To the editor,
Two years ago, the congressional race in the 8th Congressional District was the least expensive in the country among races that successfully replaced an incumbent. The race between incumbent Chip Cravaack and Rick Nolan is among the four most expensive congressional races in the country. This year, over $8 million is being spent on media alone; in addition to mailings.
The claims being made are flatly stunning in frequency, scope and factual deficiency. All but pennies on the dollar are coming from far outside our district. The downtown Duluth offices opened to defeat Congressman Cravaack are funded by groups outside Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District.
We are at high risk of having our congressional election stolen by propagandists with national interests. We can go a long way toward taking our election back by sticking to simple observations about which there is little doubt.
I’ve observed that my friends are not upwardly mobile. Those lucky enough to have jobs aren’t moving upward because the jobs to do so simply don’t exist while the Democrat Senate sits on over 30 job bills for which Chip Cravaack voted.
I observed that Chip Cravaack achieved congressional passage of a land swap deal involving the BWCA and thousands of acres of trapped school trust lands. This bill was strongly backed by 8th CD DFL legislators, the GOP-led legislature and our DFL governor. I notice that this bill is opposed by Rick Nolan and obstructed by the Democrat-led U.S. Senate.
I observed that Chip Cravaack actually wrote a bill to get government off our backs. The Freedom to Fish Act will remove the Coast Guard and their expensive federal regulations from Mille Lac Lake. I notice that Harry Reid and the Democrat U.S. Senate are blocking the bill.
Everyone seems to agree that our national debt is $16 trillion. The Democrat-led U.S. Senate hasn’t passed the House budget (or any other budget) in close to three years.
I can’t help notice that gasoline is near $4 per gallon and that the Executive Branch under President Obama has severely restricted gas and oil leases while imposing hundreds of new environmental rules. Chip Cravaack told me that, “Failure to apply current environmentally friendly technology to tap into these resources is short sighted and destructive to our national economy”. Obviously he is correct.
I understand the DFL frustration with losing the 8th CD for the first time in 64 years. I understand that Chip Cravaack is a Democrat’s worst nightmare—an honest hardworking and competent Republican. But this election is a decision for people right here in the 8th CD; not the people of San Francisco, Washington or even Minneapolis. I plan to use my local observations to cast my local vote for Chip Cravaack.
Keysha Gillespie
International Falls, MN
