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Elwyn Tinklenberg announces his candidacy

Elwyn Tinklenberg’s announcement Monday that he’s running for Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District seat held by Republican Michele Bachmann ensures that the race will be high-profile. The contest is being cited nationally as a competitive race — one that could play a pivotal role in which party wins control of the House in the 2008 elections.

Congressional Quarterly has a story here citing the Sixth District as one of three in Minnesota that are among the most competitive nationally. The other two are the suburban Third District, where Republican Jim Ramstad is retiring, and the First District, in southern Minnesota, where Democrat Tim Walz will be seeking a second term. CQ says that the Midwest as a whole will be the true battleground for control of the U.S. House.

Michele Bachmann on Election night 2006

The state Republican Party weighed in with a press release, which you can find here.

Here’s a look at the coverage by a newspaper in the Sixth District. The St. Cloud Times article is here.

And here’s a post on the Minnesota Campaign Report blog from a supporter of another Democratic candidate in the Sixth, Bob Olson.

When you look back at Bachmann’s win over Patty Wetterling last year, and consider the current political landscape, which Democrat — or what type of candidate — do you think has the best chance of winning in the Sixth?

Today

Sen. Norm Coleman testifies before a Committee on Environment and Public Works oversight hearing on the condition of the nation’s bridges. 9 a.m. (CDT). Webcast available on Coleman’s website: http://coleman.senate.gov/ 

Public hearing on new I-35W bridge, 5:30 p.m.,Thrivent Financial Auditorium, 625 4th Ave. S., Minneapolis 

Democratic presidential candidates debate live in Davenport, Iowa, 7-8:30 p.m., TPT Ch. 17.

Sunday

U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and John Conyers, D-Mich., hold a health care forum at the Historic Heights Theatre, 3951 Central Ave, N.E., Columbia Heights, at 1 p.m. 

In our Pig’s Eye Podcast Monday (Sept. 17), I mentioned the classic fundraising letter U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., has sent out. In it, he makes it sound as if Rove is practically on his way to Mankato to personally knock Walz out of his First Congressional seat. Walz invokes Rove’s name no less than nine times as he explains that Rove, in a briefing, identified Walz’s seat as one of the top 20 targets for congressional Republicans in the 2008 election.

Here are the first five paragraphs of the letter. The boldface and underlining are in the letter itself, no emphasis added:

The American people are breathing a sigh of relief this month after two notorious figures in the Bush administration at long last announced their departure. President Bush’s top political advisor Karl Rove and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may have left Washington in a hurry, but they have not gone quietly–and they are not gone for good.

He may be gone, but before Karl Rove left he made it obvious that Minnesota’s First Congressional District is at the top of his target list.

The Washington Post reports that, prior to leaving Washington, Karl Rove presented to America’s European Ambassadors his list of the top 20 vulnerable Democrats across the country—and I am on that list. Karl Rove and the National Republican Party have made it clear they will stop at nothing to win Minnesota’s First Congressional District seat in November 2008.

Their reasoning is simple: National Republican leaders believe Karl Rove’s strategy of personal destruction, distraction and misinformation will divide and mislead voters resulting in a narrow Republican victory next fall.

Together, we must send the National Republican Party and Karl Rove a strong message: The American people care about the change we are bringing to Washington. Support today, already so close to the next election, will show Rove and his cronies in the Republican Leadership that we are serious about keeping Democrats in Congress with a strong Majority.

By the way, Walz threw in Alberto Gonzales’ name four times, for good measure.