MN Publius and MN Campaign Report have the scoop: State Sen. Terri Bonoff is dropping out and endorsing Iraq War vet and attorney Ashwin Madia for the DFL nomination in the open seat race to replace retiring GOP Rep. Jim Ramstad.
Though the writing had been on the wall for a while, Madia’s out-of-nowhere performance against Bonoff (long perceived the front-runner), has definitely been a stunner. Madia will move on to take on Republican state Rep. Erik Paulsen in the general. With a PVI of R+0.5, this seat will be hotly contested by both sides this fall.
But I think Ashwin Madia is going to need a financial boost to keep up with Erik Paulson.
that this race is now an uphill climb for us. I understand the netroots excitement with Madia and fully appreciate that — but I really feel that Bonoff was a better general election candidate and would have been better prepared for Paulsen. Paulsen is a great campaigner and one of the republicans strongest recruits — i hope i’m wrong on this one and that Madia can pull it off.
Madia is a great canidate and will make a far better general election nominee. This seat is very, very winnable and Madia is the right guy to do it.
but i had felt for a long time that sen bonoff had the right profile to win a seat like this. but she was not a deeply experienced politician (she was first elected in 2005 in a special election) and neither her base or her fundraising base were particularly large or impressive.
both candidates are equally moderate. the biggest difference that i could see – from reading and talking to people, was that he was just much smoother and better prepared. she did start to hit her stride by the end, but it was too late.
he will need to be disciplined and smart and focus the campaign on his issues (choice, the war, and other positions where Paulsen is out of the mainstream of the 3rd) but he probably gives us as good a chance as bonoff.
the biggest concern i heard about bonoff was that she might end up in a similar spot to patricia madrid in ’06. a very strong candidate on paper who falls flat at a critical time. if i’m giving odds, there about the same either way.
Not a single bit. He came into my College Dems meeting and immediatly just commanded the room and took it over. He was funny when appropiate, extremely knowledgable on every issue, and we asked him probably about 10 or so different poliy issues, including agriculture policy including biofuels and his district is just about 100% urban. I honestly had not been more impressed with a candidate in all my life and I’ve had the opportunity to see tons of them here in MN.
He will win, he is exactly the candidate that can win in 2008, young, fresh, knowledgable, bi-partisan. He is a former Republican and he a lot of insightful things to say about his party switching and such. We asked what he thinks of Republicans now, all they stand for is attaining power and keeping it.
You guys will come away impressed once he gets going. I really dont have a single worry about him at all, none, I have much more worry about Franken than Madia.