I assume that most of us at one point or another growing up heard this phrase from our parents. It was that warning to you that you had better behave yourself and do what you are told or else you might be punished by those who created you. Unfortunately, some of us have not learned that lesson well.
It was nearly six months ago that this blog brought Maureen Reed into this world by announcing her candidacy publicly and creating buzz throughout the blogosphere. Without that announcement, her roll out might well have been quieter and thus less effective. At the outset, I was excited about this candidate whom I helped into this world and have held back in going full force in for Tarryl Clark who came later to challenge her for the DFL nomination. That is to say, until now...
It is time to take Dr. Reed out of this race. As of yet, she has added little or nothing of substance to the conversation of issues. A young man I spoke with on the phone the other night touted her lack of a voting record as the reason we should be supporting her over State Senator Tarryl Clark. That's right, support me because I stand for nothing thus cannot be attacked for anything. Reed has been so vague, in fact, that Eric Black made it the focus of his interview write up:
Dr. Maureen Reed, candidate for both the DFL and Independence Party endorsements for Congress in the 6th District, will not say whether she will abide by the endorsement process, says that on abortion it would be inaccurate to characterize her as either pro-life or pro-choice, and is unwilling to express a preference among the various ways to get to universal health care.
Being vague is perhaps something we could understand at this point in the game and claiming that a lack of voting record might make for a decent reason to claim you can avoid certain attacks (although I can guarantee that will not stop Bachmann). However, using the same playbook that one would find in the conservative blogosphere is entirely unacceptable:
Reed says Clark's electoral success is limited to one of the most liberal pockets of the district. Clark won her St. Cloud Senate seat in a 2005 special election. She won re-election in 2006, and is currently the assistant Senate majority leader.
So, if Dr. Reed has decided to go all in and use the classic conservative playbook which Bachmann would use against HER regardless of whether she is a conservative, moderate, or liberal Democrat then this blog and this Democrat are officially going to go all in for Senator Tarryl Clark.
So, I say to my friends who have been sitting on the fence with me patiently awaiting for this race to begin, it has begun and the opening attack was thrown by the candidate who has NEVER won an election and whose mere existence on the ballot in 2006 helped to re-elect Governor Tim Pawlenty. It's time to take her out and you can begin by clicking on the banner above to donate to Senator Tarryl Clark...
