"NOT YOUR AVERAGE CANDIDATE ANNOUNCEMENT EVENT"
This is the best story about Wetterling's announcement. Eric Black does a great job of describing the events of the day/
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Wetterling announces bid for House seat
Her declaration was expected. But the event turned into a surprise a minute.
Not your average candidate announcement event.
Child advocate Patty Wetterling jumped into the Sixth District race for Congress on Friday. Within minutes, her chief Democratic rival, Elwyn Tinklenberg, seized the same podium to accuse her of political opportunism.
State Rep. Jim Knoblach, a Republican candidate for the seat, also showed up. Although he didn't make it to the podium, a Wetterling supporter scolded him for "tackiness" for crashing her event.
And Wetterling responded to the charge of political opportunism by saying her past conduct showed she was too politically dumb to be that crafty.
The hour-long theatrics were a little dizzying, but the action at the Anoka County Government Center on Friday morning provided a preview of Minnesota's 2006 marquee congressional matchup. We'll review it one step at a time:
The background
The Sixth District strips across the top of the Twin Cities metro area from Stillwater to St. Cloud. The incumbent Republican, Rep. Mark Kennedy, is vacating the seat to run for the U.S. Senate.
Wetterling, who became famous because of the 1989 abduction of her son Jacob, ran against Kennedy in 2004, losing 54-46 percent. In 2005, Wetterling cited a poll and told a DFL gathering that she would not run for the seat again because "the numbers show me that ... I will not win."
Partly on that belief, Wetterling entered the Senate race after Sen. Mark Dayton decided not to seek a second term.
Tinklenberg, a former Blaine mayor and state transportation commissioner, received her assurance that she would not run for Congress, and entered the Sixth District race.
For months, he had the DFL side of the race to himself, while four Republicans -- state Sen. Michele Bachmann, state Reps. Phil Krinkie and Knoblach, and St. Cloud businessman Jay Esmay -- competed for the GOP endorsement.
On Jan. 20, when Wetterling withdrew from the Senate race, speculation about her future focused on the House seat.
Tick tock
What little suspense remained was spoiled Thursday by Tinklenberg, who told reporters that Wetterling had informed him of her plan. He criticized her for breaking what he considered a commitment.
Friday morning, in the lobby of the government center, as reporters waited for Wetterling to make it official, the state Republican Party handed out a news release headlined "Wetterling Breaks Word."
Then came a release on Krinkie for Congress letterhead quoting Krinkie calling Wetterling a promise-breaker and asserting that he would be the strongest Republican candidate against her.
Releases from Esmay and Knoblach followed, each claiming that Wetterling's candidacy strengthened the issuer's case for electability.
All that, before Wetterling took the stage. She emphasized that she had been urged by citizens from around the district to enter the race, and that she would do so.
Answering reporters' questions about Tinklenberg's claim that Wetterling had encouraged him to enter the race, Wetterling replied that she still encourages him to run.
Asked why she retracted her statements that she wouldn't seek the congressional seat, she replied, "Everything changed. The world changed. I changed."
Lacking in calculation
Asked whether the race-switching proved she had turned into just another office-hungry politician, Wetterling said no and, as evidence, offered her 2005 statement that she couldn't win in the district. "That was really dumb," she said, but not something a calculating politician would say.
As Wetterling departed for a nine-stop tour of the district, Knoblach turned up in the back of the room, expanding on his electability argument for reporters, and saying that Wetterling was politically damaged by going back on her earlier statements.
A Wetterling supporter got in Knoblach's face, saying it was tacky of him to show up at her event. Knoblach replied that his campaign headquarters was right across the street.
An irony in funding
Tinklenberg appeared next and, as he approached the podium, there was a brief dispute about whether he could use it. Some of Wetterling's staff said they had rented it and were paying by the hour. He was allowed to use it.
Tinklenberg vowed to stay in the race through the May 6 district convention and abide by the DFL endorsement. He went over the promise-breaker saga, and even mentioned that, since he had contributed to Wetterling's Senate campaign and her treasury was transferable to the House race, his own money would now be used against him. Source: Star Tribune, February 4, 2006
##
Wetterling announces bid for House seat
Her declaration was expected. But the event turned into a surprise a minute.
Not your average candidate announcement event.
Child advocate Patty Wetterling jumped into the Sixth District race for Congress on Friday. Within minutes, her chief Democratic rival, Elwyn Tinklenberg, seized the same podium to accuse her of political opportunism.
State Rep. Jim Knoblach, a Republican candidate for the seat, also showed up. Although he didn't make it to the podium, a Wetterling supporter scolded him for "tackiness" for crashing her event.
And Wetterling responded to the charge of political opportunism by saying her past conduct showed she was too politically dumb to be that crafty.
The hour-long theatrics were a little dizzying, but the action at the Anoka County Government Center on Friday morning provided a preview of Minnesota's 2006 marquee congressional matchup. We'll review it one step at a time:
The background
The Sixth District strips across the top of the Twin Cities metro area from Stillwater to St. Cloud. The incumbent Republican, Rep. Mark Kennedy, is vacating the seat to run for the U.S. Senate.
Wetterling, who became famous because of the 1989 abduction of her son Jacob, ran against Kennedy in 2004, losing 54-46 percent. In 2005, Wetterling cited a poll and told a DFL gathering that she would not run for the seat again because "the numbers show me that ... I will not win."
Partly on that belief, Wetterling entered the Senate race after Sen. Mark Dayton decided not to seek a second term.
Tinklenberg, a former Blaine mayor and state transportation commissioner, received her assurance that she would not run for Congress, and entered the Sixth District race.
For months, he had the DFL side of the race to himself, while four Republicans -- state Sen. Michele Bachmann, state Reps. Phil Krinkie and Knoblach, and St. Cloud businessman Jay Esmay -- competed for the GOP endorsement.
On Jan. 20, when Wetterling withdrew from the Senate race, speculation about her future focused on the House seat.
Tick tock
What little suspense remained was spoiled Thursday by Tinklenberg, who told reporters that Wetterling had informed him of her plan. He criticized her for breaking what he considered a commitment.
Friday morning, in the lobby of the government center, as reporters waited for Wetterling to make it official, the state Republican Party handed out a news release headlined "Wetterling Breaks Word."
Then came a release on Krinkie for Congress letterhead quoting Krinkie calling Wetterling a promise-breaker and asserting that he would be the strongest Republican candidate against her.
Releases from Esmay and Knoblach followed, each claiming that Wetterling's candidacy strengthened the issuer's case for electability.
All that, before Wetterling took the stage. She emphasized that she had been urged by citizens from around the district to enter the race, and that she would do so.
Answering reporters' questions about Tinklenberg's claim that Wetterling had encouraged him to enter the race, Wetterling replied that she still encourages him to run.
Asked why she retracted her statements that she wouldn't seek the congressional seat, she replied, "Everything changed. The world changed. I changed."
Lacking in calculation
Asked whether the race-switching proved she had turned into just another office-hungry politician, Wetterling said no and, as evidence, offered her 2005 statement that she couldn't win in the district. "That was really dumb," she said, but not something a calculating politician would say.
As Wetterling departed for a nine-stop tour of the district, Knoblach turned up in the back of the room, expanding on his electability argument for reporters, and saying that Wetterling was politically damaged by going back on her earlier statements.
A Wetterling supporter got in Knoblach's face, saying it was tacky of him to show up at her event. Knoblach replied that his campaign headquarters was right across the street.
An irony in funding
Tinklenberg appeared next and, as he approached the podium, there was a brief dispute about whether he could use it. Some of Wetterling's staff said they had rented it and were paying by the hour. He was allowed to use it.
Tinklenberg vowed to stay in the race through the May 6 district convention and abide by the DFL endorsement. He went over the promise-breaker saga, and even mentioned that, since he had contributed to Wetterling's Senate campaign and her treasury was transferable to the House race, his own money would now be used against him. Source: Star Tribune, February 4, 2006
2 Comments:
And Wetterling responded to the charge of political opportunism by saying her past conduct showed she was too politically dumb to be that crafty.
Two years ago I might have bought that answer. Today it demonstrates just how opportunistic she is.
She's no longer politically naive unless she wishes to admit she's being controlled by handlers. She has two possibilities - 1) she's being controlled by others or 2) she thinks people are stupid enough to think she's that stupid.
I choose #2 - she knows exactly what she's doing and is trying to pass off an "innocent act" that is going to get really old really quickly.
I still think it was tacky to the extreme that Elwyn Tinklenberg insisted on using the microphone at Wetterling's press conference.
It's also worth noting that he passed around a letter supposedly signed by McCollum and Sabo. When McCollum and Sabo's offices were called, they denied endorsing Tinklenberg in a contested race.
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