Commentary; Posted: 5/17/06
Battle-tested Wetterling says she is ready to win in Sixth District
T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol Reporter
What promises to be the most vitriolic race in the state took shape last weekend when Sixth District DFLers endorsed Patty Wetterling for Congress.
Wetterling managed to squeeze by former transportation commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg Saturday afternoon to win her second endorsement for Congress.
As everyone knows, Wetterling of St. Joseph lost to Rep. Mark Kennedy two years ago but was generally seen to have held her own against the driven congressman intent on membership in the U.S. Senate.
Wetterlingís return to the 6th after a failed shot at the U.S. Senate put Tinklenberg in a bind. The clear field he thought he had before him turned into a bog, and the lightfooted Wetterling passed him by.
Despite her protestations that she is not a p-o-l-i-t-i-c-i-a-n, Wetterling obligingly put on the trappings of one and her speeches before the delegates seemed as sharp and engaging as any she has delivered.
Tinklenberg is more skillful at framing issues, but Patty Wetterling had herself, which to delegates ó balloting went on for several hours ó was perhaps not more than enough but enough.
One thing for certain is the dynamics of a scorched-earth style congressional campaign has been set in motion in the 6th. When Republicans endorsed Sen. Michele Bachmann of Stillwater, they also endorsed the fierce partisanships and just-contained emotionality that clings to the social-issue senator.
A Phil Krinkie, or Jim Knoblach, or Jay Esmay, would not have injected such intensity. But maybe thatís why Bachmann got the nod. At any rate, Democrats are going into the race with balled fists.
Wetterling ó who some people criticized for responding too meekly to Republican headbanging ads last election ó in so many words says sheís taking off the gloves.
She refuses to be defined by others, she insists. Sheís battle tested, toughened. Well, to the French, Joan of Arc was a saint.
But itís to be remembered St. Joan also beat the stuffings out of those English dogs.
Religious references may seem out of place in discussing politics, a very human affair where preparing congressional campaign winners for their victory speeches can involve the liberal use of a garden hose.
But itís looking like God will be paying close attention to the 6th ó at least people seem willing to pay Him the courtesy of speaking for Him.
It was to be expected that DFLers at the convention would go after Bachmann. What was a little unexpected was the intensity and persistence of the rhetoric.
ìMichele is the devil in the blue dress and Patty is the saint,î said Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, to convention delegates.
However intended, this is an extraordinary statement coming from a state senator directed towards another.
Back in Roman time political adversaries were considered honorable people who, within the gracious liberties of the system, were merely exercising their fundamental right to disagree.
Such elegance may not survive very long in a race where opponents are depicted as not merely wrongheaded or foolish or inane, but evil.
It seems a shame atheists lack the ability to fully appreciate the self-sealing nature of the politics of certitude.
And it seems like that type of politics will be fully vented in the Sixth District.
When political speech becomes entangled in chapter and verse, things have a tendency to turn devilish.
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