This morning, Daniel Fannning, one of 4 DFL candidates vying for the endorsement to run against Chip Cravaack, appeared on Esme Murphy's program. During the interview, he some things that indicate he's going to run a base race, meaning that he's only focusing on his political base.
One of the things Fanning said was that he supports the Occupy Minnesota:
This is what we're seeing with the Occupy Minnesota, given the fact that people are obeying the law and being nonviolent. This is a movement that I very much support and am very proud of the people who are taking to the streets and saying "I'm tired of politics as usual" and that's exactly why I'm runnning for congress.
Later, he said this:
For example, there's the Northern Lights Express, which would be great for Duluth. It would be great for the Twin Cities. It would be great for the region. It would be great for the Mille Lacs band. It's something that would not only immediately create lots of construction jobs but it would also set the region up for long-term success as well. So it's a win-win. Unfortunately, we have a congressman who doesn't seem interested in investing in our own district.That's one of many projects. There's also crumbling infrastructure throughout the district, from Chisholm and Buhl, from Quamba and Mora. All throughout the district, we see crumbling roads, bridges and sewer systems that need to be rebuilt.
How can roads and bridges be crumbling in the Eighth District, especially with Lord Oberstar as chairman of the House Transportation committee prior to getting defeated? Might it be that Chairman Oberstar spent too much money to the district in the form of pork rather than putting a priority on getting important things done?
Fanning touched briefly on the importance of mining and shipping to the Range. Strangely, though, his issues page doesn't say a thing about mining. If mining is important to Mr. Fanning, why didn't he bother mentioning PolyMet on his issues page?
Certainly, there are plenty of miners that think getting PolyMet operational is a big deal. Might it be that Mr. Fanning isn't talking about it because Chip Cravaack is pushing the EPA in DC and the MPCA in St. Paul to make PolyMet a reality?
If PolyMet is built thanks to Chip Cravaack's persistence, he will have done more in 2 years serving in Congress than what Oberstar got accomplished in the previous 4 years.
Much like Oberstar, Mr. Fanning appears to be wedded to expensive pork projects while neglecting important things like making PolyMet and similar mining projects a reality.
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