On August 30, Bluestem noted that Southern Minnesota's political quirk drought broken as Jim Hagedorn campaigns in CD1. A kindly tipster let us know about Fox News-wannabe Mankato Times' story Jim Hagedorn to Formally Announce Run for Congress this Wednesday which describes the down home pastoral setting for the Blue Earth man's announcement:
Jim Hagedorn will be officially announcing his campaign as a Republican candidate for Congress in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District on Wednesday afternoon, September 4 at the FitzSimmons Farm in Rural Good Thunder, MN.
Mr. Hadedorn [sic] will be seeking the Republican endorsement to take on DFL incumbent Representative Tim Walz who has been in office since 2007. . . .
Even though he lived in the east coast for most of his adult life, the small town rural values and life lessons that he learned were woven into his fabric. . . .
During the summers, Jim helped work the land, walk the bean fields, feed the hogs, maintain the property, and developed a firsthand understanding of farming and the business side of agriculture. . . .
“Living on the farm and being part of our rural communities ingrained in me the small town values that have sustained me throughout life,” Hagedorn said. “That is why I chose the FitzSimmons Farm. It is much like the farm I grew up on outside Truman and the location is central to the district, right in the heart of agriculture.”
It's enough to make you want to quit your city job in Rochester or Mankato, stop at Mills Fleet Farm for pair of bib overalls and head to Truman to volunteer.
However, the Mankato Times reporter has little curiosity beyond the press release (which seems only slightly updated from 2010) and misses the insider baseball (or football, since we're talking pigskins here). For as Republican activists know, that family farm is part of Protein Systems.
Bron Scherer, treasurer of the Republican Party of Minnesota, is a partner of Protein Systems with members of the FitzSimmons family.
In Wright County, Protein Systems partner Pat FitzSimmons is state representative David FitzSimmons' father.
We're curious where this one will go with sitting state representative Mike Benson and veteran Aaron Miller seeking endorsement as well. Will the involvement of the business partners of the RPM's state treasurer create questions about the party bagman's neutrality, ala RPM chair Ron Carey's piloting of the Minnesota campaign of GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee in 2008 or the early spurning of Dick Day that same cycle in favor of Brian Davis to challenge Walz in his freshman year.
The latter activity provoked Day to skip the endorsement process and launch a primary bid, allowing Walz to raise money while the two Republicans fought--and Southern Miinesotans learned enough to reject primary-winner Davis soundly.
Pop some corn.
Image: This is not the FitzSimmons Farm. It's a still from The Wizard of Oz, and Bluestem suspects that the Southern Minnesota GOP is definitely off to see something.We're curious about Hagedorn's notion of what should be in the next Farm Bill.
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Oh, this is rich. He walked the beans (they don't do that anymore), worked the land (with a hoe, one-row combine or an old tractor?) and maintained the property (which means he painted fences and mowed the lawn...).
Yet, this first-hand knowledge, which has been overcome by technology during the past 30 years, somehow makes him a farmer who "understands" agribusiness.
I think politicians who base their campaigns on farming are marginalizing themselves. Furthermore, I believe rural residents are finding themselves farther away from the farm (on a residential and business level), as land prices skyrocket and the cost of production continues to rise.
Posted by: kyle | Sep 03, 2013 at 07:26 AM
Editor's note: Without guys like Wesley (the Vice President of Advertisement for the Mankato Times) in this world to set us straight, Bluestem Prairie would have no idea it's a blog.
Original comment:
The word "media" is synonymous with "news." After reading this article, if it can be called that, it appears to contain little news and much politically slanted opinion. Perhaps Bluestem Prairie should change their slogan from "new media" to political blog. Just trying to help make clear the purpose of the website based on a factual interpretation of what news really is.
Posted by: Wesley | Sep 05, 2013 at 04:41 AM