U.S. Rep. Tim Walz this week got an endorsement in his re-election bid from former Sen. Dave Durenberger.
Durenberger was elected to the Senate as a Republican but is supporting DFLer Walz over Randy Demmer, the Republican challenger.
Five years ago, Durenberger said in an interview that he no longer supports the Republican Party but doesn’t support the Democratic Party, either. In the governor’s race, he has endorsed Independence Party candidate Tom Horner, who used to be his chief of staff.
A Walz campaign statement quotes Durenberger:
“Tim Walz knows how to put partisan politics aside and get the job done. He listens and he brings people together to solve the challenges we face. I support Tim because we need more representatives in Washington who approach problem solving like Tim does.”
I know that many Republicans will sniff at this, calling Durenburger a RINO, but as an independent who voted for Durenburger, I find it significant.
Durenburger was from the Independent Republican party. Back in the day the IRs were a little more in touch with objective reality than the present version of the party. And by a little I mean a great deal…
@#2 – Very well put!
In Minnesota, there used to be an honorable party known as IR (Independent Republican). But almost twenty years ago, they started to shuck off their independence and became run-of-the-mill, exclusive, and greed-ridden party of the rather well-off. It seems they have sold their soul to Mephistopheles.
The picture has been completed for some time. The current Minnesota Governor as well as the last Republican Senator were hand-picked puppets of ex-Veep Cheney.