We were listening to Karl Rove on MPR, but it was kinda dull, so we vacuumed the cat hair out of our carpets instead. The Republican woman who asked--and was ruled out of order--as to why Rove was a guest and Ron Paul had to speak outside has our sympathy.
Here are a few links of interest. We're going out to enjoy the rest of the day gardening and birding, but will have more reflections on First District politics later in the evening.
Our friend Blueman notes Walz Big Lead Over Davis and Day. He concludes:
In my humble opinion, it's because Tim Walz has done an outstanding job representing the First Congressional District in Washington. His constituent outreach has been unmatched!
The news is getting around today. The Swing State Project reports MN-01: Walz Destroying GOP Competition in New Poll at MnPublius's hat tip. However, we want to caution readers to take the early poll with a grain of a salt.
A Walz campaign staffer told us yesterday that they're not resting until after November's general election, which will be the only poll that counts.
The Blueman mentions the work Walz is doing for the district. One thing that Army vet Kimball has noticed is Walz's crusades for veterans. Letter writer Robert Emary, a Vietnam vet, says in Walz right to support new GI bill:
Rep. Tim Walz recently voted to support an emergency spending bill to provide funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This bill included a historic expansion of the GI Bill.
Walz said, “The legislation will give our returning troops the tools they need to continue their success in their civilian lives, will make military service more attractive and will pay future dividends as it strengthens our sagging economy. I think it is fitting that this restoration of GI Bill benefits is included in a supplemental war spending bill because we often forget that caring for our soldiers and veterans after they return from the battlefield is a real, measurable cost of war.”
Commonly called the “21st Century GI Bill,” this bill will offer the 1.7 million brave men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan educational benefits on par with those provided to veterans of the World War II era. Qualified returning service members who have served three years on active duty will receive benefits to cover the costs of a four-year education up to the level of the most expensive in-state public school, along with a stipend for housing, books and other expenses. Education benefits would be available to troops who have served at least three months of active service since Sept. 11, 2001, including members of the National Guard and Reserve. Right now, veterans’ education benefits cover only about 60 percent of the cost of a public-school education. . . .
Emary asks that reader re-elect Walz.
The Republican primary continues to attract more headlines than the endorsed candidate's appearance at the Rochester convention. The latest install was KAAL-TV's video segment Dick Day Vs Brian Davis. The video clip features a lot of Day speaking. Day even shows up in this Post Bulletin article, Back-to-back political conventions mean money for Rochester.
We haven't listened to any of yesterday's MPR coverage, but in a comment on an early afternoon post yesterday, our friend McPherson Hall reports that he had heard this:
Davis said that until the July filing time, there is no primary challenger (since you cannot file until July) and that Gutknecht regularly had primary challengers. Davis tried to sound authoritative but came across as arrogant.
Now, Minnesota Central is a deeply polite blog, and there's always the possibility he misheard what Davis said, but "arrogant" isn't the word we'd use to describe that tortured spin about the primary.
If the July filing is the only measure by which a primary challenge can be determined, one can reasonably take the argument to its logical conclusion, since that's when candidates file for the general election as well. Following that way of thinking: neither Walz nor Davis has filed, either, and so there's no contest whatsoever until the July filings. We'll stick to news reports about the campaign, as well as FEC reports, all of which indicate both a primary and a general will take place.
As far as Gil Gutknecht "regularly" facing primary challengers, that's a good one. Records at the Secretary of State's office indicate that Gutknecht faced a primary challenge in 2006. Those results only go back to 2000, but they do show that Gutknecht was unopposed in 2000, 2002 and 2004.
Dipping into Lexis-Nexis, we find that Gutknecht was challenged in the primary for the open seat in 1994, but faced no primary challenge in 1996 or 1998. In seven congressional bids, Gutknecht faced two primary challenges that were 14 years apart--hardly regular primary challenges. Moreover, Greg Mikkelson, Gutknecht's challenger in 2006, was a bit of a gadfly, having run under the Green and Independent banner in the two prior elections
Davis may be spinning the far more serious primary bid Day poses, but he's not thinking clearly about Southern Minnesota's history, if our commenter heard him right.
Quick note from Fri's MPR interview with Davis. G. Eichton(?) asked Davis what separates him from Day. Davis: Day believes in alt. fuel mandates, I don't. Eichton asked, what will be the No. 1 issue in Nov. Davis: gas prices. Davis then went on to explain that he was a mechanical eng. for nuclear power plants. Can anyone explain what this means? Do they design pipe sizes, concrete thicknesses, duct sizes or what?
Ollie Ox: He worked for an engineering firm for one year after his undergraduate education and before he went off to MIT in 1983. That was 25 years ago, and doesn't qualify him as an energy policy expert by any means.
It's not quite as bad as his statement that shadowing doctors at VA hospitals during a clinical rotation in medical school gives him insight in public service but it's pretty close.
We changed a tire once, so that must make us an auto mechanic.
Posted by: thelogicfreegop | May 31, 2008 at 08:10 PM