Almanac: At the Capitol

No doubt about it, GOP congressional candidate Dick Day has a way of getting his name out, whether by hanging with the immigration reduction crowd shrieking in Austin or turning up at county fairs and race tracks.

In Born to race, the Waseca County News reports that one way state senator Dick Day has promoted his candidacy is by being a sponsor to a race team:

Luck, however, has been on Jared Boumeester and his racing team’s side as of late during his runs in Deer Creek, Minn., south of Rochester, where he races on Saturdays. This entire month the Jared Boumeester team — which has sponsors such as Congressional hopeful Dick Day, Dirt Track Financial and Select Motors — has been one of the top five finishers out of roughly 25-30 fellow racers.

A racing fan, Senator Day sought to bring NASCAR to Minnesota. He and Brian Davis of Rochester are vying for the GOP nomination in the September 9 primary. The winner will have the honor of losing to Tim Walz in November.

What else can we do now except roll down the window, let the wind blow back our hair, and post this 1978 video of a Springsteen classic:

Another press release in from Congressman Walz's office:

Today, in a letter to Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Congressman Tim Walz requested that she bring the bipartisan National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act (HR 6709) to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote when the House resumes its work in September.

"Our country urgently needs a comprehensive energy policy that increases the domestic supply of oil and gas and provides a greater investment in the use of renewable energy sources," said Walz. "This is a historic opportunity for us, Democrats and Republicans, to work together to solve the energy crisis and move our country forward."

Earlier this summer, Walz joined a bipartisan energy working group to address the short-, medium- and long-term energy challenges facing our country. A few weeks ago, the 20 member group introduced the bipartisan National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Independence Act, which currently has 119 cosponsors in the U.S. House.  This legislation will provide immediate relief at the pump for consumers by releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, expand drilling and increase domestic oil production, and use the royalties from expanded oil production to provide a reliable and significant source of new funding for renewable energy research and energy conservation.  This new funding will allow America to speed up the development of next-generation renewable fuels.

It is estimated that there will be $2.6 trillion in royalties generated from the leases sold in the Outer Continental Shelf, with more than $1 trillion of that dedicated to conservation and renewable energy research and development. Of that, $390 billion is set aside for the creation of a Renewable Energy Reserve, which will be used to fund efforts to encourage the use of cleaner domestic energy resources and alternative fuels, promote the use of energy-efficient products, and increase research, development and deployment of clean renewable energy and efficiency technologies.

Meanwhile, Republican leader John Boehner writes Walz demanding immediate action on a different bill pushed by the GOP.  We'd believe the GOP's games about this month's recess (a district work break for Congressman Walz), except they ran work-slowing adjournment motions themselves during the session. Dana Milbank wrote in At Recess, a Little One-Sided Dodgeball:

House Republicans can't seem to make up their minds.

Eighteen times over the past 90 days, the minority tried, unsuccessfully, to force the House to adjourn. Now the House has finally adjourned -- for a five-week recess, no less -- and Republicans are demanding that the chamber be called back into session. .  . .

Leadership on both sides needs to quit playing political games and get down to business when the Congress reconvenes in September. H.R. 6709 is a good place to start.

Note: We'll post a copy of Walz's letter in a bit.

Photo: An oil platform in Alaska's Cook Inlet. Yes, Class of 2012, off-shore oil drilling isn't prohibited there; this drilling contractor's April 15, 2008 press release provides one example, as does this information about a Cook Inlet lease sale.

We just received this press release from Congressman Walz's office:

Today, Congressman Tim Walz and Congressman Keith Ellison announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to their request to provide full educational benefits to nearly 400 soldiers from the 1/34th Brigade Combat Team who had previously been denied the payments they had earned. 

On July 28, 2008, Reps. Walz and Ellison spearheaded a letter from the Minnesota Congressional Delegation to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, requesting that he act quickly to ensure that the 1/34th members received their benefits.  Secretary Peake announced VA's decision to award those benefits in a letter of August 11, 2008.  The National Guard estimates that this decision will affect approximately 367 veterans nationally.

"These brave soldiers fought for us in Iraq and since returning home, we've had to fight every step of the way to get them the benefits they've earned," said Walz. "Recently the Minnesota National Guard informed us that nearly 400 soldiers who had enrolled in school last year had not received the educational benefits they were promised.  I'm pleased that this problem has been corrected and our soldiers will receive the retroactive educational benefits they are owed. Administrative glitches and paperwork delays should not cause our soldiers to be shortchanged.  I am glad that we were able to work with Secretary Peake to resolve this issue quickly. "

"I am grateful that Secretary of Veterans Affairs, James Peake, expeditiously granted relief to each Member of the National Guard affected by this situation" said Congressman Ellison.  He continued, "The men and women who served in Iraq during the 'troop surge' continued to perform their duties without hesitation.  America owes these brave young men and women every benefit they have earned without equal hesitation.  Members of the Minnesota National Guard have interrupted their lives to serve in America's military and spent a long period of time away from their families and friends.  It would be a shame for them to have to postpone their education and careers due to government error." 

Secretary Peake informed Congressman Ellison that he will work with the National Guard to notify each the soldiers affected by this situation.

After the 1/34th BCT deployed to Iraq in the spring for 2006, their anticipated return in the spring of 2007 was delayed for several months. However, nearly 400 of these soldiers were not eligible to receive their full education benefits because their military paperwork did not accurately reflect their full length of service overseas.  Congressman Walz and Congressman Ellison were instrumental in helping address this initial problem, and the Board for Correction of Military Records (BCMR) ultimately amended the soldiers' orders to reflect their full service.

Many members of the unit enrolled in colleges or universities upon their return and began attending classes in the fall semester of 2007 while their applications before the BCMR were pending.  These soldiers applied to participate in the so-called "Plus Up" program, which provides for increased education benefits.

However, these soldiers did not receive their Plus Up benefits while their applications were pending, and they were denied retroactive payment even after their paperwork was properly amended.

Walz and Ellison said that the VA Secretary's decision to award these soldiers the benefits they were entitled to is the right one, given that the Secretary acknowledged the original denial was due to an error made by the federal government. 

Several of our young friends recently left for college, and their number one worry was paying for school and living expenses. The notion of soldiers who have already paid their dues--and more--to this country having to share that anxiety is a vexing situation. It's as if the government took out a loan on our soldiers' lives--and wasn't going to pay up when the terms came due. Thanks to all who helped resolve the situation.

We'll be adding supporting material in a bit.

Just go read the Post Bulletin story about this fine soldier and student leader from Fairmont. We've seen him speak up for students: very impressive.

Brian Davis has touted free trade in his campaign; thus we were curious what the actual question about "unfair" trade with China was at this Republican event described by the New Ulm Journal:

Congressional candidate Brian Davis of Rochester, speaking to the IRs, said the main issue in his Congressional election is high energy costs.

Davis talked about illegal immigration and offshore drilling.

"I support a border fence, which was authorized by Congress but has been undermined by some politicians," said Davis.

Regarding offshore drilling, Davis said there hasn't been a major oil spill in America in 40 years.

A Republican supporter complained of an unfair trade policy with China.

Davis agreed.

"If we don't do something about it, we'll become a society of service people supported by Chinese money," added Davis. . . .

It's also odd that the newspaper calls those at the gathering "IRs," since the Independent Republican label has gone the way of the cassette tape--and moderates in the RPM. From Wikipedia:

The Independent-Republican Party (I-R) was the name used for the party from November 15, 1975 until September 23, 1995.. The party added "Independent" to its name after the Watergate affair in an attempt to distance itself from the national party. During most of the 1970s and into the early 1980s more moderate leadership prevailed within the party, but the party gradually grew more conservative. Several more moderate Republican candidates and officeholders have now left the party (including former governor  Arne Carlson and former U.S. Senator David Durenberger), with some of them moving to the Independence Party of Minnesota, which considers itself a centrist party.

According to the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board, the name of the Brown County Republican BPOU is the Brown County RPM.

The center could not hold for Minnesota's Republicans and the name was abandoned along with moderation. Davis's campaign, given the candidate's extremist positions, is another symptom of the party's rightward drift, in that both Randy Demmer and Dick Day have been scolded for not being platform-pure enough for the activist base.

Attacks on Walz tend to focus on attacks of "liberalism" itself, despite Walz's being ranked as a centrist by the National Journal. Walz has tried to work across the aisle, and favors a practical, inclusive approach to solving policy issues.

His own energy proposal, H.R. 6709, for example, enjoys the support of such unlikely allies as the National Association of Manufacturers and The U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In the state, the bill is supported by the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, widely perceived as the more politically conservative of the state's two general membership farm groups. (Walz's attackers can't even bring themselves to mention the legislation, as this letter from a conservative activist in today's Mankato Free Press illustrates).

Another instance of this drift can be found in the race for the open seat in Minnesota's Third, being vacated by moderate Republican congressman Jim Ramsted. The Third Congressional District RPM nominated Erik Paulsen, a far more conservative man, to replace him. The DFL state party has posted a good summary of Paulsen's conservative legislative record here.

Today is the Blog Day for Ashwin Madia, the Iraq War Marine veteran chosen by Third District DFLers to compete for the moderate suburban swing district. We at BSP are working with other progressive bloggers to help Madia raise money on the final day of the pre-primary FEC fundraising period. We don't have much more to add about this fine candidate than what has been said  over at MnPublius in Blog Day for Ashwin Madia, at MNCR in  Blog Day for Ashwin Madia, by Blue Man Hal in Blog for Madia Day,  Jeff at TCDL in Help Madia fight back!  The Big E has more on what the young Marine vet faces in Republicans push polling smears against Ashwin Madia.  Readers can use the box below to help his campaign out.

Congressman Walz, too, faces an opponent who (along with his supporters) is willing to misinform the public about himself and issues, while distorting the DFL incumbent representative's record and positions.  The GOP wants to retake Southern Minnesota though it has drifted away from the district's independent streak. Give today to Congressman Walz's re-election campaign committee by clicking through here.

And yeah, we're looking forward to Walz and whomever wins the Republican primary (Davis or Day) talk about China policy in upcoming forums.

Update 8/20: It's still wrong and there's been no response to the email (we know someone from Beloit visited us). Some reference source. [end update]

We love the Beloit College Mindset list, but laughed at #57 of the Mindset list for the Class of 2012:

57. Off-shore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.

This bullet point isn't correct. New leasing and drilling are taking place in those ares that are not under moratoria.  It isn't "prohibited" in open areas.

We have sent the following email to the creator of the project and the school's publicist:

Dr .McBride and Mr Nief:

The mindset list includes a mistake: the point on off-shore drilling. The list states:

57. Off-shore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited."

This simply isn't true. Drilling is allowed in some offshore areas, most notably the Western Gulf of Mexico and the waters around Alaska. While many areas are under moratoria), the limits do not extend to all of America's offshore resources.

Please see the website for the Offshore Energy & Minerals Management (OEMM):

New leases were offered up this month in the Gulf of Mexico

Alaskan waters are also being leased--there was a lease sale earlier this year:

I hope that you are both honest enough to admit that this bullet point is inaccurate, since  off-shore drilling is allowed in some areas (and off-shore areas are still being offered for new leases).  It is most surely restricted, but not prohibited.

The point might be more accurately rephrased, "The moratoria on many off-shore areas in the United States have always been in effect."

What can we say? Davis Misinformation Syndrome has spread across the border to Wisconsin.

A friend in Winona has passed along news of this house party:

Please join us for an Open House to meet Congressman Tim Walz

Thursday, August 21, 2008

4:00 - 5:30 PM

At the home of Ruth Charles and Michael Bowler
1751 Edgewood Rd. Winona, MN
(507) 452-9244

Come meet Tim and hear about the positive change he is bringing to Washington, DC and the 2008 campaign!

If you would like to, bring an appetizer or beverage to share. See you there!

Directions: Take Gilmore Rd past HyVee grocery store; The first left off of Gilmore Rd is Terry Rd, the second left is Edgewood Rd.  Our house is brown (#1751) and is on the left side of the road at the bottom of the hill.

The Minnesota Coalition for Immigration Reduction held a meeting in Austin last night, and Congressional candidate Dick Day was there.

The Austin Herald, which had encouraged its readers to attend the forum, provides extensive coverage of the event in Immigration debate hot:  Reform supporters rail against Welcome Center, Hormel at forum.

California Minuteman Ron Brantsner demanded that the Welcome Center be shut down:

The Welcome Center, a non-profit founded in 2000 to address “medical, social, community, legal, financial, educational and other needs,” was highly criticized, with Branstner claiming the organization receives millions of dollars in federal support.

“You need to shut the Welcome Center down,” Branstner told the crowd. “They’re getting funded from open border groups.”

One audience member demanded to know where they got information about the Welcome Center’s funding.

Branstner said he had researched it, but was not able to provide documentation at the forum.

According to a article published by the Post Bulletin early this year, the Welcome Center's annual budget is $256,000.

The Austin Herald's stenographer-reporter repeats Senator Day's bogus claims about spending time with the Border Patrol when he visited Arizona last fall:

Sen. Dick Day, R-Dist. 26, said he attended the forum because he believes it is an issue of concern for people.

“If someone looks at a crowd, you can tell how important it is,” he said. “It’s a big issue, and no one wants to talk about it.

“In Austin, for some reason, there seems to be some animosity against the Hormel Corp.,” Day said. “These companies are going to have to come forward.”

To learn more about the issue, Day said he spent three days with border patrol in Arizona, and that he supports instituting biometric cards — tamper-proof national I.D.s to prevent fraud and verify country of origin.

“The solution is to secure the borders,” he said. “It’s going to be a big issue in elections.”

Unlike the Austin Herald today and the Star Tribune last fall, Bluestem Prairie has actually contacted the Border Patrol to check the accuracy of Day's account. A spokesman for the Border Patrol said that Day did not travel with its agents nor had he contacted the agency for a ride along. The Star Tribune has never corrected its inaccurate report.

The Rochester Bulletin also reported on the forum. Once again, its headline frames the mission of the Minnesota Coalition for Immigration Reduction as being against "illegal immigration" though the mission of the group is to limit legal immigration as well.

Newspapers are willing to publish MCFIR founder Paul Westrum's letters about reducing legal immigration, but seem unwilling to call the group anything other than "anti-illegal immigration."  It clearly supports reducing legal immigration to 200,000 people each year. Is it any wonder the public is confused?

The PB article reports that Senator Dick Day attended the meeting:

Republican State Sen. Dick Day, who recently authored a plan to secure America's borders, has attended several of MCFIR's meetings in Austin because he said he supports the group's mission.  

"I'm here because (illegal immigration) is a big issue in the district," said Day. "We should know who is in the U.S. and what they are doing here. I think its wonderful that a group of people is willing to talk about it."

Funny, but only a few weeks ago, the Mankato Free Press reported Immigration issue has faded in campaigns, and Dick Day was singing the gas price blues with Brian Davis. Will Day outflank Davis in the race to score with the GOP base?  Will immigration trump energy in the September 9 primary?

In a budget cutting move last night, the Austin City Council slashed its contributions to the Welcome Center, the Austin Symphony and the Development Corporation of Austin.

BTW: Southern Minnesota's immigration reduction crowd seems to want to shut down something else. Ruthie Hendrycks, who was part of last night's panel, wants a Spanish-language radio station pulled off the airwaves.

For more background on some of the "experts" on last night's panel, see this backgrounder that contains information about panelist Dell Erickson and this one on the groups Westrum and Hendrycks lead.

With other progressive bloggers, Bluestem Prairie will be taking part in tomorrow's Blog day for Ashwin Madia. Madia, a young Iraq War Marine veteran, is seeking the open seat in Minnesota's Third.

The race is considered a toss-up.

Update: The Rochester Post Bulletin reports on the Rochester senior health care meeting in Leaders explore ways to fix Medicare system. [end update]

KEYC-TV reports on yesterday afternoon's meeting about Medicare at Mankato's Summit Center in Klobuchar and Walz Visits Southern Minnesota To Talk Health CareBuildVideoLink('image','true','147493','Klobuchar%20and%20Walz%20Visits%20Southern%20Minnesota%20To%20Talk%20Health%20Care');:

Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative Tim Walz are visiting southern Minnesota to discuss health care issues and their concerns regarding Medicare. A panel met earlier today in Mankato to discuss long term solutions to the problem of wide spread geographic inequality in Medicare spending. Minnesota's health care is based on quality care at low costs... a system Representative Walz says should be a model for health care programs nationwide. The Congressman spent today talking with constituents about their health care concerns. Rep. Tim Walz says, They're struggling with health care costs, they're concerned about the future, but the one thing that's there is they're optimistic that these things can be solved. "The political duo also met with southern Minnesota residents to discuss veteran's issues.

KTTC-TV reports on Rochester's meeting on Medicare costs. Here's the video clip, which begins after the short ad (the ad and its revenue is the station's, not BSP's):

Owatonna's Marlene Nelson sent her letter, Walz's office quick to help, to the Mankato Free Press; it was previously in the Owatonna People's Press.

Elsewhere in the MFP's letter page, Walz supporter Max Hailperin writes about H.R. 6709, The National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Security Act, in Walz wants solutions. He cites the Fairmont Sentinel's editorial, Walz seeks energy bill; Congress fails to act.

Once again, a conservative reaches for a debunked urban legend. The Houston County News has published a letter from M.J. "Mac" McCauley of Winona, First learn about candidate's viewpoint, then vote, that cites the Alexander Tyler "Fall of the Athenian Republic" nonsense. The widely-emailed urban legend also attributes opinions and statistics to Hamline Law prof Joseph Olson that he doesn't hold; in fact, Snopes reports that he himself first learned of his supposed view when someone sent him the email.

A longer version of McCauley's letter appeared in the Winona Post under the ironic headline, Voters must be informed. McCauley himself should start by checking up on his own source material, rather than relying on truthiness. Bluestem caught the use of this  

At Minnesota Central, retired accountant McPherson Hall asks a few questions about the definition of "rich" in MN-01 : Is the Reluctant Millionaire Doctor Rich ?

The Rochester Democrat notes that there will be a house party for Tim Walz in Rochester on August 20. RSVP please. Those who can't make it can support Walz's re-election bid by contributing here. Tomorrow marks the end of the pre-primary reporting period for the FEC.

Update: A friend  sent us this YouTube of last week's Town Hall meeting with laid-off TRW workers (UAW members) in Winona:

Once again, a Southern Minnesota conservative reaches for a debunked urban legend for "evidence."  The Houston County News has published a letter from M.J. "Mac" McCauley of Winona, First learn about candidate's viewpoint, then vote, that cites the Alexander Tyler "Fall of the Athenian Republic" nonsense.

The widely-emailed urban legend also attributes opinions and statistics to Hamline Law prof Joseph Olson that he doesn't hold; in fact, Snopes reports that he himself first learned of his supposed view when someone sent him the email. McCauley cites a portion of the Olson section of the bogus email.

A longer version of McCauley's letter appeared in the Winona Post under the ironic headline, Voters must be informed. McCauley himself should start by checking up on his own source material, rather than relying on truthiness.

Bluestem caught the use of this misinformation back in April in Jackson County Pilot publishes urban legend--with a twist. In that instance, the letter writer's target was illegal immigration.  Here are McCauley's targets from both versions of the letter in the Winona Post and the Houston County News:

It takes work and study for voters to be informed. Be informed on what the policies of candidates are, what their views on federal taxes are, what their approach is to entitlements and benefits, their approach to Muslim extremists, and on the pro-life debate.

It certainly does take work and study for voters to be informed, and we hope they spot and discard false urban legends when making their decisions. 

Update 8/19: The meeting broke up around 6:30, with everyone getting plenty of time to talk to Walz and Klobuchar before and after their brief remarks began.  For us, the most moving part of the late afternoon event was meeting Vicky Sprenger of Sleepy Eye. As we noted beginning in 2007, her son Minnesota National Guard soldier B.J. Sprenger was badly burned  in Iraq when a roadside IED detonated. The incident happened a day before his 22nd birthday.

She talked to Senator Klobuchar about the family's experience with the military burn hospital in San Antonio, and showed us the tattoo she got there while B.J. was being treated.  Congressman Walz knew the soldier from his own days in the National Guard.

One of our friends had drilled with B.J. and the word she used most to describe her fellow soldier was "sweet." That was the word his mom used, too, and in talking to her, we could see that the acorn hadn't fallen far from the tree.  We thank her, her family and her son for their courage and service. [end update]

6: 07 Congressman Walz talked about the work the House V.A. committee did and the bills that were passed. He talks about the experience B. J.  Sprenger and his mother went through. He tells several stories and introduces his veterans outreach worker. He introduces Senator Klobuchar, who talks about the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program. She introduces her outreach workers. She thanks Mrs. Sprenger and her family.

5:53 Senator Klobuchar, the District 2 commander for the VFW, and several other women are talking at a table. One is the mother of B.J. Sprenger.

5:39 The meeting is starting late since those at the Summit Center meeting in Mankato had a lot of questions.Senator Klobuchar and Congressman Walz are here, along with about fifteen vets and citizens, as well as assorted staffers, state representative Terry Morrow, and state senator Kathy Sheran. These meetings have been informal I've been told--those attending are taking advantage of the opportunity for face time with their U.S. Senator and Representative.

Update #2: The Albert Lea Tribune reports Klobuchar, Walz make joint appearance at Albert Lea's American Legion post. The paper estimated that 30 people attended the informal meeting:

The two members of Congress made this joint appearance before about 30 veterans and members of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans. And in their short speeches, the two discussed various aspects of health care and other benefits for members of the armed forces and those veterans who have served the nation in prior years.. [end update]

Photo: Vicki Sprenger's tattoo; photo taken at the St. Peter American Legion post.

Note: Our last post from yesterday's live blogging was lost somehow, so we've added the update.

Update: Another correspondent reports seeing Day signs in Albert Lea, Waseca, and Owatonna, but no Davis signs anywhere.[end update]

A correspondent in Fairmont just dropped us a line about coverage of the primary in the local media:

Looks like the Fairmont Sentinel . . . must be declaring Dick Day as "its" candidate... because there is a photo of him campaigning in Waseca on the front of today's paper.

The photo is three columns wide -- half a page, if you will. It's color and about four inches deep.

Ironically, the AP story is about Republicans campaigning in the first district... no photo of Brian Davis in the entire paper.

The story isn't in the online edition of the paper. We always appreciate readers' tips from across the district that help us fill in the gaps.

Photo: Still from one of Senator Day's two recent appearances on SW Wisconsin/SE Minnesota television. Earned media R Day.

Today's Winona Daily News editorial says Winona should get some from Amtrak in Get on board the idea for more rail service. In part:

. . .It’s also nice to see leaders such as U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Mayor Mark Johnsrud of La Crosse, Wis., come together with Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz and Miller to form a coalition that stretches beyond state lines. When it comes to both transportation, commerce and tourism, state lines seem to dissolve and become less important.

When it comes to lobbying for money or more service, it’s even more impressive when we speak not just as one city or one state, but as an entire region, which realizes the growing importance of alternative transportation (which now means anything but a gasoline powered automobile). The Highway 43 Bridge shutdown reminds us of both the connection we have to each other and the importance of good transportation.

We also applaud Walz’s recent legislation that, if passed, would provide more than $14 billion to passenger rail improvement, including Amtrak. .. .

The Worthington Globe reports Walz touts energy plan in Worthington visit with area truckers:

Rep. Tim Walz visited Smith Trucking on Saturday, where he met with truck fleet owners and operators from southwestern Minnesota who are members of the Minnesota Trucking Association.

While at Smith Trucking — a family-owned, second generation trucking company — Walz and local truckers discussed how high fuel costs have affected the trucking industry, as well as the comprehensive energy bill Walz and the Bipartisan House Energy Working Group introduced in July.

Read the rest at the Globe.

Congressman Walz and Senator Klobuchar are visiting Rochester, Albert Lea, Waseca, Mankato and St. Peter today to talk about equalizing Medicare payments between states and to visit with veterans at service clubs. Details and full schedule here.

The Worthington Globe also makes note of the coming Republican primary by printing the AP story Davis, Day head for showdown; it's picked up in the WDN as Republicans prepare for primary. This is the same story that WCCO ran. We commented yesterday:

From the sounds of things, Brian Davis should spend some of that money on the primary, since Day is a master at getting the press's attention.

In the netroots, Walz makes a brief cameo appearance in the Rook's Is The MN Republican Party Eating Itself?, which contrasts the Republicans' inner-party feud over the endorsement of Mark Olson for State Senate with DFL reaction to Al Franken's Playboy article. More interesting chronicles of this over at Lloydletta's place.

The Washington Post looks at Alternative Energy's Front Lines in Colorado. Included in the story is the tale of the state's renewable energy standard for electricity. Fascinating who that works.

In its newsline Friday, the state Republican party sent its faithful readers back to an April 15th profile of their candidate in the Strib. We're guessing they're trying to refocus on his upbringing by parents of "modest means," rather than a doctor making $411,000 a year at Mayo. 

This is the article where Davis inflated the value of his medical school rotations at public and veterans hospitals. Rather than being a standard piece in a medical education where students observe doctors working, on Planet Davis, their location makes him an expert on public service. From the article:

"I've always been interested in politics, but have always understood that in our system of government, it's the life experiences that people bring to the table that's valuable to government," Davis said, adding that he has worked in public and veterans hospitals while in school . . .

After all, watching doctors work during a student rotation is such a hard-wrought life experience. Likewise, if we are to believe his Facebook resume rather than his hype, Davis spent all of eight months--twenty-five years ago--working as a nuclear engineer after completing his undergraduate degree. His earlier experience for the firm where he worked was in summer jobs and work study.

The article also noted his hometown of Waukegan, Illinois, on the "North Shore" of Chicago. Given the spin that the Davis campaign's followers have put on Davis's "small town values," readers might consider the birthplaces of each man still in the race. In the 1960 census, the first one taken after Davis's birth, Waukegan's population was 61,784. The town (and Lake County) is now included in the Chicago metropolitan area, though we don't know if this was the case when Davis was young. Davis's undergraduate years were spent at the University of Ilinois in Urbana-Champaign, metropolitan area population 210,275 (2000 census), attended grad school in the Boston area, medical school/interning in the Chicago area and did his residency in New York City. He has lived in Rochester since completing his work in New York City.

Senator Dick Day was born in Rochester, Minnesota. In the first census following his birth, Rochester's population was 26,312. He is a lifelong resident of the district and longtime resident of Owatonna, population 24,533. A Winona State University grad, Day says that the only time he's left Minnesota for long was to serve in the Navy.

Congressman Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska. We haven't been able to find figures from the 1970 census online, but the population of the entire county was 12,034 in 1970, the first census after Walz's birth. West Point is now home to 3,660 people. Walz graduated from Butte High School in a class of 25; fewer than 400 people now live in Butte. The 1980 census placed 3,331 in all of Boyd County, Nebraska, with only 2,835 remaining in 1990. He met his future wife, Gwen, while teaching in Alliance, Nebraska (pop. 8,959).  Gwen Whipple Walz was born in Glencoe, Minnesota and raised in Ivanhoe. Moving to Mankato, population 32,493, must have been a big step up in the mid-1990s.

What are "small town values"? Some conservatives like Davis (and his supporters) would probably want to co-opt the phrase to mean a hardcore extreme right agenda. Mostly though, we think people take it to mean places where  people know and care for each other, center their lives around family, schools, faith, and the local Legion, VFW or Lions club. That vision includes people from across the political spectrum. Sadly, small towns don't always live up to their values, but when they do, these are great places to live and raise families.

Maybe the most famous recent song about small midwestern towns is Indiana rocker and rural activist John Mellencamp's "Small Town." Interesting thing about Mellencamp, whom Rolling Stone called an ardent Democrat: his songs tend to get grabbed by conservative politicians to illustrate their "values."

Mellencamp has typically grabbed them back when he finds out--most recently asking John McCain to cease playing the progressive, pro-labor song "Our Country" at rallies. Originally an Edwards supporter, Mellencamp now backs Barack Obama.  That background certainly makes one wonder about the use of "Small Town" in this pro-Davis YouTube slideshow put up by a Davis campaign consultant.

Universal Music Group has disabled the embed on his YouTube of "Small Town," so you'll have to follow this link to watch his own take on the song. Here's another great song about small town life, with Emmy Lou Harris joining the under-appreciated Iris Dement in "Our Town."

Dick Day grabs the lion's share of earned media in WCCO's report, Republicans Face Off In 1st District Primary. From the sounds of things, Brian Davis should spend some of that money on the primary, since Day is a master at getting the press's attention.

In the WCCO news report, Davis has little name recognition. Day was featured on two station's news last week.

We got a chance to look for signs of the primary yesterday in parts of Nicollet, Brown, and Blue County on the way back from the ruins of Farther and Gay Castle.  When we drove through New Ulm, we saw a few signs for both candidates in the Day-Davis primary, and they seemed evenly matched.  We were most impressed by the signage for both Skillings and Torgelson in the 21B open seat. Neither faces a primary, but are hustling for visibility and their work shows.

Congressman Walz and Senator Klobuchar will visit Rochester, Albert Lea, Waseca, Mankato and St. Peter tomorrow to talk about equalizing Medicare payments between states and to visit with veterans at service clubs. Details and full schedule here.

Outspoken Owatonna conservative Marlene Nelson writes to say Walz’s office staff was quick to help, in the Owatonna People's Press. When she encountered a problem with transportation to the V.A., she turned to Walz's congressional office.  Go read the outcome at the OPP. This is how congressional constituent services are supposed to work.

Phil Heim of Medford did a little research and praises H.R. 6709 (National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Independence Act) in Energy bill is what we should expect. He concludes:

Without labeling ourselves as Republicans or Democrats but as Citizens, isn’t this the type of working together we expect from our governmental leadership? Why not call or write your representative or senator and express your concerns?

In Winona, DFLer Jim Gurley writes ti say Rep. Walz helps hard-working families. On the editorial page, the board is ticked off at state legislators from both sides, except for Gene Pelowski. We have to hand it to the WDN's Darrel Ehrlick: he's not one to mince words.

Winona Radio reports that Women in Business will host a meeting featuring congressional and state house candidates:

Four political candidates will be the special guests at next weeks meeting of the Winona Women in Business group.

The event will take place at noon on Thursday, August 21st, at Westfield Golf Club.

First District Congressman Tim Walz and his Republican challenger Brian Davis will be on hand. Also attending will be Minnesota State Representative Gene Pelowski and his Republican challenger, Rhett Zenke.

All four will address current campaign issues.

The deadline for registering for the event was August 11.There will be more forums and debates as the general election nears. One post-primary debate, sponsored by Debate Minnesota, is in the works; readers can probably expect at least as many post-primary debates and forums as Gutknecht and Walz attended in 2006.

The Austin Herald reports Local voter registration up. The local League of Women Voters is facilitating the process:

. . .Members of the Austin Area League of Women Voters offered voter registration at the Austin Public Library Friday and Saturday in preparation for the Sept. 9 primary election and the Nov. 4 general election.

. . .The Austin Area League of Women Voters will also be offering registration at its primary forum Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. at the city chambers. The event is open to the public. Registration can also be made at city hall, which is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Minnesota's election laws allow same-day registration on election days,  but registering in advance will speed an individual's time at the polling place. Those who is wish to be on the roster at their polling place for the September 9 primary need to register by August 19; for the general, it's October 14.

The Minnesota Secretary of State's website provides information about how to register.  Voter qualifications:

You may register and vote in Minnesota on the next Election Day if you:

• will be at least 18-years-old on Election Day 
• are a citizen of the United States
• will have resided in Minnesota for 20 days immediately preceding Election Day
• have any felony conviction record discharged, expired, or completed
• are not under court-ordered guardianship where a court has revoked your voting rights
• have not been ruled legally incompetent by a court of law

Again, one need not be registered before election day in Minnesota to vote (registration is available at the polls) but you must register. Doing it in advance saves everybody time on Election Day.

The blogger at Minnesota First started posting because of concerns about FISA. In Here We Go Again he links to an article about a proposal to expand domestic eavesdropping. At Minnesota Central, McPherson Hall takes several looks at drilling as an issue.

A letter writer tells the editors of the Mankato Free Press Backyard hens are nothing to fear. We agree, unless you're Mickey Rourke in this 1987 film.

In Owatonna, Steele County politicians engaged in a watermelon seed-spitting contest. Now think how much more fun it would be to see Norm and Al go bowling? (h/t) to THM.

Speaking of bowling--there's going to be a one-sided immigration reduction forum in Austin tomorrow night that features a panelist from FAIR. The convergence of bowling news and  FAIR news is as good a superficial excuse as ever to post a video of our favorite bowling song.

On this day in 1862, an incident in Meeker County near Acton triggered The Dakota War of 1862. Four young Dakota men who were out hunting engaged white men in a shooting contest that ended with the death of five settlers. Later that day, the Dakota leaders met in council to decide what to do. They could turn the young men over to white authorities or declare war.

Although the chiefs were split on what to do, eventually Ta-oya-te-duta or Little Crow reluctantly agreed to lead his people to war. However, the conflicts was rooted in more than just the incident, and we'll be looking more at the background later in a post we're writing called "The Road to Farther and Gay Castle" which we visited yesterday afternoon.

The conflict led to the largest mass execution in American history in Mankato on December 26, 1862. The Mankato Free Press reports that mementos of the hanging were commonplace at the turn of the 20th century in Antique spoon shows dubious past.

Via Blognetnews Minnesota, we love the ultimate destination of the post by Minnesota's most beloved conservative blogger: Brian Davis: The Small Town Values Candidate for Minnesota's First Congressional District.   Othelmo da Silva, keeper of the blog, is one of two outreach directors for the Olmsted County Republican Party.

The latest Cook Political Report on competitive house races continues to place MN-01 in the least-likely-to-change category, "Likely Democratic." The handicapper defines this category this way: 

"Likely: These seats are not considered competitive at this point but have the potential to become engaged."

Cook updated ratings for two Congressional races on Thursday, as it believes the odds have improved for the Democratic candidates in two seats in Missouri and Alabama.  The assessment for the MN-01 general election has remained unchanged.

Some competition is happening in the First. There's definitely a Republican primary on. LaCrosse CBS affiliate WKBT reports in Minn. State Sen. Dick Day makes push for Congress:

In a visit to Southeastern Minnesota Thursday, Day said his 25 years of experience in politics makes him a good candidate, and he wants to make his campaign about the issues.

Those who slept through geography class  may not know that LaCrosse  is just across the Highway 61 bridge from LaCrescent. Day is not the only one working the edges of the district.

A friend who travels across large swaths of rural Southern Minnesota for his job writes:

On Highway 68 from the Brown County line north through Morgan to Redwood Falls , there are a series of groups of Republican signs. They are every 1-2 miles. They all appear on the same person’s property, namely that of a person that bought the railroad line that runs along the road in that area. Each grouping had Colemen, Davis, a local representative candidate, often McCain in small signs, but most curiously, “Pawlenty for governor” signs. They must think he has coat tails. Likely they went up for Farmfest and were left up.

That is a fair assessment, especially since the Redwood County vote is unlikely to play a key role in either the primary or general election in the First. Our sign watchers in the field also reported another Day sign up in Madelia, in a field next to the Tony Downs food processing plant.

In an interview with ABC-affiliate WXOW in LaCrosse, Day brought up immigration as an issue for the race;  Day's candidacy may get a boost from this meeting in Austin.  As the Divine Tild noted in the waning days of 2007, Day made a run for the border last year as he sought to make immigration the signature issue for the district. The meeting on Monday:

Town Hall meeting on immigration

Oak Park Mall Community Room, 1301 18th Ave. N.W., Austin. 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Panelists are Susan Tully, Midwest field director for Federation for American Immigration Reform; Ruthie Hendrycks, founder/president of Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform; Dell Erickson, author and educator; Ron Branstner, minuteman from California.

What looks to be a press release about the event, the Austin Herald's notice of the meeting called the panelists "experts" and today's editorial recommends that people attend it. We want to know where the employees at the Herald are scoring Pineapple Express.

Loyal readers may remember that this is the paper that employs a reporter who contacted a severe case of Davis Misinformation Syndrome that led her to write that Tim Walz had defeated Brian Davis in 2006; in reality, Walz defeated six-term incumbent Gil Gutknecht.

The U.S. State Department's Election 2008 project recently reported on immigration as an issue in Immigration Reform Major Issue in Minnesota Food-Processing City. The reporter noted the positions on immigration of the three congressional candidates in the First:

The candidates for Minnesota’s 1st District congressional seat have varying views. Republican Dick Day, who is challenging the party-endorsed Republican candidate Brian Davis in a September primary, says a fence is the way to go. He also believes in heavy fines for employers if they are found to have hired workers illegally.

Davis also favors a fence and enforcement of existing laws. He says a “tamper-proof system” should be created to determine if employees and people applying for work are legally entitled to work in the United States.

Both Davis and Democrat incumbent Tim Walz favor a system that would allow people in America illegally to return to their home countries and apply for permanent residency. Davis also thinks knowledge of English should be required to obtain U.S. citizenship.

We can't vouch for the accuracy of McConnell's reporting (which is routinely republished by the Newsblaze site in California--where a Davis supporter has already hijacked the story's comment thread to claim that only his candidate favors a border fence). She seems to face enormous challenges when it comes to identifying Congressman Walz, much less his positions on issues (the example above leaves out a lot, including Walz's position on biometric ids).

This isn't the first story in the series that we've wondered about McConnell's misrepresentation through omission. In yesterday's Republican Area in Minnesota Could Go Democratic in November (Newsblaze posting, but attributed to the U.S. State Department project, McConnell reported first:

The majority of visitors who spoke with America.gov at the Olmstead County Fair - an annual celebration of the area's agricultural economy held in Rochester - said they would vote for Obama over Republican John McCain for president.

We like that part. But then she must have burned one, suffered a relapse of Davis Misinformation Syndrome, or both:

Finding alternative energy sources to relieve high gasoline prices and confronting climate change are issues that concern the people surveyed.

Most voters said they believe every individual can do something to protect the environment, such as recycling waste, driving less and using less electricity. They split on the question of whether America should drill for oil off America's coastlines or in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.

Both McCain and Obama favor some form of offshore oil drilling. Brian Davis, the Republican-endorsed candidate for the area's 1st Congressional District seat, strongly favors looking for oil offshore and drilling in Alaska, while 1st District incumbent Representative Tim Walz, a Democrat, favors developing alternative energy sources such as wind and ethanol.

This is the second time the poor child been unable to mention H.R. 6709, which would expand offshore  drilling. Walz and the bipartisan House Energy Working Group introduced the bill at the end of July, so we're not sure why the State Department can't find it in Thomas.  Maybe McConnell scored from the Herald staff when she visited Southern Minnesota.

Former mayor of Preston and an Independence Party congressional candidate in 2004, David Pechulis writes a Letter about Oil Drilling to the editors of the Fillmore County Journal. We're not sure about his claim that refineries are working close to 100 percent of their capacity; most figures we've seen put it between 85 and 90 percent. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that it was at 85.9 percent of capacity the week before.

In Early Voting, Minnesota First's Apollo suggests that if anyone is up for Operation Chaos action, he or she can find it in the district's Republican primary (we assume he's talking about absentee balloting):

Early voting started last Friday, so if you are going to be away from your precinct on September 9, be sure to go vote. Tim Walz is unopposed in the primary, but if anyone is feeling up for a little Operation Chaos, Dick Day is an inviting option!

While we assume that the MF blogger is teasing, we don't recommend such tactics. People should use their vote in good faith, picking the candidates they feel will best serve the country, state or district.  In Minnesota's open primary, voters pick to vote for a party's candidates, but must pick those from one party  only. And DFLers, after all, have an important U.S. Senate primary vote, so it's also in their own interest not to go down the Operation Chaos path for the sake of the congressional race.

The Winona Daily News editorial board says Sorry, we don’t need reports, just money about the Walz amendment to the bridge bill. We think that both are needed, but the editors' suggestion that the government should act on report recommendations is a good one. The trick is spending the government dime wisely.

The Fillmore County Journal looks back A year after the great Rushford flood.

Swaney gets life sentence, according to the Worthington Globe. Good.  Swaney was convicted this week for the brutal murder of 20-year-old  Blue Mounds State Park worker Carrie Nelson.

Photo: A still of State Senator Dick Day in one of two appearances on Lacrosse-Southeastern Minnesota  television news.

On this day in 1862, when two Dakota bands,

the southern Mdewakanton and the Wahpekute, turned to the Lower Sioux Agency for supplies . . . , they were rejected. Indian Agent (and Minnesota State Senator) Thomas Galbraith managed the area and would not distribute food without payment to these bands.

At a meeting of the Dakota, the United States government, and local traders, the Dakota representatives asked the representative for the traders,  Andrew Myrick, to support their cause. His response was blunt: "So far as I'm concerned, if they are hungry, let them eat grass or their own dung." The meeting quickly deteriorated into shouting, and negotiations failed.

Even as a little girl in Mankato, I heard this story when I was growing up, and over the next couple of days, Bluestem will tell more of the tragic tale from early statehood.

Image:  Andrew Myrick