These guys are not turning out to be quite the "Poster Boys" (with the possible exception of Brown's Vanity Fair cover) that the GOP had expected them to be, at least not as seen from here in The Great Midwest.
Let's see, what do we know so far about these three icons of America's righteous anger over the loss of "Their Country"? Answer: 1) Brown is a Fool, 2) McDonnell is a Racist, and 3) Christie will throw the baby out with the bathwater, and then throw the bathtub on top for good measure!
When Jesse Ventura won the race for Minnesota governor some years ago, my boss came into work with a bemused look on his face, shaking his head, and said, "It's like you go to bed with someone you don't know very well," he said, "and you wake up in the morning and realize they're going to be around for four years!"
Massachussetts' brand spanking new Senator Scott Brown is obviously in over his head. He may have looked good on a poster thirty years ago and, hey - he's got a nice truck (something we can appreciate), but shouldn't he know something about financial reform before he says he'll filibuster it? Or know enough about the health care law he almost clobbered to know that it would, no how, no way cost 25,000 to 35,000 jobs in the medical device field - in Massachusetts alone? Worse, he made this wild claim on Meet the Press - and has refused to admit he was wrong! It appears he's going to go on being a nonstop gaffe machine for the GOP, one who won't admit his own gaffes. He and Sarah Palin should stump together! Better yet, he can become a commentator on FoxNews!
New Jersey's Governor Chris Christie is a fiscal conservative alright, so much so that he is rapidly losing support among his own electorate. His favorability has dropped from 45 to 33 percent in one month (compare that to Obama's!) This has included large cuts in education. We in the Midwest proudly put education above most other things, which may be one of the reasons Wisconsin rates No. 1 and Minnesota rates No. 2 on SAT scores and other measures of educational success. I guess maybe New Jersey needs someone like him? I can accept that - but then my idea of New Jersey comes pretty much from The Sopranos! But we Minnesotans like our teachers and police pretty well, thank you.
And then there's Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's "Confederate History Month" debacle. For PR in Minnesota, this is not-so-good. In high school we all learn of the valor and sacrifice of the First Minnesota Regiment at Gettysberg that "turned the tide of battle, and suffered casualties that reduced the seven companies from 262 to 47 effectives, an 82 percent loss,...a record for the Union army." We know this history and we honor it. We also learn of the sin of slavery, the greatness of Lincoln, and the indivisibility of the United States of America. We study with great seriousness both sides of the "Dakota Uprising" and honor our Native American populations. In fact many of us are proud kin to them. And now we find out that, maybe, the Civil War isn't quite over yet? Not a winning argument around here.
In my town, we like a lot of things claimed by 'conservatives.' We like to hunt and fish (just ask Ed Schultz), many of us go to church (but we let other people go to their own churches too, no questions asked) and we are family centered. And we value law and order, we welcome minorities (we have thriving communities of Hmong and Somalis - heck, our Homecoming Queen was the daughter of Somali immigrants!) and in general, we get along with each other pretty darn well. We are also taught at Mother's knee about "Minnesota Nice," about listening and getting along, and to value our system of "Good Government."
Soooo...I'll take my Amy Klobuchar, my Al Franken, and my Tim Walz over any of these Three GOP Stooges any day. (Please forgive the aberrations of Michele Bachmann, who represents the Minnesota district with the highest unemployment rate, and Tim Pawlenty, who was abducted by aliens or something; he has hardly been seen around these parts for two years, except to swoop in from time to time to veto something).
My advice to the DNC: As my tagline says, "All Politics is National." My apologies to Tip O'Neill, but we also need to understand that the Republicans will be running a National Brand campaign this fall and that the National "Tea Party" brand is NOT a national winner. I hope that Democrats, while not skimping on addressing state and local issues, will also nationalize the 2010 race using these "Three Stooges of the GOP" as Poster Boys to make the point that we have a lot to lose if this freakshow is allowed to take over the US Congress.