Candidate update

Three items of of campaign updates that I wanted to point out.

From Krinkie
First is an update on the delegate situation (source: Krinkie for Congress)

After this weekend, 173 of the 323 delegates to the 6th District Convention have been chosen. Michele Bachmann is in the lead and Phil Krinkie is in a strong second place with solid commitments from many of the elected delegates and alternates.

Delegate strength after the April 1st conventions:

Michele Bachmann 45% (78 delegates)
Phil Krinkie 30% (52 delegates)
Jim Knoblach 20% (32 delegates)
Jay Esmay 1% (4 delegates)
Undecided 5% (7 delegates)

Well, there is hope for the GOP...that Bachmann won't get the endorsement. As long as she continues the way she has been there is little hope for the health of the active grassroots of the GOP 6th.

Of Bachmann
Oh, yes. Bachmann is still trying to hide from her lies distortions about Krinkie's vs her tax scores. She sent out a hit piece this week that copied and pasted the scorecards. If have not read the book How To Lie With Statistics then I STRONGLY recommend it to you. If you want the cliff notes just watch Bachmann's campaign. The quick version...she compared her score from 2001-2004 to Krinkie's 2000-2004 score. She labeled this comparison a 2000-2004 comparison. Two problems. First she intentionally omitted 2005 because she scored like a spend-happy moderate (right around Knoblach's score as a matter of fact). Second she is comparing different eras. For her she has only a 4 year record and for Krinkie she uses a 5 year model. What caused Krinkie's score to drop in 2000 and how would Bachmann have fared in 2000 are critical questions. We will never know what Bachmann would have done in 2000 and don't take her word for it...she does have the knack of lying for political expediency to include denying voting for illegal immigrants to get in-state tuition rates.

Her response after being called to task for the intentional misrepresentation was she was taking the life time scores. Again, two problems with this explanation which is also misleading. First, she omits 2005 scores from "lifetime" scores because her spend-happy ways would have destroyed her lifetime score. She instead quotes material that is out-of-date to facilitate this omission. Second, the sample period is not right for comparison. Hers dates back only to 2001 and Krinkie's dates back only to the beginning of the scorecard in 1997 (I think that is the year...I am pulling that from memory).

To top of the latest set of untruths on this topic Bachmann sends out a hit piece insulting the intelligence of the delegates. "What is so hard to understand" which perpetuated the falsehoods described above. Insulting.

To the 78 delegates who support Bachmann I say this. Renounce the claim that character matters. Any criticism of Clinton, Kennedy, McKinney, etc based on character from you are empty rhetoric...double-standards if not outright hypocrisy. To support Bachmann is to either:
1) Ignore her character issues, thus meaning that complaints of character deficiencies against Democrats should not come from you again
2) Put your agenda above character, which is scary because your agenda can be carried out just as well with the other three candidates (depending on what your agenda is)
3) Want to win, which means you are an ends-justify-the-means person. Hilary should be your candidate in 2008!

Did I miss an option that reconciles embracing Bachmann even while knowing her close relationship with falsehoods?

From Jay Esmay
Finally, from Jay Esmay's blog.

Hi, this is Jay. Really!

Steve Messick (my campaign manager) and I thought we should start a running dialogue on our blog as we head into the final stretch for the Endorsing Convention. I’m shooting for a daily entry about my activities and how the race is going. I hope you enjoy living this exciting time with me.

So, last night I was calling folks who live in Woodbury (and by the way, it was me calling, not a campaign worker.) One delegate told me he was supporting someone else. I still gave my pitch. He then asked me if I was positioning myself for a run at another office. The answer is no, and I want to address this issue with you.

I know politicians say a lot of things. I’m discovering people don’t take them at their word. I guess I don’t either, usually. But I am not a politician. Rather than running for political office for the majority of my working life, I have served in our Nation’s Armed Forces and have worked to excel in the business community.

I am not running for Congress to simply hold an office, or climb the political ladder. I am running for U.S. Congress because my backgrounds in military and manufacturing, combined with my internal moral compass, are exactly what we need to send to Washington.

If the delegates decide someone else should represent them, I will gladly assist their campaign, while continuing my work in manufacturing. I will not run for a State Office and, unlike the desperate DFL'ers running for Rep. Sabo's seat in the 5th District, you can take me at my word.

Based on my delegate calling and door knocking, I feel very good about the campaign. My message has been consistent. In order to keep the 6th District in conservative hands, we need to endorse a candidate with national security expertise, strong family values, and business leadership experience who is independent of the many mistakes made by incumbent Republicans. I am the candidate who best represents our Republican platform and I have the best chance of being elected in November. Please feel free to contact me at jay@jayesmay.com.

As the Bachmann ordeal pans out, as Knoblach continues his distortions and broken promises, I realize that Jay Esmay has been staying above the fray. He is a straight shooter, he is truly a fiscal conservative. He is a social conservative. And he is a reasonable guy.