Food fight in the 6th - Part IXXX

Posted at 11:45 AM on April 26, 2006 by Bob Collins

Up until now, I wasn't planning on going to either the DFL or the GOP state conventions (although MPR I'm sure will be well represented). But now I'm thinking it may be worth working at least the GOP convention just to see the looks on the faces of the non-endorsed 6th Congressional District candidates as they stand their....all unified and everything....arm-in-arm...waving.... one big happy family.

I don't see it happening. But maybe.

It's just a darned nasty race, which is, of course, good for the news and blogging business.

Phil Krinkie fired another missile last night with this release:

Sen. Bachmann Continues to "Sand off the Truth"

Lie Number 1 -- "I was the victim of DFL redistricting"

Michele Bachmann recently mailed a 20 minute video to delegates in the 6th Congressional District and in the video she described her 2002 match-up with DFL Senator Jane Krentz.

"I suppose it was a back-handed compliment to be the number one target of the Minnesota Senate Democrats.

"They redistricted me out of my Senate seat so I had to run in a completely new district against a 10 year DFL female incumbent."

It was the court, not the Democrats, who drew the map for the 2002 elections. They created a new Senate district for Senator Bachmann with a higher GOP index than her old district and paired her with a DFL Senator. She went on to under-perform the rest of the GOP ticket by more than 10 percentage points.

There is no basis for truth in this statement. It is a lie.

Lie Number 2 -- "I've run in heavily Democrat areas"

In a recent interview with Congressional Quarterly, Michele Bachmann discussed her electability:

"I’ve run in Democrat areas and I've won by a significant margin, and I've proved that, even though I'm a very vocal conservative, I can win even in heavily Democrat areas. And get a lot of crossover vote from Democrats."

Michele Bachmann has run for the State Senate twice in two different districts, both with a strong GOP index. In 2000, every single Republican candidate on the ballot won in her Senate district. In 2002, while she underperformed the GOP ticket by 10 points, Governor Pawlenty lost only one precinct in her Senate District, and he was running in a three way race!

Lie Number 3 -- "Marcus and I will soon be empty nesters"

In her speech to the delegates at the Wright County Convention on Saturday, Michele Bachmann said she and her husband look forward to being "empty nesters" soon.

The Bachmann's have three young daughters, ages 11, 13 and 15 at home. Unless they are planning to send their children to boarding school, the Bachmanns will not have an "empty nest" for over seven years.

Thank You

OK, the thing about the daughters is a little icky and as someone who is really about to become an empty nester, I'm not at all sure they ever actually, you know, leave. But that's a discussion for another day.

Krinkie is right about redistricting. The Legislature wasn't up to the task, so the court, under Republican Kathleen Blatz, had to do the job. And, of course, redistricting was the best thing that ever happened to Republicans in the 6th District as it chased incumbent Bill Luther to the 2nd, where he lost to John Kline. Luther knew he couldn't win in the 6th anymore, thus opening the door for Mark Kennedy. Of course, the court admitted it made a mistake by redistricting Kennedy out of his 2nd District seat. But that ended up working pretty well for the guy.

Here's some good background from MPR:

Redistricting: An exercise in politics

Redistricting brings identity crisis home

Suburbs get more clout from new plan

Incumbents paired under court's redistricting plan

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