For those of you not familiar with the GOP's candidate for the House in Minnesota's 6th District, let me give you a three word description of Michele Bachmann:
Bat. Shit. Crazy.
But fear not, in the last couple of days some very encouraging news has been coming out the 6th district, and for the first time I'm starting to believe that this is one seat the Dems have a chance of reclaiming in November.
Ever since the 2002 elections I've been pretty depressed about the state of politics in Minnesota. Paul Wellstone's unexpected death, coupled with Norm Coleman's election as Senator was pretty soul-crushing. The 2004 election didn't much help, either. But as the midterms loom I'm finding myself much more optimistic, and one of the main reasons is Patty Wetterling.
Prior to October of 1989, Patty lived a quiet life with her husband Jerry and their four kids in St. Joseph Minnesota. That all changed when her 11-year-old son Jacob was abducted at gunpoint. He's never been found. I can't even imagine the kind of hell that she and her family have been through, nor can fathom the strength and grace that she has summoned up to become one of the country's leading child advocates. She's been instrumental in helping pass sex offender registry laws, community notification laws, and AMBER alert laws.
I first met Patty about a year ago when she was trying to snag the DFL (as the Dems are known here) endorsement for a Senate run. One of the things that struck me immediately about her was the surprising lack of the usual smarminess that often accompanies most political candidates. She's genuine, even if that means that sometimes she comes off as less polished than other candidates. She listens, she's empathetic, and she gives a damn. All of which make her a great congressional candidate.
The GOP, in turn, choose to endorse as their candidate one of the most divisive figures in Minnesota politics, Michele Bachmann. For those of you not familiar, Bachmann is best-known for her zealotry in campaigning against gay marriage or any arrangement that would provide same-sex couples some measure of legal protection. A classic Bachmann moment was when in 2005 she got caught on camera hiding in bushes outside the state capitol while trying to spy on the gay-rights rally that was taking place. Oh, and did I mention that she's one of the least gay-friendly members of the state legislature despite having a lesbian step-sister. Yeah.
In addition to her fondness for gay bashing, she's also in favor of teaching creationism in public schools, keeping the minimum wage right where it's at, and co-authored Minnesota's conceal-and-carry law.
So, you may ask, why I am suddenly optimistic? Because even though the GOP has had Cheney, Rove, and Hastert come out to stump for Bachmann, and even though they are trying to rally the base in her support, and even though most of Bachmann's financial support is coming from out-of-state PACS, and even though the 6th district includes Sterns County, one of the most conservative areas of the state...
... Patty Wetterling is up by five points in the polls and in the second quarter of 2006, she outraised Bachmann nearly 2-to-1, with less than 10% of Wetterling's funds from PACS. (Sources: here and here).
Unbelievable.
Go Patty!