I have learned from a reliable source that former Lieutenant Governor candidate for the Independence Party, Maureen Reed will be speaking tonight at a DFL meeting in the 6th Congressional District. While this may not be the official announcement, I am told that Reed is set to announce soon that she will take on Michele Bachmann for the 6th District seat. Obviously, this puts her in direct competition with Elwyn Tinklenberg who is expected to announce by the end of the summer.Reed chaired the University of Minnesota Board of Regents and served as the interim Executive Director on the Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota. For more information, check out the Lt. Governor debate from the '06 Governor's race.
I will have more information as it becomes available...
UPDATE: It has been confirmed by Noah Kunin from the Uptake that Reed was in fact at the CD6 meeting this evening. As I was writing this story I received word that it was an official announcement. Here is what this anonymous source had to say:
Yes she announced officially.
I talked to her quite a bit and she is really a good 'people person', listener and has a good handle on health care, job creation and the mortgage crisis.
She calls herself a 'blue dog' which turned some off, but I'm willing to give her a chance.
She understands the need to gain both the DFL and Indepence party endorsements and understands that other IP candidates need to be out of the mix. However knows legally she can't really do anything about it. But she has been a big part of the IP party so her influence may mean something.
On a side note, over at Minnesota Progressive Project, Populista has a post up examining just what it might take to defeat Bachmann. It's a good read...
If we want to Dump Bachmann Democrats, IP members, independents and sane Republicans are going to need to join together. Dr. Reed would be well positioned to do just that. It will be interesting to see how her campaign plays out.
I couldn't agree more. If there truly is a majority desire to defeat Bachmann, then it is going to take more than the DFL alone can muster. I said as much recently:
Given that Bachmann received less than 50% in the '08 election she is beatable. However, it can only happen when members of the DFL and Independence Parties work in unison. That means more than an empty cross endorsement. It means an all out diplomatic effort from the leadership in both parties to run a unity candidate. DFLers may need to realize that this unity candidate might mean stepping aside to allow this person to run as an Independence candidate. The reason I say this is because there remains a large enough group of people in this district who do not like Bachmann but will NEVER vote for a DFL candidate that it makes winning nearly impossible.
I will bring you more as information becomes available...
