MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE GETS IT MOSTLY RIGHT-- ENDORSES COLEEN ROWLEY AND TIM WALZ OVER RUBBER STAMP REPUBLICAN GOONS

Today's Minneapolis Star Tribune started making House endorsements. The easy one was the recommendation to re-elect much-admired Democratic Congresswoman Betty McCollum, a basically uncontested race (against a guy from Eritrea named Obi Sium).


They endorsed one other incumbent-- ineffective Republican hack and rubber stamp Jim Ramstad, in a transparent attempt to show how "nonpartisan" they are. In so doing they have ignored the fact that progressive radio talk show host Wendy Wilde has captured the imaginations of Minnesotans who want something more than "stay the course," not just in Iraq, but here at home as well. Although Blue America didn't have the time to set up an interview session with Wilde, we did customize our song and video for her campaign and very much hope Ramstad is swept out of office as he and other Bush enablers deserve to be.


The biggest surprise of the endorsements was the Star Tribune's abandonment of another rubber stamp Republican goof ball, Gil Gutknecht, in favor of Fighting Dem Tim Walz. Gutknecht was part of the "Gingrich Revolution" of 1994 and he's been as big a disappointment as the rest of that class. Gutknecht is a confused mess who has proven himself clueless on policy and catastrophic on ethics, hauling in the loots hand over first from the corporate donors whose interests he represents over and above the voters of MN-01. According to the editorial endorsement "the DFL has fielded a superior candidate in Tim Walz. A 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard, Walz delivers a blistering but authoritative critique of the Bush administration's missteps in Iraq and treatment of military veterans. But he is not a one-dimensional candidate. A football coach and Teacher of the Year at Mankato West High School, he seems to have a finger on the pulse of the district's needs and frustrations. He has issued sophisticated position papers on balancing the federal budget and reforming immigration policy. He has raised nearly $1 million in campaign contributions, a record for challengers in this district, and has shown an ability to lead by building a formidable campaign operation. Walz's party certainly takes him seriously, for he has earned the endorsement of Nebraska's Bob Kerrey and Georgia's Max Cleland, both former senators and respected Vietnam veterans. Walz radiates energy, optimism and critical thinking -- qualities Washington could use right now."

But for me the big coup of today's endorsements was the thumbs up the paper gave to Blue America heroine Coleen Rowley over right-wing extremist and fanatic John Kline, by far the worst member of the Minnesota congressional delegation. The Star Tribune doesn't savage Kline the way he deserves to be. Instead, their endorsement of Rowley is all about why she would make a better representative for MN-02. "we cannot endorse [Kline's] steadfast, increasingly strained, defense of the Bush administration over policies that have produced destructive budget deficits, mired the nation in a disastrous war and tarnished the nation's image as a defender of human rights and the rule of law. Republicans have tried to paint Rowley as some sort of loose-cannon liberal. We don't see it: She was a career FBI agent, including a stint in New York investigating drug dealers and mobsters, and voted for George W. Bush in 2000 on the belief that he would govern as his father had. She would balance the federal budget by letting the Bush tax cuts expire exactly the way a GOP Congress wrote them and would reform immigration law by following the Senate Republican blueprint. She would move toward universal health insurance though a cautious strategy of state experimentation, and she would wind down the war in Iraq by following the sensible outline of Rep. John Murtha, the Pennsylvania veteran who has endorsed her. While Rowley is short on political experience, she has proved herself a quick study and avid learner. Washington needs a change in course, and the Second District is a good place to start."

Crooks and Liars is focusing on Coleen today too, trying to get the Blue America ActBlue total for her up from $15,000 to something her ace ground operation can deploy in two weeks to balance out the gigantic corporate warchest Kline has amassed by voting 100% of the time for Big Business interests over the interests of his constituents. He's, by far, the most out-of-touch member of the Minnesota delegation and the one who has most richly earned defeat.



UPDATE: A CHOICE EVEN A KID CAN UNDERSTAND

A YouTube clip by Mike McIntee is worth 10,000 words: