I'm sure the congressional endorsements over the weekend by the 6th District GOP and the 5th District DFL say something about Minnesota. I'm just not sure quite what.

You've probably heard by now that DFLers in the state's biggest city chose state Rep. Keith Ellison as their choice to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Martin Sabo. He's a lawyer, a powerful speaker and probably would not dispute that he is one of the most liberal members of the Minnesota Legislature. If he is elected in November he would make history by being the first African American and the first Muslim elected to Congress from Minnesota.

Ellison faces some hurdles before November. At least three DFLers say they will challenge him the September primary.

In the 6th, Republicans chose Sen. Michele Bachmann. Here's her capsule bio from MPR's Tim Pugmire:

Bachmann proudly describes herself as the most conservative member of the Minnesota Senate, both socially and fiscally. She's been a leading voice in the effort to ban same-sex marriages. She also fought to replace the academic standards used in public schools.

Bachmann will be on the ballot in November. Her opponents for the endorsement say they won't run in the primary. DFLers endorse their candidate next weekend.

Bachmann is also a lawyer. Beyond that, she's about as different as can be from Keith Ellison. If both of them were elected to Congress it's hard to imagine them cosponsoring a bill. Is Minnesota really that polarized? Are average people in Minneapolis really that different from average people in St. Cloud or Stillwater?

In other endorsement news from the weekend former Sen. Rod Grams won the GOP nod to face DFLer Jim Oberstar in the 8th. If nothing else Grams might help energize Republicans in Northern Minnesota to turn out to for Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Mark Kennedy. Oberstar released a statement to welcome Grams to the race...sort of:

“I’ve known Rod for many years,” said Oberstar, “He means well, but he is continuing to embrace the same failed ideas his party has been pushing for years.”

Oberstar says he looks forward to talking about the issues. “Grams and the Republicans have ran up the largest debt in our nation’s history, $31,000 for every man woman and child in this country. Their trade policies have lead to millions of jobs being shipped overseas. In fact, NAFTA is such a disaster that wages in Mexico have dropped 20 percent since it went into effect, and that has record numbers of desperate people entering our country illegally. A failed foreign policy has lead us to war in the Middle East and gas is hitting $3 a gallon. I think the American people have had enough of this and Rod Grams is only offering the same old, failed policies.”

So in other words, good to see you again, you jerk!