“Our country is being destroyed. Every generation has had to fight the fight for freedom… Terrorism? Yes. That’s not the big battle,” he said. “The big battle is in D.C. with the radicals. They aren’t liberals. They are radicals. Obama, Pelosi, Walz: They’re not liberals, they’re radicals. They are destroying our country.”

Let me get this straight, in Quist’s mind, suicide bombers aren’t as bad as the public option?  I knew Quist was a Bachmannista, but I think the student has become the master.  If Bachmann want’s to hold onto her title of craziest Republican in Minnesota, she’s going to have to up her game.

On this particular topic, I have to agree with GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb: “If you don’t want to be asked questions, if you don’t want to interact with the public, if you don’t want an opportunity to to get a tough question, uh, don’t run for office.”

The Dear John letter, after the jump.

Walz
Raised - $157,000
Cash on Hand - $111,000

Kline
Raised - $142,000
Cash on Hand - $103,000

Bachmann
Raised - $314,000
Cash on Hand - $224,000

That’s a pretty impressive quarter for Bachmann, and a so-so quarter for Walz and Kline.  All three of these Representatives could concievably face serious challenges in 2010, but the reality is that none of them are really in any danger at this point.

Saying his constituents were adamant about not wanting the Vikings to leave Minnesota, Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, said his plan would propose a constitutional amendment, asking voters in 2010 whether revenues from a new casino should be used to finance a new stadium.

There are so many problems with this that I barely know where to start. Okay, how about this: A constitutional amerndment to build a football stadium?! I thought making policy decisions was what legislators were supposed to do. Do we really need to bring the constitution into this?

Putting aside the procedural issues, I would sure hope that the Vikings aren’t going to get one penny from this state while we’re in a fiscal crisis. If we were going to raise new revenues from any source — even from legalized gambling — would we really want to waste them on football? We have to come up with over $4 billion in spending cuts or revenue increases this year, and we can’t afford to waste any of that on stadiums. Any new revenues, by whatever means they’re raised, can be used in much more responsible ways.

Finally, there’s the problem of using “sin taxes” to pay for the stadium. I don’t have a problem with legalizing gambling, but we shouldn’t be legalizing it just to raise revenues. The growth in “sin taxes” during the Pawlenty administration is the result of our failure to pass a structurally-sound budget. Sin taxes are more politically palatable than taxes that spread costs across the entire population, but they’re simply not good policy. They only make sense when used to pay for the public costs of that particular “sin,” such as cigarette taxes that go towards healthcare.

All in all, I hope this bill is a non-starter. This just isn’t the time to talk about football stadiums. The Vikings and their supporters would be wise to take a break from lobbying for a new stadium.

I have attempted to confirm this story with the Congressman’s office, but with no luck so far.  In addition to the source mentioned above, one commenter on an earlier MN Publius post claims his wife has been told by Walz staff that a decision not to run has been made.

I’ll update when/if more information becomes available.

Update by Aaron: MinnPost’s Eric Black confirms as well as Bluestem Prairie’s Sally Sorensen.

Liberals are hailing a three-way fight to lead the Congressional Progressive Caucus as a sign of the growing influence of the Democratic left on Capitol Hill…

Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) are both challenging incumbent Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.).

Looks like it might be an uphill fight for Keith, as Grijalva and Woolsey are both more senior members. If, however, Keith does succeed in winning the chair, it looks like it’ll be a pretty influential position:

But this year nine of the 13 candidates the caucus supported won election, and its membership is expected to grow to 80 members. In addition, Democrats will control both ends of the Capitol with sizable majorities, and the White House will be occupied by a Democrat with a liberal voting record.

“The progressive caucus is on the map now,” Woolsey said in an interview. “We just want to make sure our new president and vice president keep in mind who we consider to be the base of our party.”

We’re rooting for you Keith!

As for Tim Walz, he isn’t so much “attempting” to win a leadership position, he’s already won one:

Rep. Tim Walz of Mankato, fresh off his re-election to a second term, agreed to serve as a Midwest regional Democratic whip after being drafted by five committee chairmen for the post, his spokeswoman said.

Before joining the Tuesday’s meeting of Democratic lawmakers from seven states, Walz said he was not seeking any leadership post for the upcoming 111th Congress. But that was before he was urged to accept the job by the two Minnesota committee chairs, Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson of Detroit Lakes and Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Jim Oberstar of Chisholm. They were joined by Appropriations Chairman David Obey of Wisconsin and the Michigan duo of Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell and Judiciary Chairman John Conyers.

“They felt they needed a moderate voice at the table in the whip organization,” said Meredith Salsbery, Walz’s press secretary. Walz will join the team of House Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C. , third in rank under Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland. They were easily re-elected by the newly expanded Democratic caucus during a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

What does this mean for Walz’s gubernatorial prospects? Probably not much. You could see this as a sign that Walz plans on staying in Congress, or you could just see it as a smart move by a politician who is keeping his options open.

In other Walz news, the Congressman is apparently supporting John Dingell bid to remain Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. That’s too bad. Dingell is too close to the auto industry and has been less than friendly to attempts to fight global warming.

A hat tip to Bluestem Prairie on both Walz stories.

Need more evidence of the butt-kicking that is happening down South?  Brian Davis, Tim Walz’s Republican opponent, just released his first TV ad of the general election and it’s an attack ad.  An attack ad!  No bio, no introduction, no issues ad, just straight to the attack.  Davis is getting his first real chance to let the district, on a broad base, know who he is and what he stands for but instead he chose to attack Walz.  This is the definition of desperation.

What’s more, the ad is full of blatant lies.  Davis knows the reason that Walz is kicking his butt is because Walz fits the district so danged well and has done an admirable job of representing the district’s moderate nature in his votes in Congress.  So, because of this, Davis is trying to paint Walz as a liberal.  Davis claims that Walz is among the most liberal in Congress, but by the National Journel’s statistics Walz has a more conservative voting record than 35.7% of Congress!  Admittedly, these sort of ratings are flawed for a variety of reasons, but his record confirms.  He voted against his party on the bailout twice (which I disagree with, but that’s a different story) because he felt it didn’t mesh with the 1st’s needs.  He’s endorsed by the NRA and the VFW.  He voted to allow the moratorium on off-shore drilling to end.  Oh and he’s a friend of Minnesota’s farmers: he’s receiving the “Friend’s of Farm Bureau” award, he’s endorsed by the National Farmer’s Union, he was a champion of raising the minimum wage, and he fought hard for the new Farm Bill.  Wow, what a liberal nut!

The fact of the matter is that Tim Walz is a moderate who fits his district, which is probably why he’s so popular there.  To try to undermine this strength, Brian Davis has released a desperate ad full of lies.  But, the reality is that lies and all, this ad is airing in the 1st and people will see it.  So how about we help Tim fight back; I think it serves all Minnesotans well to have this guy around for a while.

Walz is going to win in a landslide in CD1. More commentary on this ad from Ollie Ox.