Earlier this month,Albert Lea Tribune, the Rochester Post Bulletin, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Winona Daily News endorsed Congressman Walz for a third term; challenger Randy Demmer has been endorsed by the New Ulm Journal.
Now the Worthington Globe, a paper in the right-leaning Forum chain, joins the majority consensus: Walz works hard for the district and deserves a third term. The editorial specifically addresses the negative and distorting television ads targeting Walz--and mentions the fact that Demmer hadn't bothered to read the health care reform bill:
As Democrat Tim Walz seeks election to his third term as Minnesota’s 1st District representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, he’s seen a formidable challenge from Republican Randy Demmer.
Perhaps what’s most notable about this race is the flurry of negative advertisements that have emerged. Walz, in particular, has been the subject of misrepresentations and mistruths from any number of outside special interest groups. Also worth pointing out is the fact that Demmer, a state representative from Hayfield, is a tenacious candidate and campaigner who has been effective in communicating his political philosophy.
Demmer’s philosophy, of course, emphasizes a less-intrusive government and other typically conservative principals. But Walz, we believe, brings a lot more to Washington than mere party politics.
Walz’s critics like to accuse him of working for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi instead of southwest Minnesota, but this assertion omits plenty.
Here’s one example: Walz did indeed vote for President Barack Obama’s health care reform package but did so after doing plenty of homework on it, including working with the Mayo Clinic, participating in forums across the region and doing his share of research. (Demmer, meanwhile, admitted in a Rochester debate earlier this month that he hadn’t even read the health care bill). [Emphasis added]. Another example: Walz went against party leadership on the vote for bailing out Wall Street.
Walz has plenty of other ideas — for instance, he told the Daily Globe Thursday he wants to work to “create new economies in alternative energies, and make sure there are policies out there that allow the private sector to do that.” That’s just one way we see Walz working as a bipartisan representative of multiple interests, not as an single-party line-toer.
Walz will continue to work for all of us if returned to Washington, and we endorse him for re-election.
Comments