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  • Democratic Congressman Tim Walz spoke to farmers at a forum in Redwood County Tuesday as Republican 1st District candidates Mike Parry and Allen Quist listened. It was a civil discussion with Parry and Quist rarely making any reference to each other one week before voters will decide which Republican becomes Walz’s general election challenger. John Cross

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  • State Sen. Mike Parry (left) shakes hands with former state Rep. Allen Quist after Tuesday’s Farmfest forum. Voters will decide Aug. 14 which Republican will advance to face Democratic Congressman Tim Walz (center) in the Nov. 6 general election. John Cross

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  • First District congressional candidates Allen Quist, Mike Parry and Tim Walz (left to right) attracted a large crowd and plenty of media attention at FarmFest Tuesday. It was the only time the three will be on the same stage as either Quist or Parry will be eliminated in next week’s primary election. John Cross

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August 7, 2012

Walz, Parry, Quist find little to disagree about at FarmFest forum

By Mark Fischenich Free Press Staff Writer

GILFILLAN — One week before primary voters will send one of them home and the other to the general election ballot, Republican congressional opponents Allen Quist and Mike Parry essentially ignored each other at a forum before hundreds of farmers and a gaggle of media at FarmFest Tuesday.

Mired in an intense battle for months, Quist and Parry shared the stage for the first time with the Democratic congressman they each hope to topple Nov. 6 — but three-term Rep. Tim Walz received only glancing blows from the Republicans. It was tame enough that Walz, a former teacher at Mankato West High School, complimented them in the final minutes of the nearly 80-minute forum.

“I was a high school lunchroom supervisor for 20 years,” Walz said, looking to the pair of Republicans to his left. “I’m proud of you guys today, very proud.”

The comment got a laugh, but Walz went on to specifically compliment Quist for his repeated references in the forum — and throughout his campaign — to the growing size of the national debt and the importance of tackling it.

“He’s doing a great service doing that. This is an important issue,” Walz said. “The difference is going to be: How do you attack the problem?”

He went on to say,  “The nation’s strength lies in our differences of opinion,” but compromise between Republicans and Democrats is essential in the end.

“The glue that holds the nation together is compromise,” Walz said.

The forum, which also included a trio of candidates from other congressional districts, focused on farm issues, and Walz, Parry and Quist found little to disagree on when it came to agricultural policy.

But Quist criticized the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, and Parry told the audience that he would make the case after the Aug. 14 primary election that Walz’s words in southern Minnesota aren’t consistent with his votes in Washington. Parry didn’t offer examples, however, and Quist, while criticizing the health care reform, didn’t personally condemn Walz for his support of the law.

Quist and Parry attempted to sell themselves as agents of change in a broken Congress, but they didn’t draw any contrasts with each other, barely referencing their primary election opponent. Quist hit the national debt issue often and focused on it in his closing statement, saying the prospects of future generations of Americans are imperiled if the debt isn’t reined in.

“That’s why I’m here, because I want my kids and grandkids to live the American dream as I have ...,” he said.

Parry, a state senator from Waseca, expressed confidence that he’ll have plenty of opportunity later this month and in September and October to critique Walz.

“You know, I’ll save it for the debates that Tim and I have after the 15th, and we’ll talk about the voting record and what he does when he goes across the Mississippi and changes,” Parry said. “He talks a good talk here. But we’ll get into that later.”

On the eve of FarmFest, Walz offered three debates — in Rochester and Mankato and one in a television studio — to whomever voters choose on Tuesday to be his Republican challenger.

 

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