Senate had passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 but there were slight differences with the House version, so it had to go back to the House. Despite telling the voters in his eline, that he now understood how much of an impact this would be to Minnesota, he ended up not changing his vote.

MC provided a link to a Capitol Letters blog post from January. Capitol Letters is a journalist's blog hosted by the Rochester Post-Bulletin.

January 30, 2006
Gil comes to an "understanding"

U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht of Rochester says he now better understands the "severe effects" a $40 billion deficit reduction bill would have on social services, especially as they relate to the mentally ill and children in need of child protection services.

"Yesterday, I met with county officials," Gutknecht writes in his online newsletter on Friday. "After several weeks of talking past each other, I think I now understand the essence of the problem with the language in the reconciliation bill. It appears that it has particularly severe effects on the way we deliver social services in Minnesota."

It was the epiphany Olmsted County officials were hoping for. Whether it's too late is another question.

They have been warning about the consequences of the deficit reduction legislation for some months now. Designed to trim a bloated budget deficit, officials have warned that it could "cripple" services to people with mental illnesses, the elderly and disabled, and children in need of child protection services. Olmsted stands to lose anywhere from $2.6 million to $5.8 million in federal support.

Gutknecht's meeting with county officials last week did come with a condition. He would only meet with one representative from each county, and their staffs could not be present, says Amy Caucutt, a lobbyist for Olmsted County.

Caucutt says that Minnesota belongs to a small group of states - 12 in all - that directly receive their funding from the federal government. The House is scheduled to vote on the reconciliation bill on Wednesday.

That's the ticket, Gil. 

And making the connection?

Four bloggers are better than one. Not "repetition," but exploration and analysis.

 

Minnesota Central: One question, but it's a very good question

Minnesota Central asks one very good question:

DM&E currently is one of 23 railroads operating in Minnesota over 473 miles of track out of 4,457 total miles.

So, here is the question, does it make sense for all the money go to one railroad ?

Read MC's exploration of the answer here.

Monday morning around the First

TURN UP YOUR RADIO! RADIO!
Tim Walz will be back at the State Fair on Tuesday, when he will be interviewed by KSTP radio between 4:30-5 p.m. Those who already have made their sojourn to the fairgrounds (and Fairphobes) can tune in at AM 1500 or listen online.

FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS HIT LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PROPERTY TAXES
Over at the Mn Monitor, Leigh Pomeroy takes a look at how "last year's so-called Budget Reconciliation Act and the previous year's cleverly titled Deficit Reduction Act shift mandated health care and social services costs to county governments," in a close reading of a Mankato Free Press article.

From the Mankato Free Press:

MANKATO — Minnesota’s senators are working, their spokespeople say, to urge the federal government to reconsider a funding change that Blue Earth County officials say could trigger a 9.5 increase to next year’s property tax levy.

The precise funding implications of last year’s Budget Reconciliation Act aren’t yet clear, but County Administrator Dennis McCoy says that about three-fourths of the levy increase could be caused by state and federal cutbacks.
. . .

Much of the projected federal shortfall comes as a result of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Among other changes, it redefines what counties can spend on targeted case management, which provides free case workers to the mentally ill.

McCoy blames that act with reducing human services spending on preventative social work by about $664,000.

Nicollet County’s administrator, Robert Podhradsky, said his county could stand to lose $420,000, a large chunk of his $6 million social services budget. And dropping those services isn’t seen as a viable option in either county. [read more]

It's likely that the federal legislation will cause property taxes to rise, though the precise impact has yet to be known.

GOVERNMENT CENTER BLOG: THE POST-BULLETIN CENTER SAID "BUTTHEADS"!
Even Wonkette missed this fleeting headline from a Rochester Post-Bulletin (saved in screenshot). The P-B Government Center blogger's got the catch.

BUT SERIOUSLY: DM & E MEETING AUDIOS
The Government Center has audio of Friday's public meeting, as well as low-fi recordings of other Train Tracks.  Government Center blogger Jeff Pieters also has a dream.  GC is a great local journalist's blog--with top notch photo editing.

MORE ON JAFAR KARIM
MPR mentioned yesterday that the DM & E had hired former Thune aid Jafar Karim as its public relations director. 

Karim, who was born and raised in Pierre, South Dakota, has quite an interesting political background, including serving as "national coalitions director"  for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign. Karim also  hadserved  as Director of the South Dakato's Governor's Office of Economic Development, beginning in early 2005.

We hope he has better luck receiving emails intended for him with this public relations campaign than he did during a political campaign in 2004.  We hate it when this sort of thing happens.

The political culture of revolving positions as campaign operatives, congressional staffers, lobbyists, flacks, and in Thune's case--elected officials--can be quite dizzying.

It's going to be an interesting fall.

 

DM & E Sidenote: U.S. rails seek ways to haul more Wyoming coal

One of the most heated local issues in the MN-01 congressional battle concerns the  DM & E railroad's request for an enormous federal government loan to improve its existing lines and lay new track into Wyoming's coal fields.

Reuters reporter Nick Carey looks at the shipping bottleneck in the Powder River Basin's coal country. DM & E doesn't turn up in U.S. rails seek ways to haul more Wyoming coal, a story which touches on the improvements the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern railroads are making to their tracks.

Carey's article concludes:

"We are encouraged by how the railroads have performed and behaved," said John Caldwell, chief investment strategist at McDonald Financial Group, which manages assets of $30 billion, holds Peabody stock and has owned Union Pacific shares.

Any new track is expensive and must last decades, he said, so railroads need to plan carefully for future demand.

"If coal demand falls in an economic slowdown," he said, "the railroads do not want to be left holding the bag."

Carey's article makes no mention of federal government loans being used to finance the two railroads' expansion.

Resource: Tim Walz's DM & E white paper.

Star Tribune: Minnesota in line for more clout in Democratic House

The Star Tribune just posted "Minnesota in line for more clout in Democratic House." The title is self-explanatory.  We like what we read:

In a report earlier this month, Charlie Cook, of the Cook Political Report, said that unless something dramatic happens before Nov. 7, Democrats will take control of the House and the chances that they'll seize the Senate are rising toward 50-50. To do it, they need a net gain of 15 seats in the House and six in the Senate. Democrats believe they've got a shot at picking up two Republican-held House seats in Minnesota: Mark Kennedy's open seat in the Sixth District and Gil Gutknecht's seat in the First.

Perhaps this possibility is what had Gil Gutknecht close a debate about farm policy with an evocation of September 11.  The article goes on

Former Republican Rep. Vin Weber, a GOP strategist with ties to the White House, said Cook's analysis "is pretty close to right." But he said that the fall campaigns will be more important than usual and that Republicans can change the dynamics if they convince voters they'd do a better job handling the war against terrorism.

An daunting task when your opponent is Command Sergeant Major Walz (ret.).

Lazy Sunday Afternoon Relish

The prairie takes a deep breath today, tranquil and expectant, after Thursday's storms.

The thicket plums have fallen, and fox grapes hang purple on the vines. In the woodlots, Jack-in-the Pulpit's red fruit flashes amid the worn August green.

We've picked a few bright clusters this afternoon, knowing that the rush of harvest and campaign will soon take away our lazy afternoons.

MPR reports on the war of words in Rochester over the DM & E.   The article notes DM & E President Kevin Schieffer's visit to Rochester:

On the day Schieffer spoke on KROC he also spoke to the Downtown Rotary Club's luncheon. On Friday he spoke at a public hearing with U-S Representative Gil Gutknecht, Senator Mark Dayton and Department of Transportation Undersecretary Jeff Shane. A few hours later he met with democratic congressional candidate Tim Walz.

Members of GOTRAC the pro-expansion coalition were also present. GoTRAC represents the interests of farming groups, ethanol producers and electricity coops who see an improved rail line as vital to their business interests. Schieffer says he's interested in public discourse.

"And by debate I don't mean a big brawl match," he says. "I think a public decent honest public discourse lay out the issues there are so many misperceptions probably on both sides."

But Schieffer stresses by public discourse he means holding public discussions with the Rochester Coalition. No other negotiation with the 55 other cities along the line have been public. If Schieffer's recent statements are any indication, no information about D M and E's financial status or hauling contracts will be disclosed.

Then, as wonderful a piece of understatement as we've seen in a blue moon:

D M and E recently hired Jafar Karim as its public relations director. He's the former legislative director of South Dakota's U-S Senator John Thune. Thune and Schieffer are long-time friends.

Long-time friends?  That's certainly enlightening, compared to this reportage from the New York Times concerning the relationship between Thune and Schieffer.

NEXT DEBATE: ROCHESTER, SEPTEMBER 11
September 11, 2006 marks the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.

On September 11, Tim Walz and Gil Gutknecht will be debating in a luncheon event at the Rochester Marriott that lasts from 11:30 to 1:30.  Sponsored by the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, the candidate forum begins at 12:15.

The cost--$15 for Chamber members and $30 for all others--includes lunch. Those interested may register themselves and up to nine others here.

While the stated focus for the forum is matters of interest to the business community, it's hard to imagine that the candidates will forget what day it is. Already, Gil Gutknecht asked his audience if they remembered what happened on September 11, 2001--and the appeal came in his closing remarks during the agriculture debate at the Steele County Free Fair.

As for Walz, it's difficult to imagine that he could forget September 11.  As a high school geography teacher, he was sought out by student reporters in those difficult days and months following the attacks. As a national guardsman, he served in Europe supporting American troops in Afghanistan --while his wife coped with single parenthood for his young daughter.

Just as with the Owatonna debate, the Rochester forum should should prove a must-see event for those able to attend. Here's hoping the Walz campaign will again make YouTube videos available for those who can't take time off to be there.

NETROOTS
Evil Bobby notes that "The Gloves Are Off" and provides advice for those political activists beset by dirty tricks.

EB doesn't bring it up, but campaigns and county party units should consider having plans in place for tomfoolery, especially since the Minnesota state statute requiring disclaimers on political campaign material was struck down earlier this year as unconstitutional by an appeals court. While this ruling applies to only state races, since federal races operate under the FEC's rules,  we anticipate broad-based anonymous shenanigans.

DFLers at the State Fair observed:

Yesterday, retired Command Sgt. Major Tim Walz blew the crowd away in typical fashion with his optimistic speech articulating his vision for southern Minnesota.

One crowd member commented about Tim Walz's performance over at MnPublius:

Grace Kelly  Says:

I was deeply impressed by Tim Walz's speech at the DFL fair booth yesterday. I was on the edges, where people were asking where he was from. They were deeply disappointed when they could not vote for him. Maybe someone could post a video of one of his speeches, because he connects with me and everyone in the audience.

Here's hoping the Walz campaign shot some footage to post on YouTube. 

Leigh Pomeroy looks at the cost of the war to Minnesota's taxpayer's--district by district--at the Minnesota Monitor.

Kid Oakland posts the k/o list; BSP and MnPublius are there for Minnesota. The k/o list is 

a tool for you to use to read about some of the close races in this country where Democrats are taking GOP seats back from Republicans

The Fighting First is included because Tim Walz is a "transformational candidate." k/o writes of:

what Lynn Allen calls transformational candidates; this list leans towards what I hope is a sweet spot in the 2006 election cycle, races where, with a bit more support and effort from netroots bloggers and grassroots activists, Democrats might just well win.

For other blogs covering the prairie fire in MN-01, check out our blogroll.

ACTBLUE NETROOTS FUNDRAISING
As of 6:04 6:39 p.m., 129 131contributors had given $3935.09 $4000.09 to Tim Walz's campaign at the ActBlue Netroots Candidates page.  Please give what you can.                                                     

ActBlue Netroots Update

What has being named an ActBlue Netroots Candidate meant for Tim Walz's campaign? 

As of noon today, $3820.08 from 123 contributors. Yes, he's at the bottom of the list, but that's because he was added last.

That may not seem like a lot, but those 123 contributions were made since early Thursday evening.

Can we push that figure to $5000 by midnight?

One strategy would be to follow minvolved's lead by implementing the 10 X 10 program.  Give at least $10, then email 10 friends with an appeal to give $10 and contact 10 . . .Contribute here.

For those readers coming to the Bluestem Prairie from ActBlue, thank you.