We've been posting about the retreat of Minnesota Republican candidates from being bold pro-life candidates like Governor Kristi Noem, who rattled on national media about forcing a raped ten-year-old victim bear her assailant's child.
See posts like Scott Jensen in Rochester: your body, my choice not to talk about abortion until after I'm elected and MN01: Finstad "sidesteps" abortion issue.
While Congressman Finstad's retreat into the foliage may pre-date the missive, Republican Party state chair David Hann shared advice on how to talk (or not talk) about abortion in an email to candidates.
I first read the email via a Facebook post on the Action 4 Liberty page:
That post led to a post by A4L leader Jake Duesenberg on the organization's webpage, Leaked MNGOP Chair Talking Points on Abortion Falsely Claims 'Constitutional' Right. Duesenberg writes:
Republican Party of Minnesota Chair, David Hann, sent talking points to candidates instructing them to refer to abortion as a "protected constitutional right." Hann says the talking point was "developed and tested" by "key stakeholders" and constitutes the official position of the MNGOP. Multiple sources sent us the email containing the message from Hann.
The Minnesota Constitution does not mention abortion or allude to abortion as a Constitutionally protected right. However, that hasn't stopped activist judges on the Minnesota Supreme Court from making the outrageous statement. And the Radical Left in Minnesota has fully embraced the idea that abortion is a right for women.
Hann's statement is ludicrous. It not only is incorrect, it validates the Democrat's talking points. The memo surrenders the issue of abortion to the Radical Left and embraces the leftist position that abortion is a right up until birth. Furthering the left wing propaganda does nothing to advance the pro-life agenda in Minnesota.
The screenshot at the top of this post is from the A4L page. It was apparently captured on September 23.
The Republican Party of Minnesota included Action 4 Liberty in its Minnesota Scammers Exposed website, noting:
Action 4 Liberty is led by Jake Duesenberg, a notorious scammer who personally pocketed half of all money ever raised by Action 4 Liberty, according to the group’s five most recent filings with the Internal Revenue Service. In total, Duesenberg paid himself more than $300,000 — money that could have been spent promoting liberty or working to elect Republicans.
Duesenberg is not a conservative. He liked a tweet that attacked President Trump as a “socialist” and endorsed Erik Mortensen, who tweeted that President Trump is a “complete fraud” who should “go away.” Mortensen even turned his back on President Trump on Election Night 2016, posting that he was “rooting for a Gary Johnson win.”
Duesenberg has a long history of attacking trusted conservatives like Congressman Tom Emmer, Rep. Mary Franson, Rep. Kurt Daudt, Rep. Eric Lucero, and Rep. Cal Bahr.
Most concerning of all, Action 4 Liberty activists have engaged in increasingly unhinged outbursts against conservatives. In Blaine, a conservative GOP lawmaker filed a police complaint against an Action 4 Liberty activist who physically attacked him.
They seem nice, but perhaps not as ineffective as the Scammers page asserts. After the August 11 primary, Walker Orenstein reported in Small but mighty showing for anti-establishment GOP candidates in Minnesota primary:
Three conservative Republican Senate candidates and a handful of House candidates beat out their more centrist GOP rivals on Tuesday in a primary in which the anti-establishment wing of the party looked to make a mark.
That anti-establishment wing — often backed by the far-right Action 4 Liberty or libertarian-leaning firebrands like Reps. Steve Drazkowski and Jeremy Munson — scored victories in places like Little Falls, Stillwater, Northfield and Red Wing. . . .
“We are talking about highly partisan, highly combustible political candidates coming into the institution of the Minnesota Senate,” said Michael Brodkorb, a political activist who is critical of that faction of the GOP. . . .
Since its publication by Action 4 Liberty, the email has also been shared by that more establishment figure on the right. On Monday, Brodkorb tweeted:
NEW: The @MNGOP sent a “CONFIDENTIAL” email to candidates with instructions on how to answer questions about abortion. According to the email, the answer was “developed and tested” by the "state party and key stakeholders..." See email below. pic.twitter.com/DwnbTrk1lI
— Michael Brodkorb (@mbrodkorb) September 26, 2022
Meanwhile, we received an email from the Minnesota DFL House and Senate Caucuses with the subject line, "State Legislative Candidates to Host Reproductive Rights Panel in Rochester, MN."
Maybe Hann is on to something.
And here in ruby-red South Dakota, Democratic candidates rallied for reproductive rights in Sioux Falls, as we noted in At SD Democratic Party reproductive rights rally, Sioux Falls Rep. Duba shares her abortion story.
Screenshot: An image of the email David Hann sent to candidates. Via Action 4 Liberty post, Leaked MNGOP Chair Talking Points on Abortion Falsely Claims 'Constitutional' Right.
UPDATE: Meme by Stacey Burns.
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