Photo: Andy Birkey/MnIndy

Sen. Al Franken says his first bill in the Senate will be one to provide service dogs to veterans. A longtime USO entertainer for troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, Franken said training service dogs to work with physically and emotionally wounded veterans is a cost-saving measure.

“Frankly, I believe it is enough simply to improve the lives of those of whom we asked so much,” he wrote in an op-ed in the Star Tribune on Saturday. “But this program isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do. This is win, win, win, win.”

He continued, “Service dogs raise their masters’ sense of well-being. There is evidence to suggest that increasing their numbers would reduce the alarming suicide rate among veterans, decrease the number of hospitalizations, and lower the cost of medications and human care.”

As voters in conservative-leaning and moderate districts are learning, topics such as war and the economy affect them far more than the private decisions their neighbors make. Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District is such a district, and the race between Republican Erik Paulsen and DFLer Madia is being watched closely. Can a Democratic candidate for Congress win in a moderate suburban district on a platform that includes equality for gays and lesbians?

Democrats are watching the race in the suburbs west on Minneapolis as Iraq veteran Madia has been unequivocal in his support for gay and lesbian equality throughout his campaign. But it’s not a position he came to lightly.

A personal transformation

As student body president at the University of Minnesota in 1997, Madia was a conservative and a Republican. According to Minnesota Daily archives, the student government, with Madia at the helm, significantly reduced the amount of student fees money going to the Queer Student Cultural Center (QSCC), the only gay-straight alliance on campus.

Madia’s turn-about happened while he was a U.S. Marine. As a member of the judge advocate general’s corps in the Marines, Madia was assigned to defend the case of a servicemember who was being discharged because he is gay. Madia was one of the first attorneys in history to successfully defend a fellow Marine against the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

“Real patriotism sometimes means taking on the system if you know what you’re doing is the right thing,” he said of taking the case.

In 2005, Madia took on a client who had downloaded gay pornography on a government computer and was caught. The same day, another Marine had gotten caught doing the same thing, only the pornography was heterosexual in nature.

“The gay Marine was given a demotion in rank; loss of pay; restricted in his movements on base; and, most severe of all, an administrative separation from the Marine Corps with an Other-Than-Honorable (OTH) discharge, just one step below a court martial,” Madia said. “The straight Marine received a verbal reprimand by the commanding officer.”

Madia successfully argued to a panel of Marines that the disparity in punishment was unjust. They agreed.

His client was able to continue his career with the Marines, but Madia was concerned about the man’s well-being now that he had been outed as gay. Madia checked up on him. “When PFC Smith got on the phone, he was calm and his voice level toned. He said, ‘Sir, nobody cares about that stuff,’” Madia recalled.

“If the Marines, some of the most conservative members of our society, can look beyond sexual preference, maybe the rest of America can do so too,” says Madia. “If someone is willing to wear the uniform, fight, and possibly die for this country, it shouldn’t matter who they are and who they love.”

While Madia was serving in Iraq, the issue hit closer to home as one of his siblings came out to him as gay. Family members relate that Madia sought out information to understand more about the issue, and came back to Minnesota fully embracing his gay sibling.

Megan Thomas was the administrative assistant at the QSCC in 1997 when Madia ran the conservative student government at the University of Minnesota. She says that the Madia’s growth in understanding the controversial issues surrounding gay and lesbian issues has brought him to the side of equality.

“Since then Madia has grown and has seen the error that was. So, let me state this as clearly as possible,” she wrote recently. “As someone who was part of that whole brouhaha, as a former chair of the Stonewall DFL Caucus and as an out lesbian, I have no doubt whatsoever in Ashwin Madia’s support of and dedication to GLBT issues and people.”

Going on the offensive

In debates, Madia, often joined by Independence Party candidate David Dillon, have been taking Paulsen to task for his push for constitutional amendments banning civil unions and same-sex marriage, which for three years during his tenure as House majority leader were the topic of intense debate and media hype.

“I look at the happiness my parents have through their marriage, and I wouldn’t want to deny that to anybody. But what’s important is that — and this is a difference between the candidates — I wouldn’t take government time away from dealing with Iraq or the economy for these kinds of constitutional amendments,” Madia said at a Sept. 16 debate.

He followed up at a Minnetonka debate on Sept. 22. “There are so many things that we ought to be focusing on, that I don’t think we ought to be using public dollars or our constitution to try to impose our religious beliefs on other people,” Madia said of Paulsen’s amendment push.

“I’ve come to like both of the guys sitting at the table with me,” Dillon added. “The plain fact of the matter is that Erik has come out of the right wing of the Republican Party.”

Paulsen defended himself saying, “That is not what I’ve done in the state Legislature,” noting that he hadn’t made any floor speeches in support of the amendments. He might not have made any floor speeches, but he voted for the measures each time, and as House Majority Leader, he made them a priority amongst his caucus.

Indeed Paulsen has focused on the issue of banning same-sex marriage by constitutional amendment (it has already been made illegal by statute), so much so that religious right figurehead James Dobson of Focus on the Family praised Paulsen for his efforts in a letter to district voters.

Turning the controversy over social issues back onto Republicans is not an approach that DFLers often take when it comes to LGBT equality in the suburbs. But the 3rd Congressional District is more diverse than the suburbs north, east and south of the Twin Cities.

Almost 6 percent of voters identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA, easily within the margin of this very close race. That’s 26,000 voters, and that doesn’t count the friends and family of those voters who are much more likely to support an equality candidate. In addition, the 3rd District lies to the west of the 5th Congressional District, which has one of the highest percentage of gay, lesbian and bisexual voters in the state, ranking ninth out of 435 districts nationwide.

It might be the reason Rep. Jim Ramstad, the moderate Republican retiring from the district this year, supported a key piece of LGBT legislation — the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. On that issue, Madia is much more closely aligned with Ramstad than is Paulsen.

A candidate to watch

DFL Rep. Tim Walz demonstrated in 2006 that a Democratic candidate can win in a moderate rural district while supporting LGBT equality. Democrats are hoping that a Madia win on Tuesday will demonstrate that honesty and fairness regarding LGBT equality can be a positive in a moderate suburban district.

“I think what Ashwin has realized is that there are larger issues which unite us than the divisive social tactics some Republicans have used in the past to try to win elections,” said Jon Hoadley, executive director of Stonewall Democrats, an LGBT group affiliated with the Democratic Party. “I think Ashwin Madia represents a new generation in Congress who says, ‘Let’s focus on the fundamentals that we were elected to work on. Let’s give everyone a fair shot, and let’s get back to tackling the issues important to our constituents.’”

Hoadley says that it’s important for candidates to be direct with voters. “Ashwin has also been honest with voters [on LGBT equality]. He’s stated his position and then turned back to focus on the larger issues which impact his district. And we’ve seen voters say ‘OK, I see where you’re coming from.”

Even if voters don’t agree on LGBT issues, Hoadley says there is trust built when candidates are honest with voters. “It’s that honest answer that has allowed him to tackle those things which impact all of us. I think voters have been lied to enough by politicians in the past that they truly appreciate an honest, straightforward answer by a candidate like Ashwin.”

Walz, a National Guard veteran, took the same approach, and while Republicans attacked him for his support, the voters rewarded him with a seat in Congress. “For some reason, it is the same approach that has also been embraced by numerous Iraq War veterans running for office, like former Army Captain Patrick Murphy who was elected to Congress from Pennsylvania in 2006,” noted Hoadley. “Perhaps it’s the belief that their service to the people whom they fought for on the battlefield extends beyond the war zone and onto the home front. Servicemembers are remarkable that way, and Ashwin Madia is a remarkable candidate.”

The other two are free media: a three-minute YouTube video posted by the Paulsen campaign that features testimonials from veterans who support the state representative’s congressional bid, and a four-minute interview that Fox 9 conducted with Paulsen as part of its morning news show… which was followed minutes later by the new Madia ad. (Independence Party candidate David Dillon will appear on Fox 9 on 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and Madia will appear on 7:30 a.m. Friday).

Outside help for Paulsen in the form of new ads and ad buys from the National Republican Congressional Committee has vanished, at least for now, with NRCC-reserved time at local stations remaining only for the campaign’s final week.

Here is the fresh crop of new video in the 3rd Congressional District race, with the exception of Paulsen’s interview on Fox 9 this morning, which we’ll add if it becomes available. In the meantime, there’s an transcribed excerpt below.

Madia for Congress: “Discipline”

DCCC: “Career Politician Erik Paulsen: We Can’t Afford”

Paulsen for Congress: “Veterans Support Erik Paulsen for Congress”

Paulsen on Fox 9 (transcribed excerpt):

PAULSEN [responding to question on the national debt]: …These guys [in Congress] are literally just on a bipartisan spending spree. And we just need an approach that’s going to be live-within-your-means, what-can-we-afford. I don’t want my four daughters to be saddling this national debt. And that’s a real concern.

FOX 9: Yeah, no parent wants that, that’s for sure. Now, you don’t want to expand government health care. You want market-driven solutions. Does it trouble you that each year the marketplace leaves more and more of us uninsured?

PAULSEN: Well, we’ve done some good things in Minnesota, even on a bipartisan basis. I’ve gotten some recognition and awards for that. But I think we have to do the same thing at the federal level. We need more competition to bring down costs. I think we also have to employ health information technology for e-prescribing electronical [sic] medical records. That’s how we can get into the next century to save medical costs. And I think we have to reimburse on a different model, so you’re not just reimbursing providers and physicians on the number of procedures they do, but on the quality of the procedures they do. So we’re focusing on preventative medicine. That’s how we’re ultimately going to save money and more people will be able to be insured.

In a purely political move VoteVets.org says undermines veterans, McCain instead proposed a substitute bill that offered a fraction of the money outlined in the GI Bill for tuition. McCain’s White House-backed bill was defeated in the Senate, struck down by McCain’s Republican colleagues and Vietnam vets in in the Senate.

“We didn’t give a fraction in Iraq,” a vet in the ad says. “We gave 100 percent.” Another vet adds: “Senator McCain, we respect your service. Please respect ours.”

Jim Weber considers it a reminder, not a political statement. The 57-year-old Vietnam veteran and retired postal service worker started tallying U.S. military casualties in Iraq on a three-by-four whiteboard above his garage door in 2003. “At first, I wondered if I should do it, if I’d end up with eggs on my house,” says Weber.

Five years later, Weber continues to update his counter, keeping track of the death toll by reading news articles and a Web site called icasualties.org. In the summer, people walking by his white picket-fenced yard on the corner of 41st and Washburn Avenue in north Minneapolis stop to talk about his display.

“The feedback has been very positive,” says Weber. “They stop and thank me for having the signs up.”

Watch the video above for more of our interview with Weber.

That’s exactly what Iraq veteran Steve Sarvi was doing when I caught up with him Monday night at the American Legion in Farmington.

Sarvi started his listening tour across the 2nd Congressional District this past weekend. The events, designed to introduce the candidate to potential supporters on a personal level, will keep Sarvi busy through the end of the week; he left the Farmington event right on time to head to another in Zumbrota.

Sarvi spent much of Monday’s event discussing his experiences in the military on the ground in Iraq, a theme sure to recur in a race against incumbent Republican John Kline, a retired Marine Lt. Colonel. Sarvi represents a continuation of the trend, beginning in 2006, of military veterans running for Congress as Democrats. In blogosphere circles, they became known as “Fighting Dems,” counting Minnesota first-termer Tim Walz among their members. Sarvi is not alone as a veteran running for the first time in Minnesota, with attorney Ashwin Madia’s recent entry into the 3rd District race.

Sarvi’s low-key manner seemed to strike a positive note with several of Monday’s attendees, who afterward called his approach “exactly what we need” as opposed to what they dislike in the incumbent. The small crowd smiled at Sarvi’s stories and chuckled at his jokes, and an astute listener could tell which pieces, lines and anecdotes will be showing up in a stump speech somewhere down the road.

With no other Democratic opponents on the horizon, Sarvi very well could be the 2nd District DFL’s standard-bearer in 2008.  However, despite his experience in city administration, he’s new to the congressional campaign game, and will need all the practice he can get telling his stories and espousing his values to the voters who will decide his political fate.

more insideIn an interview today with KTTC TV Station Manager Liz Dahlen today, we sensed her frustration with the PACs’, political parties’ and candidates’ competition for advertising time. (More later.)

Now a group called VoteVets.org has put out an ad targeting 1st Congressional District voters on the issue of support for veterans. It’s very simple and makes only two points:

(1) That incumbent Congressman Gil Gutknecht voted to increase his pay while

(2) He voted against expanding health care to veterans.

Is it truthful? Or does it turn the facts around to benefit the interests of the group placing the ads?

Here are the facts:

(1) Rep. Gutknecht had a chance to vote against automatic pay raises for members of Congress. He did not do this.

(2) Rep. Gutknecht had several chances to vote to increase benefits for veterans. In some cases he voted in the affirmative; in others he voted against. Minnesota Monitor/Vox Verax has covered his ratings for supporting veterans here and here.

Rep. Gutknecht would no doubt counter that his votes AGAINST increasing veterans’ benefits were, at least in part, due to his opposition to federal spending increases. While we agree with him that federal spending has grown out of control, his voting history has shown him to be pennywise but pound-foolish.

The two largest red ink items in the federal budget over the last six years have been (a) the war in Iraq ($2,000,000,000 PER WEEK, and I emphasize the zeros) and (b) the tax cuts that have benefited primarily the wealthiest 1% of Americans. These he has supported, almost without question.

Rep. Gutknecht has portrayed himself as a fiscal conservative, and for this aim we laud him. But what he SAYS and how he VOTES are two different things.

We cannot criticize the VoteVets.org ad. While they put the issue in simplistic terms, if you look at the voting record, they tell the truth.

And truth is the underpinning of everything in a democracy.

In an earlier report we listed the Disabled American Veterans ratings for Minnesota’s congressional delegation. Paul Schmeltzer of Minnesota Monitor now points us to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) Action Fund ratings and includes a table listing all 535 members. For those interested in just how Minnesota’s delegation fared, below is the list:

According to the IAVA website:

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is the nation’s first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans.

more insideAccording to a new scorecard by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), America’s largest Iraq veterans group, the answer is: sort of.

The 2nd district congressman scored a “C” based on “his voting history on issues that affect US troops, Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, and military families.”

.
Kline scored far better on IAVA’s tally than other Republicans in Minnesota–and the country. While Democrats Sen. Mark Dayton got an A- and Rep. Martin Sabo ranked a B+, Republicans Norm Coleman and Mark Kennedy scored a D and C+  respectively. 

In fact, Republicans dominated the bottom of the list on their support-the-troops votes (155 Senate votes on matters that affect the military or military familes since 9/11/2001).  Here’s how others ranked:

Search for your representative’s score here.