Digging for the Truth in Central Minnesota

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The Political Quarry

Digging for the truth in Central Minnesota

In 'da Quarry: Bob Anderson
Posted 10/1/2008 4:24 PM CDT on sctimes.com

Bob Anderson has a bone or two to pick with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.

The unendorsed Independence Party candidate for the 6th Congressional District seat Bachmann holds stopped by the Times for a chat recently. He'll probably be saying some of this at the Stillwater debate Wednesday night, but unfortunately, I won't be able to cover it. So here's some of what we talked about.

Bachmann was one of 47 members of the House of Representatives that voted last week against the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health and Addiction Parity bill, sponsored by fellow Minnesota Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad.

The bill passed with 376 votes, including everybody else in the Minnesota congressional delegation. It still awaits action in the Senate.

Anderson, a mental health advocate and Woodbury dental technician, couldn't wait to talk about her vote, and the reasoning behind his candidacy.

"It really disappointed me that she voted against it. (Bachmann's husband, Marcus) owns a bunch of mental health clinics, so I don't understand it. Even John Kline voted for it this time, and he'd been against it the whole time before."

"I asked why, and she informed me she opposes mandates and she felt this would be a burden to employers and employees, but that's not true. It ends discrimination against people with mental health illnesses. She sold out to the interests of the insurance companies instead of her constituents. Again."

"I've been involved with this bill for five years. My family has a history of clinical depression in it, including me. I was a business owner at the time, and I was fortunate enough to have good coverage and could afford treatment, but not everyone can."

"This isn't even an issue for Minnesota. We have parity. It's other states that don't. When I heard about the bill, I thought it needed to be championed. And I didn't see eye-to-eye with (Sen. Paul) Wellstone on most things, but I respected his drive on this."

"I started my own television show on local cable about mental health issues. I had Ramstad on. He's been great on this. I really respect him. It got me interested in politics. This is my first race, but I think I'm starting in the right place because the issues that interest me are at the federal level."

"The other people who opposed this, (former U.S. Rep. Gil) Gutknecht, (former U.S. Rep. Mark) Kennedy, they're all gone. Bachmann's the only one. And if I have anything to say about it, she will be too."

On why Anderson doesn't support DFL- and Independence Party-endorsed candidate Elwyn Tinklenberg, Bachmann's other challenger:

"I'm the only one not taking donations in this race. That's what makes me different. Both he and Bachmann are controlled by their parties."

"Elwyn is a lobbyist. We're trying to limit lobbyists in Washington, not add another. He needs the big political backers to fund his campaign, so he can't be independent."

"I'm a conservative on the social side. A pro-life Catholic. I give Tinklenberg credit for being pro-life too, but he had to adhere to the Democrats line on not overturning Roe v. Wade to get the endorsement, and that's another signal that he can't be himself."

"I'm busy trying to convince the Democrats that I'm the one with a chance to win this. If their true goal is to get Bachmann out, I'm the guy who can do it because I can win over Republicans too."

On the current financial crisis and proposed bailout:

"It didn't happen overnight. We don't need to make a quick decision on this. There has to be some accountability and consequences or this will happen again. I think there's blame to go all around, from the top to the bottom."

"But I don't agree with Bachmann that it's all minorities' fault. Everybody should have the opportunity to get ownership of their house. I don't think it does us any good to go around, pointing fingers like she did. Especially when there's so many others who are a lot more responsible than a few people who took out bad mortgages."

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