CQ Politics on Walz: Getting it "somewhat" right
by Leigh Pomeroy
An article today by Matthew Spieler on CQPolitics.com ("The ‘Everyman’ Image of Rep.-elect Walz") is a good example of how the national media still doesn't quite know how to deal with the Tim Walz victory, just like they didn't quite know how to deal with the Tim Walz candidacy.
On the one hand Spieler gets it mostly correct. On the other, he has a few of his facts wrong — for example, Rep. Gil Gutknecht is a six-, not seven-term congressman; and the students whom Walz defended at the Bush quarry event were recognized as being friends of my sons' and volunteers for my campaign, not because one of them had a Kerry sticker on his wallet.
The facts aside, what I quibble most with is that the national media have tended to view the Walz-Gutknecht contest, as they do too many political battles, like a horserace. They seem to care less what the voters think and more about whether the prevailing political wisdom, especially the one they may subscribe to, will stand up.
In the case of the Walz-Gutknecht race, the national pundits were almost universally wrong. The reason? They never spent time or talked to anybody in the district. And they didn't look at their concerns.
While scandals, the war in Iraq, the disapproval of Bush and Congress, and other national issues led to a common groundswell against Republican incumbents, what most likely put Walz over the top, particularly in the district's population center of Rochester, was the DM&E expansion issue. And yet this was hardly on the radar of the national pundits during the campaign, and isn't even mentioned in Spieler's article.
Further, Spieler talks about Walz embracing so-called "Democratic agenda items" as if he had gone to the store and pulled from the shelf issues that he thought would help him win. The truth is just the opposite: Walz decided what needed to be done in this country and expressed these opinions with force and vigor on the campaign trail, often against the wishes of Democratic Party operatives at the national level. That's probably one reason why they were so late in jumping behind his campaign.
As for Spieler's reference to "weak challengers" preceding Walz in the Democratic Party's previous attempts to unseat Gutknecht, I confess I was one, having been a belated candidate in 2004 after the initial DFL nominee had to drop out for health reasons. But I was "weak" due to timing, financing and lack of name recognition over my barely fourth-month-long campaign, not because Gutknecht prevailed in debates.
In fact, Gutknecht refused to debate or even be in a forum with me despite repeated invitations by third parties like the League of Women voters and various chambers of commerce, relenting to do so only once at the very end of the campaign in a closed-door TV taping session that was broadcast only twice at inopportune hours by unknown TV stations. And, as Walz did repeatedly two years later, I prevailed.
Hopefully, Mr. Spieler and others who write about our new congressman in Minnesota's 1st, as well as all new representatives in lesser known districts around the country, will take a little more time to research their subject. If they did, they would learn that candidates like Tim Walz win not because of an aberration, but because they have put themselves forward to the people and the people have liked what they see.
Leigh Pomeroy was the 2004 Democratic candidate for Congress in Minnesota's 1st District.
An article today by Matthew Spieler on CQPolitics.com ("The ‘Everyman’ Image of Rep.-elect Walz") is a good example of how the national media still doesn't quite know how to deal with the Tim Walz victory, just like they didn't quite know how to deal with the Tim Walz candidacy.
On the one hand Spieler gets it mostly correct. On the other, he has a few of his facts wrong — for example, Rep. Gil Gutknecht is a six-, not seven-term congressman; and the students whom Walz defended at the Bush quarry event were recognized as being friends of my sons' and volunteers for my campaign, not because one of them had a Kerry sticker on his wallet.
The facts aside, what I quibble most with is that the national media have tended to view the Walz-Gutknecht contest, as they do too many political battles, like a horserace. They seem to care less what the voters think and more about whether the prevailing political wisdom, especially the one they may subscribe to, will stand up.
In the case of the Walz-Gutknecht race, the national pundits were almost universally wrong. The reason? They never spent time or talked to anybody in the district. And they didn't look at their concerns.
While scandals, the war in Iraq, the disapproval of Bush and Congress, and other national issues led to a common groundswell against Republican incumbents, what most likely put Walz over the top, particularly in the district's population center of Rochester, was the DM&E expansion issue. And yet this was hardly on the radar of the national pundits during the campaign, and isn't even mentioned in Spieler's article.
Further, Spieler talks about Walz embracing so-called "Democratic agenda items" as if he had gone to the store and pulled from the shelf issues that he thought would help him win. The truth is just the opposite: Walz decided what needed to be done in this country and expressed these opinions with force and vigor on the campaign trail, often against the wishes of Democratic Party operatives at the national level. That's probably one reason why they were so late in jumping behind his campaign.
As for Spieler's reference to "weak challengers" preceding Walz in the Democratic Party's previous attempts to unseat Gutknecht, I confess I was one, having been a belated candidate in 2004 after the initial DFL nominee had to drop out for health reasons. But I was "weak" due to timing, financing and lack of name recognition over my barely fourth-month-long campaign, not because Gutknecht prevailed in debates.
In fact, Gutknecht refused to debate or even be in a forum with me despite repeated invitations by third parties like the League of Women voters and various chambers of commerce, relenting to do so only once at the very end of the campaign in a closed-door TV taping session that was broadcast only twice at inopportune hours by unknown TV stations. And, as Walz did repeatedly two years later, I prevailed.
Hopefully, Mr. Spieler and others who write about our new congressman in Minnesota's 1st, as well as all new representatives in lesser known districts around the country, will take a little more time to research their subject. If they did, they would learn that candidates like Tim Walz win not because of an aberration, but because they have put themselves forward to the people and the people have liked what they see.
Leigh Pomeroy was the 2004 Democratic candidate for Congress in Minnesota's 1st District.
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1 Comments:
Leigh, good piece. I, too, am somewhat mystified by how many people can't seem to figure out one of the most simple and straightforward political campaigns in years. And it isn't just the mainstream pundits, but also the lefties. I've been a subscriber and supporter of both Madison's The Progressive and Chicago's In These Times for years but I've been waiting in vain for them to catch on to what has happened here in southern Minnesota. One who does get it is Jim Hightower, in Lowdown.
I hope this goes through this time.
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