If Steele County Republican and MNCD1 Republican chairs Dave Thul and Carol Stevenson are to be believed, a November 5 fundraiser for three Republican county BPOUs will be the first GOP gubernatorial forum or debate outside of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Never mind the fundraiser last Friday, October 25, in Rochester, Minnesota, that drew coverage from the Rochester Post Bulletin and KAAL TV in Voters Weigh In on Issues at GOP Forum.
Tickets for the Rochester event were $25 in advance and $30 at the door, making the November 5 event a bargain at $20 for those who want to pay to listen to Republican guys who want grow up to be governor someday.
Thul and Stevenson appeared on local cable access television show "Owatonna Today" on October 23 to tout the joint fundraiser for local Republican Party county units. The forum/fundraiser in Rochester took place two days later for the benefit of the Olmsted County Republicans.
It's certainly unfortunate that the First Congressional District chair didn't know about the looming debate at the fundraiser in nearby Olmsted County, part of the First, or she might have given the event a plug.
Thul also notes (video and partial transcript below):
There's been several gubernatorial debates in the Twin Cities but this will be the first major Republican debate in outstate Minnesota, and we want to make sure that these candidates understand that there is more to Minnesota than Minneapolis and St. Paul and that our issues down here are important as well.
As far as Bluestem can determine, only one Republican gubernatorial debate has taken place in Minneapolis or St. Paul (or close enough, at the State Fair), when three of the candidates did appear a discussion at the State Fair, moderated by political science professor Larry Jacobs, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for the Study of Politics and Governance.
All the rest of the Republican gubernatorial candidate forums have taken place in suburban locales: Mounds View, in northern Ramsey County and Chanhassen, in eastern Carver County. The latter event was sponsored by the Carver County GOP; much of western Carver County remains agricultural.
Two Twin Cities morning radio show hosts, noted rural affairs experts Twin Cities News Talk "Up & At 'Em" hosts Jack Tomczak and Ben Kruse, will moderate the forum in Owatonna.
Bluestem has to wonder: with as promising a candidate as Cam Winton running in the Minneapolis mayorial race, what do Republicans have against the Mill City? Or was this pitch simpl an awkward opportunity to engage in some anti-urban place-baiting?
Here's the video and a partial transcript (the exchange begins about 6:35 into the show) below:
Host Betty Johnson: So how is it you settled on Owatonna?
Thul: We started organizing this as a fundraiser a few months ago. The Steele County Republican Party has been doing a fundraiser about this time of year for a few years now and we settled on the idea of a debate not only to help us and the other local Republican parties raise some money, but for the idea that outstate Minnesota, Southern Minnesota, we kind of get overlooked by all of these candidates who are asking for your vote, right.
Host Betty Johnson: And there's more of Outstate Minnesota than there is of the Twin Cities area--
Thul: Yes, yes. Exactly. There's been several gubernatorial debates in the Twin Cities but this will be the first major Republican debate in outstate Minnesota, and we want to make sure that these candidates understand that there is more to Minnesota than Minneapolis and St. Paul and that our issues down here are important as well.
Host Betty Johnson: Well, we're a farming state, this is a farming area--
Thul: Absolutely. And that will be some of the focus of the debate questions, is questions about agriculture, about industries that are important to us down here, that your average resident of Minneapolis might not know anything about.
Host Betty Johnson: Now, are a lot of the questions pre-designated by the moderators or is it going to be an open question and answer?
Thul: As long as there's a focus on Outstate Minnesota, the questions will be up to whomever would like to submit them. We will be taking submissions from anyone who would like to, as well as, there's a big social media aspect to it. We'll have people on twitter and on Facebook pages can submit questions in real time.
Host Betty Johnson: And you don't have to be a member of the Republican Party necessarily to attend, because a farmer may want to know a few things [who] may not be affiliated with a particular party.
Thul: Absolutely. We're hoping to draw not just Republicans but peoplewho are independent, who don't categorize themselves as anything, as well as people who would say that they are Democrats, this is their chance to see what these people running for governor have to say on the issues . . .
Bluestem doubts that many folks will plunk down $20 to find out what they can read on twitter, although surely there must be some people who are curious about Rice, Steele and Waseca Counties' secret industrial base that those dirty hippies living in Minneapolis just won't understand.
Photo: KAAL TV so did not take this screenshot of a MNGOP gubernatorial forum on Friday, October 23, 2013, in Rochester, that was part of a fundraiser for the Olmsted County GOP. Because like that forum on November 5 in Owatonna is totally the first one to happen outside of the Twin Cities. Yep.
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