Political Notebook

Fundraising, light rail & Bachmann: A CD1 primary race update

The political wrangling between 1st Congressional District GOP candidates Mike Parry and Allen Quist continues heading into the Aug. 14 primary. The two are battling for the chance to take on 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz in November. Here's a quick recap of the events of this week so far.

Parry, who is trailing in the campaign money race, sent out a fundraising letter yesterday to supporters asking for donations and citing Quist's willingness to put $1 million of his own money into his campaign.

"My opponent has not won an election since 1986 — his views are out of the mainstream and voters have tried, tested and rejected him the last five times he's run for office. But he won't be stopped as long as he's willing to write himself a check for up to $1 million," the letter states.

This letter comes out as Quist gears up for a fundraiser featuring former presidential candidate and 6th District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in Rochester on Friday. The former state representative from St. Peter has also started airing TV ads across the 1st District — including in Minnesota. The ad features his granddaughter Lucia climbing red steps that turn into a graph of the nation's soaring deficit. In the ad, Quist says "Let's balance the budget and leave a better world for our kids."

Meanwhile, the Parry campaign is continuing its attacks on Quist's record. The latest attacks center on Quist's views on light rail. At his Rochester town hall last week, Quist said his view on light rail has always been that he supports building it as long as no government subsidies are used. Parry's campaign says that's not true. They sent out what they called a "fact check" saying that Quist has "backed light rail boondoggles for years." As evidence, they cite debates from 1998 when Quist said he supports light rail.

Last but not least, Parry will be getting plenty of media coverage on Friday. The state senator from Waseca wants answers from state officials about the decision to change the names of two constitutional amendment ballot items. Parry has called a meeting of the Senate Government Innovation and Veterans Committee, which he chairs. Testifying before the committee will be Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and State Attorney General Lori Swanson. Ritchie recently announced he was changing the titles of an amendment to ban gay marriage and one to require voters to show photo identification. Conservatives who support those amendment have blasted the secretary for making the change, arguing it is up to the Legislature to determine the ballot question titles.

Bachmann to host fundraiser for Quist in Rochester

Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann will host a fundraiser for 1st District GOP candidate Allen Quist in Rochester on Friday, July 20.

Quist's campaign manager and wife, Julie Quist, said they are still working out the final details, but the fundraiser is slated to be at Mayo Clinic Dr. Scott Wright's home. Wright ran for the Minnesota Senate in 2006 and lost to DFLer Ann Lynch.

Quist, of St. Peter, is battling with state Sen. Mike Parry, of Waseca, in the August Republican primary. The winner will take on three-term DFL Congressman Tim Walz. After 23 ballots, the First District Republicans' convention in April ended without an endorsement. During the convention, Quist made a point of touting his strong ties with Bachmann. The two teamed up starting in the late 1990s with the goal of getting rid of Minnesota's Profiles of Learning. His wife previously served as the congresswoman's district director. Bachmann endorsed Quist before the 1st District convention.

A dumbing down of Congress?

The Sunlight Foundation released a report today that finds the gradel level of congressional speeches has dropped from a high of 11.5 grade in 2005 to 10.6 grade level. It also analyzes what grade level members of Congress are speaking at when they take to the floor.

The researchers analyzed the complete Congressional Record since 1996 They used the Flesch-Kincaid test to do the analysis, which equates higher-grade levels with longer words and longer sentences.The member of Minnesota's congressional delegation with the lowest score was 5th District DFL Rep. Keith Ellison of Minneapolis with a 9.3 grade level. Taking the top spot was 4th District DFL Rep. Betty McCollum from St. Paul. Below are the scores for the entire Minnesota congressional delegation from lowest to highest.

DFL Rep. Keith Ellison: 9.3

GOP. Rep. Michele Bachmann: 9.52

DFL Sen. Al Franken: 9.98

DFL Rep. Tim Walz: 10.06

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar: 10.24

DFL Rep. Collin Peterson: 10.41

GOP Rep. John Kline: 11.09

GOP Rep. Chip Cravaack: 11.17

GOP. Rep. Erik Paulsen: 11.93

DFL Rep. Betty McCollum: 12.71

Walz rips Republicans who skipped Obama's speech

In an interview today, DFL Congressman Tim Walz blasted Republican members of Congress who skipped out on President Obama's job speech yesterday. He said he was particular disappointed that Minnesota Republican Congressman Chip Cravaack and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann did not show up.

"Not showing up to this speech is disrespectful to the office, disrespectful to the Congress and also not helpful," Walz said.

The Mankato school teacher added that "If my colleagues from several of the districts in Minnesota can't even take the time to attend the speech and are spending their time waiting to criticize right away, the American public is sick of that," he said.

The Star Tribune reports that Cravaack did not attend the speech. The article quotes Cravaack spokesman Michael Bars as saying in a statement that Cravaack “was huddling with his team listening carefully to the president’s speech.”

The article also reports that Bachmann missed the speed due to stormy weather but listened to the speech on the way in.

Walz added that "Every time President Bush spoke I was there."

 

Gacy's name rises again in politics

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's gaffe on which John Wayne is a Waterloo native — she referred to her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, as the home of John Wayne. The actor was actually from Winterset, Iowa. Serial killer John Wayne Gacy was a Waterloo native.

The mention of Gacy reminded us of another politician from Minnesota, whose roots are in Iowa.

Here's a clip from then Post-Bulletin political reporter John Hughes, now a Bloomberg reporter based in Washington, D.C. Hughes talked with then state Rep. Gil Gutknecht, who was running for the 1st District Congressional seat that Rep. Tim Penny was leaving in 1994. Gutknecht went on that year to win the first of six terms in Congress. This item was filed on May 14, 1994, The item follows:

Mass murderer John Wayne Gacy invited Gil Gutknecht to his home twice to watch stag movies.

``Thank God I never went,'' Gutknecht said.

It was the summer of 1967 and Gutknecht, then 16, was working one of his first jobs for $1.10 an hour at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Gacy, then 35, managed the KFCs in Cedar Falls and elsewhere in the area.

At first, Gacy seemed like a successful businessman. He had a nice car and an attractive wife.

But Gutknecht and other workers at the Kentucky Fried Chicken noticed oddities.

``He was one of the most sadistic people I ever met,'' the Independent-Republican representative from Rochester said.

While Gutknecht and other young boys were working, Gacy would walk up behind them and deliver a knee to the back of their thighs.

``I never saw anyone else who would do that,'' Gutknecht said. ``It was such a sadistic act.''

Gacy at other times would deliver a good-natured punch to his workers' shoulders, but it still hurt, he said.

Then there were the movies Gacy would screen at his house. While Gutknecht never went, some co-workers did. But the co-workers never reported any strange or criminal activities at the events.

Gutknecht only worked the job for a few months, and Gacy was then out of his life.

A few years later, Gacy would be charged with his first crimes -- breaking and entering and sodomy. He served a few years in an Iowa prison and was on parole when he moved to Illinois and committed the 33 murders that brought him infamy.

Gutknecht has always been against the death penalty. But he said, ``in his case, I believe he deserved to be executed.''

He said Gacy's crimes were so brutal and exceptional, it was a miscarriage of justice that he waited in prison 14 years for the excution. ``It has caused me to rethink my whole position on the death penalty,'' he said.

Gutknecht said he might support the death penalty for the most grisly crimes.

Ironically, Gutknecht may be one of the few people acquainted with two killers. He was a good friend of David Brom and the Brom family, and was a pall bearer at the Broms' funeral.

David Brom is serving time in St. Cloud for killing four members of his family in 1988.

So just how liberal and conservative are Minnesota's members of Congress?

The National Journal recently released its vote rankings for 2010. Nothing too surprising in this year's results. The most liberal member of the state's House delegation is 5th District Rep. Keith Ellison with a ranking of 14. The most conservative member of the state's House delegation is 6th District Rep. Michele Bachmann, who is ranked 19.

A couple of interesting notes : 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz continues to get a centrist score with a ranking of 158. He has slightly moved to the left compared to the 2009 rankings where he was ranked 166. Meanwhile, 2nd District Rep. John Kline has a far less conservative ranking this year compared to last year. In 2010 he is ranked 108 compared to in 2009 when he got a ranking of 32.

In the Senate, Democrat Al Franken had a liberal ranking of 15 while fellow Democrat Amy Klobuchar was ranked 38.

To check out the complete list of rankings, go here.

Walz rips Bachmann's budget plan for proposing cuts to veterans

News that Minnesota GOP Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has issued a budget-cutting proposal that includes cuts to veterans' disability benefits drew a quick response from 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz who served 24 years in the National Guard.

The Mankato Democrat issued the following statement:

“We have to have an aggressive, long-term plan to tackle our nation’s debt, but attempting to balance the budget on the backs of veterans who have risked life and limb in service of our country is unacceptable. I believe we can and should work together to find reasonable and common-sense cuts that will reduce our debt, but as a generation of warriors returns from two wars, our most solemn responsibility is to make sure they have the care and benefits they have earned.”

Bachmann posted on her website a proposal to trim $400 billion in federal spending. That includes $4.5 billion in savings by freezing Department of Veterans Affairs heath care spending and reducing veterans' disability benefits. The proposal is also getting criticized by some veterans groups.

On her website, Bachmann writes, "I’m calling for Congress to do the hard work of making real and necessary cuts in federal spending. I have put the following list on the table for discussion and I’m calling on other members of Congress to do the same." 

And the hotdish winner is.....Klobuchar!

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar today won the first "Hot Dish Off" among members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation. In a blind taste test, Klobuchar's Taconite Tater Tot Hot Dish beat out the other competitors.

"Given the fine quality of the other hot dishes, this is truly an honor. I think the combination of the tater tots, pepper jack cheese, and unique taconite hot dish name gave us the edge," Klobuchar said in a statement.

Yesterday, DFL Sen. Al Franken announced he would host the bipartisan, bicameral hot dish showdown as a way to bring Minnesota's members of Congress together at th start of the session.

1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz netted the second place spot with his Chicken Mushroom Wild Rice Hot Dish. Asking him about the competition yesterday, Walz said the secret weapon in his dish was a homemade cream of mushroom sauce.

"Last night, we focused on what unites us, what issues we can work together on and spent time with friends from across the political aisle," said Rep. Walz in a statement. "Today we'll share our hot dish recipes and I hope we'll continue in that tradition in this next Congress by sharing our ideas and working together to get things done for all Minnesotans."

Also competing were Franken with his Wild Rice and Turkey Hot Dish; DFL Rep. Betty McCollum with a Pork, Cranberry & Wild Rice Hot Dish; GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann with her Minnesota Oktoberfeast Hot Dish; and DFL Rep. Ellison with his Tuna Noodle Hot Dish.

Getting hungry? You can get the recipes here.

Emmer's 1st TV ad is all about the family

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer has released his first campaign ad. It feature's footage of Emmer's seven kids talking about their dad's run for office. The ad will run statewide for a cost of roughly $300,000. Here's the script for the ad:

Katie: “Hi, we’re the Emmers.”

Joey: “That’s our dad, he’s running for governor.”

Katie: “And he’s really excited about it.”

Tripp: “Always talking about cutting taxes and reforming government.”

Jack: “And creating jobs for Minnesota.”

Bobby: “Believe me, he creates plenty for us.”

Tom Emmer: “We’ve been blessed. Seven beautiful kids living in this amazing state. Minnesota families are struggling. We need to pick ourselves up, create jobs and get our economy moving.”

Narrator: “Tom Emmer”

Tom Emmer: “It’s time for a new direction.”

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty is also throwing a big fundraiser for Emmer tonight, according to Minnesota Public Radio. Attendees will include former Sen. Norm Coleman, 2nd District Rep. John Kline, 3rd District Rep. Erik Paulsen and 6th District Rep. Michele Bachmann.

The Alliance for a Better Minnesota, a liberal independent expenditure group, has already critiqued the ad accusing Emmer of failing to support initiatives to create jobs.

Marty, Walz, Hagedorn and more

It is proving to be a busy political day already. DFL gubernatorial candidate John Marty picked a fellow state senator as his running mate. Marty announced today that his pick is Sen. Patricia Torres Ray of Minneapolis. She is the first Latina to be elected to the Minnesota Senate. For more information about here, go the campaign Web site.

The only other gubernatorial candidate to announce a running mate so far has been Republican state Rep. Marty Seifert. He picked Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah. It will be interesting to see how many other candidates opt to make their picks before next month's state conventions.

MinnPost also has a story looking at congressional earmarks. It includes a list of the 25 largest earmark requests. Included on that list are several requests for area projects made by 1st District Rep. Tim Walz. Here is the story.

Also, some liberal bloggers are reporting that 1st District GOP candidate Jim Hagedorn has sent out an e-mail saying that fellow GOP candidate Allen Quist is too close to Bachmann. The Minnesota Independent and Bluestem Prairie. 

During Bachmann's visit on Monday to Rochester, I asked her if she planned to endorse anyone before the 1st District Republican Convention on April 17. She said she is not going to endorse anyone. But while addressing members of the Rochester Area Republican Women, she mentioned Quist's name several times in reference to issues he has raised with the Democrats' health reform bill. She did not mention any other GOP congressional candidates. Quist's wife, Julie Quist, serves as Bachmann's district director.