The PiPress Editorial Board endorses Elwyn Tinklenberg:
Once again, Minnesota's 6th Congressional District is in the national spotlight. And it is focused, like a proverbial laser, on the Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.
Our take is simple. We believe that Bachmann's positions and voting record are probably a better match for this conservative-trending district, even though her opponent, Democrat Elwin Tinklenberg, is himself no wild-eyed liberal. But on the basis of the whole package — tone, emphasis and temperament added to the yeas and nays — it is with mixed emotions that we endorse Tinklenberg.
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Bachmann looked like the leader in this race until her Oct. 17 interview on the "Hardball'' program on MSNBC, in which she worried about "anti-American" ideas possibly held by Sen. Barack Obama and some members of Congress. Bachmann said she used the wrong words and was trapped by the host, Chris Matthews, whom many consider to have a Democratic bent. Her apology was of the standard Washington sort and fell short of contrition. The anti-Bachmann money began flowing in from around the country.
A second recent incident was her statement, during a congressional hearing in September, that the foreclosure crisis was due to a policy of making loans "on the basis of race and often on little else.'' She said later those were not her words, merely an article she was quoting, and that it was not racist to question lending policies. The Congressional Black Caucus was enraged by her foreclosure statement; at least half the country was angered by her "Hardball" performance.
She is a proud and formidable partisan who presents her position in dramatic, even apocalyptic tones. She is given to "rhetorical flourishes" that are Bidenesque and beyond. It is not hard to find other such eruptions in her résumé. We were troubled by her statement in February 2007 that Iran had already decided to partition Iraq and that the U.S. should use "whatever means necessary'' to confront Iran. This came at a time of spiking violence in Iraq and legitimate concerns about Iran's role. In a time when we desperately needed facts, Bachmann was living in what some have called the dream world of "Bachmannistan."
That said, Bachmann supporters will point out that Joe Biden himself proposed partitioning Iraq into three parts, and both presidential candidates have pledged to take whatever measures are needed to deprive Iran of the bomb.
Tinklenberg is a former Methodist pastor and mayor of Blaine. He learned how to work with all sides when he headed the transportation department under a third-party governor, a DFL-controlled Senate and a Republican-led House. He was criticized for contracting abuses at MnDOT but praised for building the Hiawatha light-rail transit line. We remember him not as a wild partisan but as a patient and knowledgeable administrator of one of the state's largest agencies.
He said he wants to extract the U.S. from Iraq "safely and responsibly'' and bring other nations into the region to help. He supports a $35 billion children's health expansion and a new GI bill to help veterans with college costs, while Bachmann supported less expansive alternatives. He favors moving toward universal health care coverage with a combination of private and public plans. And he believes in the Blue Dog congressional caucus's commitment to fiscal responsibility.
There is an Independence Party candidate on the ballot, Bob Anderson, even though his party is backing Tinklenberg. Anderson's premier issue — the mental health parity bill — was passed into law since he entered the race, and he seems to have little interest in other issues. We do not consider him serious competition.
There is one final point to consider. With Democrats expected to gain even larger majorities next week, it is healthy to retain some checks on unfettered power. Bachmann and others would resist excesses. We get that.
But our decision is guided by our belief that the sum of candidate is greater than the total of his or her voting record. On that basis — less on issues than on temperament — we find Tinklenberg the stronger candidate.
And we think that if he wins, he will have to bark like a proud Blue Dog — not like a liberal lap poodle — if he hopes to keep the support of conservative suburban voters.
The PiPress also has a profile of Elwyn Tinklenberg and another profile of Michele Bachmann |
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