Archive for the ‘Jason Lewis’ Category
Salena Zito’s latest column shines a bright spotlight on Minnesota’s statewide races. Ms. Zito is correct when she writes “The race for the Senate is real in Minnesota. Former Rep. Jason Lewis, who lost his suburban House seat in the Democratic wave election cycle of 2018, has returned, this time for a Senate seat in Minnesota, challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Tina Smith.”
First, Tina Smith isn’t a household name in Minnesota, especially compared with Amy Klobuchar, aka St. Amy of Hennepin County. Next, Smith isn’t an ally of the Iron Range:
“You have Elizabeth Warren come here to Minnesota and say, ‘No mining in Minnesota,’ and these voters are like, ‘Are you kidding me? No mining in Minnesota?’ That is the Iron Range. There’s a reason they call it the Iron Range. Now, we’ve got the largest reserves of copper and nickel up there, and they’re saying, ‘Nope, can’t get at them.’ And then [Rep.] Betty McCollum, the uber-liberal St. Paul representative, drops a bill that would effectively ban mining on the range. Does Tina Smith, my opponent, pledge to block it? Nope, nary a peep,” Lewis explained.
“That is the reason these traditionally Democrat constituents are saying, ‘You’re leaving me. You’re telling me that my way of life on the range is a bad thing. It put my kids through school.’ Well, those voters are coming to us in droves,” he said.
There’s a rumor circulating in Minnesota that the Trump data analytics team has identified 250,000 adults in rural Minnesota who should support President Trump that weren’t registered voters at the start of 2020. It isn’t a rumor that the Trump campaign has spent tons of money on voter registration drives and GOTV operations. If those people exist, then that’s a game-changing event. Trump lost Minnesota by 44,000 votes in 2016. If Trump registers 175,000-200,000 of those rural voters, that’ll swamp Biden and Smith. That’s before talking about the potential for doing better than expected in the suburbs and the Cities:
Lewis admitted that he still needs to earn the suburban vote, at least part of it, something he did do in 2016 and did not do in the 2018 Democratic wave. “So, I did win them previous to that cycle, so I’ve got a little bit of an opening in the suburbs. You add to that the fact of the riots, the fact that the hard Left, the Antifa Left, which is trying to make the argument that one injustice ought to be compounded by another injustice, riots and going after cops … has clearly put the suburbs even in more play,” he said.
His wife, Leigh, is a former St. Paul police officer. “We’re very, very optimistic as we go around the suburbs,” Lewis said. “And that’s where I live as well; that will put us over the finish line, and the polls are showing that.”
With the urban unrest in Minneapolis, Republicans have a great opportunity to do better than expected in Hennepin and Ramsey counties and the suburbs. Lewis should do well in places like Dakota and Carver counties, which have fairly significant rural populations. Let’s just say that Tina Smith doesn’t do well beyond the inner ring suburbs. Lewis has President Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement, which helps in rural Minnesota:
It’ll take a perfect storm to fully flip Minnesota. Considering the turbulence that Minnesota’s dealt with this year, I’m certainly won’t rule out that perfect storm.
Predictably, Senate Democrats voted unanimously against starting debate on a COVID relief bill. Democrats didn’t vote against final passage of the bill. Democrats voted against starting debate on a bill that “provides $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits through Dec. 27, another round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding, more money for testing and schools and liability protections from coronavirus-related lawsuits.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill “is laden with poison pills. Provisions our colleagues know Democrats would never support to guarantee the bill’s failure. The truth of the matter is the Republicans and the Republican leader don’t want to pass a bill too many on the hard right in the Senate and outside it would be angry.”
Do Democrats think that extending federal unemployment benefits until Dec. 27th is a poison pill? Do Democrats think that “another round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding” is a poison pill? Do Democrats think that “more money for testing and schools” is a poison pill?
Thursday’s vote virtually guarantees another 2 year term for Mitch McConnell as Senate Majority Leader. Thanks to this vote, Democrats will be portrayed as heartless politicians who don’t care about the people. I know this because Jason Lewis just used it that way:
U.S. Senate candidate Jason Lewis released the following statement slamming Senator Tina Smith for delaying COVID relief yet again.
“I wish I could say I’m surprised that Senator Tina Smith is marching in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, but this is just more of the same from Tina. Last month she held up relief over a demand that incarcerated inmates be able to make phone calls for free, and that’s after she twice voted to block relief in the spring while simultaneously dumping $1 million dollars in personal stock holdings.
“Further proving this is nothing more than a political game for Tina, she has basically been running a single issue campaign on the alleged need for more post office funding in recent weeks, and yet she shot down the latest round of COVID relief which includes USPS funding, all because party leaders told her to.
Mitch McConnell summed things up perfectly:
Congress has spent months talking — talking — about whether to give the American people more relief as they continue grappling with this pandemic. Today, we are going to vote. Every Senator will be counted. Should we move forward with a floor process to deliver hundreds of billions of dollars more for kids, jobs, and healthcare? Should we at least vote to move forward and have this debate out in the open? Or do our Democratic colleagues prefer to hide behind closed doors and refuse to help families before the election? We’ll find out in a couple hours. Republicans have tried repeatedly to build on the CARES Act and get more help out the door to American families. But Democrats have blocked us at every turn. They’ve invented different excuses each time.
Check this out:
Where’s the proof that Democrats give a damn about the American people? I’ve searched for that proof but haven’t found any. It’s time for Democrats to start acting like they’re compassionate. Otherwise, they’ll be seen as heartless as Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton.
Finally, Tina Smith isn’t worthy of a spot in the Senate. She’s represented Chuck Schumer, not Minnesota. That’s pathetic.
Vice President Mike Pence’s rally in Duluth was really about consolidating Republican gains on the Iron Range. When Chip Cravaack defeated Jim Oberstar in 2010, a light started shining in Minnesota’s Eighth District. After Rick Nolan retook the seat, questions were raised about whether the Cravaack victory was a fluke. (I knew it wasn’t.)
Fast forward to 2020. Republican Pete Stauber represents the district. Additionally, he looks poised to win re-election. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. Minnesota looks like it might give its 10 electoral votes to a Republican for the first time since 1972, when Richard Nixon obliterated George McGovern.
If President Trump wins Minnesota’s electoral votes, he’ll have 6 DFL mayors from the Iron Range to thank. They’re the ones that wrote this letter endorsing the Trump-Pence ticket. Here’s the heart of the letter:
Like many in our region, we have voted for Democrats over many decades. We have watched as our constituents’ jobs left not only the Iron Range, but our country. By putting tariffs on our products and supporting bad trade deals, politicians like Joe Biden did nothing to help the working class. We lost thousands of jobs, and generations of young people have left the Iron Range in order to provide for their families with good paying jobs elsewhere. Today, we don’t recognize the Democratic Party. It has been moved so far to the left it can no longer claim to be advocates of the working class. The hard-working Minnesotans that built their lives and supported their families here on the Range have been abandoned by radical Democrats. We didn’t choose to leave the Democratic Party, the party left us.
I’ve been writing that for 5 years. The DFL can’t pretend to represent miners, especially after defeating pro-mining DFL incumbent Erik Simonson in last month’s DFL primary. Democrats are on the defensive because they chose to become the metro party.
DFL Chairman Ken Martin issued a statement before the rally, calling the Trump administration “a complete disaster for Minnesota families — from its attacks on Social Security to trade wars that hurt our farmers to attempted rollbacks of the [Affordable Care Act] that would take away people’s health insurance.”
Martin hasn’t sounded like his old self lately. This statement is another example of this.
When Jason Lewis represented Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, one of the DFL’s lynch mobs, TakeAction Minnesota, aka TAM, visited Lewis’s private home, which I wrote about here. This is what I wrote at the time:
These aren’t frustrated people trying to contact a politician about an important issue. They’re people who didn’t think twice about intimidating young women in their own homes. That isn’t acceptable. That’s what playground bullies do.
TAM went onto Jason Lewis’s private property without hesitation. As I wrote years earlier, Democrats are big into visiting people’s private homes, then threatening and intimidating their targets’ children with their tactics.
Fast forward to today. The Democrats’ tactics haven’t changed. The politicians change depending on who needs to be intimidated. This time, the intimidators of choice are Black Lives Matter and the politician receiving intimidation is State Sen. Warren Limmer. BLM criminals (they were videotaped trespassing on Sen. Limmer’s private property) did their best to intimidate Sen. Limmer:
Black Lives Matter protesters show up at Republican Senator Warren Limmer’s house in Minnesota demanding he address them. pic.twitter.com/VQJCn5bwDt— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 2, 2020
From Sen. Limmer’s perspective:
“We were watching it on my Ring doorbell and … you get a different feeling when you see people slithering up to my front door, opening it and then pounding and yelling, demanding that I come out to greet the mob,” Limmer said. “And it really isn’t anything – that type of thing, no one in America should experience.”
From BLM’s perspective:
“You will come and talk to us, otherwise you will never run in (sic) office again,” one man, who was shirtless and wearing what appeared to be a swim cap, yelled as he banged on Limmer’s door. “You can’t say that any more politely,” he added as he walked away from the door.
A woman followed him with a more tactful approach: “We just want a little information here, that’s all … You could come out and talk with us, you know. That’s one of the easiest ways to deal with people that are protesting you, is to come talk with us.”
Establishment Democrats insist that they’re mostly moderates. I’ve called that a lie since 2010. BLM isn’t moderate. Antifa is further left than BLM. Justice Democrats are further left than Antifa and BLM put together. What’s interesting is that the 4 people in this video are white:
While these protests weren’t nasty like other protests have been, it’s still intimidating to have thugs show up at your private home. This isn’t protected by the First Amendment because BLM was trespassing. Here’s hoping Sen. Limmer forwards this video to law enforcement and presses charges against these criminals. Once the people start trespassing, there shouldn’t be any mercy shown to the criminals.
Apparently, Tina Smith wants to represent a state filled with racists. That’s what she said in this video:
Senator @TinaSmithMN just called Minnesotans racist and called for a continuation of “righteous protests.” This after days of looting and arson.I call on Tina to apologize and retract these irresponsible and inflammatory remarks. #riots2020 #Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/TaSy9Bnuut
— Jason Lewis (@LewisForMN) May 30, 2020
Smith said that it’ll require lots of hard work “to root out the racism that is too much a part of this state.” Then Smith asks “my fellow Minnesotans to raise up your voices in righteous protest. That is how we change this state and this country so that it is worthy of all of us.”
That’s stunning. I’ve just celebrated my 64th birthday. I’ve lived in Minnesota my entire life. While there have been pockets of racism from time-to-time, it’s BS to think that Minnesotans, as a whole, are racist. In fact, smearing people with the type of broad brush that Smith just applied is itself racist.
It’s disgusting that Smith hasn’t recognized that what the DFL often characterizes as racism is actually people holding deeply held religious beliefs found in the Christian Bible. Christians have frequently been mocked for their sincere beliefs. Christians shouldn’t expect the DFL to show even the least amount of grace in this time. The DFL isn’t into showing mercy or grace. They’re into rioting and looting.
Jason Lewis is into growing economic opportunity, calling out corrupt career politicians and strengthening local communities:
You want to talk about “flaming tensions,” Senator?How about when you called the entire state of Minnesota racist?
Or how about when you called for MORE protests after days of looting & arson?
Or how about the fact you refuse to condemn @IlhanMN‘s calls to abolish the police? https://t.co/4SdcPaiDUJ
— Jason Lewis (@LewisForMN) July 9, 2020
Other than Tim Walz and Jacob Frey, who looked like idiots during the rioting, the DFL disappeared. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar disappeared. Ilhan Omar disappeared, apparently to meet with the Minneapolis City Council to advance the Squad’s agenda of dismantling the Minneapolis PD. When Minnesota needed leadership, President Trump called Gov. Walz and told him to call in the national guard or the feds would clean up Walz’s mess. Gov. Walz obediently complied immediately.
President Trump was a portrait in leadership. Gov. Walz wasn’t. Neither was the DFL. Unfortunately, I’m not surprised. This November, Minnesotans can vote for the party that’s accused them of being unwitting racism. That’s the DFL. If they don’t want to vote for the DFL so they can constantly be called racists, they can vote for the party that wants everyone to succeed, aka the MNGOP.
Imagine Tim Scott campaigning with Jason Lewis on Lake Street during the Senate’s August recess. Then imagine them holding an invitation-only townhall with residents who own businesses or homes where the looting, rioting and violence happened. Schedule it to last 2-3 hrs. if needed. Tell the audience that respectful questions will be accepted but that that agitators’ taunts will be dealt with by security.
The point is that Lewis and Scott would be doing something that the DFL hasn’t done in a generation or more. The DFL has listened occasionally, which is what Sen. Scott and Rep. Lewis would do. The difference is that, after listening to the respectful audience, Lewis and Scott would propose solutions to the problems that they’d heard.
Tim Scott could tell the audience how he’d dealt with racism, including while he’s a US senator. Imagine Tim Scott walking into the room with Jason Lewis, then telling them that Sen. Scott has a bill that would fix the vast majority of problems the audience has cited. Imagine Tim Scott and Jason Lewis passionately embracing police reform and school choice.
During Sen. Scott’s interview with Guy Benson, Benson said told Sen. Scott that the major networks didn’t cover his historic speech after the Democrats voted against the starting of debate on Sen. Scott’s JUSTICE Act. Imagine Tim Scott asking that minority audience why Tina Smith voted to prevent debate and amendments on Sen. Scott’s bill.
The American people deserve real change, not reprehensible political plays. #JUSTICEAct pic.twitter.com/3n1SsdEVvN— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) June 26, 2020
What are Democrats afraid of? If their ideas are good, they should welcome this debate. That’s why they don’t want that debate. Democrats have a monopoly stranglehold on the African-American vote, which has led them to not compete for African-American votes with ideas. If Sen. Scott offered legitimate solutions, there’s a legitimate chance that minorities, not just African-Americans, would withdraw their support from Democrats. That thought must frighten the daylights out of Democrats.
The truth is that Democrats love minorities — for their votes. Anything beyond that, Democrats would rather ignore voters. These Democrats’ agenda is purely ideological. Whether it’s health care, climate change or police reform, Democrats would rather insist than listen to voters. Check this out from Glenn Reynolds:
Not only did the Democrats block debate on the bill, but Scott has been subjected to racial slurs — Sen. Dick Durbin used the word ”token” to describe Scott’s bill, a racial code word that Scott called out. And Democrat-supporting callers to Scott’s office are subjecting him to racial slurs and threats and calling him a “sellout.” That for pushing a revolutionary piece of reform legislation.
So do Black lives matter to Democrats? Not if there are votes at stake, apparently. Bear that in mind between now and November.
Democrats are the party of racist remarks and no solutions. It isn’t that these Democrats are do-nothing Democrats. It’s that they’re opposed to any solutions. It’s their ideological wish list or it’s nothing.
According to Katie Pavlich’s article, this is what prevented the Democrats from reaching agreement on the emergency stimulus bill:
According to a source close to the process on Capitol Hill, in order to move forward with any kind of relief package, Pelosi and her far-left Democrat caucus will demand the following be included:
- Publication of corporate pay statistics by race and race statistics for all corporate boards
- A bail out on all current debt at the Postal Service
- Required early voting
- Required same day voter registration
- Provisions on official time for union collective bargaining
- Full offset of airline emissions by 2025
- Publication and reporting of greenhouse gas statistics for individual flights
- Retirement plans for community newspaper employees
- Federal $15 minimum wage
- Permanent paid leave
- Study on climate change mitigation efforts
People are getting laid off and this is Nancy Pelosi’s priorities list? Seriously? That isn’t a priorities list. It’s a special interest’s wish list. The thought that Senate Democrats would put a hold emergency financial assistance hostage for these things is beyond unethical. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi should be thrown out of DC for that type of bad-faith negotiating. You know you’ve gone too far when Susan Collins gets this irate:
Roger Simon nailed it in this column:
But the Dems don’t seem to be listening, at least as of this writing, and remain determined to squeeze every molecule of advantage while the nation and its healthcare professionals suffer. They also risk fully tanking the U.S. economy and affecting the welfare of its citizens for years.
The economy is tanking? What do Democrats care? They want $15/hr. minimum wage nationwide. That isn’t all Democrats want. Democrats want “retirement plans for community newspaper employees”, too. Democrats want “paid permanent leave”, too. Democrats aren’t the party of the little guy anymore. They’re the party of the special interests. Blue collar workers can go to hell as far as the Democrats can go. Paul Wellstone and Hubert Humphrey are turning over in their graves this moment.
The American people shouldn’t give Democrats any levers of power for the next 30 years after pulling a stunt like that. Jason Lewis criticized Tina Smith’s votes this way:
Senator Tina Smith is gambling with thousands of Americans’ lives. It’s disgusting and it needs to stop today. At the direction of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Tina Smith has been voting to block the coronavirus relief package. Until families and small businesses across Minnesota are put back to work (which must happen as soon as possible), they continue to struggle to get by. But shockingly, obstructionist Senate Democrats are holding up relief based on carbon footprints? It’s egregious and every American should be outraged.
Minority Whip James Clyburn made the Democrats’ intentions perfectly clear when he called the relief package ‘a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.’ Senator Cory Booker said the bill should be used to ‘reform corporate culture.’ To Senate Democrats, this relief bill isn’t about helping Americans who suddenly find themselves struggling financially in the face of this virus. Instead, they see it as a political tool to push their radical agenda, including the Green New Deal.
Unlike these partisans in Congress, Minnesotans and Americans are united against one common enemy. Doctors and nurses on the front lines are risking their lives and manufacturers are retooling. They badly need our support. Tina Smith must immediately put aside the partisan politics and put the needs of the American people first.
Tina Smith, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats don’t give a damn about America. With the nation facing this crisis, the Democrats’ priority has been the Green New Deal. Are you seriously kidding me? Chuckie Schumer finds a microphone every 2 hours, then repeats the line ‘We’re getting close to a deal.’
The people whose lives are getting ruined by the Democrats’ obstruction don’t give a damn, Chuckie. We need a deal done yesterday. If you gave a damn about the people who make this nation great, you would’ve finished this deal. You don’t give a tinker’s damn. This November, you’ll give a damn when We The People throw Democrats out of office en masse from the House and Senate.
Years ago, I coined a phrase about Democrats. In that phrase, I said that “Democrats always do the right thing — when it’s the only option left.” That cliché rang true to me when I saw Jason Lewis’s statement calling on Tina Smith “to do right thing for a change and acquit President Trump.” There’s a better chance of the Devil handing out figure skates in Hell this weekend than there is of Tina Smith doing the right thing.
Don’t mistake what I’m saying. It’s important (and right) for Jason to call Tina Smith out on this. Several times this past week, she’s stood right behind Sen. Schumer at his press conferences. How appropriate for Sen. Schumer’s shill. Sen. Smith is Sen. Schumer’s shill. She’s never voted against Sen. Schumer on anything. Why think that she’ll suddenly do the right thing? That’s as foolish as thinking that you’ll be ok taunting a cobra with quick movements.
It’s just the nature of the beast that Democrats won’t do the right thing. Tina Smith is a creature of the Resistance. She doesn’t dare cross Resistance activists. The Resist Movement activists are absolutists and anarchists. Here’s Jason Lewis’s statement in full:
The question facing Minnesota’s voters is whether they way to waste their vote on a do-nothing placeholder Democrat or whether they’d prefer a get-big-things-done senator with a history of tackling problems while protecting our constitutional rights. I’ve watched Jason Lewis in action. From a policy standpoint, he’s a man of stature while Tina Smith is a lightweight who does as she’s told by Sen. Schumer.
Electing Jason Lewis would mean having a senator who is part of the majority getting important things done. Re-electing Tina Smith means having a senator who will be in the minority for the next term while getting nothing done. Jason Lewis already voted for the Trump-GOP tax cuts that’ve lifted the economy, made the US energy independent while rebuilding the military.
In her time in office, Tina Smith voted against highly qualified judges and justices, voted against energy independence and wasn’t impartial as she claimed:
“Even in the Clinton impeachment, which was a pretty partisan time, the Democrats and the Republicans came together to agree on rules that were bipartisan, nonpartisan, and that is not happening here, which I think is a detriment to the overall fairness of the trial,” Smith said.
It’s obvious that Tina Smith wasn’t impartial before the trial started. She voted for each one of Sen. Schumer’s amendments the first Tuesday night of the impeachment trial. Each of those amendments was designed to force vulnerable Republicans to cast difficult votes.
After that night of voting, there’s no question whether Tina Smith is a partisan hack. That night of voting was about tipping control of the Senate to a Democrat majority and nothing more. That isn’t the definition of “overall fairness.”
On a totally different front, Tina Smith apparently won’t stand with the hard-working people of the Iron Range. Apparently, she’d rather team with Betty McCollum in preventing prosperity on the Iron Range:
Friday night, I got TakeAction Minnesota’s weekly newsletter. The top item in TAM’s newsletter, predictably, was President Trump’s Thursday night rally. TAM wrote “Well, it’s Friday, and it’s been quite the week. Last night, President Trump visited Minneapolis. And, as expected, he used his platform to spread hate and division. Much of it was directed it toward our Somali friends and neighbors.”
Of course, that was only part of this DFL front group’s dishonest update. It continued, saying “But that’s not the entire story. Last night, tens of thousands of Minnesotans, including many of you, came together in the cold rain to affirm what we know: every person has inherent worth and dignity. No matter where they came from or what faith they practice. And no matter what President Trump says. Right now, we’re faced with a choice: Either we stand together with unbreakable solidarity across race, class, gender and geography, and rise up to meet the challenges we face. Or we allow hatred and cruelty to rule the day.”
Speaking of hatred and cruelty, here’s what the rioters did while the rally was just ending:
Then there’s this:
Breaking: outside Minneapolis Trump rally. Protestors lighting Maga hats on fire. Rushing police. Calling them pigs, etc. Escalating scene. pic.twitter.com/HxUFzs8OWF— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) October 11, 2019
It’s a safe bet that the rioters weren’t Trump supporters. I’d estimate the chances of the rioters being Democrats and Antifa to be north of 90%. If TakeAction Minnesota wants to talk about hatred and cruelty, they’d better look in the mirror first. TakeAction Minnesota is famous for pushing the envelope when it comes to on-the-ground activism. I wrote about TAM’s threats and intimidation in this post. TakeAction Minnesota went to Jason Lewis’s home:
But my neighbors saw 20, 25 people, nobody knows the real count, outside. Their daughters were home alone, got scared, called their dad. He called the police, which, by the way, in the suburb I live in, it’s a violation of a city ordinance to what, not to mention trespassing.
Rule #1 — Whatever the DFL accuses Republicans of doing is exactly what the DFL is doing. Rule #2 — Never forget Rule #1.
Check out this wrap-up of Thursday night’s violence. Spread these videos far and wide. Without visual proof, people won’t believe that the DFL has gotten this violent.
This article asks an important question for the Democrat presidential nominee and the DFL Senator. It’s an article about the Line 3 Pipeline project.
It starts by saying “MINNEAPOLIS — A divisive fight over the future of a crude-oil pipeline across Minnesota is pinning presidential candidates between environmentalists and trade unions in a 2020 battleground state, testing their campaign promises to ease away from fossil fuels.” Then it states something controversial, saying “Progressive candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have condemned a Canadian company’s plan to replace its old and deteriorating Line 3 pipeline, which carries Canadian crude across the forests and wetlands of northern Minnesota and into northern Wisconsin. They’ve sided with environmental and tribal groups that have been trying to stop the project for years, arguing that the oil should stay in the ground. Other candidates, including home-state Sen. Amy Klobuchar and front-runner Joe Biden, have remained largely silent, mindful that such projects are viewed as job creators for some of the working-class voters they may need to win the state next year.”
I must take issue with this statement:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar and front-runner Joe Biden, have remained largely silent, mindful that such projects are viewed as job creators for some of the working-class voters they may need to win the state next year.
Oh really, Joe? Then what did you mean at this campaign event?
Ending fossil fuels necessarily requires being opposed to the Line 3 Pipeline project because the Line 3 Pipeline project carries fossil fuels. Democrats don’t want to admit that because Democrats want to appease both construction workers and environmental activists simultaneously. That’s impossible because those organizations fit together like oil and water. (Pardon the metaphor but I couldn’t resist.)
I’d also reject the notion that Sen. Klobuchar has stayed neutral, as this suggests:
Klobuchar has also avoided taking a position. She has said she wants to ensure a thorough environmental and scientific review to determine if the Line 3 project should move forward. Minnesota regulators signed off on the main environmental review last year, although an appeals court has ordered additional study on the potential impacts to the Lake Superior watershed. But she recently returned $5,600 in donations from an Enbridge project manager after a liberal watchdog group, the Public Accountability Initiative, revealed them.
Sen. Klobuchar knows that that’s BS. The Line 3 has already gone through the entire permitting process, including getting the approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. The only step left is for the lawsuits to get settled. Enbridge played by the rules laid out by the legislature and signed by the governor.
Jason Lewis put things beautifully when he announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate:
When Republican Jason Lewis launched his U.S. Senate campaign at the Minnesota State Fair, the former congressman said he would focus on greater Minnesota — the mostly rural part outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul area — to make up for Democratic strength in the cities. He highlighted the 8th Congressional District, which covers northeastern Minnesota and has swung from blue to red. Lewis said Trump’s campaign is “dead serious about Minnesota,” and that he expects it to follow the same strategy.
“Greater Minnesota is turning red, deep red. I don’t know how a Democrat’s going to win the 8th District promising to give pink slips to every trade union member on the Iron Range, promising to stop Enbridge, to stop copper mining, to stop logging, to stop people from having jobs on the Iron Range,” Lewis said.
The DFL is almost ceding rural Minnesota legislative districts while becoming more and more metrocentric. If the DFL continues siding with environmental activists and against the construction unions, they won’t win many elections in rural Minnesota. The truth is that the DFL isn’t interested in farmers or laborers, aka the F-L in DFL.
If President Trump highlights the differences between the DFL’s broken promises to farmers and laborers vs. President Trump’s promises made and promises kept on the issue of slapping tariffs on China to prevent steel dumping, he’ll make Minnesota competitive again.
