Hortman v. Reinhart - the local house race

I live in Minnesota House District 47B. Our incumbent state representative is Melissa Hortman (D). I truly feel bad for this woman.

Every two years, she's challenged by a Republican. Ok, nothing weird about that, right?

For some reason, the Republican challengers in our district seem determined to attempt to paint her as someone who is not loyal to the interests of our district. Pretty disgusting, but also not a surprising tactic, right?

But wow. The bizarre claims that are made about where her loyalty does lie are truly mind-boggling.

Two years ago, her opponent flooded my mailbox and littered my doorstep with mailings claiming that Representative Hortman was beholden to "Indian casino interests."

This year, the big scary claim is that Representative Hortman wants "unelected California bureaucrats to make laws for Minnesota."

Wow. That seems random, doesn't it?

Here's the deal: Representative Hortman introduced legislation designed to adopt California's vehicle emission standards. Because California started regulating vehicle emission standards before the feds did, federal law allows the states to choose either California's standards or (weaker) federal standards. States are not allowed to craft their own standards under federal law.

California's standards are created by the California Air Resources Board, which is under the umbrella of the California EPA. Whether it's the federal EPA or the California EPA, these "bureaucrats" are not elected.

Apparently, Representative Hortman's challenger, Andrew Reinhart, or to be more precise, "Local Action PAC" doesn't seem to understand that California has stricter air emissions laws because, well, air quality is important. Funny, but it seems to work, too. After all, California's rules have prompted the auto industry to create and showcase new, cleaner and more efficient vehicles. Something that doesn't really happen often in Minnesota.

Granted, Minnesota's air is not as bad as California's air. Do we really want to wait for it to get that bad before we actually act on it? Oh, wait, I forgot. We're talking about a Republican here. So yes, the answer would be that it would be better to do nothing and just hope that the auto industry starts making cleaner and more efficient vehicles out of benevolence. Free market is God and all that, right?

Also, apparently it has not occurred to "Local Action PAC" (which is a really chicken-shit name, by the way, and says something about the lack of character of Andew Reinhart) that if those unelected California bureaucrats go all crazy and enact something completely beyond the pale (all cars must run on moon dust) Minnesota could vote to go back to the federal standards.

Actually, the policy disagreement doesn't annoy me as much as the actual ad itself. I can accept that good-willed people might disagree on how best to regulate (or not) auto emissions.

I find it obnoxious that the photograph they have of Representative Hortman on this mailing makes her look like she has a mental affliction of some sort. I wonder if making your opponent look like a buffoon is part of "protecting your values" as Andrew Reinhart suggests that he will do. I wonder if his mother taught him that value.

I find it even more obnoxious that the flyer says "California and Minnesota are very different" and has two pictures. The picture representing California has a picture of a boy who doesn't comb his hair, is wearing suspenders and a belt with a very nerdy plaid shirt, and he's holding a flower while standing in front of a Prius. The picture representing Minnesota has a well groomed buff handyman standing in front of a pickup truck.

How dumb do you really think the people in this district are?

Why do you think that Toyota is doing really well compared to the Big 3? It might have something to do with the popularity of the Prius and the inability of the Big 3 to make a really fuel efficient vehicle.

How insulting do you have to be to the people of California just because they're smart enough to actually start doing something concrete about air pollution? Is this also demonstrative of Andrew Reinhart's values? Because it makes him look like an asshole.

What exactly is wrong with driving a Prius? (And no, I don't have one. Yet.)

I personally think that keeping Minnesota's air quality in the "not scary, asthma-causing" range is a worthy goal to shoot for. Why? Mostly because I think that breathing is a real family value.