Liberal in the Land of Conservative: St. Cloud Times LTE: Olson & The Working Man

St. Cloud Times LTE: Olson & The Working Man

5:54 PM | Posted in 6th District Election, Bob Olson, LTE

Despite an endorsement for Elwyn Tinklenberg from the AFL-CIO, it appears as though a local Union President is publicly dissenting from that endorsement. One has to wonder how useful an endorsement is from on high when the very people they are trying to influence are not buying the message.

Letter: Olson is better choice to represent 6th District
By Michael P. Kaehler Local President,
St. Cloud Area Local No. 647 American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO

Published: January 03. 2008 12:30AM

I am a working person and one of the many disenfranchised by the actions of 6th District U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.
I also have learned from paycheck to paycheck that members of the U.S. House and Senate of both parties have left millions of us out in the cold.
That's why I find it refreshing that we have a candidate like Bob Olson running for Congress in the 6th District.
Olson is not just another slick politician or professional lobbyist. He is an individual who, as a tax attorney and community banker, understands three of the major issues confronting working people:
A predatory corporate financial system.
An unjust tax system that favors the rich and corporations at our expense.
Our addiction to oil and its adverse social, economic, political and environmental consequences that fall on ordinary working people.
Olson has the knowledge, skills and ability to improve our quality of life.
He is an intelligent, honest, hardworking and plainspoken man whose core beliefs are grounded in social, economic and political fairness and justice for all residents of the district.
He is not afraid to tackle tough issues, to stand on principle, and he is not just another politician or lobbyist representing special interest groups or corporations.
... Bachmann's term in office has been a disaster for working people. Bob Olson is the best possible candidate to replace her.
Ordinary working people can make a difference through our active participation in the DFL Precinct Caucuses, as Bob Olson delegates to our DFL Senate District conventions and DFL 6th District Convention, and, ultimately, by voting for Bob Olson to be our congressman.

Mr. Kaehler is absolutely right about many of the things he writes. However, the primary point to make here is that Bob Olson is NOT the typical politician and certainly not the typical DFL politician. Who better, in this district, than a man who is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a local business owner to fight against the impression inevitably raised by Michele Bachmann that Democrats are bad for business. A true tax attorney, Bob Olson is uniquely qualified to squash the Bachmann business rhetoric. It seems to me that a businessman would be a much more attractive candidate here in the 6th District than a man who has made his career in government.