PrintOctober 7, 2010
Ag Chair's Foot-in-Mouth Disease
Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture Collin Peterson (D-MN-7) may have picked a bad time to remind constituents in his Republican district that he doesn't consider them well informed. Noting that the he's in good shape this election because the unemployment in his district isn't a huge problem, Peterson said this about those who have sent him to Washington the last twenty years.
"If they didn't hear all this negative stuff from the national press, if they would've been isolated from everything the last three to four years, they wouldn't have even known anything was going on," he said. "Nothing's changed."
I guess the exploding government deficit isn't supposed to concern his constituents. The comment makes me wonder how well Peterson understands the the notoriously practical and thrifty farmers of Scandinavian and German descent who populate western and northwestern Minnesota. Nor are they supposed to care about the problems of the nation as a whole as long as their clout-heavy Democrat Congressman takes care of them. This isn't the first time Peterson's has suggested voters in his district aren't very well informed. Last year he explained why he wasn't' planning on having any town hall meetings on Obamacare with this gem.
"Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the twin towers down."
His explanation for his vote for the unpopular Cap and Trade bill may not help him a lot this year.
"A lot of people know the only reason I voted for that was Waxman agreed to take my stuff on agriculture. I said at the time I voted for it, that if this was the final bill I'd vote no," he explained, adding that he didn't think the Senate would consider the bill.
Peterson's Republican opponent is businessman Lee Byberg. There hasn't been any polling in this race, but all around the nation veteran Democrats like Peterson who represent Republican leaning districts are finding that while voters may not overlook the party affiliation this November. I suspect Byberg gains support every time Peterson talks to reporters.
Peterson's foot in mouth disease raises an interesting question. How much of Minnesota is in play this year? Yesterday the NRCC announced it would be running ads against Democrat incumbent Tim Walz in Minnesota's First Congressional District and in support of "Young Gun" Randy Demmer. That came on top of the news a few days ago that Airline Pilot Chip Cravaack is nipping hard at Jim Oberstar's heels in Minnesota's Seventh District. There has even been a suggestion that Democrat incumbent Betty McCollum of St. Paul, a woman so dim she makes Senator Barbara Boxer look bright by comparison, could be in for a surprise from Law Professor Teresa Collett. At this point the only prediction that seems a sure thing coming out of Minnesota is that the People's Republic of Minneapolis will return Keith Ellison to Congress.
