How Pwonkies Make Themselves Sound Like They Know It All: Ignore History

Politicians aren’t the only folks who like to change history in order to justify what they say in the present. Pwonkies (political wonks) are also guilty. Here’s an example from Stuart Rothenberg posted Feb. 5 on RealClearPolitics (italics are mine):

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Former Republican Congressmen Charles Bass (N.H.), Jeb Bradley (N.H.), Michael Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Gil Gutknecht (Minn.), Nancy Johnson (Conn.), Sue Kelly (N.Y.), Jim Leach (Iowa), Anne Northup (Ky.), Rob Simmons (Conn.) and Clay Shaw (Fla.) didn’t lose [in 2006] because they were terrible candidates. They lost because they were in marginal seats or in districts carried by Al Gore in 2000 and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004.

Here are the facts: George Bush carried Gil Gutknecht’s district by 2 percent in 2000 and 4 percent in 2004. Gutknecht himself took the district by 15 percent in 2000, 27 percent in 2002 and 24 percent in 2004.* So, obviously Gutknecht, who was first elected in 1994, was not a terrible candidate, nor was he in a marginal seat, nor was he in a district carried by Gore or Kerry.

So what gives?

Those of us who live in Minnesota and who witness the political scene firsthand