Senator Amy Klobuchar won her first race in 2006 with relative ease. Her re-election in 2012 went even more smoothly. By most accounts she is on solid ground for a third term. (She does have a contested primary, but should see no serious competition. One of the people who filed is in prison. For double murder. Seriously.)
Her opponent in the general is state representative Jim Newberger. Astute readers will recall his stepping in it during a 2015 debate about extending a commuter rail line from its terminus to the heavily populated St. Cloud metro area in the central part of the state. The line would go right past the St. Cloud Reformatory. Said Newberger: “Boy, wouldn’t that be convenient, to have that rail line going from the prison to north Minneapolis?” He later apologized.
Newberger was under no illusions of the difficulty of his task. But being he’s a Republican, and they just cannot help themselves, earlier this week Newberger brought up the spetcre of — insert scary music here — the No Go Zones of Dearborn, Michigan. You know, the notorious zones that were soooo scary that they did not even exist? Yeah...those zones.
That did not stop Rep. Newberger though, stating in an article from the Detroit Lakes Tribune he “wants to freeze the admittance of refugees into Minnesota and warns of the dangers of sharia law and police "no-go" zones in cities like Dearborn, Michigan.”
Psst….the No Go Zones are a myth. Pass it on…
Considering the climb Newberger faces, he should ask Sisyphus for advice on that uphill rock pushing.
And for a fun read on Rep. Newberger and this topic, I recommend the great blog, Bluestem Prairie.