SurveyUSA Poll: Bachmann Ahead Of Challenger Clark

By Katie Lynn
KSTP.com
July 13, 2010

The first significant poll in the 6th District Congressional race contains good news for Michele Bachmann but it also gives Tarryl Clark reason to hope she can make a breakthrough in a tough district for Democrats.

The results of our exclusive KSTP/SurveyUSA poll show Republican Michele Bachmann with a significant lead, but with Democrat Tarryl Clark within striking distance.

In the poll conducted Friday through Sunday [July 9-11], Bachmann gets the support of 48 percent of likely voters surveyed. Challenger Tarryl Clark gets 39 percent. Independence Party candidate Bob Anderson is at six percent [and unaffiliated independent Aubrey Immelman at 2 percent] with very few [5 percent] undecided voters.

The SurveyUSA poll results come less than a week after Bachmann reported she’s now raised $4.1 million. Clark is now at $2.1 million but so far only Clark has spent money on television ads in the race.

Clark has been running TV ads attacking Bachmann’s comments about the BP oil spill, which might be keeping Clark within single digits.

University of Minnesota political science professor Larry Jacobs says Clark and Bachmann are tied among voters 50 and older, who tend to turn out at the highest rates. However, Bachmann has a 20-point lead among 18 to 49 year olds.

There’s also a huge gender gap. Bachmann has a 25-point lead among males while Clark leads by eight-points among women.

Jacobs points out the fact Bachmann is short of the 50-percent mark gives Clark some hope, but when Bachmann begins running her TV ads, she’ll make a big effort to define Clark as a tax-raising Democrat. …

To view the results of SurveyUSA, click here.

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Analysis

The table below reports data from the two available surveys of the U.S. House race conducted thus far during the 2010 election cycle in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District. 

                                                  Bachmann Clark Anderson Immelman Undec’d
Public Policy Polling (Dec. 17-20) 55      37          —                 —                 8
KSTP/SurveyUSA (Jul. 9-11)         48     39           6                  2                 5

Comparison of the December 2009 and July 2010 poll results shows that Independence Party nominee Bob Anderson and unaffiliated independent candidate Aubrey Immelman (Bachmann’s 2008 Republican challenger) are jointly shaving about 8 percentage points off Bachmann’s poll numbers.

Specifically, Bachmann shed 7 percentage points from the first poll to the second. That can be accounted for by the combined 8 points in the second poll for Anderson and Immelman, two conservative candidates whose names did not appear on the first survey.

In addition, Clark’s 2-point gain since the first poll comports with the 3-point reduction in the Undecided column. It is plausible that Clark’s active campaigning and improved name recognition since the first poll accounts for the reduction in undecided voters.

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Related reports on this site

MN-6 Poll: Bachmann Approval 53% (Dec. 22, 2009)

Poll: Bachmann Approval at 51% (Nov. 14, 2009)

Building a Non-Partisan Coalition (Aug. 5, 2009)

Can a Democrat Beat Bachmann? (July 27, 2009)

Bachmann Rated ‘Most Vulnerable’ (July 24, 2009)

Bachmann Faces Two-Front Fight (July 16, 2009)

MN-06: Who is ‘The Third Man’? (May 24, 2009)

Tinklenberg Challenger Speaks (May 13, 2009)

How to Beat Bachmann (May 9, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 30, 2009

Video

Iraq memo declares victory, stirs controversy – A memo written by Col. Timothy Reese, which urged U.S. military commanders to “declare victory” and leave Iraq, is causing quite a stir amid continued deadly attacks on Iraqi civilians by insurgents. (02:43)

Iraq: ‘Declare Victory’ and Get Out

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I featured a New York Times report that Col. Timothy R. Reese, a senior American military adviser in Baghdad, had concluded in an unusually blunt memo that Iraqi forces suffered from entrenched deficiencies but were able to protect the Iraqi government, and that it was therefore time “for the U.S. to declare victory and go home.” In his report, Col. Reese detailed Iraqi military weaknesses in scathing language, including corruption, poor management, and the inability to resist Shiite political pressure.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 29, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day 16

Aubrey Immelman listening to the water quality concerns of Little Rock Lake residents, July 29, 2008.

Two-year retrospective: Two years ago today, on the 16th day of my 2008 campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I attended the St. Cloud area joint town hall meeting with the mayors of St. Cloud, St. Augusta, St. Joseph, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, and Waite Park to learn about the concerns of area civic leaders; and attended the Little Rock Lake TMDL Public Meeting to learn about water quality issues on Little Rock Lake and efforts to mitigate phosphorus, the water quality limiting nutrient responsible for the toxic blue-green algae blooms in the lake.

Missouri Tea Partiers Rip Michele Bachmann for Backing Roy Blunt

Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Roy Blunt (R-MO)
(Photo credit: Newscom via Talking Points Memo)

By Christina Bellantoni

Talking Points Memo
July 28, 2010

Tea party groups in Missouri are furious that national tea party icon, Rep. Michele Bachmann, endorsed the strong frontrunner for the Senate nomination Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO). Bachmann will join Blunt for a fundraiser and to make campaign calls in his St. Louis headquarters Saturday.

Given that Bachmann has emerged as a tea party hero and formed the brand-new Tea Party Caucus in Congress, the groups said “we were shocked” that she is backing Blunt since he voted for the TARP bailout funds and “Cash for Clunkers.”

“We believe she has been grossly misled if she understands him to be a Missouri Tea Party candidate,” read a statement issued by 38 groups from the Show Me state, claiming to represent more than 8,660 activists. The statement came with a list of the groups, noting they have “NOT” endorsed Blunt.

The Eureka Tea Party said Bachmann is risking the “status” of her caucus by taking sides.

“The Tea Party is not the Republicans to claim. This is the citizen’s movement and we will not stand for any politicians to try to use us for their own political gain,” wrote MID MO 9/12 Patriots in a statement.

FiredUp Missouri reports that Blunt skipped the first tea party rally in April 2009, even though he was in town that day. Other tea party groups declined to invite him to further rallies.

As we mentioned yesterday, Blunt is facing a challenge from state lawmaker Chuck Purgason in next Tuesday’s primary election. There are 18 candidates in total on the primary ballot. Blunt is expected to handily win the nomination and go on to face Robin Carnahan (D) in the general election.

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Related reports on this site

The Real Trouble with Bachmann (July 21, 2010)

False Witness! The Michele Bachmann Story

Bachmann’s St. Cloud Tea Party (June 5, 2010)

Rep. Michele Bachmann gestures at a Tea Party rally organized by the Republican Party at Lake George, St. Cloud, Minn., Friday, June 4, 2010.

‘Bizarre’ Bachmann ‘No Friend’ (Feb. 18, 2010)

Michele Bachmann is the modern face of an emerging brand of American protofascism being spawned by the “perfect storm” of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the election of America’s first African-American president.

Bachmann Heads Teabaggers (Sept. 13, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 29, 2009

Chuck Hagel to Deliver Eugene McCarthy Lecture

Chuck Hagel and Aubrey Immelman

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance at Georgetown University, had been selected to deliver the Third Annual Eugene McCarthy Lecture at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 29, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day 15

Meet Rep. Bachmann’s Republican primary challenger (06:48)

Two-year retrospective: Two years ago today, on the 15th day of my 2008 campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I featured an op-ed article dealing with energy prices that I had written for the St. Cloud Times; met with Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner and Emergency Manager Marvin Klug; announced the release of a new web video in which I discuss my core campaign issues; and debunked Independence Party candidate Bob Anderson’s justification for the Iraq war.

Bachmann: Subpoenas and Hearings Are Coming in 2011

By JDubb7
Three Fingers of Politics blog
July 22, 2010

Excerpts

According to Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., the House Republicans [if they win control of the House of Representatives this fall] should exercise their power to subpoena and hold continuous hearings.

Speaking to a gathering for the GOP Youth Convention on July 22 in Washington, D.C., she emphasized this point.

“Oh, I think that’s all we should do,” Bachmann said. “I think that all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another. And expose all the nonsense that is going on. And it’s very important when we come back that we have constitutional conservative leadership because the American people’s patience is about this big.”

“This is the year – this is it,” Bachmann continued. “All of our chips are on November. If we don’t get it back and then starve the beast – the House, we have the power of the purse – so we can starve ObamaCare. We don’t have to fund any of these programs and that’s exactly what we need to do – defund all of this nonsense and then unwind it.”

——

Related reports on this site

Bachmann’s ‘Anti-American’ Rant (Oct. 18, 2009)

Bachmann’s MSNBC Amnesia (Oct. 12, 2009)

Bachmann Bears False Witness (Nov. 20, 2008)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 24, 2009

Bachmann Rated ‘Most Vulnerable’

Rep. Michele Bachmann (Photo: Huffington Post)

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee had added U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann to its list of most vulnerable incumbents for 2010 in the NRCC’s “Patriot Program,” while the Swing State Project rated Bachmann as being in “real danger” of losing her seat in the next election. [She has since enjoyed a dramatic reversal of fortune.] I also noted that a survey of 25 nations conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in spring 2009 found that positive public attitudes toward the United States had surged in many parts of the world since President Barack Obama’s election, to levels not seen since before President George W. Bush took office in 2001.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 24, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day 10

Two-year retrospective: Two years ago today, on the tenth day of my 2008 campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I met with residents on Little Rock Lake, near Rice in Benton County, to learn about the lake’s persistent water quality problems.

Today’s St. Cloud Times has a letter to the editor by Ray Rowland of St. Joseph, in which the letter writer offers a broad-ranging indictment of 6th District Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). Rowland characterizes Bachmann as self-centered, unresponsive to the needs of her district, meager in her legislative accomplishments, and shirking the hard work of effective governance. It’s not until the end of the letter that Rowland touches on what I consider the real problem with Bachmann: her delusion-like paranoia, her shameless conspiracy-peddling, and her incessant fear-mongering; in short, as a figure of speech, Bachmann could more aptly be dubbed crazy rather than lazy. Following are excerpts from the letter annotated with added content for background context.

“In eight months, [Bachmann] was in 11 states other than Minnesota for political appearances.”

Where in the World is Michele Bachmann?

Michele Bachmann Found in Ohio (March 1, 2010)

“[Bachmann] bypasses the hard work of governing, calling attention to herself as a populist [actually, demagogue] spokeswoman of the ideological fringe.”

Bachmann on the Media Circuit (March 9, 2009)

Bachmann sounds the socialism alarm.
(Photo credit: CNN / Getty Images)

“[Bachmann] falsely claiming that the [health care] bill would allow ‘sex clinics’ to arrange abortions for teenagers.”

Bachmann ‘School Sex Clinics’ (Oct. 2, 2009)

From the C-SPAN transcript of Bachmann’s remarks:

Now the Federal Government is going the final step, and they’re saying, Let’s put sex clinics in our schools.

Can you believe this, Mr. Speaker? Let’s put sex clinics in our schools, and let’s put Planned Parenthood in charge of these sex clinics. … They would go into effect next summer so that these clinics would appear in public schools next fall [2010] …

Mr. Speaker, I am almost without words to think that we have come to the time when the Democrats … want the taxpayers, if they haven’t been beleaguered enough, to pay for sex clinics all across the United States. …

And now we’re going to have the sex clinics in the schools and they’re essentially going to take over the health care services of our kids?

“[Bachmann] recommends that people give only cursory information to census takers, encouraging those who think census information can be used to oppress citizens and take away their rights.”

Census: Bachmann ‘Pants on Fire’
(July 1, 2009)

Bachmann’s Census Paranoia
(June 27, 2009)

“Bachmann says President Obama might have ‘anti-American views’ …”

Bachmann’s ‘Anti-American’ Rant (Oct. 18, 2009)

“Bachmann says President Obama … practices ‘economic Marxism’ …”

From Talking Points Memo: The Year of Michele Bachmann:

Bachmann’s specialty has been the open use of revolutionary rhetoric … on a whole range of issues. “I’m a foreign correspondent on enemy lines and I try to let everyone back here in Minnesota know exactly the nefarious activities that are taking place in Washington,” she said in March. She also said she wanted her constituents “armed and dangerous” against the cap-and-trade bill, and added: “Thomas Jefferson told us, having a revolution every now and then is a good thing. And the people — we the people — are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country.”

Newscom/ZumaWire

Bachmann then stepped up the rhetoric, going on Sean Hannity’s radio show and accusing President Obama of “economic Marxism.” She called for drastic action: “At this point the American people — it’s like Thomas Jefferson said, a revolution every now and then is a good thing. We are at the point, Sean, of revolution.” …

“Bachmann says President Obama … wants to ‘annihilate’ conservatives and heads an administration that is a ‘gangster government’ …”

“She has spent about a quarter of a million tax dollars for self-promoting mailings.”

Bachmann Big Spender (June 20, 2009)

Rep. Michele Bachmann spent more than $100,000 on printing and franked mail in the first quarter of 2009. (Photo credit: John Shinkle /Politico)

“Bachmann is a favorite of the extreme conservative wing of the Republican party because of her paranoid and conspiratorial rhetoric, promulgating reckless fear-mongering.”

Bachmann Brainwashing Paranoia (April 8, 2009)

MN-06 Endorses Conspiracy Nut (March 22, 2010)

False Witness! The Michele Bachmann Story

Bachmann Conspiracy Nation (Feb. 20, 2010)

Town Hall Face. (Photo credits: Landov, AP, Getty Images / Newsweek)

‘Bizarre’ Bachmann ‘No Friend’ (Feb. 18, 2010)

Michele Bachmann is the modern face of an emerging brand of American protofascism being spawned by the “perfect storm” of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the election of America’s first African-American president.

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FULL TEXT OF LETTER

Bachmann Works for Herself, Not 6th District

By Ray Rowland, St. Joseph
Letter to the Editor
St. Cloud Times
July 21, 2010

Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District should be represented by someone who responds to the needs of the district. That isn’t happening.

Rep. Michele Bachmann won’t seek federal funds for district projects. She is on only one committee and hasn’t gotten any substantive bill passed to address the concerns of her constituents.

She has missed numerous votes in the House, attending a $1,000-per-plate dinner for her campaign on a day when 10 votes were taken. In eight months, she was in 11 states other than Minnesota for political appearances.

Instead of working her way up the ranks of the House, proving herself worthy of leadership positions, she bypasses the hard work of governing, calling attention to herself as a populist spokeswoman of the ideological fringe.

Bachmann says the government should “wean” people off Social Security and Medicare. She opposed health care reform, falsely claiming that the bill would allow “sex clinics” to arrange abortions for teenagers. When the bill passed, she immediately introduced a bill to repeal it.

She recommends that people give only cursory information to census takers, encouraging those who think census information can be used to oppress citizens and take away their rights.

Bachmann says President Obama might have “anti-American views,” practices “economic Marxism,” wants to “annihilate” conservatives and heads an administration that is a “gangster government.” She has spent about a quarter of a million tax dollars for self-promoting mailings.

Bachmann is a favorite of the extreme conservative wing of the Republican party because of her paranoid and conspiratorial rhetoric, promulgating reckless fear-mongering.

Our district needs better representation in Congress. Voters can make that happen in November.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 21, 2009

War Comes Home to Minnesota

Spc. Dan Drevnick

Spc. James Wertish

Spc. Carlos Wilcox

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that the tragedy of war came home to Minnesota with news that five service members with local connections had died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On July 16, Spc. Daniel Drevnick of Woodbury, Spc. James Wertish of Olivia, and Spc. Carlos Wilcox of Cottage Grove were killed in a rocket attack on their base in Basra, Iraq. They served with the Minnesota Army National Guard’s 34th Infantry Division Red Bulls.

On July 17, Air Force Capt. Thomas Gramith of Eagan was killed when his F-15E fighter jet crashed in Afghanistan. He served with the 336th Fighter Squadron out of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.

On July 18, Cpl. Benjamin Kopp of Rosemount died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center of wounds sustained July 10 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire. He served with the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Benning, Georgia.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 21, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day Seven

Two-year retrospective: Two years ago today, on the seventh day of my 2008 campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I worked on my position statement on national security and studied a local controversy regarding illegal immigration.

It’s been a good week for Independent Tom Horner’s campaign for governor of Minnesota. Not only did Horner meet his July 19 fundraising goal to qualify for public campaign funds, he also attracted favorable media attention highlighting the fact that he can win in November.

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Public Money’s Political Power

By Lori Sturdevant
Star Tribune
June 16, 2010

A happy Tom Horner personally served notice Friday that his Independence Party campaign for governor had crossed an important threshhold. It had collected more than the 700 $50 contributions required to qualify for a public campaign subsidy later this year, with three days to spare before the deadline. If he wins the IP primary, his campaign stands to receive an estimated $241,500 in time for the general election, according to the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board. 

A quick Google search unearthed an explanation for Horner’s excitement. An analysis of Gov. Jesse Ventura’s 1998 victory by state Senate counsel Peter Wattson, dating from 1999, is entitled “How Minnesota’s campaign finance law helped elect a third-party governor.”

It relates how Ventura’s ability to borrow money against that year’s expected $310,000 public subsidy for gubernatorial candidates made it possible for him to air TV ads and do a credibility-building campaign tour just before the election. Lacking those things, most analysts believe that Ventura would not have been the winner of that year’s three-way race. …

Full story

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Horner, IP Eye Middle Ground

By Dennis Lien
Pioneer Press
July 18, 2010

Excerpts

Tom Horner used to be a go-to Republican political commentator on television and radio.

Then he watched his party, once filled with moderates like Dave Durenberger, Arne Carlson and Jim Ramstad, turn to more conservative leaders such as Michele Bachmann [link added].

In a nutshell, that’s how Horner, a 59-year-old public relations executive, finds himself with the Independence Party endorsement for Minnesota governor. The Republican base, he said, has moved too far to the right, where its battles with Democrats on the partisan fringe have produced one political standoff and budget impasse after another. …

Within that great divide, Horner sees a large middle ground, where people want decisions made not for political purposes but for what’s best for Minnesota. …

Feeling outside GOP mainstream

Born in Minneapolis, Horner graduated from Benilde High School (now Benilde-St. Margaret’s) and the College of St. Thomas. His father, Jack, was a well-known radio and television broadcaster.

After moving to New York and working in marketing for Kinney Shoes, Horner returned to Minnesota, got a reporting job with the suburban Sun newspapers, eventually became managing editor, and then quit to work for Durenberger, who was elected U.S. senator in 1978. He started as press secretary and finished as chief of staff.

On his first day in Washington, he met his future wife, Libby, who was working for outgoing Sen. Muriel Humphrey. In the mid-1980s, they returned to Minnesota, where he headed a public relations company. …

In 1989, he co-founded Himle-Horner, Inc., a successful public relations and public affairs firm. …

Feeling increasingly outside the Republican mainstream, Horner said, he became especially disenchanted two years ago when Republican presidential candidate John McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate and Bachmann, Minnesota’s 6th District representative, emerged as a standard bearer for the party.

A year ago, he said an Independence Party representative asked him to consider running for governor.

“In all honesty, I wasn’t particularly interested in running for office,” Horner said.

But he said he was concerned about where the state was heading and the two major parties’ emerging options for governor.

“Libby and I sat down and talked, and what really came home to us was our three kids — (ages) 26, 24, 21 — aren’t going to have the opportunities to have the same kind of professional careers Libby and I have had and the same community involvement I enjoyed … if we don’t start turning Minnesota around,” he said.

Horner said he decided to explore a run in January and made the decision in early May, after state Rep. Tom Emmer defeated Rep. Marty Seifert for the Republican endorsement and just before the Independence Party convention.

“Marty Seifert is a person I have a great deal of respect for,” he said. “When Marty Seifert is too moderate for the Republican Party, that is a party that is too far off the cliff.” …

Defined government is goal

“I always have been comfortable with that centrist Republican approach: defined government, limited taxation, clear roles for government at each level. Through it all, I always believed there is a role for government at times in peoples’ lives when they are vulnerable.”

Instead of parroting one set of ideas or the other, he said he seeks balanced solutions that would make the state a better place to live.

With the state facing what’s likely to be a $6 billion budget deficit, he said the state must cut some taxes, particularly for businesses, but raise others. Meanwhile, he said, spending must be cut, with many budgets and programs taking big hits or being scrapped.

Areas that deserve attention, he said, include early-childhood education; research that would help Minnesota grow; transit opportunities that help people and freight to move; the environment; health care; and transportation infrastructure.

When people ask how his administration would govern, he said he reminds them of the early years of the Jesse Ventura administration, when agency appointments garnered widespread praise for their abilities.

“That’s the (type of) Cabinet I am appointing,” Horner said. “I know who those people are.”

Before he can, he must get elected, and that’s always a tough prospect for a third-party candidate.

In 1998, Ventura rode celebrity and an authenticity that resonated with the public to a narrow win. In 2002, former U.S. Rep. Tim Penny was in a close race until he fell off badly at the end, losing to Tim Pawlenty. …

Horner doesn’t have Ventura’s over-the-top personality or Penny’s name recognition.

About to turn 60, Horner doesn’t dominate a room like Ventura, but like him, he’s got a voice that can project. He wears glasses, has a full head of graying hair, and on the campaign trail wears natty clothes, often without a tie.

He estimated he’ll need $2.5 million to $3 million to get his message out — almost three times what Penny spent eight years ago.

“It’s too early to say I will raise the money,” he said. “I think it’s a daunting challenge. But if I can raise the money, I think this is a year solutions win, ideas win and leadership wins.”

A ‘promising environment’

Can he do it? Possibly.

“He is in a good position,” said Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute. “There is a very high level of political distrust, and there are polls showing Americans are about as distrustful of the political environment as they have been in some time.”

“That’s a very promising environment for a reformist third-party candidate,” he said.

Horner, he said, is well known among the “chattering class” of political enthusiasts. But he added that hardly anyone else knows him, and he doesn’t have a large campaign organization behind him. Then, there’s all that money to raise.

John Wodele, a St. Paul-based communications and media consultant who was Ventura’s spokesman, predicted things will have to break right for Horner to prevail.

“Looking at it objectively, it’s a tough climb for Tom,” Wodele said. “I think it will be very difficult for him to be successful and win. For him to be successful, I think some event will have to occur that will damage his two opponents.”

One advantage, Wodele said, is Horner isn’t nearly as tied to the status quo as the other candidates.

“He brings to the race an independence of the legislative environment and political environment that Emmer and (former U.S. Sen. Mark) Dayton, (former Minnesota state Rep. Matt) Entenza and the (House) speaker (Margaret Anderson Kelliher) all have. I think that, from a sort of general perspective, that is a good thing. And perhaps this year, it might be a better thing for his fortunes.”

Moderate alternative

Still, he’s attracted backing from some well-known names, including Durenberger, his old boss.

Penny, a former Democratic congressman who switched to the Independence Party for the 2002 gubernatorial run, said he believes Horner is drawing interest from moderate Republicans and has a good chance of luring moderate Democrats as the election nears.

He said Horner has “a unique set of skills,” having worked extensively on public policy issues, in business and in community service.

“But the bottom line with Tom, I think, is he has some wonderful leadership traits,” Penny said. “When you see him in action, you see a leader. He knows how to frame issues, how to inspire people and to bring people together.”

Former Republican state Sen. George Pillsbury of Orono sees Horner as a moderate alternative to candidates advocating policies that could harm the state.

“Hopefully, there will be a lot of people flocking to him because he’s more reasonable than the Republican candidate and more responsible than whoever is the Democratic candidate,” Pillsbury said. …

Full story

——

Other recent reports

Tom Horner: Targeting the middle ground
(Jim Spencer, Star Tribune, July 11, 2010)

IP candidate Horner has plan to strengthen communities
(Joe Kimball, MinnPost, July 15, 2010)

Horner hopes to pump the economy
(Mark Fischenich, Mankato Free Press, July 16, 2010)

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For more information about Tom Horner’s campaign for governor, visit www.Horner2010.com. And please remember, Tom needs a strong voter turnout in the August 10 primary.

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Related reports on this site

Horner Campaign at Granite City (June 26, 2010)

Tom Horner for Governor of Minnesota campaign at Granite City Days parade, St. Cloud, Minn., June 26, 2010. (Photo: Aubrey Immelman)

Tom Horner Rises in the Polls (June 8, 2010)

“I’ve been watching the Republican Party devolve with the rise of Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin … in the willingness to pander to the extreme right wing.” — Tom Horner

Tom Horner’s Statewide Swing (May 12, 2010)

Sixth District independent congressional candidate Aubrey Immelman welcomes Tom Horner to St. Cloud for his press conference at Stop Light Bait ahead of Minnesota’s fishing opener, May 12, 2010.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 19, 2009

Captured U.S. Soldier Identified

Video

Captured soldier ID’d as 23-year-old (MSNBC, July 19, 2009) –
A U.S. soldier who is apparently being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan has been identified as 23-year-old Bowe Bergdahl of Ketchum, Idaho. NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reports. (02:43)

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that the Pentagon had identified the captured American soldier who went missing from his forward operating base in Afghanistan as Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, Ketchum, Idaho, a member of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 19, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day Five

Two-year retrospective: Two years ago today, on the fifth day of my 2008 campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I highlighted the growing mortgage crisis, noting that from a small-government, fiscally conservative perspective it is difficult to support the Bush administration plan to bail out mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Following is the reader comment that has been removed from the St. Cloud Times’ online commentary for “violating the terms of service,” along with the associated letter to the editor.

——

St. Cloud Times online:

StandintheDoor’s comment has been removed for violating the terms of service.

7/16/2010 1:13:27 AM

——

CONTENT OF CENSORED POST

The rest of the story:

http://www.immelman.us/news/bachmanns-march-of-folly/

Including . . .

Bachmann and Violent Extremism 
Bachmann Call for Armed Revolt?
Bachmann ‘School Sex Clinics’
Michele Bachmann’s Abortion Lie 
Bachmann Finalist for Liar Award 
Bachmann’s ‘Anti-American’ Rant 
Bachmann Rebuked for Nazi Image 
Bomb-Throwing Bachmann
Bachmann: “Slit Our Wrists”
Michele Bachmann ‘Lies in Christ’
Bachmann Ignites Truth-O-Meter
The Empress of Exaggeration
The Princess of Pork
Bachmann Big Spender
Michele Bachmann Unmasked
Bachmann’s Census Paranoia
Bachmann Brainwashing Paranoia
MN-06 Endorses Conspiracy Nut 
Bachmann Says “I’m Not a Kook”
“Craziest Interview” in U.S. History
Bachmann Retort “Kind of Stupid”
Bachmann “Wingnut of the Week”

AI
http://www.immelman.us/

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TEXT OF ST. CLOUD TIMES LTE

Bachmann Never Forgets Where She Came From

Kate Paul, Arden Hills
Letter to the Editor
St. Cloud Times
July 16, 2010

It was so exciting to see Congresswoman Michele Bachmann out and enjoying the Andover Fun Fest parade this past weekend. It’s easy to see how much passion and desire the congresswoman has to offer the constituents of the 6th District.

I really think the people of Andover and the surrounding areas appreciate that she never forgets where she came from and, most importantly, who she is working very, very hard for.

Michele is one of the few politicians who listens to the voice of her constituents and who makes sure Washington is working for them. It’s empowering to see such a strong, fearless Minnesotan woman like Michele Bachmann speaking her mind and working to not only better the great state of Minnesota, but also strengthen and better our country on a national scale.

I’m sure that I will be seeing her more this summer, and I cannot wait to see her back in Washington continuing her excellent work for the people of Minnesota.

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 16, 2009

Bachmann Faces Two-Front Fight

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I reported that Rep. Michele Bachmann, in addition to three likely Democratic opponents (Elwyn Tinklenberg, Maureen Reed, and Tarryl Clark), also faced a battle on a second front — a potential primary challenge from within the Republican Party.

Excerpt:

I take issue with the substance of [Alex Koppelman's article in Salon.com], in which he notes that the DCCC may not “really want to get rid of Bachmann,” who “energizes Democrats all over the country,” serves as “a club against her fellow Republicans,” and helps Democrats raise money “to win races elsewhere.”

I, like many of Bachmann’s outraged constituents, am offended when outside observers dismiss Bachmann as a mere embarrassment, cheap entertainment, a stealth weapon to relegate the GOP to permanent minority status, or a fundraising tool for Democrats. In my opinion, that is both short-sighted and a grave mistake.

Bachmann is not a buffoon, nor does she misspeak or make careless gaffes, as is the conventional wisdom. What she says — her extremist, inflammatory rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and political paranoia — is what she truly believes.

The message I’ve tried to convey in my campaign is that Bachmann’s position of political power in high office amplifies her voice and incites a receptive audience of like-minded political extremists, some of whom may lack the clarity of mind, soundness of judgment, and emotional restraint necessary to refrain from acts of violence.

It’s irresponsible to tolerate Bachmann’s demagoguery and fear-mongering in return for the short-term benefits of national Democratic fundraising efforts and defeating Republicans outside Bachmann’s district.

When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.
– Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951)

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
– Wendell Phillips (1811-1884)

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 16, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day Two

Two-year retrospective: Two years ago today, on the second day of my 2008 campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I spoke about the challenges for a self-funded political outsider in setting up a campaign office, building a campaign organization, and introducing himself to voters.

Two years ago today, I launched my campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District.

Image: 2008 Republican primary campaign sticker

Related post on this site:

Immelman vs. Bachmann, Round 2 (April 7, 2010)

Today, I announce a second challenge to incumbent Rep. Michele Bachmann for the U.S. House of Representatives seat in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, on a platform of national security, law and order, fiscal responsibility, and uncompromising opposition to political extremism.

Please click on the menu bar above for contact information, to volunteer, or to contribute to the campaign to defeat Bachmann.

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 15, 2009

Immelman vs. Bachmann: Year 2

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, I noted that one year had passed since I launched my campaign against Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District.

KEYC TV 12, Mankato (July 4, 2008) — Sixth District congresswoman Michele Bachmann will face a challenge from a fellow Republican. Fifty-two-year-old Aubrey Immelman is an associate professor at St. John’s University. He says he’s running to restore conservative values, including fiscal responsibility and strong national security. Immelman opposes the Iraq war, saying it has further destabilized the Middle East, strengthened Iran and hurt the United States.” …

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — July 15, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day One

Two-year retrospective: Two years ago today, on the first day of my campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, I rolled out my policy statement on immigration, followed soon after by position statements on U.S. national security and law enforcement & public safety.

On Friday, July 2, Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner described 54-year-old music teacher Dan Rassier as a “person of interest” in the abduction of Jacob Wetterling at the end of the Rassier driveway on the evening of Oct. 22, 1989.

Dan Rassier

In a telephone interview with the St. Cloud Times, Rassier said investigators have interviewed him “numerous times” about Jacob’s disappearance. He told the Times he has submitted to a polygraph test, hypnosis, and DNA sampling.

As reported by the Times, Rassier said, “I had absolutely nothing to do with anything with Jacob. … “I didn’t do it. I had nothing to do with it.” (“Sheriff: Rassier ‘person of interest’ in Wetterling case” by Kari Petrie and David Unze, St. Cloud Times, July 3, 2010)

News media stake out the approach to the driveway of the Rassier farmstead in St. Joseph Township, Minn., July 1, 2010. The entrance to the property is blocked by a Stearns County Sheriff’s Department squad car during an excavation and warrant search in which “a number of items” were seized, according to Sheriff John Sanner. (Photo: Aubrey Immelman)

According to Rassier, the negative media exposure has made him the subject of threatening e-mails and death threats, which he has reported to law enforcement authorities.

Stearns County sheriff’s deputies control access to the Rassier farmstead in St. Joseph Township, Minn., while search warrants are being executed on the property in the Jacob Wetterling kidnapping investigation, July 1, 2010. (Photo: Aubrey Immelman)

——

Criminal Investigative Analysis

On the face of it, investigators’ working theory — that Jacob was taken by an opportunistic offender on foot — seems plausible. The abduction site is in an isolated rural area on a dead-end road; it’s unlikely that a planful offender would have trolled the area for a victim.

Dan Rassier, the “person of interest,” certainly had the opportunity — being home alone at the time of the abduction and plausibly having observed Jacob, his friend Aaron Larson, and his brother Trevor passing his home (on their way to the nearby Tom Thumb convenience store to rent a video) and knowing they would have to return the same way.

But while Rassier may have had the opportunity, his motive for taking Jacob is unclear. The conventional wisdom in nonfamily stranger abductions is that the motive invariably is sexual. However, I’ve been unable to find any evidence that Rassier is a pedophile or a sex offender.

Sidebar: St. Cloud Times online reader comments

guitar01 wrote:
I’ve known Dan my whole life, I took lessons from him a few years and he is a good friend of mine. I have been in contact with Dan since Thursday and him [sic] and his family are going through HELL. Imagine if it was you that was being accused of the crime and had death threats against you? How would you feel? I wish the media would stop portraying Dan as being a criminal. Dan is innocent untill [sic] proven guilty, END OF STORY!
7/3/2010 11:54:50 AM

odiewitch wrote:
I also had Dan Rassier as a band teacher. I had group and private lessons with him from 5th grade until 10th grade. He never did or said anything that made me feel uncomfortable. I still find it hard to believe he could of [sic] had anything to do with this crime. I pray for the families of the Wetterlings and for the Rassiers. Remember in this country you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty not the other way around.
7/3/2010 12:18:58 PM

littlerockpj wrote:
To student commenting that he was a good teacher: As a teacher I have found students are good judges of character. Teaching music is hard and if students do not complain about a music teacher, he’s unusually good, since many think music teachers are odd. The fact that students speak well of him and the school did not have complaints makes me think there is more to the story. [...] I want Jacob’s abductor caught, but I certainly agree that a person in America is innocent until proven otherwise, and so many people seem to be rushing to judgement or taking their personal unhappiness out on law enforcement. If he is innocent, let’s hope that this story will not tarnish his reputation.
7/3/2010 3:39:25 PM

Considering Rassier’s extensive contact with juveniles in the course of three decades as a music teacher, it’s notable that there have been no known reports of sexual misconduct or inappropriate behavior.

Furthermore, linkage analysis suggests that Jacob likely was taken by the same offender who kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and later released 12-year-old Jared S. nine months earlier in nearby Cold Spring, where Rassier works as a teacher.

Sidebar: Topical reports

KARE 11 Investigates: Coincidence in the Wetterling Case (May 5, 2004)

Jared S. and Jacob Wetterling (Image: KARE-11)

I have information on good authority that DNA evidence was collected from the Cold Spring assault, and — given that Rassier submitted to DNA sampling as long ago as 2003 or 2004 — one would think that if he was a match, he would have been charged with the assault on Jared (Minnesota has a DNA statute-of-limitations exception for rape) and that a strong circumstantial case could have been made in charging him with the kidnapping of Jacob Wetterling.

Furthermore, Jacob isn’t the only young male to have gone missing from the area. On Nov. 9-10, 2002, St. John’s University student Joshua Guimond vanished without a trace from the college campus, approximately 6 miles distant from the Wetterling abduction site. He has never been found.

According to FBI statistics, there are approximately 50 serial killers at large at any one time in the United States. Assuming, as a rule of thumb, that approximately 10 percent of those offenders are homosexuals targeting male victims, a rough estimate of the number of such offenders on the loose is five. Given the low population density of rural Stearns County where Jacob and Josh disappeared, it’s statistically improbable that two different offenders could be responsible.

Indeed, it would strengthen the circumstantial case against Rassier in Jacob’s abduction if he is unable to provide an alibi for the night Josh disappeared from St. John’s.

On April 28, 2003 — five months after Josh’s disappearance — the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department released information that it “received a call from an individual stating that they were driving off campus, just after midnight, on the night Joshua Guimond disappeared and that they saw someone jogging towards campus on County Road 159 wearing bright colored jogging clothing.”

Coincidentally, Wetterling suspect Dan Rassier is an avid road runner and one of his routes passes through the St. John’s campus (from the Rassier farm through St. Joseph on Co Hwy 2 to St. John’s University along Co Rd 51 and back to St. Joseph past the Abbey Church, St. John’s Prep School, the I-94 footbridge, and Hwy 75).

In a further coincidence, Josh played the euphonium and did some tutoring in brass instruments, which happens to be Rassier’s teaching specialty. It’s important that law enforcement authorities account for Rassier’s whereabouts on the night of Josh’s disappearance. If he is cleared in the Guimond investigation, it’s arguably less likely that he had any involvement in Jacob’s kidnapping.

On the face of it, Rassier doesn’t seem to be a compelling match for the kind of offender profile one would expect in the Wetterling case:

Rassier is an elementary school band teacher and has worked for the Rocori school district since 1978, Superintendent Scott Staska said. … 

“We’ve had no complaints” about Rassier. Students call him “Mr. Be-Bop,” Staska said.

“You don’t get nicknames like that without being well liked by the kids,” he said. …

Ralph Bell, a former [St. Joseph] Newsleader editor, wrote the 2008 profile of Rassier.

Bell said Rassier struck him as “a sweet guy, soft spoken, smiling” …

(Pioneer Press, July 2, 2010)

Whatever the case, until he is charged with and convicted of a crime, it’s important that Rassier be accorded the presumption of innocence as the investigation proceeds and that members of the public desist from harassing Rassier or taking the law into their own hands.

——

UPDATES

Related reports

Profiler Offers Insight Into Wetterling Investigation

By Ryan Ruud
KSTP.com
July 2, 2010

 KSTP video
With more questions than answers, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS sat down with a nationally-known criminal profiler for some insight into the sudden flurry of activity near the Jacob Wetterling abduction site.

Pat Brown has been investigating cold cases for more than a decade.

She has not, however, worked specifically on the Jacob Wetterling case.

Her perspective is unique nonetheless.

Brown says a telltale sign of who may have taken Jacob is the fact the abductors’ face was covered by a mask.

After all these years Brown says three things would give this case new life: New DNA evidence, a confession, or a body.

——

Jacob Wetterling abduction: Dan Rassier, local elementary band teacher named “person of interest” (July 3, 2010)

Dan Rassier

Jacob Wetterling abduction case: Person of interest, Dan Rassier, in 2004 news interview as “unnamed suspect”? (July 9, 2010)

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Authorities Still Tight-Lipped On Wetterling Hunt

Caroline Lowe
WCCO
July 6, 2010

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. (WCCO) — Nearly a week after one of Minnesota’s most well-known kidnapping cases suddenly made headlines again, authorities are still tight-lipped about what they will say publicly about what prompted their latest search.

For two days, state, local and federal investigators searched a farm site near the spot where Jacob Wetterling was abducted in 1989. It is also a half mile from his home in St. Joseph, Minnesota.

They even brought in a backhoe which produced six loads of dirt that was hauled away in a truck for forensic analysis.

Sources tell WCCO the farm site is where they had found the last trace they could find of the eleven-year-old boy. Back in 1989, a police dog picked up Jacob’s scent just inside the property and sources say it disappeared a couple hundred feet away. Sources also say a mold was made of Jacob’s footprint on the site back then.

Investigators are expected to spend a couple weeks having the dirt taken from the site analyzed, trying to determine if it will provide any further clues to what happened to Jacob.

The Stearns County Sheriff told the St. Cloud Times one of the residents of the farm, Daniel Rassier, is a “person of interest” in the case. His family told WCCO he had nothing to do with Jacob’s disappearance.

WCCO video

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Investigators Sift Dirt Connected to Wetterling Case

Investigators from the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at the Stearns County Public Works Building in Waite Park sifted through dirt collected on a St. Joseph Township farm in connection with the Jacob Wetterling abduction investigation. (Photo credit: Jason Wachter / St. Cloud Times)

By Kari Petrie
St. Cloud Times
July 23, 2010

Investigators continue to sift through dirt as part of the investigation into the Jacob Wetterling abduction.

Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner said the work could go into next week. Investigators took six truckloads of dirt and other items from a farm at 29748-91st Ave. in St. Joseph Township during a two-day search earlier this summer.

The dirt is being processed at the Stearns County Public Works Building in Waite Park. Dozens of investigators sifted the dirt through screens Thursday morning. …

The FBI and the BCA are assisting in the investigation.

Full story

——

Wetterling investigators send items for testing

By Kari Petrie
St. Cloud Times
July 27, 2010

Authorities on Monday finished sifting through six truckloads of dirt that are part of the Jacob Wetterling abduction investigation.

Items of interest were found and will be sent to forensic labs for additional testing, according to the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office.

On June 30 and July 1, investigators executed four search warrants at a farm at 29748-91st Ave. in St. Joseph Township. Authorities took the truckloads of dirt and several other items from the farm.

The sheriff’s office has not identified what those items are.

The search breathed new life into the 21-year-old investigation of Wetterling’s disappearance. …

Full story

——

Related reports on this site

Jacob Wetterling: Rassier Search (July 1, 2010)

Squad cars and other law enforcement vehicles parked in the farmyard on the Rassier property in rural St. Joseph, Minn., Wednesday, June 30, 2010. (Photo credit: Kimm Anderson / St. Cloud Times)

Josh Guimond: New Developments (May 24, 2010)

Josh Guimond

Jacob Wetterling Freedom Walk (Dec. 21, 2009)

On Sunday, Dec. 19, 2009, the third and final day of Jacob’s Freedom Walk for Missing and Abducted Children, Vietnam vets, led by Mike Clark and Jerry Wetterling, are met by Jacob’s mother Patty Wetterling upon arriving at the site where 11-year-old Jacob was abducted on Sunday, October 22, 1989, about half a mile from the Wetterling home in rural St. Joseph, Minn. After a prayer, three rifle rounds are fired as the universal symbol of letting the lost or missing know they’re being searched for.

Guimond: “Justice for Josh” March (Nov. 9, 2009)

On Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, Guimond family members and supporters led by Josh’s grandfather, Bob Guimond, approach St. John’s University along County Road 159 to commemorate the 7th anniversary of Josh’s disappearance from campus, following which they delivered an urgent petition for stepped-up efforts in the investigation to the Stearns County Sheriff’s Department.

Missing Person Joshua Guimond (Nov. 7, 2009)

Jacob Wetterling 20 Years On (Oct. 22, 2009)

A photo of Jacob Wetterling from 1989, the year he was taken (left), and an age-adjusted image of what he may have looked like at age 29 (right).

Jacob Wetterling Celebration (Oct. 16, 2009)

Patty Wetterling sings with Red Grammer during the “Celebration of Children” concert at the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Oct. 17, 2009. (Photo: Jim Maurice / WJON)

Wetterling Friend Shares Story (Apr. 28, 2009)

U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Aaron Larson poses with his fiancée Jackie Tentinger and 2-year-old son, Anikan, as he arrives home April 17, 2009 in Slayton, Minn., after a year-long deployment in Iraq. As an 11-year-old boy in St. Joseph, Aaron was with his best friend Jacob Wetterling when Jacob was kidnapped by a masked gunman on Sunday, Oct. 22, 1989. (Photo credit: Justine Wettschreck — Daily Globe /Associated Press)

Jacob Wetterling Lead Unravels (Jan. 7, 2009)

Vern’s Barber Shop in St. Francis, Wisc.
(Photo: John Klein / Journal Sentinal)

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 3, 2009

Sarah Palin Personality Profile

One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the occasion of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s sudden resignation from office, I featured my research on Palin’s personal psychology, conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics.

On Wednesday, June 30, more than 20 years after Jacob Wetterling’s abduction on Oct. 22, 1989, law enforcement converged on the farmstead on the outskirts of St. Joseph, Minn., where a masked man took Jacob at gunpoint at the approach to the driveway of 29748 91st Ave.

Squad cars and other law enforcement vehicles parked in the farmyard on the Rassier property in rural St. Joseph, Minn., Wednesday, June 30, 2010. (Photo credit: Kimm Anderson / St. Cloud Times)

Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner said the County Attorney’s Office advised him that a court order prevented him from stating the purpose of the search and he declined to describe the court order or the search warrant approved by Stearns County District Court Judge Vicki Landwehr.

The property where the warrant was being executed is owned by Robert and Rita Rassier. Directory information shows that Daniel Rassier also lists the address as his residence.

Investigators use a tractor-mounted backhoe for an excavation on the Rassier farm in St. Joseph, Minn., Thursday, July 1, 2010. (Photo credit: Kimm Anderson / St. Cloud Times)

“Jacob’s last footsteps are shown on that driveway,” said Jacob mother, Patty Wetterling.

The FBI, the Minnesota state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), K-9 units, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are assisting with the search.

At the conclusion of the second day of the search Thursday, Sheriff John Sanner said his department had completed the first phase of the investigation and that further details would be released Friday morning.

Acknowledgment: The above notes were adapted and excerpted from reporting by Kari Petrie and David Unze in the St. Cloud Times, July 1, 2010.

» Resources from the St. Cloud Times

Wetterling investigation timeline: 1989-2010

Map of abduction site (.pdf)

Wetterling abduction: 20th anniversary Special Report

Photo gallery: Rassier farm search — Day 1

Photo gallery: Rassier farm search — Day 2

» Fox 9 Aerial Footage of Excavation

The Missing Link

The latest developments in the Wetterling investigation cannot be fully understood without reference to two investigative reports conducted in 2004 by KARE 11 and FOX 9.

The KARE 11 report describes an unsolved kidnapping in nearby Cold Spring, Minn., on Friday, January 13, 1989 — nine months before Jacob’s abduction — likely committed by the same offender. I have it on good authority that DNA evidence was obtained from the Cold Spring abduction, though it’s an open question whether that evidence was properly preserved.

This information is important, because as noted in the FOX 9 report, the person of interest in the current search of the Rassier farm gave a DNA sample six years ago when he was first developed as a suspect. The fact that no arrest was made at the time suggests no DNA match was found. 

KARE 11 Investigates: Coincidence in the Wetterling Case
(May 5, 2004)

Jared S. and Jacob Wetterling (Image: KARE-11)

KARE 11 Investigates: News in the Wetterling Case (May 6, 2004)

Jared S. and Patty Wetterling (Photo: KARE-11)

Man Questioned in Wetterling Case
(KMSP Fox 9, Feb. 23, 2004)

Transcript

It’s been nearly 15 years since Jacob Wetterling vanished near his St. Joseph home.

And he’s the man who says he has recently become a “suspect” in the Wetterling Investigation.

Stearns County authorities don’t use the word. That’s because of gaps early in the investigation. They haven’t been able to link him to the crime or rule the man out.

Trish Van Pilsum: “Did you have anything to do with Jacob’s disappearance?”

The Man: “I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

FOX 9 won’t identify this man because he hasn’t been arrested or charged. He lives near the abduction site. He was home alone on October 22, 1989. There is no one to confirm his whereabouts. Police questioned him the day after the abduction, more as a witness than a possible suspect.

The Man: “They needed to check me out. They said they had to check me out.”

They searched his car at work but not until later in the day.

The Man: “That morning when I left, I had a car full of …”

Trish Van Pilsum: “Boxes. Big boxes.”

The Man: “… and they never looked in my car. I mean it was that bad.”

They searched his property, too. But not until five days later.

The Man: “They didn’t come in the house that night. It could have been over with.”

Investigators, new to the case, agree important things were overlooked in the early days of the search. That there were just too many people and too many agencies involved.

More than 14 years passed. Why the renewed interest in this man now? The FOX 9 Investigators have learned that investigators now doubt one of the main theories of Jacob Wetterling’s disappearance. That theory: While Jacob, his brother, and a friend walked their bikes and scooter home from a convenience store, somebody got out of a car, grabbed Jacob, and fled in his car.

Stearns County investigators are steering away from the car, leaving their suspect on foot, and local. That fits with what the other boys said.

This is a copy of a statement Jacob’s best friend Aaron gave police.

[Investigator:] “Was there any vehicles or anything around at this point that you observed?” [Aaron Larson:] “Uh uh. Not that we could see.”

How did the car come into play? Remember the witness turned possible suspect? It was his account that placed a car at the scene that night. He said it turned around and sped away about the time Jacob disappeared.

The FOX 9 Investigators also have learned there was a car nearby that night. We found the driver. He is not a suspect.

Kevin: “It’s sad. It chokes me up. But what can I do. What could I have done.”

He’s a man in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kevin: “I never came forward. I figured I didn’t have to.”

Kevin was 21 at the time. He heard something on the scanner. Saw a police car speed by his house. Curious, he tried to follow the squad. He was there so fast there was no police crime scene tape around the bikes and scooter yet. He drove away and told a police officer what he’d seen.

Kevin: “He said, yeh we know all about that. I know about the bikes. And that was it. It was like I was bothering him. We backed out and left and that was it.”

Trish Van Pilsum: “He didn’t take your name or phone number.”

Kevin: “He didn’t take my name.”

Trish Van Pilsum: “He didn’t ask, did you see a man lurking around?”

Kevin: “Didn’t ask me a thing.”

Nor, it appears, did the officer pass along his conversation with Kevin to investigators. It strikes the new investigators now working on the case 14 years later as strange. It also strikes them as a huge problem. In fact, investigators didn’t know about Kevin at all until this October [2003]. This came about because he met a federal marshal at a party who urged Kevin to talk to the lead investigator of the Wetterling investigation.

Kevin: “He was really shocked. ‘Cause after I told him who I talked to, what I seen, he couldn’t believe he didn’t know about me. In reality, I could have been the kidnapper and they never would have found me.”

In fact, of the thousands and thousands of pages of leads, none places Kevin at the scene around the time of the kidnapping. A source close to the case said they wasted 14 years looking for him.

Trish Van Pilsum: “Kevin, do you think, ‘Boy if my information didn’t get passed along, what else was missed?’”

Kevin: “Yes. Who else knows something about the case they might not think was crucial.”

Kevin even heard the police were trying to track down the car using tire tracks.

Kevin: “I was scared. I got really scared.”

Kevin expected police to come to him. They never did.

Trish Van Pilsum: “So if they couldn’t find you, what were the odds that they could find the kidnapper.”

Kevin: “Exactly. I think about that all the time. It’s sad. A young kid like that you know, 14 years.”

Why didn’t he go to the police? He figured he’d gotten to the scene after everything was over. He doubted he had anything to add. And he didn’t want to get caught up in the widening net of the Wetterling search.

Kevin: “I knew they were looking for someone and I didn’t want to be put in the position of being a suspect.”

Now investigators believe the car is accounted for. The investigation narrows to a small area surrounding the abduction scene. And, specifically on one man. One of Jacob Wetterling’s neighbors.

The Man: “I’m not worried. I’m thinking they’re going to figure out I couldn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to do something like that.”

Investigators questioned him as recently as two weeks ago, February 7th [2004]. They took a sample of his DNA. Five days later they questioned his family and searched his computer files at home.

The Man: “I just have to hope they make sense out of it and not wreck my life.”

Remember he is the witness who placed a car at the scene. Later that night he heard a commotion. It was the search and it was in his yard. He went back to bed.

Trish Van Pilsum: “Why would you go to bed when a kid had just disappeared?”

The Man: “I wanted to get some sleep. I wasn’t going to waste my time.”

The man FOX 9 talked with may never be connected with the Jacob Wetterling kidnapping case.

——

Related reports on this site

Wetterling Suspect Dan Rassier (July 3, 2010)

Dan Rassier

Josh Guimond: New Developments (May 24, 2010)

Josh Guimond

Jacob Wetterling Freedom Walk (Dec. 21, 2009)

Guimond: “Justice for Josh” March (Nov. 9, 2009)

Missing Person Joshua Guimond (Nov. 7, 2009)

Jacob Wetterling 20 Years On (Oct. 22, 2009)

A photo of Jacob Wetterling from 1989, the year he was taken (left), and an age-adjusted image of what he may have looked like at age 29 (right).

Jacob Wetterling Celebration (Oct. 16, 2009)

Patty Wetterling sings with Red Grammer during the “Celebration of Children” concert at the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Oct. 17, 2009. (Photo: Jim Maurice / WJON)

Wetterling Friend Shares Story (Apr. 28, 2009)

U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Aaron Larson poses with his fiancée Jackie Tentinger and 2-year-old son, Anikan, as he arrives home April 17, 2009 in Slayton, Minn., after a year-long deployment in Iraq. As an 11-year-old boy in St. Joseph, Aaron was with his best friend Jacob Wetterling when Jacob was kidnapped by a masked gunman on Sunday, Oct. 22, 1989. (Photo credit: Justine Wettschreck — Daily Globe /Associated Press)

Jacob Wetterling Lead Unravels (Jan. 7, 2009)

 
Vern’s Barber Shop in St. Francis, Wisc.
(Photo: John Klein / Journal Sentinal) 

——

Special Feature

Jacob Wetterling shortly before the abduction

I Remember Jacob

By Allen Costantini
KAREmudgeon blog
KARE11.com
July 2, 2010

Of course, I never met him, but I know Jacob Wetterling. I know him in the smiles and the tears of those who actually were in his brief presence on the planet. I have had the experience of conveying some of facts and emotions of his story over more than 20 years and it is as fresh in 2010 as it was in 1989.

Perhaps I identify with this story because Jacob was just a year younger than my own son when he was snatched from his familiar Central Minnesota life by some person it is tempting to describe as sub-human. There is even somewhat of a resemblance between the two boys. However, one is now 32 and a doctor. The other may be eternally eleven with an unfulfilled promise. Can there be a greater definition of tragedy?

Through the years, I have had the kind of remarkable access and contact with those who suffer his absence the most. I spent Thanksgiving Day with the Wetterlings in their Saint Joseph home in 1989, just a month after the abduction. To this day, I cannot imagine the pain of that day. I stood in their living room as they formed a circle to pray and sing and try not to let the day dissolve into misery.

Some years later, I had the privilege of being Patty’s “escort” at the black-tie annual 11 Who Care awards dinner. The whole family was there to honor her efforts for millions of other children through the Jacob Wetterling Foundation. It was one of many occasions over these last two decades in which I would be in their presence, often at the most tender and potentially painful moments. And always, they were gracious and helpful.

Twice, I stuck a microphone in Patty’s face when she had lost her hope of winning election and taking her fight for children to the floor of the House of Representatives. Gracious, as always, in defeat as in the success on the day her Jacob Wetterling Act was signed into law at the White House. …

Read the full story

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — July 1, 2009

Census: Bachmann ‘Pants on Fire’

One-year retrospective: One year ago today I reported that PolitiFact’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Truth-O-Meter rated U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-Minn.) “ridiculously false statement” that the Constitution only requires people to tell the Census Bureau how many individuals are in their home as [Liar, Liar] Pants on Fire.

“The Constitution only requires us to tell the Census Bureau “how many people are in our home.”
— Michele Bachmann on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 in an interview with the Washington Times.

Bachmann stuck to her misguided guns in a Fox interview on June 25, 2009, this time backing up her concerns about privacy by noting that in the 1940s the Census Bureau handed over information used to round up Japanese people and put them in internment camps.

Bachmann is not only wrong here, she is engaging in fearmongering that encourages people to break the law. And in doing so, she’s falsely telling people that the Constitution would support them. … And so we feel it’s necessary to rate this one Pants on Fire.

Rep. Michele Bachmann’s paranoid “One-World” delusion has reared its head yet again. While lunacy has traditionally been associated with the phases of the moon, this particular figment of Bachmann’s paranoia seems to wax and wane on an annual cyle coinciding with the yearly G-20 summit.

Bachmann: ‘I Don’t Want The United States to be in a Global Economy’

By Matt Corley
Think Progress
June 29, 2010

Excerpts

This past weekend, President Obama attended the G-20 Summit on international economic cooperation in Toronto, which ended with a declaration calling for member countries to work “to ensure a full return to growth with quality jobs, to reform and strengthen financial systems, and to create strong, sustainable and balanced global growth.” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), however, fears that the 20 countries were really working to set up “a one world government.”

In an interview on Scott Hennen’s radio show today, Bachmann claimed that the purpose of the G-20 was to “bind together the world’s economies.” …

BACHMANN: “Well, President Obama is trying to bind the United States into a global economy where all of our nations come together in a global economy. I don’t want the United States to be in a global economy where, where our economic future is bound to that of Zimbabwe. I can’t, we can’t necessarily trust the decisions that are being made financially in other countries.”

“So I think clearly this is a very bad direction because when you join the economic policy of different nations, it is one short step to joining political unity and then you would have literally, a one world government,” said Bachmann. “I don’t want to cede United States authority to a transnational organization.”

Audio: Bachmann worries about a “global economy”

Matt Yglesias notes that “the existence of a global economy in which events outside our borders impact us is not something Barack Obama dreamed up, and the idea that having world leaders gather for occasional meetings constitutes a ‘one world government’ is insane.”

But it’s not new for Bachmann to dream up nightmarish scenarios about the U.S. ceding its economic sovereignty. Around the time of the 2009 G-20 Summit, she peddled a false conspiracy theory that the world was moving toward a unified global currency. “This is not Michele Bachmann being a kook,” declared the Minnesota congresswoman. It was and is. …

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H/T Dump Bachmann

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Related report on this site

Bachmann Says “I’m Not a Kook” (March 28, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — June 30, 2009

The Bachmann File

ACORN will be a paid partner with the Census Bureau and “they will be in charge of going door-to-door and collecting data from the American public.”
— Michele Bachmann, Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

The Constitution only requires us to tell the Census Bureau “how many people are in our home.”
— Michele Bachmann, Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details

2 ‘Pants on Fires’ for Bachmann

One-year retrospective: One year ago today I reported that between January 2008 and June 2009, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was 0 for 5 on the PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter. Her latest ratings at the time involved two “ridiculously false statements” regarding the 2010 Census.