Party chairs trade barb over open House seat

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party held a press conference at the capitol this morning to criticize the voting record of Third District Congressional challenger Erik Paulsen. DFL party chairman Brian Melendez painted a picture of Paulsen as far to the right of current Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad, who is retiring.

"Erik Paulsen denounces Congress for being broken, but his record shows that he would be incapable of fixing it," Melendez told reporters. "Paulsen’s long record of extreme partisanship and ideological rigidity insures that instead of following Ramstad’s lead in working together with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get things done, he will instead huddle in the corner with his right-wing, extremist friends."

In particular Melendez cited Paulsen’s failure to support an increase in the state’s minimum wage earlier this year and his opposition to a bill that would have explicitly granted researchers at the University of Minnesota permission to utilize state funds for stem-cell research as positions that conflict with Ramstad’s voting record in Washington. The DFL chair also argued that Paulsen’s failure to support legislation that would expand health-care coverage for children and increase support for higher education is contrary to Ramstad’s voting history in Washington.

"For 17 years Minnesotans in the Third Congressional District have counted on the independent, moderate leadership of Rep. Jim Ramstad," Melendez said. "It is clear that on these issues that I’ve just raised, plus many more, Erik Paulsen will not bring the same perspective."

But after Melendez finished, an uninvited guest took to the podium: Republican Party chairman Ron Carey. The press-conference crasher took the opportunity to defend Paulsen’s record and lob a few potshots of his own. "The DFL’s already throwing hail Mary passes in the Third Congressional race," Carey began. "Erik Paulsen is a very experienced legislator. He’s an experienced business leader. He’s an experienced family man. He fits the Third District like a glove."

The GOP chair then went on to characterize Democratic candidate Ashwin Madia in a manner that will sound awful familiar to anyone paying attention to the presidential contest. "As the campaign goes on you’re going to find that Mr. Madia, while he has some great soaring rhetoric, he has no solutions," Carey said. "What he’s offering is something that feels good, but really is not attainable."