Both Outstate Politics and MnPublius have looked at a swipe GOP hopeful Tim Benoit took at DFL-endorsed SD18 candidate Hal Kimball. Eric Austin and Jeff Rosenberg ask that Mr. Benoit fill in the details about why Mr. Kimball is "a dangerous guy."
I live in Senate District 18 and Hal Kimball is a friend, so I was puzzled by the Hutchinson Republican's remark. Hal looked more lucky than dangerous at his 2008 wedding to the incomparable Dori Erickson, and he's never provoked calls to the local authorities at any of the other gatherings where our paths have crossed. Mostly, he's a regular guy, into the Vikes and his golf game.
His political beliefs? An editorial in the same issue of the McLeod County Chronicle notes:
He portrays himself as a fiscally conservative DFLer, which is wise since Senate District 18 is pretty conservative, and quite Republican. He admires Dille's approach to legislating. Kimball provided ample evidence of that admiration last year when he defended Sen. Dille in a letter to the same Glencoe paper, Dille works so hard to find the middle ground, build consensus:
Although the letter that followed my name in the '06 race differed from Senator Dille, I have grown to respect him in a manner most political opponents never reach.
Over the past few years, I have met with Senator Dille on numerous occasions, talking mostly about higher education and veterans issues, specifically related towards the use of depleted uranium munitions and our servicemen and women's exposure. It's been a pleasure working with him on these and other issues.
What I find so refreshing about Senator Dille is that he works so hard to find common ground and build consensus, while maintaining principles in which he believes in. . . .
Benoit clearly disagrees with this approach. In an interview with the Hutchinson Leader in January, he said
:. . . “Other people in the race talk about compromising across the aisle,” Benoit said. “Boy, every time you compromise, the taxpayer loses.”
Benoit is among four area Republicans who’ve formally or informally announced they’re seeking the GOP endorsement. Democrat Hal Kimball is also running for the seat currently held by Republican Steve Dille, who isn’t running for re-election.
Dille often prided himself on reaching bipartisan agreements. “I would be a little less likely to do that,” Benoit said. “Not that what (Dille) did was bad, but the winds of change are starting to blow and we’re not getting a good legislative product anymore when we compromise.” . . .
The editor of the McLeod County Chronicle reflected on the SD18 GOP endorsement struggle in What's changed is the definition of a Republican; Our view: Not appealing to GOP moderates could be a mistake this election season
: . . .Dille has never lost an election as a state legislator, so why some members of the county GOP hierarchy wanted to remove him is baffling. Dille was an automatic Republican seat in the House and later the Senate.
Dille's sin, in some conservatives' minds, was his willingness to work with both sides of the aisle at the State Capitol. Apparently that is considered fraternizing with the enemy nowadays. In the old days that was called finding a solution. . . .
. . .Wilson, for example, likes Dille's approach to finding middle ground and a solution. The others follow the obstructionist approach and prefer gridlock in a DFL-dominated Legislature no matter how long it takes. . . .Wilson offers an alternative to the far-right wing that has been pushing the party farther to the right for years.
If the GOP plans to make gains, it needs to be more inclusive not more exclusive, as is the case now. They need moderate Republicans.Some old style Republicans do not even recognize their party anymore because of its "my-way-or-the-highway" approach to dissent within the ranks. Dille is an example of what can happen. . . .
I'm hearing this from Republican friends in this area who could be characterized as Main Street conservatives, mostly small business owners and local officials who were very happy with legislators like Dille and former state Rep Bob Ness, who now works part-time in Blue Dog DFL Congressman Collin Peterson's Willmar office.
Glencoe Mayor Randy Wilson is a Republican in the Dille mode, but his hesitation to agree to abide by March endorsement is likely to cost him support. He sought the Republican endorsement for the HD18A open seat in 2006, but lost it to the more conservative GOP party activist Ron Shimanski.
So what are Senate District 18's three "My Way or the Highway" Republicans proposing?
The Uptake has posted a three-part set of YouTube clips of a February forum sponsored by local conservative group, CampAmerica Grassroots, while local papers have covered the endorsement contest. Media coverage of SD 18 includes two newspaper groups that share ownership, as well as several independent papers; those mostly actively covering the open seat online include the Herald-Journal --Enterprise-Dispatch Group, the Hutchinson Leader and the McLeod County Chronicle.
First, a look at the Grassroots Forum. Here's part 1; readers can click through to view the other two linked videos.
Tim Benoit's statement opens the clip (I saw a brief ad before the actual event started); he talks about "dangerous" people in the legislature. After complaining about those who graduate from college and serve as LAs and interns before being elected to the legislature, and those Senators and Represnetatives who only list "legislator" as their occupation, Benoit includes the "dangerous" description in the segment that begins at 4:42:
. . .Two of these are community organizers or community activists, Frank Horstein and Shelley Madore, both of the Twin Cities. There are four others who are lobbyists or non-profits. These are dangerous people who are driven by power and will stop at nothing to remake our state into a bastion of socialism. They chair and serve on committees that can make or break us economically. This is the kind of information that needs to be made available to the public, to the voters so they too can make informed choices at the ballot box.
Benoit doesn't seem to have noticed that Shelly Madore was defeated by Tara Mack in 2008. Mack's occupation is listed as "Legislator" on her official House page. According to the local ECM newspaper, Mack was 24-year-old "legislative assistant for the Minnesota House of Representatives" when she announced her bid for the legislature. While Madore became an activist when she learned her two children were diagnosed with disabilities, she worked in marketing and business management for 15 years.
She's a peculiar choice for Benoit to use in a stump speech to illustrate the notion of those who go straight from college to serving in the House with only a pit stop as a Legislative Assistant. Madore looks nothing like Tara Mack, so I don't understand his confusion.
The full clip:
Benoit told the Hutchinson Leader that he agrees with the ideas of the Constitution Party:
Benoit is glad to see the Republican Party moving to the right. He attended Meeker County Constitution Party meetings several years ago and loved what he saw. “There was nothing at those meetings that I disagreed with,” Benoit said.
Benoit formerly lived in Dassel, where he served on the school board and city council, according to the Herald-Journal newspaper group. His linked-in profile provides additional background. He does not appear to have a web site or social media presence.
Thought to be the local candidate favored by Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, Cokato Township board member Dean Mahlstedt keeps a campaign website, a twitter presence, and a Facebook page. Unlike Benoit, Mahlstedt is willing to criticize Republicans serving SD18 in the state legislature. Yesterday, he tweeted:
Check this video out -- Senator Hann applauds Responsible Bonding Bill http://youtu.be/0cwCrSQtbUU. Out of money, spend anyway.
MN Budget emergency and Senator Hann says good enough! Business as usual. We can do better than this everyone. Are you with me?
Hann blames democrats for the spending and yet in 18B our very own Republicans put a hockey arena in the negotiations. Blame rarely works.
Mahlstedt presumably means this bill sponsored by Rep Urdahl in the House and the companion bill Dille introduced in the state Senate. However, the Hann YouTube ( "Senator Hann applauds Responsible Bonding Bill". produced by the Republican Senate caucus) Mahlstedt references in the series of tweets addresses the bonding bill Governor Pawlenty signed in 2008.
Perhaps it doesn't matter that the candidate mixes legislation from 2008 and 2010; after all, Mahlstedt stresses that he is the sort to stand on principles.
After gaining office in a special election on December 30, 2003, former State Representative Scott Newman was relected in 2004 to serve one full term until retiring from the house to run for judge against a Pawlenty appointee in McLeod County. While he was endorsed by the local Republican party, Newman lost the November 2006 contest for judge. Newman has a campaign website, though it's just one page. Local scuttlebutt is that some Republicans fear that Newman will use the state senate seat to pursue his ambition to become a judge.
Like Benoit and Mahlstedt, Newman fears having Democrats in power, telling the Hutchinson Leader
: . . . He’s returning to politics in part, he said, “because the next two election cycles are going to be key moments in history.”
“We’re either going to become a European socialist style country or we’re not,” he said. . . .
One additional source for looking at the Republican contenders' ideas is Minnesota Patriots a blog by Ford Peterson, a Republican delegate from Dassel. Peterson posed ten questions to the candidates and has posted their responses. Dassel Enterprise Dispatch Editor Lynda Jensen looks at the questions in a post at the paper's blog, Questions, answers from District 18 Republicans. MnPublius readers are already drawing from this series of documents and posting excerpts in the comment section.
I live in an interesting district, in interesting times.
Photo: "Dangerous" Hal Kimball, with his wife Dori, on their scary honeymoon.
Mr. Benoit could use a teleprompter.
Posted by: charlieq | Mar 05, 2010 at 12:03 AM