Now Quist plans to bring a little ugly to tonight's Republican endorsing contest for the open seat in Minnesota House District 19A.
Josh Moniz reports in GOP 19A endorsement convention today:
Jim Golgart is a veteran and long-time officer with the Veterans Affairs Office. He ran for the Nicollet County District 1 seat last fall, but came in third.
He said he feels competitive because he is a common sense leader who wants to get the state's budget under control.
While working with veterans, Golgart also has an opportunity to make himself seen as a leader on veteran issues.
However, Quist said he plans to bring up that Golgart's previous praise of 1st District Rep. Tim Walz, the DFL congressman who defeated Quist in 2012. Golgart said he was unconcerned and was only praising Walz as a function of his position as president of the Minnesota Association of County Veteran Service Officers, which was awarding Walz the "Legislator of the Year."
The award was actually from the National Association of County Veteran Service Officers and Golgart was speaking as the state president of the group. Bluestem had gotten a bland comment from a rader about this in a post about Golgart's remarks This time, Quist himself is bringing it up in the worst possible way.
Even as an old country blogger who has written a lot about Allen Quist, we're dismayed by the Norseland farmer's lack of grace and surfeit of partisanship about a relatively nonpartisan area of policy.
Good county veteran service officers are some of the most respected members of rural committees, as they should be. They make sure that men and women who served this country receive the services promised to them.
And by all accounts, Golgart's been one of the best of them, untiring in helping LeSueur County's veterans and speaking out to state and federal legislators about what our country can do better. Golgart has done this in a way that former congressional and senate staff for Walz and Franken said they had no inkling of what his personal politics were.
What is Allen Quist slamming Golgart for? From Walz's congressional website:
Today at Soldier’s Field Veterans Memorial, Congressman Walz received the Legislator of the Year Award from the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers (NACVSO). . . .
. . . Rep. Walz received the award in recognition of his outstanding record in Congress working on veterans’ legislation. Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard at the young age of 17, and retired 24 years later as Command Sergeant Major. He is the highest ranking enlisted soldier ever to serve in Congress and a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
“Congressman Walz is a soldier’s soldier,” said Jim Golgart, President of the Minnesota Association of County Veteran Service Officers. “Whether he is fighting for a new GI bill, fighting to make sure that MN National Guard gets the benefits they had been promised, or fighting to increase the mileage rate for veterans traveling long distances to VA hospitals, Congressman Walz’s passion for helping veterans has been unwavering.”
“This award was established about 15 years ago to honor the Congressman or woman who the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers felt had worked the hardest for veterans. There have been years where no award was given because we didn’t feel it was merited,” said James Young, President of NACVSO. “However, this year Congressman Walz’s work clearly deserved recognition as it will help us fulfill the obligation proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln; ‘to care for him, who shall have borne the battle and for his widows and orphans.’”
Golgart was doing his job as the Minnesota state president for a national association. Walz was doing his job--working with Republicans, Democrats, independents and a host of veterans' groups--to get veterans what they need. Did Quist expect Golgart to say at that moment, "Jeepers, this award means nothing because I'm a Republican, and Walz stinks"?
Imagine what it would be like if conservative bono fides were challenged nationwide when Republican members of the House Veteran Affairs committee went to home and heard remarks from ideologues--ala Quist--scolding them for working with that Walz fellow in that swing district the GOP so deserves to get back?
You don't hear that. Veterans thank Representatives for working together.
Back in the 1980s, Quist peeked into a Mankato bookstore, looking for glory holes. Now he's taking on the reputation of a devoted public servant. And this after proclaiming his own bipartisan abilities in his press release announcing his bid for endorsement in the 19A special election.
Let's hope that the Republican delegates have enough sense to retire this clown. Enough. Quist is unfit for duty.
Cartoon: Quist is trying to return to the state capitol. His hyper-partisan remarks about a Republican opponent's conduct as leader of a veterans services officers organization are unacceptable. Cartoon by Ken Avidor.
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Poor Allen Quist. He doesn't know it, but he is essentially telling the RPM base in 19A that they should pick Golgart because he's the more electable candidate for that seat.
We're talking about retaking a DFL seat here. Who's going to have a better shot at pulling that off -- a guy who acts like an adult around other adults like Tim Walz, or the guy who Tim Walz beat by a sixteen-point margin in a Congressional district that was supposed to have leaned Republican?
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Jan 10, 2013 at 10:18 PM