We always like to read headlines like this: "Democrats are poised to capture U.S. House," on a column by Steven Thomma. Here's the lead:
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Republicans are in danger of losing control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 7, their brief September hopes for a surge of momentum burst by a barrage of bad news.
Republicans are on the defensive over Iraq, the Mark Foley House page scandal and nationwide angst about the country's direction, according to reports from key House races and interviews with independent analysts in Washington and battleground districts.
The Walz-Gutknecht contest shows up in the article's snapshots of close races.
Unfortunately, as is so often the case with the Strib's reporting on the race in the First, reporter Kevin Diaz centers his reportage on the conventional wisdom about the incumbent, rather than taking a serious look at the race. Only one paragraph is given to discussing Walz. Pretty lazy:
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht rode into the House on the anti-Democrat tidal wave of 1994. Now he's hoping a similar wave against his party doesn't wash him back out.
Facing Gutknecht is Democrat Tim Walz, one of nearly a dozen veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who are trying to win seats in Congress this year.
In a southern Minnesota district known for its Jesse Ventura-style independence, Gutknecht doesn't have to stretch far to put daylight between himself and Bush.
He's made a mark nationally as an advocate of importing prescription drugs from Canada, which the Bush administration opposes. Normally an advocate of free trade, Gutknecht voted against the Central America Free Trade Agreement, fearing it would hurt his district's sugar beet farmers.
Gutknecht became a lightning rod of controversy this summer when he returned from Iraq and suggested that things there were getting worse. His proposal for a limited withdrawal of 25,000 U.S. troops, a mere month after accusing war critics of going "wobbly," turned him into a national poster child for Republicans losing heart over the war.
Walz, who spent 24 years in the National Guard, served in Italy in support of the Afghan campaign. While he's criticized the war, he doesn't favor the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Joseph Kunkel, a political science professor at the Minnesota State University at Mankato, said: "I think Gutknecht is taking Walz seriously, and if he doesn't, he could become the victim of a tsunami."
-Kevin Diaz
This isn't the first time Diaz gave Gil Gutknecht a big sloppy. The City Pages' Britt Robson spanked Diaz and Anthony Lonetree for their puff piece on Gutknecht back in August. At least this time Diaz found one analyst who'd put his name on his opinion.
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