Sviggum on the rampage

House Speaker Steve Sviggum went up to Bemidji this week, where he ranted and raved in what appears to be a preview of the Republican strategy for the next elections. It appears to be based on hyper-partisanship and an appeal to right-wing social nuts. Sounds like a great plan!

Sviggum seems pretty ticked off that the area is now represented by two DFLers, Frank Moe and Brita Sailer. In order to turn their constituents against them, Sviggum said that those two and House Minority Leader Matt Entenza are "three peas in a pod." Yep, Moe and Sailer are definitely "liberal, leftist extremists" as Sviggum puts it. Why, I bet all those DFLers are down in St. Paul smoking dope right as we speak! Those darn "urban liberals" who are running Bemidji, doing, uh, urban liberal stuff like, hmmm, walking in parks and driving hybrid cars or something.

You shouldn't govern from the extreme radical left, he said (and added, probably as an afterthought, that governing from the extreme radical right is bad too). So how should people govern? By passing the extreme radical right ban on gay marriage! In fact, gay marriage seems to be the only reason that David Myers is challenging Rep. Moe, as Myers admits that "Frank Moe has done a good job representing his constituents." However, Myers needs to be elected so he can apparently not represent his constituents by being a right-wing tool. That sounds like a good campaign platform.

Add in a few lies about how the Evil Dean Johnson and Senate Democrats were solely responsible for the state's shutdown, despite the fact that the governor and House are Republican, and you're done!

If this is the Republican strategy for next year, bring it on. I think Minnesotans are getting really tired of partisanship, and attempts to paint moderate Democrats as extremists, while pushing an extremist agenda of their own, are not going to get Republicans any votes. They want results, not a lot of hot air. What Sviggum is pushing is enough to launch a fleet of balloons.