Despite her penchant for controversial statements, Sixth District Rep. Michele Bachmann has the support of Minnesota Republicans.
In our second "Red Twin Cities" survey, three out of four Republicans said Bachmann, who has been embroiled in public battles with fellow Rep. Keith Ellison and with media types in the past, has their support.
And more than 90 percent of our respondents, a total of 54 Republicans from our "Red Twin Cities" panel, said her latest controversies will have no impact on her re-election hopes as she battles challenger Jim Graves of St. Cloud.
"Her district already knows her," said one survey responder, "so her eccentricity is already baked in the cake."
"The district is very Republican," said another. "She has a solid base."
Ninety-nine conservatives from Twin Cities Patch areas—from St. Michael to Woodbury, Fridley to Northfield—were surveyed last week in Patch’s second Twin Cities Red poll, which focused on November’s election.
We also asked our panel about former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, an eight-year leader of the state's Republican party, and his chances for earning the vice presidential nod on Republican Mitt Romney's campaign for the White House.
About 21 percent, or 11 of our 54 survey participants from last week, agreed with the statement that "Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty is a strong choice for vice president." Another 34 percent, or 18, somewhat agree with that sentiment.
But eight survey participants–15 percent–remained neutral on that question, with another 30 percent disagreeing somewhat or fully with that take, showing that Minnesota conservatives aren't fully behind the idea of Pawlenty on the ticket.
. There, he tied "other" with 9.5 percent of the "vote" for who Missouri Republicans thought Romeny should pick. As for who they thought Romney would pick, Pawlenty did much better, getting 24 percent of the votes in the Missouri survey.
The Red Twin Cities Survey
Our surveys are not a scientific, random sample of any larger population, but rather an effort to listen to a group of influential local Republican activists, party leaders, candidates and elected officials in Minnesota. All of these individuals have agreed to participate in Minnesota Patch’s surveys, although not all responded to this story’s questions. Surveys were conducted from June 27 to July 1, 2012.
Patch will be conducting Red Twin Cities and Blue Twin Cities surveys throughout the 2012 election season in hopes of determining the true sentiment of conservatives and progressives on the ground in Minnesota. If you are an activist, party leader or elected official and would like to take part in periodic surveys that last just a few minutes, please contact Associate Regional Editor Mike Schoemer at mike.schoemer@patch.com.
Red Twin Cities Roster: Sara Anderson (candidate for State House), John Anderson (campaign chair, Palmer for House), David Arvidson (SD 46 candidate), Rep. Mike Beard (HD 35), Bryan Bjornson (Republican activist), Joe Blum (District 52A candidate), Mike Boguszewski (Congressional Dist. 4), Reed Bornholdt (Richfield GOP), Christopher Burns (Woodbury), Nick Caron (campaign mgr. Tuschy for House), Roger Champagne (SD 46 candidate), Matt Chase (treasurer Dist. 46), Steve Cherney, Janalee Cooper, David Cote (Honeywell CEO), Jennifer DeJournett (VOICES of Conservative Women founder), Rep. Bob Dettmer (39A), Don Dickerson (Roseville GOP), Bob Erickson (Lakeville School Board), Kelley Fenton (GOP deputy chair MN), Chris Fields, David FitzSimmons (HD 30B), Mark Fotsch (HD 66A), Hal Fotsch (Dist. 39 organizer), Sen. David Gaither, Stan Genadek, David Gerson (Candidate for Congress), Dennis Gilliespe (Richfield), Richard Glasgow (Washington Co. GOP), Sen. David Hahn, Tim Hall, Sen. Dan Hall, Garold Healy (Hopkins mayoral candidate), Mike Held (SD46 GOP), Dale Helm (candidate 41A), Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, Jeanne Holland (STMA Schools), Sue Holman McCarville (Hopkins GOP), Karin Housley (SD 39), Terry Jacobsen (House Dist. 49B), Arylahn Johnson (HD 49B), Mark Johnson (chair of SD 56), Reid Johnson (candidate for HD 45B), Mike Kaess (SD 51 chair), Emilie Kastner, Rep. Andrea Kieffer (HD 56), Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer (SD 30 candidate), Former Sen. Amy Koch (former majority leader), Jon Koznick, Don Lee, Sen. Ted Lillie (Woodbury), Sen. Warren Limmer, Terry McCall, Rep. Joe McDonald (Delano), Mike McGinn, Mike McCllean, Cory Merrifeld (Save the Vikes.org), Gary Mertz (SD49 Communications), Former Sen. Geoff Michel, Dan Morehead (GOP activist), Andrew Mullin (Wayzata city council), Rep. Pam Myhra (Burnsville), Richard Novack (delegate), Kevin O’Donovan (Richfield GOP), Jon Olson (former campaign manager for Chris Fields), Laura Palmer (HD 41), Sarah Patzloff (Edina schools), Jeff Pauley, Rep. Joyce Peppin (Rogers/Maple Grove), Roz Peterson (Lakeville), Camden Pike (Party chair, SD41), Lt. Col. Alex Plechash (head of MN Org. of GOP Vets), Bill Pulkrabek (Washington Co. Commission), Dwight Rabuse (SD 52 candidate), Erik Radtke (staffer, Emmer for Gov.), John Rheinberger (Wash Co. GOP), former Sen. Claire Robling, Mitch Rossow (SD 61 secretary), Chuck Roulet (SD 32 co-chair), Bron Scherer (MN GOP treasurer), Donna Schmidt, Al Schneider (Kline for Congress), Paul Scofield (HD 46), Joe Slamon (SD 53 chair), Chris Soukup, Mark Stefan (HD44B challenger), Rep. Kirk Stensrud (H 48A), Brett Steven (SD 62 secretary), Tom Swain (former mayor of Lilydale), Sen. John Swanson, Lynn Swon, Sen Roy Terwilliger, Sen. Dave Thompson, Blair Tremere (Golden Valley ex-mayor), Paul Tuschy (HD 52B candidate), Shaji Varghese (HD 51A chair), Lynn Wardlow, Tiana Wells (national delegate), Aramis Wells (Ron Paul for Pres.), Mark Westphal (HD 39 chair), Tim Wilkin (former state rep.), former Rep. Kelby Woodard (Northfield), Mark Zasadny (national GOP delegate), Hannah Zasadny (local delegate), Dennis Holman (SD 45), Candace Oathout (District 45 GOP), Jeff Kolb (Fields for Congress) and Rep. Kurt Zellers, Speaker of the House.
Donald, I did offer up a suggestion...since most Americans do not sit firmly on the far right or far left, how about if Patch polls informed, registered voters who haven't run for office... And Patch, yes I know, we as readers can put together our own blog's and/or stories and submit them. I am simply saying that if Patch wants to be more informative to their readers, this is not the way to do it...as has been noted several times.
There is at least 1 more measure of value to this article: freedom of speech. As to those offended, or who say they are, it's simple. If you don't like the article, you still have the freedom to not read it. Yet those commenting against this article are insisting it never be posted, and nothing similar be posted in the future. If they have thier way, then people who are interested would be unable to read it. Indeed, unlucky are people in socialist societies, where everybody has a right to believe only the self-appointed leaders' perspectives. Yet this is still a free country, so if you don't like any article, just simply don't read and don't respond. Allow others to have thier say too. At the least, nobody has any right to insist this article never be published; how much closer to censorship can one go?
I have to believe that part of the reason Patch allows such an open forum is to get feedback, which they are getting. I am not "insulted" or "offended", only disappointed that Patch didn't choose to poll the general public vs the party leaders.
This article in the NYT does a pretty good job of covering the history. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/weekinreview/ideas-trends-one-state-two-state-red-state-blue-state.html
I do not dispute your contention that red has historically been associated with communists/socialists. I was referring specifically to the modern practice of calling states and localities "red" and "blue". I have a saying that I try to live by - Never ascribe to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence. Substitute "conspiracy" and "chance" and it applies equally well.
Why aren't we going to 100 voters? Because that's an article you can read somewhere else. We chose to turn to people within the parties because A. They're in the grinder and B. They're going to vote. Can you say that for every "dial-a-voter" poll?
"The party" is not some vast, overarching machine that enforces a strict loyalty oath and tosses heretics into a dungeon. I see above the comments of someone who knows absolutely nothing of the modern Republican party in Minnesota. No one who has any exposure at all to the Republican party in the last few years could possibly believe these things. I am also insulted by the sneer obvious in some of these comments, as though my opinion is not my own, that I am not capable of holding opinions different from "the party". This does not rise to the level of idle gossip. It is someone spouting ignorance. The opinions of those who disagree with me often seem irrational to me, but I value my conversations with those who are willing to carefully examine their positions and determine how and why we come to different conclusions. I do not simply dismiss them as mindless, or stupid. We owe the Patch editors and each other a modicum of respect.
Look, Donald, I truly do appreciate your input here on Patch, what I don't like is when you write with certainty how all people should live in the country, or when you imply that there should be no safety net for those who may truly need it. This is why I don't like this poll, I think, for the most part, that the movers and shakers (on either side) will fall in line publicly with the pubic position of their party. Yet when I talk to other registered Republicans who are knowledgeable on the issues, they seem to believe in a more moderate approach. If this makes me ignorant, then so be it, but let's keep in mind your condemnation of others who have pointed fingers and called names.
As for Tim Pawlenty... it seems as though Twin Cities Republicans are about as enthusiastic about him being chosen for VP as Republicans in the rest of the country. That is, not enthusiastic at all.
"If we do not hang together, we will surely hang separately". Politics is like that, but there is some subtlety involved here, that is lost with the hyperbole and dismissive rhetoric. Having run for office, and been working with the GOP the last few years, I think it is likely that I have had more "unguarded" conversations with Republicans than those who are so sure I am wrong. I know of no-one who is an unthinking team player. Everyone I know has passion and conviction. For that matter, my little bit of contact with DFL-ers leaves me with the same impression. Do they downplay their personal opinions for the cameras? When talking to someone who is probably ideologically hostile? I suspect so. I do. Do I think the DFL-ers are ideologically rigid on some things? yes. I can certainly think of a few DFL litmus tests. Can't you? Do I accuse them of being unthinking cogs in the DFL machine? no.
It did generate quite a few comments, which I suppose is one of the metrics AOL uses to judge their Patch employee performance. If you're into statistics, here's a few on this article. 930 words, (6112 characters) to convey information that could easily be fit into a 9 cell table. 43 Comments (at this time) which boil down to: 4 comments addressing the actual survey results. 7 off-topic comments on the association of colors with political parties. 20 comments discussing the usefulness or lack thereof of the article. 1 Defense of the usefulness of the article. And the balance of comments are just trolling, or readers unable to comprehend other commenter's posts and starting flamewars. I realize that it would be hard to get dignitaries in either political party to say anything of substance if they knew it would be attributed to them. Perhaps you can find a way to extract some useful, surprising, or otherwise generally not common sense information from the surveys. Do sitting representatives have different views than candidates? Is there anything that both sides agree on and can be productive lawmakers addressing? Young Dems/Repubs views differing from the old guard? The article differs from generic polls in packaging only. It merely repeats the same results, using a much smaller sample size, which makes for interesting margin of error only.
Things don't have to be interesting to generate comment. People will just type off-topic comments, or just try to antagonize others if the intended content isn't interesting. Thoughtful articles beget thoughtful posts. Drivel begets flame wars and people screaming about their righteousness compared to their ideological opponents. I'm not saying that the survey participants have nothing interesting to contribute, just that it hasn't been presented to the readership yet.
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