Summary and evaluation of remarks by Dr. Maureen Reed on May 12, 2009, at a special DFL Minnesota Senate District 14 meeting in St. Joseph, Minn. Reed is challenging 2008 Democratic candidate Elwyn Tinklenberg for the Democratic and Independence party endorsements in the 2010 Sixth Congressional District race for U.S. Representative against incumbent Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann.
Summary: Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican senator from Rhode Island who endorsed Obama, predicted a bloody struggle for the soul of the party. The election results demonstrated that the party had hit rock bottom, Chafee said, but he feared that socially conservative party activists — “the Rush Limbaughs, the Bill O’Reillys, the Sean Hannitys” — were incapable of changing course.