Self-confessed Wikipedia editor Bryan Anderson, who fell on his sword for his boss in response to an editorial in the Winona Daily News several weeks ago, now claims that Tim Walz has no immigration plan. From the front page of Gutknecht's campaign website:
Rochester, Minn. - DFL candidate for Congress Tim Walz introduced himself to First District voters by running negative television ads against Congressman Gil Gutknecht. But Walz has failed to tell First District voters where he stands on key issues such as immigration reform.
"Tim Walz said building a fence at the U.S.-Mexico border was a 'waste of money,' but, as is typical for Mr. Walz, offered no solutions," said Gutknecht for Congress campaign spokesman Bryan Anderson. "First District voters want to know: if he opposes the U.S. House immigration reform bill to beef up border security, does he support the U.S. Senate version?"
We think that Mr. Anderson's skills as an attack dog rival his editing skills. Anderson obviously hasn't visited Tim Walz's issues page, where there's been a four-page white paper on immigration posted for several months. Perhaps the Gutknecht campaign might consider reading it and responding to the details.
Even the immigration "reform" folks in Hanska (who've endorsed Gutknecht) link to it, though they're challenged by details like the correct spelling of Walz's last name.
Funny, but there's nothing about immigration on Gutknecht's campaign web site's issues page yet. (Yes, we made screenshots in case anything changes over there).
This looks like an attempt to change the subject once again. Agriculture was supposed to be Gil Gutknecht's policy strength, but Farmfest and the Steele County Fair debate erased that notion. We're guessing the Iraq flip-flop thingie, visits by Gingrich and Hoekstra, and the DM & E hearings didn't work so well for Gutknecht either, so he's back to talking about immigration.
According to Gutknecht in March and April, people in his district were only concerned about immigration, though there's been some dispute about why immigration came forward as an issue in the First.
Just how negative are the Walz ads? Watch them yourself and decide. The first draws a clear distinction between the candidates. The second? Let's make it easy:
OLLIE OX UPDATE: Paul Schmelzer of the Minnesota Monitor reviews of "Every Day Heroes." A solid review, with one problem: it wasn't the conservative National Review that commented on the imagery, but the National Journal.
OLLIE OX UPDATE II (SUNDAY): It looks as if Gutknecht's spokesman is simply mimicking a prepared script on fall elections, to judge from this AP article in today's PiPress:
Maneuvering toward a pre-election showdown on immigration, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Sunday said he would seek passage of legislation to secure the borders and predicted Democrats would resist.
"Right now I got a feeling the Democrats may obstruct it," said Frist, R-Tenn.
The bill is all that is left of a comprehensive immigration proposal generally backed by President Bush that included provisions for a guest worker program and ways for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to work toward legal status and eventual citizenship.
Frist led a bipartisan effort to pass that measure this year, but House Republicans opposed it as too lenient on immigrants in the country illegally.
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, accused Frist of playing politics by seeking to blame Democrats. Frist's move is an attempt to cover up his failure to push through more comprehensive changes, Manley said.
"The Senate spent almost a month debating and then passing tough and smart immigration reform that included border security, but Republican obstructionism has prevented us from completing that bill," Manley said in a statement.
In December, the House passed legislation that concentrated on border security and enforcement of laws banning employment of undocumented workers; the Senate in May then passed its broader bill. Since then, there's been no progress in efforts to reconcile the two bills.
With no prospects this year for passing broader immigration changes, House GOP leaders said taking action to seal the border was a matter of urgency. Some GOP lawmakers including Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., however, have said they're not sure immigration could be addressed "on a piecemeal basis."
Frist said he is willing to push ahead with a narrower bill favored by House Republicans that would require the building of a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border at a cost of billions of dollars. Even so, action may not be possible before the November elections, he said, blaming Democrats. . . .
War? What war? Deficit?
