It’s official — or it will be on Monday, at least: former Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg will run for Congress next year against freshman Republican incumbent Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th District.
Tinklenberg, as you may recall, ran for the Democratic nomination in 2006, but was passed over for the party nomination in favor of Patty Wetterling (after she had dropped out of the Senate race). Wetterling went on to lose the general by a wider than anticipated margin (50% to 42%), leaving Democrats feeling that their best shot to pick up the 6th slipped through their fingers. But Bachmann is a true nutter, and has embarrassed herself on more than one occasion, from playing touch and grab with the President on the floor of the House to claiming to have the inside dope on Iran’s secret plan to partition Iraq into “the Iraq state of Islam”.
It would by no means be an easy race to win for Tinklenberg, but his candidacy does put the district back on the map for Democrats.
Race Tracker: MN-06
for me this week.
A mistake in 06 to choose Wetterling. Tinkelberg’s social conservative economic populist positions seem to be a better fit for the district. It was just so easy to paint Wetterling as a far lefty and I think that’s why she lost
1)Marilyn Musgrave(CO-4)
2)Michelle Bachmann(MN-6)
3)Jean Schmidt(OH-2)
4)Marsha Blackburn(TN-7)
From what little I saw of him last year, I suspect he may be the one Democrat capable of winning in MN-06….but I still anticipate that Bachmann will have to really do some howling at the moon to lose in this district. Her 2006 campaign was largely mistake-free (it was only after the election that she started acting like the nut she is) so a Jim Bunning-esque meltdown is a lot to expect. Still, I have considerably more hope for this seat than I did three weeks ago.
Looking at their voting record, Bachmann votes the most outlandishly. I saw vote when it was 7 Republicans and everyone else, some turbo conservative bull.
There is also a great youtube video where she says basically this.
When I first met my husband, I didnt know if I loved him. But God told me to marry him so I did. Then God told me to go to law school, I didnt want to but he wanted me to so I did. Then my husband told me to go into tax law, I hate taxes so why would I do that. But the Bible says wives, be submissive to your husband so I went into tax law.
She honestly said that the bible says be submissive to your husband so do what he says.
God apparently inspired her to run and her husband told her to.
I’m not quite sure who is my now former-congresscritter, Michele, her husband, or God…
I watched that race very closely. I was the person who founded the Dump Michele Bachmann blog.
Elwyn Tinklenberg did modify his positions on both abortion and the federal marriage amendment (initially he supported it, later he opposed it) – and Tinklenberg eventually came out for civil unions.
When the Democrats ran a socially conservative candidate (in 2002), Janet Robert – that candidate got 35% of the vote – so that candidate lost base DFL voters.