How are they going to explain this one? From El Tinklenberg:
With record unemployment, real wages declining, and living expenses and fuel costs strangling budgets, more families than ever are relying on credit cards to make ends meet. The average American family now has nearly $10,000 of credit card debt, and most of their interest rates already seem like highway robbery. It just makes sense to ensure that consumers are protected from abusive rate increases and interest charges.
Last week we found out that Michele Bachmann was in the process of moving in the middle of her attempt to get reelected.
Today, the Pioneer Press’ Dennis Lien had a post that indicated that Bachmann’s campaign had no comment. It has since changed:
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is selling her Stillwater house and moving south to the Woodbury area, her office confirmed Monday morning.
“The congresswoman is putting her house up for sale and will be moving to the Woodbury area, of course still in the district,” Bachmann press secretary Stephen Miller said.
No big deal, right? Wrong. Woodbury happens to be in the farthest little corner of CD6. Not only is it even farther away from Saint Cloud, it’s a stone’s throw from both the current CD4 and CD2. Is someone preparing for redistricting?
As the Minnesota Independent reports (quoting abridged, see link for full story):
Rep. Michele Bachmann slammed Congressional Democrats for not passing tax credits for solar and wind energy.
BACHMANN: They’re so strange Laura, they won’t even pass the tax credit for solar and wind right now. I mean, they claim to be the big solar/wind people, they won’t even pass that.
The Democrats did pass such a bill in the House, but without Bachmann’s help. In May, before her newfound campaign issue, she voted against it.
The Saint Cloud Times published a detailed letter to the editor contrasting Bachmann’s words to Bachmann’s record. It concludes:
So when Bachmann embarks on the campaign trail touting her newfound support for renewable energy and conservation, tune out the sound bites and examine her voting record instead.
It will tell you a whole lot more about Bachmann’s energy policies than her recent smoke-screen tour facilitated by the White House.
MPR’s Palinaut reports that Bachmann will be on Larry King Live tonight. I wonder if she’ll accuse Democrats of doing things they didn’t do but she did.
Editor’s Note: This diary has been promoted from the new MNpublius Diaries page. This is the third of nine articles in Jeff’s Daily Liberal Mapping Project. These articles examine Minnesota’s voting patterns precinct by precinct, with data from the 2006 election. Perhaps you missed my analysis of CD8 and CD7?
In this edition of the Daily Liberal Mapping Project, we finally get to a race with a serious Congressional campaign — the 6th Congressional District. CD6 is the former district of Republican Mark Kennedy and currently held by Republican Michele Bachmann. Elwyn Tinklenberg, a moderate Democrat, is challenging Bachmann for the seat. RealClearPolitics recently called Bachmann one of the most endangered representatives in the country, and but CD6’s conservative voting patterns mean a tough race for Tinklenberg. Handicapper Stuart Rothenberg labels the race “favored Republican”.
Continue reading ‘Precinct by precinct: Hope for Tinklenberg in CD6 [promoted diary]’
Earlier today, we noted the emerging scandal surrounding an R rated fundraiser in Las Vegas and how the money it generated trickled down to Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann. The DCCC has gotten into the act, sending out a release slamming Paulsen and Bachmann for their hyprocrisy.
“Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen have spent their entire careers pushing an extreme right-wing agenda that has been out-of-touch with the views of everyday Minnesotans. Yet at the same time as they say they are pro-family, they take money raised from Casino owners partying at a strip club,” said Carrie James, regional press secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “The hypocrisy of this is astounding– a do as I say, not as I do approach to leadership.”
If Paulsen and Bachmann keep their stripper money, it will seriously undermine their credibility for the rest of the campaign.
Boy, Minnesota Republicans are taking money from all sorts of shady characters. First you have Norm Coleman and the Stevens/VECO stuff (Aaron has been all over that story). Now, it turns out that Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann have taken thousands of dollars in contributions linked to…wait for it…a strip club.
The story starts with Texas Congressman Pete Sessions. Dump Michele Bachmann has the details:
Pete Sessions (R) from Texas and his leadership PAC, People for Enterprise, Trade, & Economic Growth (PETEPAC) held a little party at a Las Vegas “Club” back in March of this year…
This is how the club’s owner, Ivan Kane, describes his brand of burlesque.
Ivan Kane: The key component would be to have girls who were dancers taking their clothes off, not just girls taking their clothes off.
Classy.
PETEPAC has contributed $5,000 to Erik Paulsen and $2,500 to Michele Bachmann. As DMB points out, the hypocrisy here is rather striking. Minnesota Republicans make a big stink about some jokes Al Franken told and then they go out and actually exploit women to raise money. Way to go guys.
With the race up in CD6 heating up, the excitement surrounding the Tinklenberg is cautiously growing. I think everyone has already heard the conventional wisdom on this race: Michele Bachmann is a total crazy running for reelection in a year that is awful for Republicans and even worse for Bush Republicans (the only person who’s gotten closer to Bush than Michele is Laura) but Bachmann has a hold on the 6th that is tough to beat. It seems counter intuitive to suppose that such a right-wing maniac is secure in her seat in a year like this, but Bachmann, for all her faults, has done a fairly good job of convincing the 6th that she’s their crazy, and sometimes that’s what counts.
This race, however, should not be discounted. Sure, El would probably be a Congressman if he had won the endorsement in ‘06, and it’s tougher running against an incumbent, but this is a worse year for Republicans than even ‘06 was and El’s a strong candidate now for all the same reasons he was then. Plus, as Grow points out on MinnPost.com today:
Recall, Bachmann defeated Patty Wetterling by 8 percentage points, 50 to 42. BUT there was a third candidate in the race, John Binkowski, of the Independence Party, who picked up 7.8 percent of the vote. This time around, the IPs endorsed Tinklenberg.
When you add Wetterling’s 127,144 votes and Binkowski’s 23,557 votes, Bachmann won the district by just 548 votes.
“Surely there are 548 people who have gone beyond the notion that everything is free,” said Tinklenberg.
This is just getting started…
I grew up in the Stillwater area and I don’t get back often enough. I heard that El Tinklenberg was going to be speaking at the DFL SD52 Picnic and Ice Cream Social this weekend in Pioneer Park so being it was so nice out, I decided to drop by.
Area families, local activists, volunteers and neighbors attended as well as DFL Associate Chair Donna Cassutt, CD 6 Chair Nancy Schumacher and DFL leaders from SD52. Minnesota House candidates Rolanda DelaMartinez and Kate Christopher gave great speeches as well as Thomasin Franken and a surrogate from Barack Obama’s campaign. Forest Lake School Board member Rob Rapheal also gave a great speech.
El Tinklenberg arrived right on schedule after touring around the 6th CD all day including a stop in Saint Cloud. His speech included mentioning his new endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police in his already long list of endorsements. He talked about the many veterans he has been talking with, including many that voted for Michele Bachmann but are now switching after seeing how Bachmann voted against the GI Bill and otherwise has not supported our troops.
Tinklenberg addressed Bachmann’s “plan” to bring the price of gas down to $2 a gallon and said flat out that “…her oil claim is a lie. It is just a lie.” He listed realistic energy solutions including how he would have supported the DRILL Act, and other ideas focusing on becoming more energy independent. He mentioned a few companies in CD 6, such as SarTec Corp. in Anoka which are developing solutions for turning algae into fuels and how we should be doing more to support those efforts. In a Q&A session bluntly addressed his disagreement with how tax credits with some renewable energies were not renewed while oil companies were getting away with too many tax credits.
He talked about his visit earlier in the day to Rice, where Immaculate Conception Church was putting on their Summerfest celebration. He shared a short bit of conversation he had with “Father Tim” and how some people are seeing how Tinklenberg can be a partner on many issues Bachmann can’t be, such as social justice, economic issues and fighting for those in need in our country. The campaign is not shying away from any part of the district, no matter it’s past electoral reputation.
Overall a great, well-received speech and a fun picnic.
Tinklenberg can certainly win the 6th on issues, but he needs money to compete against Bachmann’s war chest.
Further reading: MinnPost has a big write-up on Tinklenberg this morning.
Minnesota Democrats have a historic opportunity this fall. Between Al Franken, Steve Sarvi, Ashwin Madia and El Tinklenberg, the DFL has strong candidates running for every single Republican-held seat in our congressional delegation. With Barack Obama sporting double digit leads at the top of the ticket and a Democratic wave building, we could win each of these seats.
Achieving a 100% DFL delegation will not be easy. To even have a chance, we’ve got to give it everything we’ve got.
In that spirit, liberal leaning blogs in Minnesota are joining together to sponsor and end of quarter fundraising drive for our DFL challengers. Together with MNCR, Centrisity, Blue Man, Chris Truscott and Power Liberal, MN Publius is asking you to donate to one of our great DFL candidates before next Monday. We’ve established an Act Blue page so we can track our efforts, called Red to Blue MN. Our goal is modest, to raise $250 for each candidate.
So please take this opportunity to make a donation (no matter how small). Its your chance to be part of something historic.
El Tinklenberg has just gained the Independence Party endorsement in the 6th Congressional District.
From Chris Truscott
Supporters include 2006 IP congressional candidate John Binkowski and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Peter Hutchinson.
This is a great position for El to be in. The 6th is a very strong district for the IP. Congrats to El on this great pickup.
And, my apologies to Chris if I was a little short with you, you called me when I was waiting in line for my rental car. I’m in Seattle for my honeymoon.
So, unless something really awesome comes along (like El getting endorsed by the Independence Party) so long until next week suckas.
Looks like Michele Bachmann won’t have the same relationship with John McCain that she had with George Bush.
Swanson was one of those who got the microphone last night and asked McCain, a fellow former naval officer, what he thought about U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s plan to reduce gas prices to $2 per gallon.
McCain raised his eyebrows in surprise and said, “I eagerly look forward to seeing that. I’ll try to read it tonight.”
It wasn’t entirely clear that he knew who Bachmann was, although he expressed his admiration for her. McCain is opposed to drilling in Alaska, one of the tenets of the Bachmann proposal. He said that in the end, the only way we can force down prices is to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Joining Ash Madia who has already garnered the DCCC’s attention and been added to their Red to Blue program, it was announced yesterday that Steve Sarvi and El Tinklenberg have been added to the DCCC’s emerging races list. From the press release:
The DCCC also announced 20 emerging races. In each of these races, Democratic candidates have generated excitement in their districts for their campaigns for change:
…
Steve Sarvi (MN-02)
…
El Tinklenberg (MN-06)Support Emerging Candidates on ActBlue >>
As these campaigns continue to develop and demonstrate increasing strength, candidates will have an opportunity to qualify for the Red to Blue program.
The Red To Blue program netted each of it’s members about 450K dollars in 2006 and if we can get Steve and El on there it will be a major coup — but they won’t get that attention without your help: donate to the Sarge here , and help El light the bulb here .
I have trouble believing this actually happened:
Politico: You’re doing a handful of rising-gas-price press conferences this weekend. What’s your take? What are your solutions?
Bachmann: It’s the No. 1 issue we may hear about from people back home… . As a matter of fact, in the parade we were at last weekend, people were shouting from the sidelines: “Drill in ANWR! Drill in ANWR!” One woman was sitting in one of those lawn chairs, and she had a piece of cardboard, and she had written on it, “Down with global warming freaks.” I mean, these people are just ready to find someone to shake and say, “Help me with my gas prices.”
Chanting “Drill in ANWR?” Really?
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