Gutknecht analogy irks DFL chairman

03/30/2006

Melendez demands apology for Civil War reference

BY BILL SALISBURY
Pioneer Press

In the latest instance of political umbrage-taking, state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Brian Melendez demanded an apology Wednesday from U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht for suggesting that Republicans defeating Democrats this fall is as important as the 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment turning back a Confederate charge at the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War.

During a campaign appearance last week in Mankato, Gutknecht, a Rochester Republican, told a group of college students they could play as pivotal a role in defending Republican control of Congress as the 1st Minnesota did at Gettysburg, according to a report published Tuesday in the MSU Reporter, the Minnesota State University-Mankato student newspaper.

The 1st Minnesota saved the field for the Union forces July 2, 1863, by stepping into a breach in their line and repelling a Confederate assault. The unit lost 82 percent of its men in the process, the highest casualty rate of any Union regiment in any battle.

“To compare beating Democrats to defeating the Confederate Army is either an absurd display of historical ignorance or an insult to the intelligence of Minnesota,” Melendez said in a news release under the headline “Gutknecht likens DFL Party to slaveholders.” David Ruth, the party’s communications director issued the release.

In response, Gutknecht issued this statement: “Rumors of my comparing DFLers to slaveholders have been greatly exaggerated.”

Gutknecht was simply referring to a pivotal moment in U.S. history, his campaign manager, Nels Pierson, said in a news release. “Congressman Gutknecht could have just as easily referenced Kirby Puckett’s Game 6 winning home run as a pivotal moment in Twins history,” Pierson said, “and David Ruth would have put out a statement ‘Gutknecht likens DFL party to Atlanta Braves.’ “