Minnesota midterms

My identity as a Minnesotan -- by birth and current residency -- is inextricably linked with my sense of Scandinavian heritage and the socialist-democratic thought I associate with it. It's an illusion. Having grown up in a rural area, I know that most of the Minnesota countryside is home to conservative folk -- fiscally conservative, certainly, but socially conservative as well. It's disconcerting to find Minnesota considered an important swing state nationally, with state races just as hotly contested. Frankly, it challenges my idea of Minnesota niceness and generosity.

The big race here is for the Senate, between Republican Incumbent Mark Kennedy and Democratic Challenger Amy Klobuchar, and the latest polls show Klobuchar ahead. Hopefully, this will be one of the six seats that turn the Senate over to Democrats. Kennedy voted for all the issues Republicans are now on the chopping block for and I hope he rides that party wave right out of office.

The governership race seems to be a pretty dead heat between Republican Incumbent and Bush lapdog Tim Pawlenty and current Democrat and State Attorney General Mike Hatch. There's also Independent Peter Hutchinson, who presented the only plan I've ever seen from a politican that addressed universal health care so thoroughly. He doesn't have a chance, of course -- the race is between Pawlenty and Hatch.

The controversial District 6 U.S. House race between Republican Michele Bachmann and Democrat Patty Wetterling is also considered to be a toss up, though Wetterling seems to be in the lead. Wetterling, who came to politics through activism after the disappearance of her young son, recently garnered national attention for speaking against Republicans who allowed former Florida Rep. Foley to maintain his troublesome relationships with young pages in Washington. Bachmann is an embarrassment to anyone hoping for some level of bipartisanship and accomplishment from a body of government. She led the charge for a ban on gay marriage that helped bring the state legislature to a standstill last year and I consider her a threat to progress of any kind, least of all civil rights for everyone equally.

I live in U.S. House District 7, which includes about half the rural area of the state. I live less than an hour from the Twin Cities and share a district with folks about an hour from Winnipeg. Our Democratic Incumbent Colin Peterson is sure to win, but he's nothing to get excited about. He's a pro-life Democrat type you can find all over rural America, where the intricacies of women's health care never seem to get realistic debate and simplistic religious ideologies reign. That's a failure of the left as much as the right, but that's a topic for another day.

My voting criteria are typically anti-Republican since I believe they're generally politically anti-me. Beyond that, I look for pro-choice, pro-universal health care coverage candidates who don't charge off to war with stupidity. Much of the rest is negotiable to me.

A general look at disabiity issues and this midterm election is available at Ragged Edge. As Frank Bowe writes there, this election is an opportunity for change and disabled people have a big stake in the outcome. Check out his short list of important issues regarding disability.

For more blogging on Minnesota races, see Norwegianity, Minnesota Monitor, and Yowling from the Fencepost, and their links.