Hotdish Politics: Some skip conventions to stick to campaigns

Updated: August 25, 2012 - 11:07 PM

hide

Michele Bachmann, shown here in June, is in Tampa, Fla., where she will speak at a Tea Party rally Sunday, on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

Photo: Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune

Camera Star Tribune photo galleries

Camera view larger

0
comments
resize text
print
buy reprints

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

More than half of Minnesota's congressional delegation will skip the 2012 national political conventions, the well-scripted events focused on formally introducing the presidential nominees, building party cohesion and galvanizing likely voters.

The timing of this year's gatherings has plenty of incumbents across the country opting to remain on the campaign trail instead of mingling with party activists.

Among Minnesota's Democrats, Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and Rep. Keith Ellison will head to Charlotte, N.C., for next week's Democratic National Convention.

On the Republican side, Rep. Michele Bachmann is in Tampa, Fla., where she will speak at a Tea Party rally Sunday, on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

The state's six other members of Congress -- some of whom face competitive races this fall -- are staying home or making other plans.

The late Democratic convention, which will begin after the traditional Labor Day start to the fall campaign, may be a factor in discouraging lawmakers from attending.

The chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political organization that works to elect Democrats to the U.S. House, even encouraged colleagues to stay home this year.

"If they want to win an election, they need to stay in their districts," Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., said this summer.

And, with this year's Republican convention scheduled smack dab in the middle of the Minnesota State Fair, the pull to stay home could be that much stronger for Minnesota's GOP candidates, too.

Nationally, Republicans are seizing on the planned absences, arguing that President Obama is a liability for Democrats seeking re-election -- especially those in swing districts.

But that talking point hasn't spread as fast among Republicans in Minnesota, a state where Obama is expected to win in November.

A June poll conducted by Public Policy Polling found Obama had a 15-point lead over presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in Minnesota. That's larger than the 10-point margin of victory Obama registered over John McCain during the 2008 presidential election.

"Minnesota is not going to be a swing state this fall," Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling said in a release this summer.

In a state that hasn't voted for a Republican in a presidential election since incumbent Richard Nixon in 1972, three congressional Democrats apparently don't see the national convention as a political necessity.

And three GOP members of Congress are sending the same message about their party's convention.

Quote of the week
"I am done," embattled state Rep. Kerry Gauthier, DFL-Duluth, when announcing he will not seek a second term. "I just need to take care of myself right now, and I am not really up for that kind of fight."
Tweet of the week
Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead), Minnesota native, comedian and co-creator of "The Daily Show," on Friday: "So is it my understanding that Mitt went to a fundraiser in one of the wealthiest communities in #MN but skipped the #MNStateFair."
The week ahead
Many Minnesota GOP activists will be in Tampa for the Republican National Convention starting Monday. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty is scheduled to speak at the convention Wednesday.