My Number Six Wish for the 2006 Elections

This post is part of a series listing my ten wishes for the upcoming election. Each day I will post one wish starting with number 10 and working my way up to the wish I desire most. Because we should think globally and act locally, you’ll notice a Minnesota slant to my wishes. If you’re a progressive or a liberal or a left-wing nut job from another state, I hope your wishes come true too. And now, without further delay, here’s today’s wish…

6. Patty Wetterling defeats Michelle Bachman, U.S. Congress, Sixth District, Minnesota

Just as the Fifth District is the most liberal and progressive district in the state, the sixth is the most backward and most conservative. I consider Michelle Bachman the worst candidate running for office from Minnesota. She's articulate, attractive and polished, and all she does is spew hate.

Patty Wetterling is a national hero, a leader in our nation’s efforts to aid families with missing children. She has a wealth of experience passing legislation at both the state and federal level.

Michelle Bachman is the face of homophobia in Minnesota. She spent a lot of time in the Minnesota legislature, promoting a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman. For her efforts, she has become a star in the Republican Party.

Wetterling is under near constant attack by Republican National Committee dollars. They claim that she wants to raise taxes because she has called for sanity with respect to the tax breaks to the wealthiest 3%. Bachman has used her ad dollars to promote herself as a business woman, who is a fiscal conservative. What’s missing is the fact that she is obsessed to the point of distraction with homosexuality and with a socially conservative agenda is that is horribly out of step with just about every part of the state except the sixth district.

Bachman has bought into the “war on terror” agenda 100%. So, a vote for her is a vote for “stay the course” in Iraq, and a vote for two more shoes in Washington supporting homophobia, xenophobia, Christianity, but not supporting, health care, sensible foreign policy, the environment, schools, tax justice, or many other things we need more than tired debates on the latest phobia. She supports a war against Iran. She twice authored bills in the Minnesota legislature to honor Ronald Reagan - one to celebrate his birthday and the other to name our loop (494 and 694) in his honor. She opposes academic freedom. She opposes the teaching of evolution in public schools, believing that God's word establishes creationism as superior to science.

Wetterling would make an outstanding Congresswoman. She’s passionate, intelligent, articulate, sensible, and not out to read right from the Republican playbook. I heard today that this election is a statistical dead heat. Go Patty, go!