"There's a place for press conferences and a place for fishing - and they are not the same place," declared northern Minnesota native and former Congressman Rick Nolan, in reference to Rep. Chip Cravaack's bizarre red herring press conference held, unbelievably, on the opening of fishing.
Cravaack's unprecedented opening day press conference was a panicked reaction to Nolan's generous invitation to join him for the Minnesota Fishing Opener. The avid outdoorsman astutely pegged Chip as an out-of-touch outsider who would likely be in New Hampshire instead of participating in this time honored Minnesota tradition, and Cravaack's over-hyped presser was clearly intended to give his constituents the impression that the packsacker actually has a clue about how important fishing is to them. Unfortunately for Chip, this hare-brained attempt to fool voters failed miserably.
In fact, in an email to supporters Tuesday, Nolan pointed out how Chip's behavior on the fishing opener reinforces how unbelievably out of touch Cravaack is with the 8th district:
Well, we waited as long as we could at sunup Saturday morning, hoping Chip Cravaack would accept the invitation to join our Nolan crew for Minnesota's fishing opener. Since he's going to be the 8th District Congressman for another eight months or so, I thought it would be good for him to experience one of our great Northern Minnesota holidays first hand.
At 5:00 a.m., with no Chip in sight and figuring he was sleeping late somewhere in the wilds of his New Hampshire home, we set off for a great day fishing and later a dinner of fresh pan-fried Walleye and home-harvested wild rice.
Low and behold, we learned later that Chip not only made a rare weekend trip to Minnesota, but also had attempted to hold a PRESS CONFERENCE on the shores of Lake Mille Lacs.
A PRESS CONFERENCE?
At 5:30 on the afternoon of THE MINNESOTA FISHING OPENER?
On the shores of Lake Mille Lacs?
Nolan, in a display of hospitality true Minnesotans are famous for, included a personal note to Chip explaining the error of his ways and offering assistance:
Up here in Northern Minnesota we don't hold press conferences BY Lake Mille Lacs on the afternoon of the Fishing Opener.
We FISH ON Lake Mille Lacs on Opening Day.
I get it. You made an outsider's mistake.
Come deer hunting with me this fall and we'll help you get it right.
Nolan closed with a promise guaranteed to resonate as a winner in the natural resources oriented 8th congressional district in northern Minnesota:
Wouldn't it be great to have a Congressman who understands that there's a place for press conferences and a place for fishing - and they're not the same place?
Please contribute here, and I promise never to hold a press conference on opening day unless I've got a fish in one hand and a reel in the other.