More MN-08 reading for all you weary warriors

If you’re interested in more reading on the aftermath of the MN-08 electoral stunner from last week take a gander at this post from a blog I just found called Gin and Tacos. It’s a left-leaning affair with its share of snark (if you consider these two descriptions exclusively). I disagree with the characterization of MN-08 as a “wasteland.” Rather, MN-08 is the part of Minnesota that most people would recognize as Minnesota, with a vast majority of the state’s trees, lakes, cabins, moose, deer, and, if it matters, all of the state’s taconite production. Nevertheless, this Gin and Tacos bit hits a chord describing the precarious pivot the district now makes with a classically conservative freshman representative in a district that had been built on heavily liberal ideals — and gobs of federal spending.

And, for kicks, might I point out that Rep.-elect Chip Cravaack has named former U.S. Sen. Rod Grams, the famously unsuccessful 2006 Jim Oberstar opponent, as his interim chief of staff.

(h/t Carolyn King)

Comments

  1. Has the ring of a Gus Hall understudy..

  2. Charles Marohn says

    More than a little snark. I guess fellow hicks like us from across the ideological spectrum should pull ourselves away from thoughts of offin’ ourselves and give thanks for the largess piled upon us all these years.

    I appreciated your post after the election about the pork spending being a substitute for an industrial policy. That is an intelligent assessment. Unfortunately, as a substitute for an industrial policy, it certainly did not bring us unrivaled prosperity and now, as even these idiots you linked to understand, it is going to cost us a ton to maintain. The DFL hangover, IMO.

    I’d love to see the Range grow beyond the boom and bust of mining and the Ponzi scheme of government spending into something that provided everyone with a good life. It seems to me that the world is moving in the right direction for that, becoming both more local in economy and more connected in thought.

    I love what you are doing to bring that world about. In my own way, I’m trying too. Let’s keep working at it.

  3. Thanks, Chuck. I’m becoming more and more familiar with your perspective and work. I guess the dominant question I have for a place like the Range is how the gap is bridged. I mean, I get that roads are very expensive, but how do we convince the voters who use the roads that the money is better spent elsewhere. Especially when whatever the alternative is (probably something I would support, like high speed internet and core community revitalization) would require a pretty big leap — either spending on some less sexy projects and near total abstinence from the sort of projects that politicians and, more importantly, local developers, push so hard?

    I really do think there is a leap to be made there. I wish I was convinced that Cravaack would be making that leap, but I am not, which is the part of the post I linked that caught my fancy.

    Anyway, thanks for your thoughts as always. Try not to have a heart attack when you see what they’ve spent on New Orleans. 🙂

Speak Your Mind

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.