Here's blueJ's account of the Bachmann no-show and the substitution of Quist:
Julie Quist stood in for Bachmann at the Monticello candidate forum last night.
The moderator announced that the candidates were given the questions in advance, and that Ms. Quist would be reading Rep. Bachmann's responses.
The first question was on the bailout vote, and El Tinklenberg had the first response. He hesitated, and said that this question had not been on the list. The moderator explained that the Chamber of Commerce (who sponsored the event) had decided to add that one. El asked if Rep. Bachmann had been given given the question in advance. Quist replied that she would be reading from Rep. Bachmann's statement about the bailout.
El then began his answer - and he was great! He said that he did not support the initial proposal, and that Congress added needed elements that helped Main Street and would have helped stabilize communities. The unexpected failure after all the hype (I'm paraphrasing) was not good for calming financial uncertainties, and now all sides must come together to solve this problem. (There was more.)
The audience would never have known that this was an unexpected question.
Quist read Bachmann's response, and wasn't able to finish in the two-minute time frame.
The audience did not applaud during the forum, except spontaneously when El gave his wrap-up. He talked about "paying it forward" and said he would be in the communities of the Sixth, listening to people.
He also got one of the few laughs from the audience when he mentioned that he now realizes that as a former mayor of a small town, he came "that close" to being picked for VP.
IP candidate (unendorsed) Bob Anderson also criticized Bachmann for holding no town hall forums in the district during her term.
There was a very good turnout for this event. I'd guess a couple hundred. There were two sign-up sheets for lawn signs left on the table out in the hall. One was for Tinklenberg with 8 names and one was for Bachmann with no names. There were several Bachmann lawnsigns left on the table after the event.
Someone was handing out leaflets about a fundraiser for House District 16B (Mark Olson's district, with Alison Krueger as candidate). It will feature Jason Lewis and also will have Tim Tingelstad, the judge candidate in the Primary who does not believe in separation between church and state. Oh, and also global-warming denier Tim Butz. |
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