Cole in town for Bachmann and Davis

MPR's Tim Pugmire provides greater detail into NRCC Chair Tom Cole's visit to Minnesota:

NRCC Chairman Tom Cole starts his Minnesota trip with appearances on behalf of Sixth District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's re-election campaign. Bachmann, a fist-term Republican, defeated Democrat Patty Wetterling by 8 points in 2006. This year, she's facing a challenge from former state transportation commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg, a DFLer. Bachmann's campaign spokeswoman says Cole will appear at private fundraising events in Stillwater and Minneapolis.

Cole is also scheduled to travel Thursday to Minnesota's 1st district, where he'll campaign for GOP challenger Brian Davis. Davis is the party's endorsed candidate to run against first-term Democrat Tim Walz. But he faces a GOP primary challenge from State Senator Dick Day. A Davis campaign spokesman say Cole will attend a private fundraiser as well as a Rochester news conference on energy issues.

3rd District GOP candidate Erik Paulsen's spokeswoman says Cole is not doing anything on Paulsen's behalf during this trip.

Bachmann didn't beat Wetterling by 8 points. Bachmann and John Binkowkski beat Wetterling by 8 points. Bachmann only got 50.3% of the vote. Binkowski got 8%, most of which certainly came at Wetterling's expense. Bachmann lost her own precinct, and her hometown of Stillwater where they know her best.

We're going with the Secretary of State's numbers which you can find here:

http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20061107/ElecRslts.asp?M=CG&CD=06

I thought the NRCC had a policy of staying out of primaries. It would be interesting to ask Cole why he's campaigning for someone who might well lose the primary.