A tale of two emails part 2: Kline has no record to run on against Obermueller

Last week I wrote a piece about the difference between Mike Obermueller’s email and John Kline’s email to supporters, A tale of two emails: Kline vs. Obermueller.  I wrote about how John Kline is running against and raising money based on fear of an imaginary liberal boogeyman, while Mike Obermueller is running against John Kline and John Kline’s lack of leadership.

I got to thinking, why isn’t John Kline running on his record?

John Kline has been in Congress for a decade.  Apparently the only accomplishment he can run on is his opposition to Barack Obama, ObamaCare and The Stimulus?  What about the 6 years his President was in charge?  What about the years his party controlled the House, Senate and the Presidency?

Why is it that when the Democrats controlled all three chambers for a fraction of the time the Republicans did, they were able to pass a major social reform bill in the healthcare bill that had been a goal since Harry Truman was president, but nothing was done on the supposedly most important social issues to Republicans when they controlled all three.  Today they continue to take symbolic votes to oppose Democrats, but Kline couldn’t provide the leadership to take an actual vote.

It’s no wonder John Kline is terrified of Mike Obermueller.  Mike is raising money that nobody in recent elections has been able to raise, and that money will be used to attack John Kline’s record, or the lack-there-of.

A tale of two emails: Kline vs. Obermueller

I am going to compare two actual emails here.  The first is from Congressman John Kline emailed on Thursday to his supporters.  The second is from Mike Obermueller emailed to his supporters on Tuesday.  These are the most recent emails I know of.

The first is about fear.  The second is about leadership.

Here is John Kline’s email:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, The Democratic House Majority Fund and the Service Employees International Union are joining force to defeat me in their quest to retake majority control of Congress.

The radical special interests’ war chest of cash combined with the quarter-of-a-million dollars DFL Mike Obermueller raised last quarter will make this a tough race.

Very soon, we’re going to be hit hard by our opponents’ media, mailers and mud and their message is that my staunch opposition to ObamaCare, the Stimulus Plan and Tax Hikes mean that I’m out of touch with our Second District.  I disagree!   I’ve stayed in close touch with Minnesotans and the government takeover of health care, the failed stimulus package and tax increases are three things we don’t want.

I’m a target of the DCCC, George Soros, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Service Employees International Union and the Liberal Super PACs who have threatened to spend millions to defeat me.  But when you help me, I know I’ll win!

PLEASE MAKE YOUR SAFE AND SECURE ONLINE CONTRIBUTION TO KLINE FOR CONGRESS FOR $15, $35, $20 OR $45  for our signs, ads, letters, parade pieces and everything we need to win.

I need you now and thank you for your continued support,

John Kline

Paid for by Kline for Congress

Here is Mike Obermuller’s email:

Dear Stephen,

Just a few days ago Congresswoman Michele Bachmann made an unfounded and personal attack when she questioned the loyalty of a dedicated public servant, Huma Abedin. These sorts of McCarthy-like attacks should have no place in our political discourse and are the reason why a record number of Americans disapprove of the current Congress. I was heartened in this instance to see the condemnation of Bachmann’s comments came from both sides of the aisle. Speaker John Boehner, Sen. John McCain, Rep. Erik Paulsen, and even Bachmann’s former campaign manager Ed Rollins all said that she was out of line.

There was an exception, however: my opponent, Congressman John Kline.

Read: “John Kline Mum on Bachmann Remarks.” – Star Tribune

The 2nd Congressional District deserves better. Minnesota deserves better. But we won’t be able to retire Congressman Kline without your support.

Our pre-primary reporting deadline is midnight, July 25th. Help us show our grassroots strength by making a contribution today.

Thank you in advance for your support. Together, we will defeat John Kline and return responsible leadership to Washington.

Sincerely, Mike Obermueller

Paid for by Mike Obermueller for Congress, P.O. Box 211682, Eagan MN, 55121

Did you see the difference?  John Kline is running against that evil George Soros, the more evil Nancy Pelosi, Liberal Super PACs and the SEIU.  He is running against Mike Obermueller’s “radical special interests’ war chest of cash.”  Kline is scaring his supporters.  He isn’t running against Mike, he is running against an evil boogeyman.

Mike Obermueller on the other hand is running against John Kline.  Mike is running against a person who lacks the ability to be an honest leader.  He’s running against a “Representative” who can’t even stand up to his own colleague who is lying and putting an innocent person in danger.  What sort of leadership is that?  Yes, Mike mentions Bachmann, but he isn’t running against Michele Bachmann, he running against John Kline’s lack of response to her irresponsible lies.

It is no surprise though.  John Kline’s voting record is nearly identical to Michele Bachmann.  He probably agrees with her, he just doesn’t have the nerve to say it out loud.  It would be no surprise at all to me if John Kline agreed wholeheartedly with her.  I can still see his smirking face when a woman called Barack Obama “an Arab” at John McCain’s local town hall meeting.  Kline obviously enjoyed that, he likes that stuff.  That must be the best way for him to raise money, lies.

Hosting a house party for a candidate

What’s better than getting together with a few people you know, along with a few more people you just met, and talking about interesting subjects, learning about new topics and ideas, and doing it all with a little good food?

Last night we had a group of people over to our house to host a small fundraiser for Mike Obermueller.  Along with Mike and a member of his staff and a volunteer, there were 4 other candidates who came, three current legislative candidates and one local candidate, one former state legislative candidate, and one other former state Representative besides Mike.  It was fun.

The donation basket was full, and I hope Mike is able to make a decent bank deposit.  As great as it was to add cash to his campaign, the conversations were what was really great.  I appreciate everybody who came, and enjoyed learning new things.

Most candidates for any office would be happy to attend a little house party like ours.  I encourage you to call up a candidate you like, and volunteer to host a party.  The topics, ideas, and quality of discussion among a small group of politically involved and committed people is great, I learned a lot.

If you want to host a house party for Mike Obermueller, contact his campaign or contact me and I will give you some contact info.  But as much as we need to support Mike, our local candidates need house parties like this too, find your local candidate and ask if you can host one.

So you think you have no reason to vote in the August 14 Primary because you’re a DFLer?

Are you going to skip the August 14 Primary elections? In my district, there are no legitimate DFL challenges.  Yes, Amy Klobuchar has a couple challengers, but nobody who is a serious challenger.  Mike Obermueller has no primary fight, nor do Andrew Brobston, Colin Lee or Jim Arlt.  But there are a couple of important races.

There are six names on the ballot for Minnesota Supreme Court, three for Chief Justice and three for Associate Justice.  In each race, the top two finishers will move onto the general election, and in each race there is an openly partisan candidate that in my opinion shouldn’t be allowed to compete in the general election.

The Minnesota Supreme Court is at stake here.  The first contest features Pawlenty-appointed Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea, who is being challenged by Jill Clark and Dan Griffith.  It might seem logical to a DFLer to get rid of Chief Justice Gildea, a Pawlenty appointee, but Dan Griffith is the person I worry about.  In 2010, Dan Griffen was endorsed by both the MN Republican Party and the Constitution Party, who advocates in its party platform to make homosexuality illegal.  Griffith has appeared at fundraisers for Minnesota Tea Party events, including a chartered bus to attend Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor rally in Washington (Griffith refutes this.)  He is an evangelical Christian who told the Minnesota Family Council that he opposes court decisions that allow for public funding of abortion, prohibit school prayer and ban the posting of the Ten Commandments on public property, and he agrees with court cases that ban adoption by same-sex couples.

In the second race, for Associate Justice, another Pawlenty-appointed incumbent, Justice David Stras, is being challenged by Tim Tingelstad and Alan Nelson.  Tingelstad advocates for inserting the “Word of God” into judicial decisions, never mind the Constitution.   He is quoted as saying “It is particularly vital that a worldview, based upon the Truth of God and His Word, is returned to our highest courts” and “It is not unconstitutional to bring the Word of God back into public education.”  In fact Alan Nelson is quoted as saying one reason he is running is “because Tim Tingelstad’s views on the separation of Church and State scare me.”

Both Dan Griffith and Tim Tinglestad can be stopped at the primary level, so we don’t have to worry about them in November.  The concern on my part is that with all of the Republican primary contests, a lot of far-right activist who believe the separation of Church and State only applies to non-Christian religions, will be out in force, and these candidates may get a boost.

I for one will be voting for the other candidates, I hope you do the same.

I’d also like to add a plug for the Dakota County Commissioner Race in District 1.  Maybe it is an anti-plug.  Christy Jo Fogarty, who is a strong partisan Republican, is running for that Commissioner seat.  Christy Jo is probably not the best candidate to represent the majority in District 1.  I don’t know any of them very well, including Christy Jo, despite the fact that our kids have played sports together, but I met Mike Slavik, he seems pretty likeable and middle of the road.  People on the right call him a “stealth Democrat,” that must mean he is pretty independent, so I will be voting for him, at least in the primary.

Every voter should be considering the impact that these heavily partisan candidates might have on our community, like Griffith and Tinglestad on the Supreme Court, and Fogerty on the Dakota County Board.  The problem in politics is not partisanship, that has always been there, it is the extreme partisans with no ability to be open-minded that we unfortunately have been electing.

Notes: Thank you to MinnesotaCentral for information.  A version of this is also posted at MN Progressive Project and a version was submitted to the Patch news network community blog.

An epiphany about political involvement – money has to get out of politics

I’ve had two epiphanies about politics in the last week. First, politics is too time consuming. Shocking I know. Second, politics is too money consuming. Neither of which I have much to spare, and like many people, I’m beginning to question whether my personal commitment is too great for the amount of satisfaction I receive in return.

This Thursday, I am hosting a fundraiser for Mike Obermueller at my home. When all is said and done, my mom (who graciously offered to help) and I will have spent over $200 on food and drinks. But it isn’t just the cost of food to have a get-together, it’s the little expenses to fix and clean the house that adds up too. Now you have to realize that we never have people over to our house. It is small, poorly laid out (a family birthday party is uncomfortably tight,) the cement and blacktop need serious work (I hope nobody trips and sues us,) we have a dog, two cats, and three smelly boys that quickly turn furniture into pieces homeless teen shelters wouldn’t accept, and don’t get me started on the carpet.

Needless to say, it is uncomfortable for us to have guests over. But when we do, we feel the need to fix all those little things we tend to procrastinate on fixing. Getting a new toilet seat to replace the cracked one. Our dining room chairs need new fabric on the seats since we got a new table. The valance above the patio door needs to be fixed or replaced, and that lacrosse ball hole in the wall should probably be fixed. It costs a fair amount of money to host a fundraiser from that standpoint, for things a majority of people wouldn’t even notice or care about if they did notice. By the way we are not spending the $12,000 to fix the driveway. I just hope the air conditioner survives the week…

When you combine our little foray into the world of fundraising with our desire to support our local candidates who bravely put themselves out there to run for office, we are spending a fair amount of money that should be going into our boy’s college funds, well, probably my vacation fund is more realistic…

The cost of being involved in politics is draining. I think it makes people who might like to be involved in political activities uncomfortable. There are pressures to donate. Each candidate running for state office needs to raise a minimum amount of cash to receive the state campaign funds. For House candidates, it is $1,500 and for Senate candidates it is $3,000 by July 23. What makes it challenging is that no amount in contributions over $50 from any individual counts toward that goal. So candidates who start late have to push to raise the right amount of cash in the right increments. And the activists are the first people asked. Not only are they asked, but they are practically guilted into it. Trust me I know, I begged people to donate this year to our candidates in DFL58. And once they donate, they are on the donation lists and begin getting regular calls from the DFL and the DCCC asking for money.

Some people say they don’t donate cash, but they donate their time. I do that, and it is just as draining, maybe more. I probably spend as much time as anybody in our district, outside of Jeanne and Charlie Thomas, working on DFL projects. But that time is time I should be spending doing other things probably. I am pretty good about going to my children’s events, but I want to finish some things to advance my career, I hardly ever write, I seldom play golf, I need to lose more than a few pounds, and all the junk I do for the DFL is taking away from some serious television and movie watching! In my case, I think that not only am I spending money on politics, I’m losing money by not concentrating on things to make more money. I’m not doing things I would enjoy much more, and although I would not enjoy it, let’s face it, a little more exercise would do me good.

My wife and I spent last night talking about what we do and whether what we do is worth it. This morning at a Bible study I attend (Monday mornings, 6:30 AM at Caribou on 185th in Lakeville. Feel free to join us, it is casual, friendly, Lutheran led, but not Lutheran specific, and we have a couple of open seats at the table.) my father-in-law said he just finished a book that asks the question of organizations why are you an organization. The question on the giant chalk board at Caribou today was something to the effect of “if you had a personal guiding principle what would it be?”

I’m trying to answer those questions and I think a lot of people are asking those questions about politics. Is being involved in politics worth it? Why are we involved in politics? If we had a personal motto, would anything vaguely political be part of it? People look at politics very cynically right now. How much money will be raised to win a local house race? Probably $25,000, most of it spent on advertisements mailed to homes that are more often than not thrown away without being read. And what do they get in return? $40,000 and a load of headaches. What about the Senate Race? Amy Klobuchar has $5,000,000 raised so far. In 2008 Barack Obama spent $730,000,000, what’s it going to be this year? A billion?

So even people who want to be involved are asking themselves “What’s the point?” Is it worth it? What do I get out of it? Small factions of people control politics and it’s distressing. There is nothing more disturbing to me than the partisanship shown by politicians towards constituents on the other side of the political spectrum. But I can’t do anything about it because if I were to help elect a DFLer, in most instances, the same thing would happen, just in the other direction.

When money is out of politics, or maybe I should say IF money is ever taken out of politics and people are truly elected on their own merits and on their beliefs, then people who shun politics might come back. But when we are rigging systems with hoops to jump through to vote with things like advanced registration and voter ID, or the Supreme Court telling Montana that all those years that Montana tried to keep money from influencing politics, Montana was wrong, or when we learn that a majority of the time members of the House serve in Washington is spent fundraising or at least rubbing elbows to open doors for fundraising for the next election, we decide it isn’t worth it. It’s not worth the time, energy, cash or frustration, when the 5 hours or the $200 can be used for something that significantly affects your own life. That’s what even hardcore activists are becoming. The base is smaller and smaller, and the crazies are becoming more prevalent. The normal person is stepping to the side and deciding to forget about it. It’s not about a belief anymore, it’s about sides. I’m happy when my team wins and pissed when my team loses. And politics is returning to the smoke filled rooms of yesterday, only the rooms aren’t smoke filled anymore from cigars and cigarettes, they are smoke filled because of the screen those people are trying to hide behind.

Politics needs to change; I just don’t see that it will happen. I’d make the analogy that it’s like a marriage, and the divorce papers are being prepared, but I know a family that broke up because of commitments to politics, and it just wouldn’t be right.