True North

It’s been a month since Andy Birkey at the Minnesota Monitor complained that Rep. Michele Bachman (GOP, MN6) fails to disregard the Minnesota mainstream media’s anti-conservative hackery, and limits most of her media to conservative and Christian outlets.

I responded by sending invites to half a dozen key DFL office-holders and candidates. I left emails and, in almost all cases, voice mails with the media contacts for Al Franken, Amy Klobuchar, Keith Ellison, my own “representative” Betty McCollum, Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak, and Growth and Justice president Dane Smith. In the intervening time, I also invited Saint Paul City Council prez Dave Thune to talk with us about his “puking Republicans” slur.

Of course, on Saturday Ed and I interviewed Dane Smith of G’nJ. It was, nearest I could figure, an excellent hour - although frustraing. I think we could devote a couple of shows to be debate between the “Happy to Pay for a Better Minnesota” movement that Smith represents, and the opposition of which I’m a part. It was a civil debate - notwithstanding the conceit of talk radio’s opponents, who believe we’re entirely about plate-throwing - and hopefully the first of several.

I noted last week that, in addition to Smith, I’d heard from another of my invitees. Sort of.

Someone in RT Rybak’s press office left a comment on another regional blog denying that I’d emailed the Mayor. I responded, in the comment as well as via email, saying that I’d left a note at the City of Minneapolis site on a form that said “we’ll forward the message to the right party”. Apparently that didn’t include the mayor’s office.

We traded an email or two last week. We shall see.

But I’ve heard not a peep from candidate Al Franken’s campaign, or from te press offices of Representatives Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, or Senator Amy Klobuchar.

The logical conclusion is that, while conservative politicians have to either run the gauntlet of hostile left-leaning mainstream media or be considered “evasive” by the even more hostile, more left-leaning alternative media, Minnesota’s liberal politicians feel no compunctions about ignoring the half of their constituents with whom they disagree. They are afraid to face tough questions, preferring the vacuous softballs they get from a regional media that largely regards them as friends - a regional media that largely sympathizes with them (the Strib’s Rochelle Olson and the wife of Keith Ellison have been observed to have a cordial social relatioship; it seems unlikely that most of the Strib’s staff will get too tough with Amy Klobuchar, daughter of longtime columnist Jim Klobuchar; that Dave Thune feels the need to depart the friendly confines of the local media and the lefty echochamber to answer questions.

Which is the sign of a particularly gutless breed of politicians.

Cross-posted and comments welcome at Shot In The Dark.