The center could not hold the RPM: a tale of two districts
Brian Davis has touted free trade in his campaign; thus we were curious what the actual question about "unfair" trade with China was at this Republican event described by the New Ulm Journal:
Congressional candidate Brian Davis of Rochester, speaking to the IRs, said the main issue in his Congressional election is high energy costs.
Davis talked about illegal immigration and offshore drilling.
"I support a border fence, which was authorized by Congress but has been undermined by some politicians," said Davis.
Regarding offshore drilling, Davis said there hasn't been a major oil spill in America in 40 years.
A Republican supporter complained of an unfair trade policy with China.
Davis agreed.
"If we don't do something about it, we'll become a society of service people supported by Chinese money," added Davis. . . .
It's also odd that the newspaper calls those at the gathering "IRs," since the Independent Republican label has gone the way of the cassette tape--and moderates in the RPM. From Wikipedia:
The Independent-Republican Party (I-R) was the name used for the party from November 15, 1975 until September 23, 1995.. The party added "Independent" to its name after the Watergate affair in an attempt to distance itself from the national party. During most of the 1970s and into the early 1980s more moderate leadership prevailed within the party, but the party gradually grew more conservative. Several more moderate Republican candidates and officeholders have now left the party (including former governor Arne Carlson and former U.S. Senator David Durenberger), with some of them moving to the Independence Party of Minnesota, which considers itself a centrist party.
According to the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board, the name of the Brown County Republican BPOU is the Brown County RPM.
The center could not hold for Minnesota's Republicans and the name was abandoned along with moderation. Davis's campaign, given the candidate's extremist positions, is another symptom of the party's rightward drift, in that both Randy Demmer and Dick Day have been scolded for not being platform-pure enough for the activist base.
Attacks on Walz tend to focus on attacks of "liberalism" itself, despite Walz's being ranked as a centrist by the National Journal. Walz has tried to work across the aisle, and favors a practical, inclusive approach to solving policy issues.
His own energy proposal, H.R. 6709, for example, enjoys the support of such unlikely allies as the National Association of Manufacturers and The U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In the state, the bill is supported by the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, widely perceived as the more politically conservative of the state's two general membership farm groups. (Walz's attackers can't even bring themselves to mention the legislation, as this letter from a conservative activist in today's Mankato Free Press illustrates).
Another instance of this drift can be found in the race for the open seat in Minnesota's Third, being vacated by moderate Republican congressman Jim Ramsted. The Third Congressional District RPM nominated Erik Paulsen, a far more conservative man, to replace him. The DFL state party has posted a good summary of Paulsen's conservative legislative record here.
Today is the Blog Day for Ashwin Madia, the Iraq War Marine veteran chosen by Third District DFLers to compete for the moderate suburban swing district. We at BSP are working with other progressive bloggers to help Madia raise money on the final day of the pre-primary FEC fundraising period. We don't have much more to add about this fine candidate than what has been said over at MnPublius in Blog Day for Ashwin Madia, at MNCR in Blog Day for Ashwin Madia, by Blue Man Hal in Blog for Madia Day, Jeff at TCDL in Help Madia fight back! The Big E has more on what the young Marine vet faces in Republicans push polling smears against Ashwin Madia. Readers can use the box below to help his campaign out.
Congressman Walz, too, faces an opponent who (along with his supporters) is willing to misinform the public about himself and issues, while distorting the DFL incumbent representative's record and positions. The GOP wants to retake Southern Minnesota though it has drifted away from the district's independent streak. Give today to Congressman Walz's re-election campaign committee by clicking through here.
And yeah, we're looking forward to Walz and whomever wins the Republican primary (Davis or Day) talk about China policy in upcoming forums.
Comments