Clark has a website shell up already, "for Congress," and I have earlier posted about her legislative sites, and the Project VoteSmart info. She has a Wikipedia entry, so for now Marueen Reed is the only one of the three where I don't get any hit on a Google = Maureen Reed Wikipedia. The Google = Tarryl Clark Wikipedia - it did ring the bell; website shell here; and then Wikipedia page here. The opening screenshot shows the shell campaign homepage.
It would suprise me if the field grows beyond three. Clark, Reed, and the 2008 candidate who lost to a Bachmann plurality during the Dem. landslide and after Bachmann had generated nationwide ill-will on HardBall by questioning patriotism and suggesting something akin to a new McCarthyism witch hunt as her idea. The guy who put the lack in lackluster. Who did win an election - over a decade ago, and for mayor of Blaine.
If you couldn't coattail on Obama, and the Dem landslide, what's your story now?
There will not be any big coattails for the DFL general election candidate this time, unless a super strong DFL governor voter-turnout happens. Caucus time will be interesting. The Anoka County old boys will play a role. How influential will be fun to see.
SCHUMACHER HAS AN EXCELLENT POST BREAKING THE CLARK STORY. READ IT HERE.
______UPDATE______
Two interesting things are showing up, the hired gun brought in from DC by the former Blaine mayor has had a higher recent profile than his candidate. More lipstick so far than pig you might say, with that playing well among DFL'ers from outside the Sixth District.
I put more stock on readings of District sentiment from Blue Man and Political Muse, in District, and the comments they draw. Outsiders from DC, from South Minneapolis, their opinions are helpful, but off-point when caucus and election balloting is what calls the shot. In that sense, one of the most lasting things I have read, Blue Man here,
Clark has been all over the 6th in the past, helping candidates at all levels, party building and being a leader. That will go a long way in a long endorsement fight.
That is an interesting viewpoint.
The former Blaine mayor's been drumming up transportation consulting-lobbying money for his "Tinklenberg Group" business formed months after leaving MnDOT, working on the highways wherever the name "Oberstar" resonated at all, but not being that strong a person inside the DFL after leaving the IP governor's MnDOT appointment. He has kept his IP contacts and credentials updated, but that's a separate thing.
________FURTHER UPDATE________
Maps can be a helpful way to view data. An interesting pair of maps, self explanatory, at the Secretary of State's site, precinct by precinct margins for the Sixth Congressional District - 2008, here [Bachmann won - Tinklenberg lost]; then 2006, here [Bachmann won - Wetterling lost]. Neither Wetterling nor Tinklenberg could get it done. Each tried.
And remember, Tinklenberg in 2006 lost even before the general election, in caucus.
In terms of the numbers, victory margins, and the strength of the IP protest vote [Binkowski at 7.80%, IP endorsed, 2006 margins here - Tinlenberg, not Anderson endorsed, Anderson got 10.8%, 2008 margins here].
Bachmann had avoided inflamatory statements on the eve of the election on nationwide TV in 2006; contra to her HardBall gaff in 2008, a situation which was insufficiently campaigned to make any difference, victory-wise; and one unlikely to be handed the DFL candidate on a platter, this cycle.
A third map of great interest, county by county [with vote margins in fine print if you enlarge the map - US Senate race, 2006, here].
Surely, we can all read the tea leaves differently, but I see a younger resonant female who's proven herself in having held a recent and substantial elective office set of responsibilities as a DFL'er can predominate where a man with IP appointive roots and a basically insubstantial, decade-old elective record in one locale lost. And where a more elderly and reserved female candidate without any prior elective office campaigning experience also failed to reach enough voting hearts and minds within the Sixth District. That overall pattern suggests Tink redux would yield the same as previously - same individual and same outcome; while Reed, much like Wetterling, would not resonate as a DFL candidate in a general election setting.
Read things differently if you want.
But the data's there - [1] Tink lost; [2]how do you handicap Reed; and [3] who of the three current MN 6 candidates has a "Klobuchar chance" of defeating Michele Bachmann?
If Dana Houle or someone else has any interesting contrary spinning on the data, he or someone else can leave a comment.
My guess is other blogs being posted by people within the Sixth District with progressive leanings will not differ much (if at all) in conclusions from mine.
The GOP blogs, Residual Forces and Let Freedom Ring Blog - who knows how they'll view things. My guess is they'll whine as usual about taxes; and characterize Bachmann as an attractive, vibrant, and clued-in candidate. Yeah, sure. And they will spin her position on healthcare and her basic ineffectiveness in office. As a guess.
Again, I would discount any cheerleading, especially insider cheerleading either way, from urban DFL bloggers outside of the district. They tend to discount the judgment of Sixth District residents and suggest Blue Dogs [aka GOP-lite woofers] are fine, "for them, in that District."
"For us in this district," the view's simply different. Go figure.
_____FURTHER UPDATE______
Blue man in a red district - posting about Clark's making the move, here.
MinnPost, PiPress and Strib this Tuesday July 28 morning at quarter to ten still have nothing I could find online, but there's coverage, here and here. That latter item is an AP feed, so the statewide daily print folks cannot be far behind. They usually read and repost the AP wire feeds.
The Tarryl Clark website, here, (the link given earlier), has a new look this morning differing from the one leading this post. Still in an introductory mode. Not yet telling eager people where to send the check, not yet having PayPal contribution capability available online. If in no hurry for cash, that's surely a novelty among candidates. The other two DFL hopefuls are hustling the hustings full time that way.
Last thought, here is a screeshot from within the Tinklenberg FEC disbursements report; showing money going to the DC hired gun, Houle; and with substantial starting photo, printing and video-media payments already being made.
The photographer has a website, here. Aaron Richey also is online, here, and did 2008 Tink stuff, this screenshot,
Also he shares the last name of Tink's stepdaughter, Anna Richey. Are they kin? She's been a regular on that campaign payroll, 2008, 2010. Is Aaron Richey more of the Anna Richey pattern, unions in 2008 contributed for Tink, where substantial payments out of contributions went to family? That might not sit well with the rank-and-file.
If anyone knows kinship dimensions, please leave a comment.
________FURTHER UPDATE_______
GOP spin on Clark's latest move, here. People are taking notice.
__________FINAL UPDATE_______
Anything else starts a new post. However, some smug, pompous, demeaning and clueless attitude problems just might need a solid Tarryl Clark, frontrunner smackdown. Namely, the KOS illuminati, the font of knowing how crude we Sixth District individuals are, collectively hicks they almost imply, per KOS comment thread excerpt, STARTING HERE [italics emphasis added]:
El and The Brownbacker
First, sorry to hear that you'll have The Brownbacker for your Guv. My in-laws live in Wichita and are bracing themselves for their state's impending doom. My Dad-in-laws favorite line is "What? You think that's bad? That's nothing. We're going to have Sam Brownback as Governor."
Yes, Tink fits his district very well and I understand your concern that he'd be a Blue Dog. Some people call it Jesusland up there. It's quite conservative and strongly pro-life. It's the pit of doom for DFL statewide candidates -- statewiders just try to lose by as little as possible up there. [ed. Ask Amy Klobuchar, eh]
mnprogressiveproject.com - community blogging, political activism and truth in new media
by The Big E on Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 07:55:17 AM PDT
+++++++++++++++
Dana Houle
As an elected town official in one of CT-4's Gold Coast towns, I can tell you how highly regarded Dana's operation on behalf of Jim Himes was. Although we met only briefly at one of Himes' fundraisers ( I wrote checks to the Himes campaign but was off to Ohio to work the legal teams' phone banks for Obama during early voting), I know from the political cognoscenti what a well run shop the Himes campaign was. Himes' election over an entrenched Chris Shays was due in large part to a massive minority voter turnout in Bridgeport, which we won't be able to count on in the same numbers next year when Himes will be up against the Republican leader of the CT State Senate who happens to be the son of the Republican congressman who preceded Shays and who is still remembered by older voters. We'll miss Dana terribly but wish him well in his new gig. BTW, Do you think Bachmann and Sarah Palin were twins separated at birth?
by kwirf on Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 08:20:59 AM PDT
++++++++++++++++++++
That's Very Nice of You To Write That
I really liked working with the folks in Connecticut, and when I took over the campaign I was showered with support and cooperation. A lot of the town committee leadership worked really well with our regional staff, and that allowed me to really focus heavily on the Bridgeport operation. It was a tremendous team effort, and by working so easily with us, the people in the small and medium sized towns in the district who ran their operations in ways that helped us all contributed to the success we had across the district, including in Bridgeport. The most gratifying results we had that day were the tiny undervote in Bridgeport, where almost everyone who voted for Obama continued down their ballot and voted for Jim. No way that would have happened if myself and the rest of the staff were embroiled in all kinds of silly drama or didn't get a ton of cooperation from everyone else.
Again, thanks for this comment, because too often the squeaky wheels are what get noticed, so I really appreciate you passing this on, and tell whomever you speak with how happy I was to work with you all last year.
"Dignified people, without a whimsical streak, almost never offer fresh insights, in economics or anywhere else." Paul Krugman
by Dana Houle on Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 01:55:01 PM PDT
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The news that Dana Houle was running the
race turned it into a real race for me. Two years ago contributing to Tinklenberg seemed like a moral imperative because Bachmann is so evil but it didn't seem like a real campaign.
Now it will be a real campaign. I'm sure we can count on Dana to make sure that somebody blogs about it on dKos frequently, even if he is too busy to do it.
by St Louis Woman on Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 11:42:14 AM PDT
"Political cognoscenti." Indeed. Did I say, smug? I meant to.
In fairness, Big E usually does better.
You almost get the feeling these loving folks are wishing, "If only Dana were the candidate -- instead of Elwyn what's his name ... ". And what you really have to like, the way this Dana Houle says wait a minute, you never get far bad-mouthing an electorate whereas he might just, if a lesser man, have basked in the glory and praise.