Bob Hill out of MN-06 race, will enter 52B State House race

Bob Hill is out of the MN-06 race. He began his run with the clear understanding that Elwyn Tinklenberg wouldn't be in the race. El Tink's joining the race made Hill's fundraising significantly more difficult. Furthermore, Hill admits he's a newer candidate on the scene and is not positioned to compete with a better known candidate like El Tink. Furthermore, he claims he was misquoted by my friend Joe Bodell at MN Campaign Report which hindered his efforts to get union endorsements.

"On the domestic front, Hill says, "I'm not beholden to teachers' unions, the AFL-CIO or other unions -- I want to work with people. Period."
(MN Campaign Report)

He told me he when said he's not beholden to special interests, he meant special interests like Big Pharma and Big Oil and never meant it to be taken as unions. Furthermore, he claims he doesn't even consider unions special interest groups, they represent the people's interest. He says he's since patched up his relationships with the unions.

Just to be sure, I checked with Joe. Joe stand by the quote. I chalk this up to a case of "what we have here is a failure to communicate." This stuff happens, it's politics and I'm glad Bob has patched things up with the union leadership.

Hill also told me he has been approached by a number of people in the DFL to run in the 52B race against Rep. Matt Dean (R-Dellwood), the Republican Assistant Minority Whip in the House.

Hill's goal is to do good, not to just hold an office. I prefer politicians who want to do something over politicians who want to be something. He wants to do his part to address improving Minnesota and reduce the divisive partisan nature of politics. I asked him about the phrase reducing partisan divisiveness. I asked if it wasn't more of the case that Republicans are simply incompetent at governing as Thom Hartmann asserts? Hill agreed, he's also a self-described Hartmann devotee. A party that wants to reduce the government to the size where it could be drowned in the bathtub, is never going to be good at governing.

In switching to the 52B race, Hill will run on how poorly the state has been managed under Republican control and how we need to look honestly at the mess we're in and begin to address it. From I35W collapse and crumbling infrastructure to the inadequate funding for our schools tax breaks for the wealthy at the expense of those who are least able to cope with government cutbacks to fighting special interests like big pharma and big oil, Hill wants to work on these issues.

My best wishes to Bob. He said he'd keep me posted on what's going on with his 52B race.