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Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Dr. Maureen Reed -- If it was true then, it is true now. Accordingly ...

Prior to the November 2010 elections, MinnPost, in May, 2009, reported on the Reed and the brief Tinklenberg candidacies for Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District seat, this link.

Dr. Reed was quoted about half-way through the report, as saying:

We are living through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with staggering numbers of people unemployed, health care out of the reach of many folks, and thousands of Minnesotans losing their businesses and homes. While these problems are tough, I'm running for Congress because I know two things are true. First, Americans can solve tough problems. Second, a bright future is not accidental. We create a bright future when we put rhetoric aside, focus on the real problems, and work hard together. This is exactly what I've done all my life. The future I see is one of business expansion, job growth, home ownership and lower health care costs.

The difficulties Dr. Reed highlighted persist.

Also, Reed's will and belief in the ultimate capability of the nation and its people to overcome adversity has to still exist, unabated.

The logic is simple then, the Reed candidacy should be renewed for this election cycle.


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Note: That election cycle is where Elwyn Tinklenberg entered as a Sixth Congressional District candidate, and briefly participated as a candidate and then withdrew; promising to refund contributions. The refund step, with Jim Deal having been the principal and nearly sole Tinklenberg contributer, allowed Deal to redistribute his funds as he thought best, which benefited remaining DFL candidacies.

Tinklenberg, on quitting, deserves praise for such a step, allowing and encouraging contributors to support others. Reed, after testing caucus strength and preserving through caucusing an intent to possibly run in a primary if not endorsed, decided (similar to Tinklenberg but a year later after testing the caucus process) that the Tarryl Clark endorsed candidacy would be damaged irreparably by a primary challenge, at which point Reed graciously withdrew - in the process expressly endorsing Tarryl Clark. Unfortunately, that cycle was unfavorable to the DFL party and Clark lost.

____________UPDATE____________
Ten day turnaround. Curiously, the Tinklenberg decision to quit the 2010 race was early and unanticipated. He quit before reaching 2010, and testing his appeal in caucusing. In his Kos diary postings Tinklenberg was quite contradictory; asking for money July 27, 2009, here; then by Aug. 4, 2009, ceasing to be a candidate and promising to refund money to benefit other DFL's. What circumstances weighed greatly in the intervening few days was never publicly discussed, so that whether it was reading tea leaves or strongly liking Clark as a candidate, or something entirely different, is left an open question. Even today the decision stands without public disclosure of detail.

_________FURTHER UPDATE_________
On the Tinklenberg quitting in 2009, Paul Demko of MinnIndependent reported:

The announcement comes barely a week after Tinklenberg officially entered the fray. He’d even hired a campaign manager recommended by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee with a track record of ousting incumbent Republicans. Tinklenberg’s departure from the race means that former Independence Party Lt. Gov. Candidate Maureen Reed and state Assistant Senate Majority Leader Tarryl Clark will now fight for the DFL endorsement.

[bolding and links in original] Demko set out Tinklenberg's entire four-paragraph withdrawal statement, with the best hint of his thinking in the middle two paragraphs:

Now, however, we are faced with the prospect of the next thirteen months being a battle among Democrats. In a difficult district during tough financial times we will be spending large amounts of time and money trying to defeat each other rather than defeating Michele Bachmann. That is not a campaign I want to wage nor is it the kind of campaign that strengthens our chances of electing a Democrat next fall.

This has never been about me, it’s about restoring responsible productive representation to the Sixth District. It is my hope that by removing myself from the race, I am advancing our chances of achieving that goal.