Bridge 'unity' fractured by politics

WASHINGTON - In the twilight of a fall afternoon, Rep. Michele Bachmann huddled near the U.S. Capitol steps with three wary Minnesota Democrats.

Bachmann and two other Minnesota Republicans were about to launch a bill for $195 million to rebuild the I-35W bridge. Would the Democrats sign on?

Surprised, the Democrats balked. But not before a testy exchange between Bachmann and Rep. Betty McCollum, who noted that the money was already in a pending roads bill.

Amid the stunned sadness that immediately followed the August bridge collapse, politicians vowed to set their differences aside and focus solely on aiding victims and rebuilding. But in fact, almost nothing about the disaster's aftermath has been untouched by politics.

Now, more than a month after the Oct. 17 encounter at the Capitol, Minnesota's congressional delegation again finds itself at odds, with bridge funding caught up in a congressional veto battle with the White House.

Back home, Democrats' desire to fix at least indirect responsibility for the collapse on GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty and his transportation department has been clear. So has Republican determination to fault foot-dragging and bloated spending by Democrats in Washington.

Candidates have changed their minds and entered races because of the bridge collapse. Union leaders have brought forward bridge inspectors to decry short budgets. A transportation secretary has prompted accusations of a tainted investigation.

All in all, an impressive show of disunity.

"This is just a case study of what's wrong with government," said University of Minnesota political scientist Larry Jacobs. "Huge problem. Everybody recognizes the problem, and yet what you get is a mud fight. It's appalling."

While nobody suggests that the infighting will prevent Minnesota from getting bridge-replacement money in the end, those close to the situation acknowledge that the political clashes have made the government response seem murky.

"I think everybody is posturing to a certain degree," said Rep. Tim Walz, who was one of the other Democrats on the Capitol steps. "All too often in politics, all you do is muddy the water."

'United as one'

The tone of the encounter outside the Capitol on Oct. 17 was a far cry from the mood three days after the bridge fell, when Minnesota Democrat Jim Oberstar shepherded a $250 million aid package through Congress, declaring "we are all united as one ... ."

Soon enough, they parted company as old agendas resurfaced -- never more so than in recent weeks, as Democrats assailed Bachmann and fellow Republican John Kline for siding with the Bush administration in voting against the massive road spending bill that included the 35W bridge money.

"This goes beyond ridiculous," said Brian Melendez, Minnesota DFL chair. "It's callous."

Bachmann and Kline were equally emphatic that they do not oppose the 35W bridge money, but rather a massive spending bill filled with pork-barrel projects from the Los Angeles Fashion District to the Woodstock Museum.

Now, faced with a White House veto of the transportation bill, Bachmann charges that the Democrats "missed key opportunities" to fund a clean bridge bill, in particular the one she offered up during her Oct. 17 encounter with McCollum, Walz and Rep. Keith Ellison.

The dispute echoes a broader budget fight between the White House and Congress in which Democrats have accused Republicans of favoring Iraq war spending over priorities back home. Meanwhile, Democratic leaders have opened themselves to accusations of excessive spending while still not delivering on the promised bridge money.

The same day Bachmann introduced her standalone bridge bill, she -- along with Kline and Minnesota Republican Jim Ramstad -- penned a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi complaining that no major spending bills had been sent to Bush for his signature.

The move infuriated Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, who decried Bachmann's bill as a publicity stunt.

"It wasn't political on my part," she said. "I can't help how they took it."

'Katrina moment'

The current veto fight is only the latest skirmish in a running duel flowing from the Aug. 1 bridge collapse.

By early September, Oberstar was battling with the Bush administration over his ill-fated idea for a 5-cent-a-gallon gas tax hike, which he said was needed for a national bridge repair fund.

By early October, he was also engaged in a feud with Pawlenty, whom he accused of moving too slow to apply for emergency federal funds.

Pawlenty, meanwhile, was busy battling DFLers in the Minnesota Legislature intent on using the bridge collapse to score points about alleged mismanagement in the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), which they said had overlooked maintenance and safety to keep the governor's no-new-taxes pledge. As part of the Capitol Hill lobbying effort, a union bridge inspector was called to testify before Congress.

The Bush administration has made $178 million available in emergency funding, relieving much of the pressure on Congress and Pawlenty to come up with money to allow work on a new I-35W bridge to begin.

But the White House largesse has also come to be seen through a political prism, with Democrats noting that it serves the GOP's political interests to reward a loyal governor in a swing state that will be the site of the 2008 Republican National Convention.

"This was another Katrina moment," McCollum said. "The Bush administration wants to show that lessons have been learned."

Some Democrats also accused the Bush administration of favoring Pawlenty in the ongoing bridge investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. Steve Murphy, chairman of the Minnesota Senate Transportation Committee, recently accused U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters of dismissing lack of inspection or maintenance as a factor in the bridge collapse.

Formal findings will not be available for at least a year.

In the meantime, an election will be held, and the bridge has already proved a material factor. Former Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg now plans to run for Congress, saying he made his decision largely because of the bridge collapse.

He is running against Bachmann.

Kevin Diaz • 202-408-2753

Kevin Diaz • kdiaz@startribune.com