Yes, that's right, I made an appointment just like a real reporter and got a phone interview with Elwyn Tinklenberg, the Sixth District of Minnesota's Great White Hope against Michele Bachmann. I interviewed him today about Blue Dog Democrats, Al Franken's chances, and of course Michele Bachmann.
Q: On May 29th, the Associated Press reported that a coalition of Blue Dog Democrats in Congress had endorsed three Democratic challengers in Republican districts and you’re one of them. "Blue Dog" Democrats are Democrats who are conservative fiscal hawks. Is that how you would describe yourself?
Tinklenberg: Well I think these hawks are the folks that have really been raising the issue about the budget, the deficits that are being built by this administration, about the failure to uphold pay-as-you-go: the process that says, look, we need to be responsible in our budgeting, we can’t just keep borrowing and we can’t just keep building debt on our children. And that’s what I think they’re about, and they’re the ones raising that issue. And I’m really proud of their endorsement.
Q: You’re from the Ventura administration, which claimed to be an alternative to the DFL. Now you have to convince a lot of the long-time DFL’rs that you’re really their kind of candidate. How are you going to do that?
Tinklenberg: Remember Ventura brought people into the administration that…There was really no Independence Party, or very little of an Independence Party at that time. And so he brought people into the Independence Party who were clearly from both the Republican Party and the DFL. And he knew, again, that I was a member of the DFL, that I had supported Skip Humphrey in the campaign, that I’d worked on Skip’s campaign. I was very open and very clear about that. I have worked on DFL campaigns ever since I was on the City Council (and before) in Blaine. I’ve been involved in multiple campaigns out in Anoka County, supporting DFL candidates. I’ve been real clear about my loyalties, my understanding of my political perspective, and where my loyalties lie. And I don’t think I really need to convince anyone of that—anybody that talks to any of the DFL leadership in the state will get a clear picture of where El Tinklenberg stands as a Democrat.
Q: What’s your strategy, or what is the strategy for displacing Michele Bachmann in a district that’s cut up to trend Republican?
Tinklenberg: I think there is a very clear strategy—Michele Bachmann has not just portrayed herself as a Republican, she has portrayed herself as an extremist. It’s not that she is somehow connected to the mainstream of her own party, she is a polarizing, divisive figure who decided to stake out the most extreme wing of her own party. And I think that’s where she’s vulnerable. I think the country is moving in the direction of finding ways to come back together to get some things done, and they know that we’re only gonna do that if we work together.
What she is most known for is the kind of divisive and polarizing positions she has taken, and the kind of divisive issues that she has championed. And I think that that’s what people are going to reject. People don’t want that kind of politics anymore infecting our public life, they want to see people who can work together, they want to see people who are ready to reach out and build coalitions and get something done for the people of the district and the people of the state.
And that’s certainly the kind of campaign that we’re gonna build. We’re going to work really hard, obviously, to attract our Democratic base. But everyone in the district understands that the other part of that strategy is to speak to all of the people in the district—to bring together independents and moderates along with the Democrats to forge the kind of coalitions that can make real change and real progress possible in the district.
Q: Do you currently have people working for you who are assessing each of Bachmann votes and proposals in Congress, and what their impact is going to be?
Tinklenberg: We do. We have people inside of the campaign who are watching her votes, and certainly people in Washington and people in a variety of groups in Minnesota and around the country who are assessing her votes—people who provide regular report cards on the votes that the members have taken. And we are certainly keeping track of that. We think that she has taken, again, some votes that make it clear how much she has marginalized herself in an extremist position.
There have been terrific bipartisan votes in Congress—the SCHIP vote being one, the vote for children’s health care. And she voted against that; even though Tim Pawlenty and Norm Coleman voted for or supported that bill, she has been against it. There was a great bill that came up, the new G.I. Bill, that provided G.I. benefits and veterans’ benefits—that made it possible for them to access education and other kinds of things that are so important to re-entering after having served in the military.
And she voted against it. And again: it was a clearly bipartisan bill. And she has done that over and over and over again. And we think that those kind of votes—where she has identified with a smaller and smaller extreme minority of even her own party—demonstrate that she is out of touch with the district and what the priorities are in the district.
Q: Typically about 200,000 people attend the Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival in Loring Park. Are you planning to attend?
Tinklenberg: That Sunday—I know that that’s on the 29th, is it? We are looking at our schedule, we’ve got multiple things that are around. We have been active with a number of different events of the Human Rights Campaign. I certainly think that’s important, especially given present assault on civil liberties in this country. And we think that those initiatives that are supporting the protection of our rights, the protection of our civil liberties are really important issues for us to identify ourselves with and to be supporting.
Q: Here’s a question about Al Franken—do you think he should bow out now, after the revelations about the tax problems and the attention to his early satirical writing? Or would you prefer that he stay in and continue to challenge Coleman?
Tinklenberg: Well I think we have to remember that everybody knew that Al Franken was a comedian, a writer of satire. His books reflect that, the work that he’s done reflects that, and I’m hope that we can move the campaign back to what is really obscene and immoral—which is the votes that Senator Coleman has taken in support of the President, in support of this war, support of the ongoing debt that is being placed on our children. Those need to be the issues, and we really need to understand the ethical and moral implications of those votes. And I think that’s more to the substance.
Beyond that, in terms of Mr. Franken, I think that will be up to the delegates at the state convention this weekend, and they all have to make that judgment. But I’m certainly hoping, and I think he’s committed to making sure that the campaign—once we get beyond the endorsement, if he’s the endorsed candidate—that the campaign is about Coleman’s record. That’s what needs to be the issue in this, and I think Al Franken will be able to make that case effectively.
Q: And last and most important question, did you have you a nickname when you were a kid?
Tinklenberg: (laughs) I did, and I’m just not gonna tell ya. |
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