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Gutknecht stumps for support
By Duane Winn
If one is a passenger aboard a jumbo jet, one would naturally prefer an experienced pilot to an untested one.
The comparison is also apt in politics, according to U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, who is seeking another opportunity to serve his constituents in Minnesota's First Congressional District.
"A fresh new face may sound interesting," said Gutknecht, "but voters have 12 years invested in me and it's going to take them (a new congressman and his staff) a few years to get up to speed on what's going on Iraq and Germany, what's going on in the federal government and with USDA Rural Development."
The "new face" to whom Gutknecht is referring belongs to Tim Walz, a Mankato schoolteacher who is mounting a surprisingly strong challenge to the six-term incumbent.
In the face of a scandal involving Mark Foley, a Republican congressman, the dwindling popularity ratings of President George W. Bush, and an uneasiness among Americans about the direction of the country, Gutknecht realizes that being dismissive of Walz's candidacy would be a serious misstep.
"It's a close race, a lot closer than I'd like to see it," said Gutknecht. "I don't own this seat. We're only temporary tenants. At the end of the day, all I could do is state my case and let the voters decide."
A poll released on Oct. 12 by Majority Watch, an independent polling project, has Walz and Gutknecht running neck and neck.
CQPolitics.com once rated Gutknecht a strong favorite to retain his season. It has now downgraded Gutknecht's chances, giving him a slight nod.
Gutknecht said he's suspicious of the poll results because of their timing. Most of these were taken when former Rep. Mark Foley, a Republican, resigned after being caught sending explicit instant messages to male teenage congressional pages.
"One thing we believe is a number of these polls were taken at the absolute nadir (for Republicans)," said Gutknecht. "The Foley story hurt Republicans nationwide. We saw Republican polls drop six to eight points."
Gutknecht said new polls show that Republicans have rebounded somewhat from the Foley debacle. The earlier polls showed Americans' kneejerk reaction to the story.
"People have a certain reaction to a scandal. But as they absorb it and think it through, they realize yes, it was a disgusting thing, but Gil Gutknecht didn't have anything to do with it.," said Gutknecht.
Gutknecht, who visited the US Marine Bayliner plant in Pipestone on Wednesday, employed more than a figure of speech or two during his campaign stump. To describe the temper of the times in the United States, Gutknecht used one of Charles Dicken's novels — "A Tale of Two Cities" — to make his point.
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