In a post in this space last week, I asked what was the role of the eight various Congressional Districts in the various campaigns within the various districts.

Beyond that, I asked the same question of people from seven of the eight Congressional Districts in the Minnesota GOP.

And notwithstanding that the Minnesota GOP Constitution is more or less silent on the issue – it literally says nothing – I got a lot of answers.

Congressional District committees throughout Minnesota…:

• Help provide Congressional and Legislative campaigns with volunteers for phone banks, lit-dropping and other campaign-time activities.   This is especially important in districts where there is wide disparity in the number of Republicans – like, say, the Fifth, where some districts need a lot of help to carry out a credible campaign.
• Assist legislative races with fund-raising expertise and contacts – very important, especially in a party that relies on so many young candidates who are not professional politicians.
• Help Congressional campaigns put extra feet on the street; while campaigns tend to come and go, the Districts tend to have a certain continuity, including bodies of volunteers that have been working campaigns forever.
• Provide training to new campaign teams at the legislative (and lower) level.  For example, say a candidate in District  68 is going for the Minnesota House, and needs a campaign manager, a communications director and a volunteer manager.  The candidate rounds up three motivated volunteers – who between them have never managed campaigns, directed communications or scheduled, trained and directed volunteers.  The Congressional District is, often as not, able to put those three newbies in touch with people in the District who’ve done the jobs before, and who are happy to help spread the knowledge.  If done properly and consistently, the Congressional District can build a hardy corps of “middle managers”, people who’ve got some background at running the blocking and tackling of campaigns – the “unsung hero” stuff well behind the scenes of a successful campaign.

That’s the feedback I got from people in theFirst District GOP.  And the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth.

But in the Fourth CD, there seems to be a different answer, from at least one quarter.

Nothing.

Zip.  Bupkes.  Nada.  Zilch.

More at noon today.