Longtime readers of MN Publius remember that we are great fans of El Tinklenberg. El probably represents the DFL’s best chance to take back the 6th CD in 2008. Unfortunately for us, El is not going to run. From Politics in Minnesota via the Hotline.
‘06 cand/ex-Blaine Mayor/ex-state Trans. Commis. Elwyn Tinklenberg (D) “has decided against another run” in the 6th CD, according to the Politics in Minnesota newsletter. Tinklenberg, “a Blue Dog-type” Dem “who opposes abortion rights,” took himself out of the ‘06 race after child safety advocate Patty Wetterling (D) “won her party’s endorsement.” Dem strategists “believe that Tinklenberg would have fared much better against Bachmann” than Wetterling did.
Another run by Tinklenberg “seemed all but certain earlier this year” until he pulled the plug. His absence leaves Dems “without any obvious strong candidate,” but atty Bob Hill is in the race
Bummer
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Still awfully early to completely rule him out, don’t you think? He could change his mind in 6 months and still have plenty of time to raise the money and put together an organization to run a serious camapign.
But this certainly would move Tarryl Clark to the top of the recruitment list, wouldn’t it?
Agreed on both counts.
Whoever decides to run in the 6th Congressional District will be able to take on Michelle Bachmann. I cannot understand her voting NO on every vote put before her. Her District must be shaking their heads as to how they voted her in.
Project Vote Smart is a good source that records votes and comments from Lawmakers as to their votes on Bills before the US House and Senate.
Michelle Bachmann voted NO on Bills that would…..
1) HR5.. To pass a bill that lowers interest rates on student loans under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Direct Loan (DL) programs, and to make other adjustments. Reduce Federal College Loans for students from 6% to 3%
2) Vote to pass a bill that lowers interest rates on student loans under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Direct Loan (DL) programs, and to make other adjustments. Give Medicare the means to negotiate with the Drug Manufacturers for lower drug costs for Seniors.
3)HR1951…To pass a bill that appropriates for specified activities related to the global war on terror, to the Departments of Agriculture, of Justice, of Defense, of Energy, of Homeland Security, of Veterans Affairs, and of State.
4) HR 2: To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage.
5) HR 6: To reduce our Nation’s dependency on foreign oil by investing in clean, renewable, and alternative energy resources, promoting new emerging energy technologies, developing greater efficiency, and creating a Strategic Energy Efficiency and Renewables Reserve to invest in alternative energy, and for other purposes.
6) H Con Res 99: Revising the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2007, establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2008, and setting forth appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2009 through 2012
These are just an example of Michelle Bachmann’s NO Votes on Key Bills that affect the 6th CD. Does she not have College Students, Seniors, Veterans, Low Wage earners, people wanting cleaner air and energy options, people wanting Budget Accountability, etc?? Who lives in her District?? From the way she has voted and not answered to her constituents about those votes, Michelle Bachmann’s tenure in the House of Representatives will be short lived. She has voted against the needs of her District each and every time.
Bachmann? C’mon don’t be so mean.
Somebody has to fill the vacuum left by Katherine Harris for out of touch comic relief.
Somebody’s got to grope Bush.
Bob Hill teaser site:
http://www.securingourfuture.net/
I don’t know much about the guy at all, but I am sure he will introduce himself more as time goes on.
As for Tink: If Tink campaigned his tail off before Wetterling got in he would have won the endorsement. He just was not out much: be it county fairs, or even the State Fair. Didn’t even have any info on his site until Wetterling joined in for the endorsement.
I think it is unfortunate he is not going for it again as he probably would of learned from his mistakes and thus be a better candidate during the endorsement and the general.
My bet is Bob Hill has a lock on the 6th DFL for 2008.
Tinklenberg’s only real mistake was trusting Patty Wetterling. Prior to entering the race, Tinklenberg spoke to Wetterling and received her assurances that she was not running in the 6th. He even made a contribution to her Senate campaign. As far as his strategy, he likely was not anticipating a serious primary/endorsement challenge because, again, the only known serious challenger had promised not to run.
Dan:
Very true, Patty did say she wouldn’t run. But it was 6th district DFL’ers that pushed her to reconsider to and convinced her to run again.
Challenger for endorsement or not you can’t wait until after the endorsement to begin campaigning against the GOP or getting people fired up to attract volunteers for the genral election fight ahead. We are in constant campaign cycles, any down time works to republican advantage.
Al Franken, love him or hate him, is doing everything right so far. Campaigning against Norm Coleman, meeting potential delegates to the conventions, going to all kind of DFL meet up’s, large part of fundraising in 2006: he wants to be Senator. Tink obviously didn’t want to be a Congressman that bad or he would be running again. I just don’t think he had the fire in his belly that Patty did.
Also, Patty had promised people in her first run in the 6th that she wouldn’t dump the district after one run and had been pushing her to to run a second time, hoping that a more experienced candidate would make a stronger showing. So there was pressure on her to get out of the Senate race and back into the 6th. A little unfortunate for El, but he shouldn’t have taken the endorsement for granted.
Bob Hill doesn’t have a lock on anything (no one does this early). If Tarryl Clark decides to get into the race (and I think she should), she instantly becomes the front-runner.
To add to the list Michele Bachmann voted against HR976 Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2007 that gives tax relief over 10 years to small business owners to counter the minimum wage increase and included incentives for small businesses to hire disabled veterans. The Chamber of Commerce was in favor of this bill.
She also voted against HR1322 Small Business Lending Improvements Act of 2007 that strengthens the Small Business Administration’s loan programs and targets outreach toward veterans and rural areas. Especially noted in this bill were loan programs specifically for veterans wanting to start businesses and assisting small businesses in rural areas.
This from a representative that campaigned on the issues of lowering taxes for the middle class, supporting small businesses and assisting our veterans. Go look at her campaign site.
She won’t answer emails or snail mail. Her staff does not reply either. When asked face to face why she voted against HR 976 she wouldn’t give an answer but one of her aides responded a day later stating that the bill didn’t give tax relief “to everyone”. Like the Bush tax cuts for the top 1% and oil companies were for ‘everyone’.
She refuses to have an open and honest discussion with her constituents whether republican or democrat. She only speaks to those that support her views and right wing radio talk show hosts. She hosted the Jason Lewis show for 3 hours with no phone calls taken. — — -
Give Bob Hill a chance. He is articulate and given some exposure will surprise you.
I am sure Tinklenberg was well aware of the fact that people expected Patty to run again, and that is why he asked her if she was going to run. And she didn’t tell him “no, as long as you get your campaign fired up right away” or “no, unless my Senate campaign falls apart.” She just told him no. And because she had given him her word that she wasn’t running, Tinklenberg entered the race.
If Tinklenberg took the endorsement for granted, it was because he had been assured that the major Democratic player in the district was not seeking the endorsement. Franken is smart for working the
potential delagates. But if Franken has been assured by all the other major potential candidates that none of them were running, he might be employing a different strategy at this point.
You simply cannot blame Tinklenberg for what happened in 2006. And you cannot blame Tinklenberg for not running in 2008 after the backstabbing (sorry Patty, but that’s what it was) he received in 2006.
I was a delegate to last year’s 6th CD convention, and I can tell you it was a perfect example of what happens when emotion trumps common sense. Tinklenberg was sharp, witty, and had clearly thought out his answers to most questions. Wetterling looked lost, frequently asked for questions to be repeated — in one case, twice! — and answered in vague generalities.
Yet it was clear that the Wetterling delegates could see no flaws in her. They simply couldn’t acknowledge that in the most conservative district in the state a centrist would be a more appealing candidate than someone perceived as a waffling liberal. Typical was one woman the Tink folks were trying to lobby. Within 30 seconds she crossed her arms and told them, “You’re wasting your time, I just love Patty and she has my vote”. This is the exact type of person whose jaw was on the floor last November while Bachmann beat Patty around like a ragdoll. It was absolutely maddening to see people with this attitude.
Until the 6th wakes up and starts sending delegates who think winning is more important than feeling warm and fuzzy we will continue to have Bachmann as our representative.
I hope that El will keep his options open.
Voters in the 6th CD will regret they voted for Bachmann. Whoever takes the lead to oppose her next year will focus on her crucial NO Votes as a campaign issue. That is why Project Vote Smart is so vital to let people know where their Senator or US House Rep stand on the issues.
The fact she is not taking questions from her constituents will be another campaign issue. i say tear her apart from conservative limb to limb on the issues. See if GOD comes to her rescue.
Winning is important but shouldn’t trump ideals or core beliefs. Wetterling ran an awful campaign primarily because she didn’t understand the rules. The first rule is there are no rules and Bachmann operates pretty well under those kinds of constraints. Please, no inferances about “Bachmann” and “constraints” being in the same sentence. The base got out there for Patty and not for El and as a result Bachmann is in Washington swapping spit with the President. ‘08 will prove whether or not the DFL can put forward a candidate that can win in the most conservative, gerrymandered district in the state.
Are the DFL flavored zealots with blogging inclination forgetting that Franken is no where near getting the nomination? Franken has mouth and a temper that make Hatch look like Ghandi. There are a lot of old school DFL, those with the power and money, that don’t like Franken and can’t be happy that he is trying to steal the senate opportunity away from one of them. I predict he will not get the nomination and Cireci or some other yet undeclared real Minnesotan will.
I think Demrock has it right. Tinklenberg should have been out there trying to energise volunteer support. He’d had the Washington support locked up - but didn’t go for the grass roots. Tim Walz didn’t have a democratic opponent - and he was doing a lot of grass roots campaigning when no one gave him a chance.
Patty Wetterling ran a horrible campaign - and she made a bad choice for campaign manager - and her campaign manager - Corey Day - was the person who dealt with the media - and competed with Heidi Frederickson for building poor relationships with reporters.
Wetterling returned a check to the Human Rights Campaign prior to the DFL endorsement. When I contacted Corey Day to ask why, he said it was because they had not decided what to do with PAC donations at that time. The only problem with that story was they had taken an Emily’s List and a trial lawyer’s PAC donation around in the same period. Nope, the real story, was that though Patty Wetterling loved raising money from gay individuals, she didn’t want to be associated with gay equal rights organizations. Her doing this reminded me of when Bob Dole returned Log Cabin Republicans check in 1996. When friends of mine who had done a fundraiser targeted towards the gay community asked Wetterling’s Finance person about the returned check to HRC, they got a different answer.
Wetterling had a learning curve & I can’t judge that very well…
But what exactly did anyone get in Bachmann? - a dingbat ideologue that thinks she has a mandate & can ignore everyone who questions her.
Sounds familiar?
I think a lot of DFLers don’t like Franken and I agree that he is not a good candidate, but he is not trying to steal anything. No one owns the Senate nominatation and Franken has as much right to pursue it as anyone else.
Yes Franken does have the right to pursue the nomination. It does appear he is getting support from the DFL machine - being able to introduce Keith Ellison on national television is an excellent example of this. Here’s the thing - Franken does not articulate specifics - he appears really shallow…his most recent message - message two or three on his webpage underscores this problem - and he comes with baggage galore. What the Democratic Party needs to discuss is how to get candidates who will support their party platform well…people who are articulate, dedicated, and even-tempered individuals. Far too often - like in the case of Mike Hatch - it’s the entitled one who gets the nod - not the person who can articulate the Democratic message best and function professionally. Even if you look at legislative races - a candidate with little experience, a guy who stated things like he joined the Marines because he wanted to travel the world with guns - is cast as the rising star of the Democratic Party while the DFL challenger to conservative Thomas Neuville gets little support because she isn’t the magnificient hollow hero figure who blazes on to the stage - with an “I’ll save the party sweetie” attitude.
Anyway…Franken fits the mold of the entitled one well and this will work to his advantage in the Democratic Party…call it the “Hatch Syndrome”
We knew Bachmann would oppose the vast majority of the bills she has opposed thus far. Her track record was clear as a uber neo conservative who will carry the Bush agenda until the bitter end.
She has a strong base in the 6th. She justifies her voting record amongst her conservative base, plays the Taxpayer Bill of Rights card ad nauseum, and has the strong support of the religious community.
She will also be the darling of the GOP convention in St Paul in 2008. She’ll get a lot of face time and the conservative base will prop her up, positioning her for bigger things in the future. Her future is much brighter than T-Paw’s right now…as painful as that is to say outloud, it’s reality.
Despite being outspent by Patty Wetterling by nearly a million dollars, she solidly kept the 6th CD Red.
We need a “Tim Walz” type candidate to emerge in the 6th. We did not see Patty out in our neck of the woods, the northwest portion of the 6th, after the Cokato Corn Carnvial parade in August.
Her people came out to doorknock with us for the first time 11 days before the election.
I think Clark sees how conservative the area is at this point and simply will not put herself in the position to possibly lose to Bachmann. Her losses to Kleis up here caused many to believe that she would never be able to make it. That stigma would regenerate itself if she ran unsuccessfully against Bachmann.
I think Tinklenberg could do well out here, working to divide the religious vote out here.
Not sure about Hill, I’d like to see him get out and about in the 6th.
It’s going to be an interesting race out here in 08. Despite Bachmann’s mistakes, the conservative groups are going to rally around her and work hard to save her ass.
I hate to be a naysayer, but it’ll take a combination of a great candidate, fundraising equal to 06 Wetterling, a great field plan, and some luck to beat Bachmann.
demure one, are you referring to Andrew Borene as your example for what was wrong with DFL legislative races? Because that’s a bit of a cheap shot. Especially since his campaign problems were entirely of a personal nature, not because of his attitude towards the party, inexperience, or support for the platform. (and let’s not pretend that there was this uniform support from the party apparatus for him either; a whole hell of a lot of people were beyond tepid in their support because they didn’t feel like pouring resources into a race in Edina)
I also don’t understand how Franken is one of the “entitled” ones. That label could fit Roger Moe or Mike Hatch, people with a long history in the party wanting a shot at the top of the ticket. Franken right now is the guy who has the highest name recognition and has been running the longest. Who & what he really is as a candidate is yet to be determined, though he is running hard for the endorsement. The Hatch comparison may work via temperament, but otherwise it’s a bad fit.
Michelle Bachmann’s refusal to confront her cosntituency will hurt her in the long run. She has to explain why she is against Veteran’s getting started in business, or why she opposes Seniors getting cheaper medications, etc. She is not thinking with her head, that is for sure.
I agree that a Tim Walz like candidate needs to come forth and challange Bachmann like Tim did Gil. Bachmann may have her neocon base, but not everyone in the 6th is against everything she voted NO on.
Josh,
Funny you should mention Roger Moe and Mike Hatch. For both of them the endorsement process was one ugly show that did indeed underscore the fact that this is a “good-old-boys” organization… Electability? What’s that? It’s about being owed something - not having a team-player mentality. What if Moe had backed Dutcher? Hmmm…what if he had opted to be the Lieutenant Governor? None of this has anything to do with a winning strategy - it’s all about ego…which of course brings us to Franken…and if being in the race the longest and having the highest name recognition are the characteristics you cherish in a candidate well..there really isn’t anything to debate. And quite frankly I think he will get the endorsement and that explains a lot about why government is in such sad shape…
The DFL - and Franken - did much to promote Andrew Borene - and he ended up embarrassing the local party unit big time. It will be interesting to see if they make the same mistake again.
Stop with the cheap shots on Borene. Hatch and Franken’s bad behavior is fair game, but this is a guy who had personal issues. And after those issues came to a head, he got out of the race.
I really think the DFL machine as dysfunctional as it is will do its best to make sure a DFLer that has paid their dues will get the nomination for the Senate seat. I think this is especially true given how vulnerable Norm is how polarizing Franken would be.
As for the 6th the DFL has to find somebody conservative enough, simple as that. The anti-abortion contingent is huge in that area and a pro-life candidate would have an uphill battle no matter what with the large number of people in that area that just won’t vote for a pro-choice candidate.
I also doubt that any of the big name DFL people will run. Why would the likes of Clark risk loosing to Bachman and end her career? It would be better to find a charming “everyman” that has the right social credentials and give her or him a shot at the lunitic Bachman.
I think that we need a new TV/Media company to deliver LEFT ideas, we need a company to do exactly what fox is doing and help get our message out to the masses! It is clear that the DFL’rs have a harder time communicating their points to the mass public and this has to change, after election reform of course, hehe. Don’t even get me started on election reform, without it, there’s no democracy.
http://www.TCPedia.com The ‘new’ Twin Cities Encyclopedia
After looking at the map of the 6th I found there are 37 Minnesota House and Senate members who’s districts are at least partially cover the same area. Of those members only 12 are Democrats and all but three are first termers. Those three are Tarryl Clark and Don Betzold on the Senate side and Larry Hosch in the house. I don’t think Don lives in the 6th, Fridley, even though his district has some common area. That would leave Tarryl and Larry as the only two DFL’rs who hold office right now in the 6th that have shown they can be reelected in an area that is very, very hard for Democrats.
Someone that doesn’t hold office right now is a possibility as well but it would be nice to have somebody that has some name recognition with voters.