The Strib endorses John Howe for the CD2 congressional seat currently held by John Kline.
Nothing against Howe, who was a capable legislator and an estimable mayor of Red Wing – but this endorsement is a classic example of Berg’s 11th Law:
Berg’s Eleventh Law of Inverse Viability: The conservative liberals “respect” for their “conservative principles” will the the one that has the least chance of ever getting elected.
Jason Lewis is the endorsed candidate, with immense name recognition and a record as the father of modern Minnesota conservatism. Darlene Miller is John Kline’s preferred candidate. The fourth, the putative Trump-supporting candidate Hey Look At Meeeee, along with Howe, rounds out the field.
I’ll be interviewing Jason Lewis this coming Saturday on the NARN, by the way.
Is it going to be close? Any polls?
I backed another congressional candidate in CD2, but paid attention to the others who were running. Howe is solid, and I even talked to him a bit. I think he’s, justifiably, a bit frustrated that he’s not getting more traction with his credentials. He would have been a logical one for Kline to have topped as his successor – if Howe wasn’t so conservative and Kline wasn’t so, well, Kline. Miller, who is Kline’s pick, is a real nothing-burger and has a voice even more annoying than Hillary’s. That’s a superficial judgment, to be sure, but there’s nothing in her background that suggests she brings anything reliable to the table – other than reliably voting for the interests who are funding her. In addition, for me, any candidate with Kline’s endorsement is a non-starter.
POD: Not sure about polls. It’s an important race for the Congressional Republican Conference, so I’m assuming they’re doing some internals. I’ve heard rumors that say it’s close; Miller’s been running a LOT of mail, so Lewis has been working VERY hard.
NW: I like Howe, too, although I’m not entirely sure why he went to the primary .
I’m not sure why Howe decided to go to the primary, though he may hope to be the “reasonable” alternative to Zero Miller and the bombastic Lewis. Lewis is great on the issues, but is an oppo-researchers wet-dream, which the Miller team has already tried to take advantage of (in a particularly maladroit and misleading manner). I don’t think he had any chance, though, of breaking through all that clutter from the other two.
no matter who wins the primary is this actually going to be turned into a national race? Is the DCCC dumping lots of money in or does it plan to?
That is so great that Jason Lewis is running for something. I always used to wish that he would run for office. Miss his drive-home radio show a lot. Vote for Jason Lewis if you can! Please. We need elected officials of his caliber. What a great public servant he would be.
He would make C-Span worth watching.