Discussion for article #227713
In other words, Klineās spokesmaggot would rather talk about Maherās bad calls then the bad calls made by his boss. Gotcha.
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So, maybe Kline can tap Crazy Ted (Nugent) to counter the pernicious progressive propaganda that Maher will produce?
Thereās a celebrity battle for the agesā¦ Dr. Acerbic v. Capān Asinineā¦
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This is going to be interesting. There are going to be so many inflated egos in that district that some sort of drama is bound to ensue.
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No. He canāt.
Kline is very popular among the low-information knuckle-draggers and will easily be re-elected (again.)
He is the Congressman for a broad swath of the southern suburbs of Minneapolis which are predominantly upper-middle-class affluent professionals, white blue collar workers, and older retirees.
All he has to do is remind everyone that HE was the Marine drone that carried the āfootballā (Nuclear Launch Codes) for President Reagan (All Hail Saint Ronnie the Raygun!) and was a Marine Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam. They will pull the lever for him again and again and again.
He is also a complete Whore and will do whatever the Corporatists want if they pay him enough money.
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More power to Bill Maher. I think Iāll ā¢ that!!
But seriously, this is a model for what we should be doing as Progressives. Pick our target intelligently, and then bring in everything we have to take it down.
I just tripled my ActBlue! subscription, and I would encourage everyone here who cares about these Elections to do the same.
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How could he not? I mean, a comedian doing his stand up routine in local comedy clubs is going to reach milliā¦erā¦thousā¦errā¦some people. And he will sway allā¦well, againā¦some of them for sureā¦ok, maybe some of them.
Surely with numbers like that, Kline will be swept away in tidal wave of angry voters who attend comedy clubs. And everyone in politics knowsā¦that is THE most decisive demographic out there.
(do I really need to add a /snark to this??)
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This is just Maherās overweening ego. Would be happy to see Kline fall, but Maherās motives are suspect at best.
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Not sure that targeting a Republican in a very safe R district constitutes āpick our target intelligently.ā
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Agreed. Maherās ego on this one is pretty huge. Hereās someone whoās viewed as part of the āHollywood eliteā, a self-proclaimed atheist, comedian who spends his time calling right-wingers idiots. That he is going to come in, do a comedy routine and flip a red district is fairly laughable.
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*So difficult that the House Democratsā campaign arm is hardly expending any resources to seriously compete there. *
Riiiigght. Iām going to trust a bunch of wimps keeping their powder dry over someone who can at least bring attention to Klineās voting record.
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As someone who lives in MN-02, thereās a few things going on here that give Obermueller a fighting chance. Maher is correct about Kline being married to for-profit colleges and it doesnāt sit well in the district but there are other factors that definitely put MN-02 in play this year.
First, the districtās main population base is several southern suburbs of the Twin Cities which turned from reliably red to clearly purple starting about 2006.
After the 2010 mid-terms Republicans had a majority in both houses of the state legislature. Of course, they promised to work on creating jobs. What they did instead was work primarily on a social agenda that included trying amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage and require voter ID. The Rs also shut down the state govt for three weeks in 2011 for no other reason than to show that they could. These actions did not sit well with suburban voters and the Rs were swept out of control of the state legislature in 2012. Since that the state and local economy has stabilized and the state govt has been run quietly and with restraint by the DFL (the state Democratic party).
Next, also part of the district is the city of Northfield which is home to both Carleton College and St. Olaf College. That is where, I believe, the influence of Bill Maher will be the felt the most. Maher will have the opportunity to motivate a lot of students to get to the polls this Nov.
Finally, John Kline has well-earned reputation for not lifting a finger to help the district with infrastructure projects that it needs. An LRT line that ends at Mall of America in Bloomington can easily be extended to reach commuters as far south as Lakeville but Kline wonāt advocate for it. A zip rail line from MSP to Rochester, MN would run through the heart of MN-02 and would have a much better chance of being built with a little advocacy from politicians like Kline, but he wonāt do it. People have noticed and are not happy about it.
National pundits who have numbers and trends in their pocket are fine making these predictions but as somebody who is on the ground in MN-02, Iām telling you all, this district CAN be flipped. Mike Obermueller is a solid candidate and is focused on what he needs to be focused on which is getting his voters to the polls on Election Day.
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I can see youāre quite familiar with our āillustriousā Congress critter. Of course with all this military background, he has frequently voted against bills that would benefit vets.
I think that personal appearances with Bill Maher could easily backfire. Infusions of large amounts of cash would help more in efforts to defeat Kline. Kline is essentially a carpet-bagger who only seems to visit MN during the summer for county fairs and the state fair. Iām only aware of one town hall meeting (the initial Ryan budget meeting where I think Boehner decreed all R reps had to meet with constituents) which was scheduled in the small city of Red Wing, 30 miles south of the most populous area of his district, on a weekday at 9:00 a.m. Instead he has telephonic town halls while he remains in the safety of D.C. or Texas. He absolutely refuses to debate opponents. He might have been a military hero but heās a political coward who has worked against the interests of his constituents by proposing increases in the interest rates of Stafford loans, and supporting for profit education firms.
The district can be considered red, but itās not solidly red. Dakota County went for Obama in 2012 (slightly in favor of McCain in 2008) and Democrats were elected in the district for state government. The area I live in was originally part of the 3rd Dist. which had a history of electing moderate Republicans before getting shifted into the 2nd Dist. Heck, I even voted for Jim Ramstad in 2000, the last Republican I will probably ever vote for!
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They do have quite a battle on their hands with defending current Dem. reps Peterson and Nolan. The Koch-backed ads against the two are brutal! My solidly Dem. voting mother responded negatively against a Nolan ad, while I had to advise her that it was distorted and dishonest. Peterson is a blue dog Dem. who votes with Republicans around 33% of the time, but of course they want someone 100% for their agenda.
Thanks for the local insight into the race. And additional kudos for having a college named Saint Olaf!
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Whether it works this time, the concept is right. Focus on a key player hiding under the radar by being quiet about his extreme views and votes. Pound him relentlessly, especially with ridicule. Have it be someone so otherwise likely to win that a victory over him will take on big meaning, while a loss wonāt seem much of a defeat.
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Yah, sure ā¦ you betcha. 
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Good observations by sgsdad. I havenāt lived in MN-02 for many years, but I once did, and itās where my familyās from, so I keep up. As sgsdad notes, the district ranges from suburban to exurban to rural. The suburban parts are swinging more and more toward the blue as people living in far-out suburbs such as Lakeville lose touch with the urban-flight reactionary ethos that motivated the folks who first went out there and as Mark Dayton and the DFLers show themselves to be competent. The exurban and rural areas are majority red in more or less the way of Bachmannās district north of the cities (socially conservative from a religious base and left behind or running scared economically), but there are strong pockets of progressivism in certain small cities (Northfield, yes, but not only). And in Minnesota at least farm families are far from uniformly conservative; some have been pulling the lever for Democrats since the New Deal and social justice Catholicism and Lutheranism are still part of Minnesotaās rural landscape. Mainly the point I want to make or second (because sgjdad said it too) is that pundits at the national level rely on stereotype and conventional wisdom for their thoughts on districts where data are scant. Since conventional wisdom often is right, so are they, but donāt count on them to pick up local trends. And this is a district trending toward a bluer shade of purple.
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I lived in Plymouth in the mid 1990s for a few years and I too voted for Jim Ramstad. He and former Gov. Arne Carlson are the only Rs I ever have or ever will vote for.
Itās not so much whether Kline wins yet again, but the scrutiny it brings to the rigging of American democracy. Anyway, if Kline loses he can get a job in his district at the Koch Bros. Oil Refinery.