Plymouth on Parade

On Saturday it was Plymouth's turn to stage its hometown parade. By far the best giveaway of the day was a fresh, mini beef & pork stick from Von Hansen's Meats from (presumably) its nearby Plymouth Boulevard location.

Bologna of a different variety was being dished out by the politicians in the parade. Oh, calm down, I'm only kidding.

Headlining for the Republicans was Congressman Erik Paulsen (R-MN3) (Twitter: @erik_paulsen), followed by the party's SD43 slate: Norann Dillon for Senate (Twitter: @dillon4senate), Sarah Anderson for House 43A, and Brian Grogan for House 43B (Twitter: @bwgrogan). The DFL was represented by SD43 Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka). I did not see the other DFL candidates, but I did not see the entire parade.

Shortly after the Erik Paulsen contingent reached the end of the parade, the group reconvened at Joe Senser's Plymouth location for a volunteer appreciation lunch hosted by Paulsen. I wanted to stay much longer than I did, but domestic duties called. On the way out, I met Kim, a Dillon for Senate volunteer coordinator, and Derek Brigham (Twitter: @derekbrigham), of the Freedom Dogs and True North blogs.

Emmer suggests new Minnesota Miracle: jobs

After keeping up via the magic of Twitter with the Republican Party of Minnesota's candidate bus tour of twenty Minnesota cities over three days, after work on Friday I headed over to the last stop of the tour to have a grilled hamburger, hobnob with fellow GOP activists, and meet and greet the Republican-endorsed candidates for the Constitutional offices, namely, Governor and Lieutenant Governor (Tom Emmer and Annette Meeks), Secretary of State (Dan Severson), State Auditor (Pat Anderson), and Attorney General (Chris Barden).

The tour was meant to fire up the base across the state, a tactic that is usually saved until October for the home stretch to Election Day. To hear the barnstormers tell it, mission accomplished.

By far the number one issue on the minds of the voters is the economy. Gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer called for a new kind of Minnesota Miracle: a business climate that is improved enough for 3M to open a new plant in Minnesota, or for Marvin Windows to expand in Minnesota, or for Minnesota medical device firms like Medtronic to keep the hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes created by Obamacare and use the money instead for research and development and the creation of new high-tech jobs. Emmer said that we can get the job done by putting partisanship aside and working for the good of Minnesota.

Supporters of Minnesota Majority would be pleased that Secretary of State candidate Dan Severson talked about the problem of convicted felons illegally voting in the 2008, and the common-sense, low-cost reforms needed to restore integrity to Minnesota's elections. Attorney General candidate Chris Barden promised to prosecute cases of election fraud. State Auditor candidate Pat Anderson made the case to get her old "taxpayer watchdog" job back, not a tough sell to this crowd.

Speaking of making a case, Republican-endorsed candidate for the state Supreme Court, Greg Wersal, spoke on meaningful campaigns for those elected judgeships, and encouraged everyone to "flip over the ballot" and vote for the Republican endorsees.

Several times, the candidates emphasized the importance of electing the entire slate of Republicans, from the governor's office to the House and Senate districts across the state. To underscore the point, many local candidates were also present, including Norann Dillon (SD43), Sen. David Hann (R-Eden Prairie), Sen. Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove), Emmer campaign chair Rep. Mark Buesgens (R-Jordan), and Congressman Erik Paulsen (R-MN3), and Fifth Congressional District candidate Joel Demos.

I counted four or five Tea Partiers for Emmer buttons, including my own, and a similar number of Women for Emmer buttons, including one worn by former gubernatorial candidate Sue Jeffers. Jeffers received kudos from attendees for her feisty appearance earlier in the day on the Chris Baker show on 100.3 KTLK-FM with guest host Ron Rosenbaum. There was also some buzz about the growing Tea Party movement in many towns in outstate Minnesota. One vocal Tea Partier reiterated the widely-held belief that the movement should emphasize the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and liberty over candidate endorsement.

Among the other conservative activists present were author and blogger Sheila Kihne of The Activist Next Door, and Nancy Laroche and Derek Brigham of Freedom Dogs. Along with SD43 and other BPOU and CD3 volunteers, we took the opportunity to meet party staff and peek inside the GOP's new Cheshire Lane offices.
 

A lame attack on Paulsen

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) recently sent out an attack mailer against Erik Paulsen, the Minnesota state Representative (R-Eden Prairie) who is running for U.S. Congress in the Third District, currently held by the retiring Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN3).

Fortunately for Paulsen, the attack falls as flat as other paid media by Paulsen's Democrat challenger, Ashwin Madia. The message of the mailer is that the seven-term Rep. Paulsen doesn't support military veterans, as evidenced by a handful of 2003 votes in the state House, conveniently leaving out Paulsen's years of support for legislation to benefit Minnesota veterans (like Madia) in the areas of health care, education, employment, and taxes.

Madia's message in this mailer and his "Running" TV ad is: he was an active duty Marine stationed in Iraq, and he loves his country. Thank you for your service, Mr. Madia, and Semper Fi, but it seems to me that Paulsen's decade-plus record of elected public service in the legislature has better prepared him to represent the Third District in Washington on a wide gamut of issues, including veterans' affairs.

First, get endorsed

Spotted on the north side of Highway 12, west of I-494:

Cross one off Erik Paulsen's to-do list

1. Underestimate Ashwin Madia.

Previously on Minnesota Democrats Exposed, and on prominent lefty blogs, the presumptive DFL endorsee for Third Congressional District Representative, current Minnesota SD 43 Senator Terri Bonoff (DFL-Minnetonka), conceded after the eighth ballot to her challenger, one of Bonoff's Plymouth constituents, political newcomer, attorney, USMC veteran, and ex-Republican Ashwin Madia (that's pronounced ASH-win — as in his supporters' chant "Win Ash-win!" — ma-DEE-ah), at the DFL Third Congressional District convention at Wayzata Central Middle School, which incidentially is deep in the heart of Bonoff's SD 43.

State Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Eden Prairie) will stand unopposed for the Republican Third District endorsement on Saturday. Look for both candidates to cement their support with their respective party bases, then run toward the center, while portraying their opponents as being too far to the left or right for the Third District.

If Paulsen runs his campaign like an heir apparent going through the motions against a political newcomer, or if his campaign falls into this mindset, he could become the second candidate to be defeated by Madia. Yet there's not much chance of Paulsen running a lackadaisical campaign. As former state director for Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN3), Paulsen is used to campaigning hard and taking nothing for granted.

While the campaigns, media, and blogs will eagerly enagage in a partisan firefight, Third District independent voters will have little patience for such theatrics. The unique dynamics of the candidates and this race may actually steer things toward the mythical "spirited debate on the issues." We can only hope.