How do you get over losing a job you've had for 36 years? If you're French-speaking Minnesota Democrat Jim Oberstar, who lost his bid for a 19th term in Congress, you take your wife to Paris. Oberstar, 76, has been travelling with his wife Jean since his crushing defeat to GOP upstart Chip Cravaack in northern Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District. According to staffers, they went to Paris and Provence. Cravaack, in Washington this week for freshman orientation, said he learned of the trip when his staff contacted Oberstar's office to prepare for the transition in January. The sojourn should come as no surprise to those who know Oberstar's from his days as a student in Belgium and as a teacher in Haiti. Staffers said Oberstar is returning to Washington for the lame duck session of Congress.
