For the past few years, the 6th District's representation in Congress has been about missed opportunities. We've watched opportunities slip away - opportunities to build our local infrastructure, to modernize our transportation system, and to create good jobs and a strong business climate.
It's time to deliver more than a sound bite. Representative Bachmann's biggest accomplishments are creating controversy instead of creating good jobs, and working the talk show circuit instead of helping working families...
That's pretty good. The first paragraph I quoted there is about how much Bachmann non-representation has *cost the people of the district.* Bachmann's knee-jerk special interest votes, failure to use her committee assignments to regulate financial markets--all of that hurt people in and out of her district. Bachmann actually bragged about how she refused to bring home some of the federal tax dollars her constituents pay. Bachmann's mindless "I won't seek federal money for my district" ideology cost her constituents real jobs, real opportunity to weather a bad economy. Clark might have also mentioned the chronic high rate of home foreclosures in the Sixth District, which is disgraceful.
The second paragraph is also pretty good: it is true that Bachmann is more interested in being a notorious national figure than in creating jobs and helping working families. After nearly ten years in government, Bachmann is more famous for what she says than for anything she's actually achieved. And that's true whether you're a conservative or a liberal or a whatever.
It's amazing that Bachmann gets a pass on the talk show circuit when she's called on to comment on economic matters--isn't it? An informed interviewer could demolish her by letting her start in on her conservative talking points--and then ask her about the rate of home foreclosures in the Sixth since she's been in office, compared to other Minnesota districts. If she really is credible on the subject of how to fix the economy--why is the rate of Minnesota home foreclosures highest in *her* district? But they don't ask her that, so she gets a pass and continues to spout conservative country club economics on TV and radio--with impunity.
There's a "heads up" for the Bachmann staffers who read this blog. You might want to get her ready to answer that one, in case she ever runs into an interviewer who actually knows something about what's going on down on the ground here.
The reason that Clark's letter doesn't "nail it," is that she makes no allusion to what every one of her supporters already knows about Bachmann: that Bachmann is a nut, liar, and bigot. This has been noted time and again in national political reporting on our district, and this year it has been alluded to in more than one Minnesota daily paper. But Clark is trying to keep it positive, I guess.
You can read the rest of Clark's letter in Avidor's post, here.
No comments:
Post a Comment