Tevlin: The battle for hearts and mines of northern Minnesota

DULUTH – One apparently belongs to the gang that couldn't shoot straight. Another likes to fuss with his hair a lot and grill lobster, we're told. The third candidate in Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District likes water.

A lot.

The nationally watched, multimillion-dollar fight for the hearts and mines of northern Minnesota went down in Duluth on Tuesday, when many voters got a rare look at the candidates outside nasty, childish television ads that have blanketed the state.

Commercials, most paid for by as much as $5 million in outside money, have mocked incumbent Rick Nolan, a DFLer, for holding a rifle wrong in a crowd.

Others have spoofed Republican Stewart Mills, who has longish hair neatly tucked behind the ears, as a spoiled rich kid who cares more about his appearance than the economy.

The debate is possibly the only one, so it was an enticing show, especially considering the increasing importance of the race. Recent reports have tagged Nolan as one of the 10 most vulnerable incumbents, which in turn has turned out hundreds of thousands of dollars of support in the past three months.

The debate, at the Duluth Playhouse, was held in front of the set of the current production of "Sideways Stories From Wayside School," and the backdrop featured fittingly oversized windows and chairs in whimsical colors: American politics as theater of the absurd.

Oh, and turds.

While defending government regulations that have cleaned up the rivers, Nolan recalled seeing trees float by "with toilet paper, condoms and turds hung on every branch, and that was the good stuff."

The moderator, Chuck Frederick, opinion page editor of the Duluth News Tribune, quipped, "Thanks for the sound bite."

Despite the rancor of the ads, the debate was generally respectful, though candidates and audience members were shamed into being civil through fliers with rules handed to them before the event. Only in Minnesota.

Because I'm a tourist in the Eighth District, I turned to some locals to assess this first good look at the candidates, which also included Ray Sandman, a Green Party candidate whose main platform is fighting the PolyMet mine.

I asked him whether the mining issue was a critical one.

"It's definitely a huge issue," said Frederick. But because it has been around for three straight elections, people have already made up their minds on it.

Aaron Brown, a blogger (minnesotabrown.com and at startribune.com/yourvoices) and radio show host who writes about regional issues, agreed.

Mining is huge in a few small areas where it will have the most impact, but interest wanes quickly the farther away from those small communities you get.

Brown also notes that both Nolan and Mills agree in principle that mining is good for the region, "their differences are nuanced," and so social issues then come into voter decisionmaking.

Nolan noted that he once bought his wife a 20-gauge shotgun for her birthday, and because she didn't think it was romantic enough, bought her a 30.06 for the next one.

Mills underscored Nolan's vote against semi-automatic weapons and his "F" grade from the National Rifle Association.

"The NRA is formed by gun manufacturers and gun sellers, like yourself, Stewart," Nolan shot back.

I didn't count how many times Nolan referred to "millionaires and billionaires," but it was a lot. He was implying that Mills' wealth somehow prohibited him from understanding the middle class.

Don't most voters know that nearly all members of Congress are wealthy?

"The Eighth District is one of them," he said. "Moreover, it is a very odd seat in the sense that after being solidly DFL for two generations it is now one of a very few seats to go from Democrat to Republican to Democrat and possibly Republican again."

While Sandman, a vet and tribal chief, came off as a bit of a Mother Earth philosopher in a calm, warm cadence, he lacked information on several other issues.

Nolan came off more "folksy" than Paul Bunyan, swallowin' "g's" and bitin' the ends off words with a vengeance.

"I think Mills was trying to show he's a nice guy, was well prepared and well spoken," if a bit tethered to sound bites, Brown said.

An interesting moment came after Nolan once again referred to Mills as a "Tea Party candidate," to which Mills replied, "I'm not sure that is entirely accurate."

It was an endorsement for Mills.

jtevlin@startribune.com • 612-673-1702