This was originally a comment on another diary on this topic, numbers , by dukelawguy. Suddenly it took on a life of it's own and became a diary. I figured that if there are diaries that aren't diaries then surely there must be comments that aren't comments. Let me offer a little sociological background on the make up of Mn-06. Outside of St. Cloud, which is the only urban area in the district, MN-06 is made up primarily of outer ring suburbs, exurbs with rows and rows of McMansions, and small rural communities with surrounding farms.
The outer ring suburbs have some level of working class people but an equal amount of wannabe rich types. The exurbs are primarily the near wealthy who hate the city and even the suburbs for their density and "bad people". They build their McMansions, leveraged to the max, drive their SUV's into the Twin Cities metro area to work then hightail it back to their "safe" exurban paradise in the boonies. The farmers come from largely German and Polish Catholic or Norwegian and Swedish Protestant backgrounds and are mostly very parochial, provincial and pedestrian in world view. They are fiercely independent minded. Their ancestors had been told they were wrong all their lives. That is why they emigrated to the U.S. and they were still ridiculed by those they left in the old country for settling in such a cold, god forsaken state as Minnesota. The attitude of defiance has been built up in them since birth by their entire family.
In Stearns County, for example, I went to High school in the 1960's with people who spoke German at home and did not learn English until they went to school. Many of these people never leave the county and are scared to come into St. Cloud (metro population of @ 100,000) much less travel to the frightening Twin Cities or heaven forbid a foreign country.
Many of these people called El Tinklenberg, a pro-life ex Methodist minister, a pro-choice baby killer simply because he had the gall to say he would not seek to overcome Roe v Wade.
If you care at all to get a feel for how these folk think and you have a few spare minutes go to the St. Cloud times website
St Cloud Times
and find an opinion piece that has lots of commentary. Read through the comments and you will see what passes for political wisdom around here. The latest rage is the conservatives (and I use that term very loosely) who say they are going to quit their jobs and just wait for Obama to give them money just like he is going to do for all "those lazy people" who voted for him so they could get a handout.
"Minnesota nice" has been discussed in these circles before but the truth about it is that it is highly passive-aggressive. People here will not lose face in public by disagreeing with you, but in private and among trusted friends they will call you the most vile things and then laugh amongst themselves over how clever they are. I have lived in St. Cloud most of my life and have given up on ever changing these people. They have 18th century brains with 19th century ideas still living in the early 20th century.
To point out just how much people around here hate authority, during prohibition the area was one of the most sophisticated moonshine capitals in the U.S. Most Chicago moonshine came from Stearns and Benton counties. My grandfather was a Benton County moonshiner and the local authorities protected him from the feds. My grandpa sold to the local Catholic Bishop, geez doncha know.
I hope this little expose gives you a better idea of how could those people up there in Minnesota be so stoopid as to re-elect "She whose name I can't mention because when I do I become ill". Believe dukelawguys's numbers. Tinklenberg out performed both Obama and Franken in the district by several points. To be honest, even with her gaffes I knew it would be exceedingly difficult to defeat her. I believe it is impossible to get more than 43% in this district. Everyone else is either an outright Republican or someone who would never vote for a Democrat. (Around here there is a difference, read Jesse Ventura) Most of rural Minnesota has similar voting habits and sociological backgrounds. Colin Peterson wins because he is the bluest of blue dog dems. Tim Walz won because his incumbent opponent in 2006 was a do-nothing who did not even campaign until it was discovered , too late, that Walz was a real threat. His district hadn't been blue in many years but has benefited from the growth of several small towns in the district into cities, and disappointment with Bush farm policy.
It won't change much in these parts anytime soon. Were it not for the Twin Cities metro area plus some college towns and the Duluth/Iron Range areas the state would be blood red. Minnesota's reputation for populist progressivism has been eroded over the last thirty years the same way everywhere else has, through constant and pervasive conservative framing. Once Reagan got the fairness doctrine overturned conservatives bought up radio stations and put out a steady, incessant stream of conservative propaganda, slowly poisoning the minds of normal Americans everywhere. No wonder they freak out so dramatically at the very mention of the return of the fairness doctrine. They fear they will no longer be able to feed us a constant dose of neo-con and call it fair and balanced. We have tried many times to get Ed Schultz on the radio here, the idea being that his brand of progressivism might be acceptable in these parts. Every time we have received the same answer. "Left wing radio won't sell advertising here". Thank God for Keith and Rachel. Maybe their TV success will pave the way for some of these yokels to get the idea they could make money with progressive radio. They really aren't all that ideological. They would let Karl Marx have a show if they could sell the ads at a high enough rate.
In the meantime there are lots of progressives here who are smart and dedicated. We're not going away. It's basically a good place to live. At least people don't mock you to your face. The country is beautiful and the good people are exceptionally good.
We will keep working hard to change minds and hearts around here but we are not so naive as to think we will ever change the diehards. They will always be hopelessly out of time and will huddle together in their breakfast cafes and local taverns, trying their best to one up each other in finding new and ever more disgusting names for us. They are a wart on the backside of humanity and I am happy to let them live out their small lives while I enrich as many others as I can find who have eyes to see and ears to hear, continuing to fight for true progressive values, smart policy and a sustainable local economy with lots of pretty wind turbines jutting out of the landscape like giant propellers, pushing the engine of visionary souls headlong into the 21st Century.