“We won this intersection,” Rowley said cheerfully, holding an enormous “Rowley For Congress” banner at the intersection of County Road 42 and Cedar Avenue in Apple Valley.  “I think this could work,” she said, “even if it doesn’t work this time.”Rowley seemed aware that odds are against her today, but she was still in good spirits, and she was vocal in her support of a more people-oriented campaign.

“There are really some other ways to skin the cat,” she said, “and I don’t think Rahm Emmanuel’s big-money campaign is the right way.  You don’t want to out-Rove Rove.”

Rowley also decried the corrupting influence of money in politics.

“Your decisionmaking is corrupted [by campaign contributions].  In the [FBI] Office of Ethics if an agent gets over $20, they presume that it could have some effect on them.  If you take over $100 thousand, shouldn’t there be a presumption that you can’t make your vote now in line with what people want?”

Rowley laughed when asked what her future held should she lose.

“For the past sixteen months, I’ve had the purpose-driven life.  If I don’t win, it will become purposeless,” she laughed. 

“But I’d like to have the core group of activists and writers and thinkers [stay together]–[like]David Bailey, and Chuck Smith-Dewey–twenty writers who are really good.  It was like the start of a think-tank.  We could change the name from Rowley Writers, and I’d be the first one too join it.  And I hope that people aren’t so discouraged if we do lose that this just disbands.”

Rowley was certain that her future would not include another run.

“I’m not gonna run again,” she said.  “This is a march into Hell on a personal level.”  “I’m not the perfect candidate–I’d be a better campaign manager than a candidate.  You have to be too sellable.  It’s the Robert Redford thing with the smile, or Michele Bachmann–which I’m not.”

It’s pretty clear this will not be Rowley’s night; she appears set to fall by double digits. That’s not altogether surprising, as the second is hostile territory for a Democrat.

“[Rowley] is probably the most wonderful person I’ve ever met,” she said. “She’s got ethics. She’s got values. I’d do this if it was 30 below and snowing.”

And the Kline campaign has taken no chances.  Early in the race, they raised eyebrows by sending out a mass mailing attacking Rowley staffer David Bailey’s views on drug decriminalization.  It was an aggressive move, one that suggested Kline might be in more trouble than initially thought.

Kline also had his own problem with a staffer, when his District Director, Mike Osskopp, was caught on tape using a racial slur to describe Japanese cars.  Osskopp was forced to apologize.

Polls have swung widely; while polls currently show an 18% advantage for Kline, they’ve been as close as 8% in the last month. 

It would be a big upset for Rowley to win tonight, but it’s not out of the question; with the right DFL wave, it just might happen.  Regardless, it’s been a much more interesting race than was expected.

The calls apparently originate from a cellular phone number in Manhattan.  The caller allegedly asks voters if they support Rowley, and if so, they advise callers “that they must go to other polling places (not their own) and can only vote during limited hours.”

Minnesota Monitor called the telephone number reported by the Rowley campaign and left a message requesting comment.

“So often people get thrown off base by those things.  He didn’t identify any organization, and he didn’t give his name,” said Russell Simmons, Executive Assistant for the Rowley campaign.  “Clearly it was done for the benefit of John Kline.”

There have been a number of allegations of Republican dirty tricks nationwide.  The online website TPMMuckracker.com has reported that the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee has been making repeated robocalls that appear to originate from Democratic candidates, evidently in an effort to turn off Democratic supporters.

The tightness of the race has led to a bit of dreaming by Democrats in the second.  2006 may be the best chance they’ll have to oust Kline until the district lines are redrawn in 2012.  And the tightness has also been reflected in a series of of attacks, most notably from the Kline campaign–which has run a series of ads attacking not just Rowley, but her campaign staffers.  The Kline campaign has come under its own attacks for its own staffer’s filmed use of a racial epithet.

But for all the rancor, the second will be decided on the issues.  Here’s a look at where Kline and Rowley stand.

Energy: Supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as well as drilling offshore.  Supports Federal assistance for the purpose of promoting ethanol and other biofuels. 

Iraq War: Has voted against immediate withdrawal from Iraq and setting a timetable for withdrawl from Iraq.

Social Security: Supported President Bush’s plan to partially privatize social security.

Health Care: Supports Health Savings Accounts.  Opposes greater government role in health care.

Immigration: Voted in favor of House bill to build a wall on the border.  Opposed Senate bill that would have offered limited amnesty to some illegal aliens.  Believes English should be America’s official language to “make sure the melting pot melts.” 

Energy: Opposes drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  “It’s not a real solution.  It will take five, six, seven years for us to use that oil, and it will fuel the United States for a couple, or maybe just a few months.”  Supports research on alternative fuels.

Iraq War: Supports a phased withdrawal, placing troops in Kurdistan and Kuwait, “just over the horizon.”  “We need to disavow a magic bullet, ‘cakewalk’ plan…It didn’t exist [before the Iraq invasion], and it doesn’t exist now.”

Social Security: Suports raising the $90,000 cap on taxable wages to finance Social Security.

Health Care: Supports universal health care, expanded prescription drug coverage under medicare, funding of stem cell research.

Immigration: Supports establishing English as an official national language.  Supports a guest worker program similar to that proposed by President Bush.  Supports the McCain-Kennedy bill passed by the U.S. Senate.

click here for MN 1

The poll shows Kline with a 50%-42% lead over Rowley, a former FBI agent.

While Kline still leads reasonably comfortably, the poll shows a significant shift over the past month.  A September poll had shown Kline leading by 20%, 55%-35%. 

The poll was conducted October 13-15, and has a margin of error of 4.4%.

Rather than being poorly received, it appears the protest wasn’t received at all.

more inside

The door was locked. One of our group stooped down and looked in the mail slot and could see the legs of a woman who was standing off to the side. We knocked several more times, called through the closed door and the mail slot that we were constituents from Burnsville, Apple Valley and Lakeville who only wanted to drop off a letter and talk to a staff member about the issue.

The building’s leasing manager came and told us it was private property and to leave. By this point it was really funny as we knew people were in there, but they were pretending they weren’t there.

The blogger managed to talk to some members of the campaign staff, which is located in the same building, and had a “polite but non-productive chat,” before returning upstairs for one last attempt.

So the three of us remaining decided to check the Congressional office one more time before leaving the building, and so we climbed back up the flight of stairs. The door was still locked, but this time a piece of cardboard had been taped over the mail slot from the inside.

Mark that protest as being returned to sender.

Mike Osskopp, District Director for Rep. John Kline (R-MN02), has earned at least $70,150 in taxpayer funds since July of 2005, according to LegiStorm. 

The salary covers the third and fourth quarters of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006, the most recent quarter for which figures are available. 

Osskopp has been forced to apologize for using a racial slur to describe Japanese cars at a campaign event for Kline’s opponent, Coleen Rowley (D-MN). 

The incident is another in a series of attacks between the Rowley and Kline campaigns.  Most recently, the Kline campaign attacked an unpaid Rowley staffer for having heterodox views on drug legalization.

The Osskopp incident has prompted a complaint to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, due to the fact that Osskopp is a paid staffer for Kline.  Osskopp has said he was attending the Rowley event on his own time. 

Murtha, who has become a lightning rod figure due to his opposition to the Iraq war, praised Rowley, calling her “courageous” for her willingness to risk her career to draw attention to FBI failures prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

“I don’t know that there’s anybody more qualified with experience, more qualified with honesty and courage than Coleen,” Murtha said.

Murtha decried what he called a “rubber-stamp” congress, and said that Congress needs to “stand up to the President.” 

Responding criticism that he supports a “cut and run” policy in Iraq, Murtha said “there is not a solution [in Iraq], only alternatives.”  Murtha said that it was Congress’ responsibility to speak out against policies that it disagrees with.

Murtha also challenged the idea that he was against the troops.

“I support the troops.  I’m inspired by them,” Murtha said.  “I’m the one who discovered the lack of body armor, the one and the one who put extra money in–even though the administration didn’t ask for it–to make sure that our troops had what they need.”

Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN08), criticized the administration on that point, stating that the administration had failed to implement key recommendations on domestic security.  “They’re four years behind in fully funding explosive detection systems,” he said. 

Rowley noted her appreciation for the presence of Oberstar and Murtha, and praised Oberstar for his work on improving port security.

“These are the things that would actually make our country more secure,” she said.

When asked about what the top priority should be for a potential Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, Murtha was direct.

“We need to find a way to end this war,” he said.

Murtha rejected the idea that Democrats were in any way soft on terrorism, however.

“There is unity on the Democratic side against terror, unity for a strong America, and unity for a strong military.  The disunity is with the [Iraq] policy, and it’s our responsibility to speak out.”

Minnesota Monitor will be covering the meeting, including a possible short interview with Murtha and Rowley before the event.

Please see full press release here.

“When he sends out these attack fliers…why would you do that unless you’re worried?” she said, noting that she interpereted it as a “positive development” for her campaign.  Rowley also noted that Kline had voted with President Bush over 90 percent of the time, and based on that, said she couldn’t see how her campaign could not be doing well.

Rowley expressed her support for a comprehensive approach to energy policy.  “We need to look at all potential renewable sources,” Rowley said, suggesting that we also need measures to reduce consumption of oil until new forms of energy can be brought online.

On immigration, Rowley expressed her support for the McCain-Kennedy immigration proposal, and noted that immigration violations are simply administrative violations, not criminal infractions, and attacked her opponent for working against immigration enforcement “Guess who voted for less detention beds [and] border patrol?  John Kline,” she said.

Rowley’s toughest words were with regard to Iraq.  “We need to disavow a magic bullet, ‘cakewalk’ plan,” she said, criticizing the people who believed that invading Iraq would be simple.  “Guess what?  It didn’t exist then, and it doesn’t exist now.”

Rowley stated she was in favor of “responsible redeployment in a phased way,” possibly even deployment into the Kurdish area of Iraq.  She also blamed the Bush administration for speaking in broad terms, instead of dealing with root causes of violence in Iraq. 

Rowley also blasted Kine for voting for permanent bases in Iraq, as well as his statement late last year that he would be shocked to be in Iraq nine months later.  “We need to end Iraq,” Rowley said, simply.

Asked how she felt about the debate itself, Rowley seemed generally pleased.  “I’m not so great on debating skill,” Rowley said, but added, “I think it was an okay start–because this was hopefully just a start.”  She said she wanted “lots and lots” of debates with Kline–and that debates were a means to getting media and the public engaged and aware of the issues.

Finally turning back to the recent attacks on her campaign, Rowley said she was sure there were others in her campaign who had unpopular positions, and said she was glad of it.

“I think it’s interesting when people have diverse opinions,” she said.  “Why would you even imply that people in your campaign should be in lockstep with you?”