Legend has it that when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, the band played "The World Turned Upside Down." Surely Gil Gutknecht, a history buff, must pause when he reads the headline at MSNBC: Election world turned on its head in Minnesota.
The head turner? Tim Walz.
It's a fairly long story, told from Gutknecht's point of view, so we'll just give readers the highlights:
ROCHESTER, Minn. - The first place to see the electoral impact of Sen. John Kerry’s remarks about education and Iraq is here in Minnesota.
Kerry may have benefited Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht, who is in a tense battle with Democratic challenger Tim Walz. Kerry had been scheduled to appear at a rally for Walz in Mankato, Minn., on Wednesday.
But the Walz campaign announced Tuesday night that Kerry had cancelled his Mankato appearance.
The rally will go on.
In 2004, Gutknecht, who represents the First Congressional District, which stretches across southern Minnesota, won re-election with a fat margin of 78,000 votes.
But now he is in an unexpectedly tough battle for survival with Walz. Before the Kerry furor exploded Tuesday, we asked Gutknecht if he wondered how he could be in such a struggle for another term.
“Yeah, in a way I do,” Gutknecht replied as he began his campaigning Monday morning. “I sort of say, ‘Gee whiz, I’ve done a good job, I’ve done what people wanted me to do. People like me, and why am I in this tough race this year?’” But, he added philosophically, “You know, life is what it is.”
Gutknecht said, “I’d say it is probably a three- or four-point race. And there are still more undecided than I’d like out there.”
[snip]
But Democrats in the district are showing enthusiasm: a rally in Rochester, Minn., the district’s biggest city, on Monday night drew about 3,000 fired-up loyalists, partly attracted by the guest star, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and by Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar.
Walz has capitalized on the opposition in Rochester to a project by the DM&E Railroad that would transport coal from Wyoming, along tracks that run through the city.
“The congressman was asleep at the switch and is unwilling to admit that this is the wrong way for government to work,” said Walz, referring to Gutknecht’s vote for a bill that included a federal loan to the railroad to rebuild and add track.
“He will lose over that issue,” predicted Walz. “It brought home to roost how broken the Congress is, how it is being done behind closed doors with lobbyists writing the bills.”
Gutknecht campaign spokesman Bryan Anderson said it was “problematic” that the DM&E Railroad loan provision “was placed in the transportation spending bill late at night without a lot of members knowing about it.” Gutknecht was one who didn’t know about it.
But Anderson said Gutknecht has been meeting with all sides in the controversy to seek a solution, rather than simply railing against the project.
OLLIE OX UPDATE:
MANKATO FREE PRESS--MORE ON KERRY CANCELLING
The Mankato Free Press fills in some blanks:
The dueling rallies scheduled for Mankato today on behalf of Republican congressman Gil Gutknecht and Democratic challenger Tim Walz lost some of their pizzaz Tuesday night when Sen. John Kerry pulled out of the Democratic rally.
[snip]
Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee pulled out of the DFL event, which will still be held, as the result of a controversy over comments he made Monday in California.Walz communication director Meredith Salsbery said Kerry canceled his visit to keep the focus on the issues and away from Kerry’s comments and McCain’s response.
She wouldn’t comment on whether Walz asked Kerry not to campaign for him, but said the decision was ultimately the senator’s choice.
. . . .Doors open at MSU’s Taylor Center at 11 a.m. for the Walz event with music by Martin Zellar beginning at 11:15 a.m. The rally begins at noon. Parking around campus is expected to be very limited, but shuttle buses will run starting at 10:30 a.m. from the Madison East Center.
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