Thank You, David Minge!
It seems like an eternity now, but southwestern Minnesota used to have a great Democratic Congressman named David Minge from 1992 to 2000. Minge was officially a "Blue Dog Democrat", to the right of his party on a number of issues, but with a pretty strong progressive resume at the end of the day considering the Republican-trending district he served. A number of things broke against him in the fall of 2000 and he ended up getting upset by a 146-vote margin to a political novice named Mark Kennedy.
Make no mistake. Minge's defeat was a gut-punch to Minnesota Democrats who were already smarting about the weak victory Al Gore was able to squeak out in the state and the national "victory" by George W. Bush. But how could we have possibly have known what a gift Minge would end up giving us by losing to Kennedy, and thus enabling the GOP to anoint him their infallible golden boy, all evidence to the contrary.
Kennedy's star shined bright for another election cycle, when he was gerrymandered into an entirely different suburban district and beat a horrendous DFL opponent by 20 points. The star burned out by 2004, however, when Kennedy stepped right into the obvious political snare set by the campaign of politically lackluster but personally appealing novice Patty Wetterling, sliming the sympathetic figure with a level of crudeness that doesn't pass the "Minnesota Nice" smell test. Voters recoiled, and Kennedy blew what would have been a 20-point landslide victory and ended up beating Wetterling by a mere eight points, underperforming George Bush in the district by seven points.
Minnesota Republicans were unwilling to accept the obvious lesson of Kennedy's horrible 2004 campaign, however, prepping Kennedy for a Senate run in 2006 against Democrat Mark Dayton, who was expected to be a weak incumbent. Dayton dropped out of the race in February 2005 and the seat became open. Several prominent Republicans contemplated jumping in, but the party pushed them away so that Mark Kennedy would have no obstacles between himself and a Democratic-held Senate seat.
So how have things worked out?
Disastrously. Kennedy's campaign never got its feet off of the ground and has been spinning its wheels for months, despite the impressive geographical ties Kennedy has in the state and an opponent with little name recognition outside of Hennepin County. It's probably true that no Republican could win a Senate seat in Minnesota in the political climate of 2006, but it's hard to imagine a candidate faring much worse than Kennedy has. The "dragon slayer" of 2000 has become the "dragon dung" of 2006, trailing in most polls by 15-20 points and getting no traction whatsoever. David Minge is finally getting his well-deserved revenge.....almost as if it were planned.
Make no mistake. Minge's defeat was a gut-punch to Minnesota Democrats who were already smarting about the weak victory Al Gore was able to squeak out in the state and the national "victory" by George W. Bush. But how could we have possibly have known what a gift Minge would end up giving us by losing to Kennedy, and thus enabling the GOP to anoint him their infallible golden boy, all evidence to the contrary.
Kennedy's star shined bright for another election cycle, when he was gerrymandered into an entirely different suburban district and beat a horrendous DFL opponent by 20 points. The star burned out by 2004, however, when Kennedy stepped right into the obvious political snare set by the campaign of politically lackluster but personally appealing novice Patty Wetterling, sliming the sympathetic figure with a level of crudeness that doesn't pass the "Minnesota Nice" smell test. Voters recoiled, and Kennedy blew what would have been a 20-point landslide victory and ended up beating Wetterling by a mere eight points, underperforming George Bush in the district by seven points.
Minnesota Republicans were unwilling to accept the obvious lesson of Kennedy's horrible 2004 campaign, however, prepping Kennedy for a Senate run in 2006 against Democrat Mark Dayton, who was expected to be a weak incumbent. Dayton dropped out of the race in February 2005 and the seat became open. Several prominent Republicans contemplated jumping in, but the party pushed them away so that Mark Kennedy would have no obstacles between himself and a Democratic-held Senate seat.
So how have things worked out?
Disastrously. Kennedy's campaign never got its feet off of the ground and has been spinning its wheels for months, despite the impressive geographical ties Kennedy has in the state and an opponent with little name recognition outside of Hennepin County. It's probably true that no Republican could win a Senate seat in Minnesota in the political climate of 2006, but it's hard to imagine a candidate faring much worse than Kennedy has. The "dragon slayer" of 2000 has become the "dragon dung" of 2006, trailing in most polls by 15-20 points and getting no traction whatsoever. David Minge is finally getting his well-deserved revenge.....almost as if it were planned.
posted by Mark at 10:05 PM
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