For much of today, the Star Tribune's HotDish Politics and the Republican Party of Minnesota's serial re-tweet squad hyperventilated over an opinion issued about Randy Demmer by former congressman Vin Weber to the WaPo "The Fix" blog, nestled in the halcyon splendor of the Beltway.
The very down-list item at "The Fix" can be found here.
One small detail escaped those who glean news only from Google News Alerts and the twitter: the list of forty names added today to the NRCC's Young Guns program. Not surprisingly, Randy Demmer's name isn't there.
Perhaps it's time for Kevin Diaz and the crew at Park Street to consider treatment for their dizziness, though the old folk remedy of blowing into a paper bag is not longer recommended.
CQ Politics reported earlier today in NRCC Upgrades 15 Candidates, Adds 40 More to Young Guns:
The National Republican Congressional Committee has promoted more than a dozen candidates to "contender" status and added dozens more to its Young Guns program, which aims to recognize and help House Republican's top challengers this cycle.
The program already has 10 candidates who have achieved "Young Guns" status, as well as 62 candidates in the "contender" and "on the radar" categories. The addition of 40 candidates to the program marks the program's biggest expansion so far. ...
...
Additionally, the committee has accepted these 40 candidates into the program with third-tier "on the radar" status:
- Rick Crawford (AR-01)
- David Schweikert (AZ-05)
- Jim Ward (AZ-05)
- Brad Goehring (CA-11)
- David Harmer (CA-11)
- Elizabeth Emken (CA-11)
- Tom Herrmann (CT-04)
- Steve Southerland (FL-02)
- Bruce O'Donoghue (FL-08)
- Rob Gettemy (IA-02)
- Bobby Schilling (IL-17)
- Mike Sodrel (IN-09)
- Kevin Yoder (KS-03)
- Jeff Reetz (KY-03)
- Jon Golnik (MA-05)
- Jeff Perry (MA-10)
- Paul Welday (MI-09)
- Steven Palazzo (MS-04)
- Ilario Pantano (NC-07)
- Hal Jordan (NC-08)
- Harold Johnson (NC-08)
- Jeff Miller (NC-11)
- Charlie Bass (NH-02)
- Jon Runyan (NJ-03)
- Scott Sipprelle (NJ-12)
- Chris Cox (NY-01)
- Chris Gibson (NY-20)
- Doug Hoffman (NY-23)
- Matt Doheny (NY-23)
- Ann Marie Buerkle (NY-25)
- Mike Kelly (PA-03)
- Paul Huber (PA-03),
- Tom Marino (PA-10)
- Dave Argall (PA-17)
- Bert Mizusawa (VA-02)
- Pat Herrity (VA-11)
- John Koster (WA-02)
- Jaime Herrera (WA-03)
- Marc Trager (WI-08) and
- Spike Maynard (WV-03).
To see how CQ Politics rates each of those races, check out our election map.
Notably missing from that list? Randy Demmer. Perhaps our kindly Auntie Tild can photoshop something for my pachyderm friends.
Meanwhile, the Strib catches its breath only a little bit at the endorsement of Republican-endorsed Demmer by another Minnesota Republican, but only MPR notes the size of the PAC contribution Pawlenty has extended: $2400.
Image: The original young guns of pop culture While he has the great hair to fit in the picture, he hasn't made the cut at the NRCC's "on the radar" division.
Vin said that Demmer would give Walz a "fight." Not "Demmer will win," "Demmer might win," or even "Demmer has a chance." Now admittedly, if the winner at the convention had been Quist, the best that Weber could have offered would have been, "He'll give Walz a scolding." You have to admit that a "fight" is a better showing than a scolding, but it is hardly a prediction of victory.
I remember looking at Demmer's legislative record a few years ago; one of his big achievements was the chief authorship of a bill to permit hunters to shine lights onto private property while trying to recover wounded game. This may be a hot issue in Hayfield, but it is unlikely to carry Demmer into Congress.
Posted by: Blogspotdog | Apr 19, 2010 at 08:02 PM