It's no secret to people closely following politics that the extreme right wing GOPer named Tom Emmer was quoted in the Marshall Independent newspaper on September 26th, 2009 as saying:
"I don't think you can call yourself a freedom-loving American and be a Democrat."
That quote, by Emmer, was used against him by supporters of his opponent for the endorsement for Governor in The Small Tent Party, Marty Seifert. Seifert, it should be noted, was nominated at the Convention by former GOP Chair Bill Cooper, who called Seifert a "radical conservative" - so, calling Emmer "extreme right wing GOPer" is something the Delegates were looking for, and Emmer fits that bill.
Last Saturday's Strib ran a front page story about the endorsement of Emmer, at the Convention. When I read this:
Emmer, who had to confirm his conservative credentials again and again to win endorsement, said he could easily appeal to Democrats and independents in a general election.
"We are going to get to know Minnesota, we're going to let Minnesota get to know us better," he said. "We are going to talk about values we believe are important for the state, and that's smaller government, individual liberty and economic freedom. And we will win." (Strib.com)
I paged back to the front page, to see who wrote that. Because, how does Emmer tell that to a reporter, when said reporter should dam-well know about:
"I don't think you can call yourself a freedom-loving American and be a Democrat." -- Tom Emmer, 9-26-09 (MarshallIndependent.com)
When Emmer said he could "easily appeal to Democrats and independents " - that reporter should have immediately followed up with that quote, and asked how Emmer could square "easily appeal" to voters a few months earlier Emmer dam-near called traitors.
Emails to the reporter, and a Twitter DM, were not returned.
Over at The Cucking Stool, Spotty has a piece on how Emmer can "easily appeal to Democrats and independents" -- Emmer stabs those that endorsed him in the back.
At the Strib, not challenging Emmer with such a divisive comment, is stabbing readers in the back.
I often say that the reason politicians - and especially politicians in the GreedOverPrinciples Party - lie to reporters, is because they can.
Emmer, with his "easily appeal" comment, got away with that one.
Because it's not going to be easy getting votes from people Emmer thinks don't love freedom (i.e., Democrats) - unless, of course, they don't know about what Emmer said.
Sure, Emmer's quote was buried elsewhere in the paper - but it wasn't in the story that started on the front page.
It should have been.
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