We have to wonder if blogging The Big Question takes so much of Strib political editor D.J. Tice's time that he snoozes during his day job.
For some reason, the Strib is unable to report that Michele Bachmann has two challengers vying for the DFL endorsement in the Sixth. In For Walz, reelection race is in full swing, Bob Von Sternberg writes:
Walz is, for now, the only one of Minnesota's three freshmen with potentially vigorous opposition, largely because, in Meyer's words, the First " is really a purple district now."
By comparison, Rep. Michele Bachmann's Sixth District is deep Republican red, while Rep. Keith Ellison's Fifth District is solid Democratic blue. To date, no one has come forward to announce a challenge of Ellison next year, and only one DFLer has announced plans to take on Bachmann. (emphasis added)
Poor Bob. We think there are just too many Bobs involved in the Sixth for him and Tice to keep track. There's Bob Olson, who recently switched from running for Senate to a bid for the Sixth. His campaign web site excerpts a Lori Sturdevant column that discusses the switch. Olson changed races after the 2Q reports were due at the FEC, but the agency has set up a contributions query page for his bid.
In the race longer, Bob Hill has taken in $77269.34 in contributions, given $29785.00 to the campaign, and loaned his campaign $100,000, according to an amended 2Q FEC report filed on July 18, 2007. That's $207054.34 in total receipts.
After searching the Strib's archives and looking through the U.S. News archives in Lexis-Nexis, we conclude that, yes, the guy who has put together $207,054.34 in resources (duly reported to the FEC) is the Bob whose name the Star Tribune dare not speak.
Other media outlets have been able to discern the presence of Two Bobs in the Sixth. The Associated Press, for instance reported Candidates for Congress line up in MN's 1st, 2nd, 6th Districts ... , and the PiPress noted him in Minnesota / Olson quits Senate race for House run
Maybe the paper's new owners just cancelled the Nexis-Lexis subscription in a cost cutting gesture, and it hasn't crossed Tice's mind to ask one of the interns to log into a college library and search the news database. Or maybe once the Strib has decided on a narrative for a congressional race, there's no reason to let facts get in the way.
The Dare-not-be-named Bob in the Sixth, with his $200,000+ Q2 report, certainly makes this fact inconvenient for the 4-pak of challengers:
Combined, Walz's four opponents reported having slightly more than $176,000 in campaign contributions on hand as of June 30 . . .
Meyer, the GOP contender highlighted in the Strib's article, has raised $7282.82 for the cycle.
UPDATE August 12, 5:55 p.m.: Truth v. the Machine mentions both Bobs in this post, but confuses the two candidates' fundraising, saying that Hill had not yet begun fundraising.
At this point, we're just grateful that it's really easy to spell the name "Bob."
Unlike the Strib's plumping of the GOP field, the conservative blog's assessment aligns with what we're hearing about the race in the district. Friends who live and work in extremely red areas in the middle and southwestern areas of the First tell us that they're just not hearing any buzz from neighbors or co-workers about the Republican challengers. Indeed, those working in the ag sector express a deep satisfaction with the House version of the Farm Bill.
TVM's analysis of the 2Q fundraising numbers underscore our friends' observations (TVM's parade evaluations not withstanding). And for TVM, unlike the Strib, Mark Meyer is an afterthought:
Rep. Tim Walz (DFL) - $565,295.90 with $502,601.12 cash on hand.
St. Sen. Dick Day (R) - $116,665 with $77,379 on hand.
St. Rep. Randy Demmer (R) - $133,625 with $77,512 on hand.
Brian Davis (R) - $17,100 with the same in the bank.
Republicans had high hopes of retaking Rep. Gil Gutknecht’s former seat in ‘08 but Walz’s strong early numbers combined with the relatively weak fundraising of the field shouldn’t encourage any GOP ambitions yet. Despite out organizing the field, former St. Senate Minority Leader Dick Day is only holding his own against the more wonkish St. Rep. Randy Demmer. Day’s presence was shining at the recent 4th of July parades in the district but his McCain-esque streak of intra-party rebellion (a factor the campaign knows will make getting the endorsement difficult) already seems to be hitting him where it hurts most. Lake Crystal School Board Member Mark Meyer is also in the race but has raised only around $8,000 thus far.
Yet another update: August 12, 6:32 p.m. Our friend Hal over at Blue Man in a Red District reflects on this post. We're envious of this passage in The Startribune's attempt to create a race:
This fourpack of GOPers, running against each other for the opportunity to get thumped by the most personable politician this state has seen since Paul Wellstone, have raised the paltry amount of about $176,000 between the 4 of them.
Yet the Strib decides that this is a race? Did Sid Hartman write this piece? He's been delusional about the Twins, Vikings, Wolves, and Gophers for decades now. Perhaps someone was drinking from Sid's sippy cup...
Ouch. Dump Bachmann's Avidor thinks he knows what's in it for D.J. Tice in The Star Tribune Drops One of the Bobs Down the Memory Hole. We think Kim Ode just wants to talk more to Michele about kewl shoes.
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