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March 10, 2010

Our View: 'Centrist' Walz walks a fine line

The Free Press

Get ready for the fight, voters of the 1st Congressional District of Minnesota, over where Rep. Tim Walz falls on the liberal-conservative meter. Anxious to appeal to Minnesotans as a moderate in advance of the November election, Walz and his people are touting a National Journal review that rates him pretty much where he wants to be.

In its newly released congressional ratings list, judging votes on economic, social and foreign policy issues, Walz ranks just a little bit to the left of the middle. In short, just about where a moderate Democrat wants to be.

Political opponents, well aware that there is no shortage of right-leaning constituents in the 1st District, are having none of it. “He’s pretty liberal in our book,” said state Republican Party Chairman Tony Sutton, who decries Walz’s record on the stimulus, cap-and-trade and health care. “So you can point to some East Coast journal to say that he’s a centrist, but back home everyone knows that he’s a liberal.”

If Republicans presume to paint Walz, a National Guard vet and former Mankato teacher-coach, as Nancy Pelosi’s natural ally, they may be in for an uphill battle. But it’s all in the mind of the beholder. U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachman, whom liberals rail against as a poster child of the far right,

wasn’t far enough in that direction to make the Journal’s “most conservative” list. Only two Minnesota Democrats rated among “the centrists” in the House — Collin Peterson and Walz.

Walz’s campaign manager, Richard Carlbom, crowed about Walz’s placement at 166th most liberal (last year he was 175th).

“As 2010 moves along, opponents of the far right-wing will attempt to distort his record in countless ways,” said Carlbom in his best campaign voice. “The National Journal rankings show just how well he is doing at ensuring southern Minnesota has a moderate, independent voice in Congress.”

Truth is, the rankings are not likely to go far in defining Walz as we get closer to Election Day. And in the meantime, some very dicey decisions are going to be made, to which  voters will pay far greater attention. Walz’s standing among constituents may in fact lie with the health care end-game, and not coincidentally reports circulated this week saying Washington Republicans are making Walz a special target in their fight against Democratic health care legislation.

Up to now, Walz has deftly walked the line, impressing even his opponents during emotional summertime town hall meetings while thereafter crediting his party for continuing to make the case for sorely needed health care legislation. On this and many other issues, rankings discussed in March can seem quite irrelevant in November.

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