Winona Daily News: Not sitting on the back bench
The Winona Daily News' Brian Voerding reports that Walz looks for Iraq answers:
Rep. Tim Walz has no illusions that a simple resolution could end the Iraq war, a conflict nearing the start of its fifth year.
Still, he says, it’s a long overdue and necessary first step toward Congress asserting its power in governing the conflict, and toward allowing soldiers to return home.
The freshman Democrat who represents southern Minnesota is one of hundreds of House members backing a resolution that opposes President George W. Bush’s choice to send additional troops to Iraq. The House began debating the resolution this week and is scheduled to vote on it sometime today. . . .
The article notes Walz's leadership in Washington:
. . . Walz, a former command sergeant major in the National Guard, used the war in Iraq as a defining wedge issue in last year’s campaign in which he defeated six-term Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht. He delivered three speeches on the House floor this week and has been a leading Democrat in pushing the resolution.
“I didn’t come to sit on the back bench of Congress,” he said in a conference call Thursday. “I came to speak where I saw it necessary. Minnesota doesn’t want a follower or a sheep; they want a leader.”
Still, he said, he hasn’t spent much time calculating the politics or possible risks of publicity. Instead, he went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center Wednesday to visit two soldiers from his former unit who were injured in Iraq and are getting fitted for prosthetic limbs.
“I don’t know and I don’t care about their political ideology, and I only care that this nation honors its commitment by providing everything possible for these brave Americans,” Walz said of them in his Thursday floor speech. “Today is the day we tell Tony and John that we will always support you and we will provide this nation true security.“ . . .
Voerding notes Walz's response to questions about Al Franken's U.S. Senate bid:
. . .“I’ve seen him in the unguarded moments, and I see that Al cares about the things that Minnesotans care about,” Walz said, referring to early opposition that has described Franken as a media darling who isn’t tuned into voter concerns. “You’ll see a very energetic, caring guy who really wants this job for the right reasons.”
Franken was a valuable part of Walz’s Congressional bid, appearing several times in Winona and other cities last year for fundraisers and stump speeches and donating more than $18,000 to the campaign.
“He was there many, many times at the time when no one else believed,” Walz said.
Walz stopped short of endorsing Franken; he said he would hedge his decision until the Democratic primary and let “people of my district make up their mind.” . . .
Ollie Ox Update: Minnesota Max's diary about the article at Minnesota Campaign Report. Max is a college student from Winona. [/update]
Star Tribune: Minnesota's 3 newcomers speak up
The Strib's Brady Averill looks at yesterday's speeches by Ellison, Bachmann, and Walz. Excerpt from Walz's speech:
Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., said he has taken two oaths in his life -- one as a 17-year-old when he joined the Army National Guard and one as a 42-year-old when he became a congressman. "I swore only to uphold the laws of this great land and protect with my life if necessary the liberties and freedoms we so dearly cherish," he said. "This debate today is exactly about that."
Minnesota's three newcomers spoke on the House floor Thursday to argue their positions on the Iraq resolution, which expresses disapproval with President Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq.
The resolution is expected to pass the House today with support from some Republicans, including Minnesota Rep. Jim Ramstad.
Averill notes' Walz's response to those who fret about sending the wrong message to America's enemies:
Walz said he agrees with some lawmakers who have said the debate sends a message to enemies: "The message our enemy is hearing this week is that this nation is able and willing to adjust its tactics to focus on the true threats of our security, which come from Al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and by securing our ports and borders."
Walz also appeared Thursday at a news conference with like-minded lawmakers and VoteVets.org, a political action committee whose goal is to elect to Congress war veterans who are critical of the war in Iraq.
New York Times' The Caucus: The Senate Set for War on Saturday
Tim Walz is quoted in the House side of the entry about the Senate vote scheduled for Saturday:
In addition, at another news conference today — yes, yes, it’s all war all the time — the VoteVets.org contingent, a largely Democrat-based group of veterans, joined with several lawmakers to talk about the House resolution.
Representative Tim Walz hailed the measure’s “historical significance.” It would be the “most important vote in the House since the vote for use of force,” said Jon Soltz, the cofounder and chairman of VoteVets, which has been working with MoveOn and the Center for American Progress.
O.K., so it’s a big deal. But would it actually make a difference?
“We expect from this vote a change in the policy,” declared Representative Tom Lantos, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the only non-veteran at the presser. He bristled at a question referring to the “nonbinding resolution.”
“Nothing could be more binding than the solemn vote of the entire House of Representatives,” Mr. Lantos said. “I am tired of this adjective.”
Mr. Walz and Representative Patrick Murphy, a Democrat and a veteran elected in November, would not say whether they supported some of Mr. Murtha’s possible conditions, such as attaching to spending bills requirements for requiring certain armor and equipment for the troops.
They said they were focusing on the next day’s vote and that other questions were a distraction.
“I believe they will be conditions that the majority of the House will support,” Mr. Lantos said. But, “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” He said he would hold a full day of hearings about other Iraq-related measures during the first week of March.
City Pages Blotter: Walz raises concerns about funding for VA medical care
Corey Anderson takes a look at Walz's testimon about veterans' issues before the Budget Committee in Congressman Walz raises concerns about funding for VA medical care:
Freshman Congressman Tim Walz from the First District yesterday delivered testimony in front of the House Budget Committee regarding the Bush Administration's budget proposals on veterans' programs. The 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard and son of a Korean War veteran, Walz raised numerous concerns about the shortfalls he sees in the funding of VA clinics and hospitals and the proposed enrollment fees that would affect those most in need of care. . . .
The text of the testimony is included in the article.
CQPolitics: DCCC Announces Its 'Frontline' Seats for 2008
CQPolitics' Marie Horrigan examines the list in DCCC Announces Its 'Frontline' Seats for 2008:
Given the frantic pace at which presidential and congressional campaigning has taken off in the earliest weeks of the 2007-08 cycle, it comes as no surprise that Democratic strategists are front-loading their program as well.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Thursday — just a little less than 21 months from Election Day in November 2008 — announced the names of the first 29 House Democrats who will benefit from the program, which steers additional financial and logistical resources to incumbents viewed as potentially vulnerable to serious Republican challenges.
The group of 29 includes 24 freshman members of the Democrats’ sizable House Class of 2006. Second-term Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a rising star in House Democratic ranks who is chairing the
program for this election cycle, referred to the beneficiaries as “majority-makers” — a reference to their contribution to the 30-seat gain that gave the party control of the House after a dozen years in the minority. Wasserman-Schultz said the program would provide “the money, message and strategy they need to successfully position themselves for re-election in 2008.”
The candidates include 18 freshmen members of Congress who unseated Republicans (including two former House members making comebacks after losing their seats under differing circumstances in 2004); six Democrats who won open-seat races in districts formerly covered by Republicans (including two more returning members who bounced back from 2004 losses); and five Democratic incumbents who won re-election last year by varying margins. . . .
Go read the rest. Tim Walz is included in the group.
Netroots response at the Swing State Project, Jonathan Singer at MyDD, and KTatActBlue at DailyKos. Act Blue has set up a DCCC Frontline Democrats 2008 page for contributions that will go directly to the candidates of the contributor's choice. We will add the link to our ActBlue section in the menu on the right. The DCCC's Stakeholder writeup here.
Chris Cillizza discusses the program at the WaPo's The Fix in House Democrats Reveal Their "Frontline":
In the 2006 election, Democrats didn't lose a single House member to defeat, an unblemished record that was credited to a program aimed at funneling funds to endangered incumbents early and often.
Known as "Frontline," the program was so effective at helping otherwise endangered incumbents that is allowed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to play offense in a number of GOP-held seats that wound up turning over. Pennsylvania's 4th District, New Hampshire's 2nd District and Minnesota's 1st District jump to mind.
Given the successes of Frontline in 2006, it's not surprising that Democrats are quickly reviving the program for 2008. Today the DCCC released the names of the 29 lawmakers who are on the Frontline list -- a first glance at the lawmakers considered by their own party to be most at-risk of losing next year. . . .
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