Endorsement: Walz, Rowley, Ramstad, McCollum
"U.S. House"10/30/2006
Two incumbents, two challengers stand out in House races.
Star Tribune Endorsement
Published: October 23, 2006
First District: Walz
Since he went to Washington in 1994, Rep. Gil Gutknecht has done a good job representing the interests and conservative values of southern Minnesota, and he won our endorsement two years ago. But this year the Republican incumbent finds himself on the defensive over issues ranging from the war in Iraq (he calls himself “frustrated") to the DM&E Railroad proposal, and there’s a good reason: The DFL has fielded a superior candidate in Tim Walz.
A 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard, Walz delivers a blistering but authoritative critique of the Bush administration’s missteps in Iraq and treatment of military veterans. But he is not a one-dimensional candidate. A football coach and Teacher of the Year at Mankato West High School, he seems to have a finger on the pulse of the district’s needs and frustrations. He has issued sophisticated position papers on balancing the federal budget and reforming immigration policy. He has raised nearly $1 million in campaign contributions, a record for challengers in this district, and has shown an ability to lead by building a formidable campaign operation. Walz’s party certainly takes him seriously, for he has earned the endorsement of Nebraska’s Bob Kerrey and Georgia’s Max Cleland, both former senators and respected Vietnam veterans.
Walz radiates energy, optimism and critical thinking—qualities Washington could use right now.
Second District: Rowley
DFL challenger Coleen Rowley of Apple Valley seems badly overmatched in her race against GOP incumbent John Kline of Lakeville. Where he is polished, articulate and increasingly well versed in the issues of this rural-south-suburban district, she seems to be running mainly on plainspoken outrage and her fame as an FBI whistleblower. Yet these are precisely the qualities that Washington needs at a time when the nation has gone badly off track and a Republican-majority Congress doesn’t seem to realize it.
After two terms in the House, Kline has proved himself smart and hardworking. He had a distinguished career in the Marines and retains a passion for military and veterans’ issues. Yet we cannot endorse his steadfast, increasingly strained, defense of the Bush administration over policies that have produced destructive budget deficits, mired the nation in a disastrous war and tarnished the nation’s image as a defender of human rights and the rule of law.
Republicans have tried to paint Rowley as some sort of loose-cannon liberal. We don’t see it: She was a career FBI agent, including a stint in New York investigating drug dealers and mobsters, and voted for George W. Bush in 2000 on the belief that he would govern as his father had. She would balance the federal budget by letting the Bush tax cuts expire exactly the way a GOP Congress wrote them and would reform immigration law by following the Senate Republican blueprint. She would move toward universal health insurance though a cautious strategy of state experimentation, and she would wind down the war in Iraq by following the sensible outline of Rep. John Murtha, the Pennsylvania veteran who has endorsed her.
While Rowley is short on political experience, she has proved herself a quick study and avid learner. Washington needs a change in course, and the Second District is a good place to start.
Third District: Ramstad
GOP incumbent Jim Ramstad speaks reverently of Bill Frenzel, his respected predecessor in this west-suburban district, and after 16 years in the U.S. House Ramstad has proven himself worthy of the mantle: a politician of dignity and warmth, an independent thinker, a conservative with compassion.
Ramstad has voted with President Bush more often than we would like, especially on tax cuts and business issues, but he tempers his fiscal conservatism with strong stands on women’s rights, the environment and education (he holds endorsements from the American Federation of Teachers, the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters). Experience seems to have made him more confident in his values and, better yet, brought forth a decency and generosity of spirit that is too rare on Capitol Hill.
Radio host Wendy Wilde, a veteran of WCCO and Air America, has mounted a lively campaign that makes her impossible not to like, and forced Ramstad to defend his votes on fiscal policy and the war in Iraq. Nevertheless, she lacks Ramstad’s record of public service and hasn’t quite proven that she better captures the district’s values.
Fourth District: McCollum
Since leaving the state Legislature for Congress in 2000, DFLer Betty McCollum of St. Paul has matured rapidly, emerging as a respected voice on education policy, AIDS prevention and international human rights; a trusted protégé of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi; and a steadfast opponent of President Bush’s upper-end tax cuts and policy in Iraq.
McCollum’s growing national stature and ability to deliver for the Fourth District on issues such as transportation and the environment are more than enough to merit her reelection, but with Minnesota poised to send at least two new House members to Washington, McCollum could take on a new role—mentor and leader of the state delegation.
Republican challenger Obi Sium, a native of Eritrea and a retired state engineer, is a thoroughly decent man with an inspiring affection for the values of his adopted country. But his grasp of public policy is tenuous and his public-service credentials are all but nonexistent.