Esme's Blog: Bye-Bye Minnesota Nice
In case you missed it Minnesota Nice died last night in Iowa. And because Minnesota Nice is real, because people in Minnesota go around the block to avoid criticizing one another, last night's knives drawn, mano-a-mano, insult fest between Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Rep. Michele Bachmann was all the more shocking.
Pawlenty, down in the polls, was the aggressor and drew the first and most blood. "Her record of accomplishments is non existent," he said, adding later, "If that's your view of effective leadership and results, please stop, because your killing us."
You could hear the audience gasp. But he had more.
"She's got a record of misstating and making false statements," he delivered as he stood right next to her.
Bachmann didn't just take it. She shoveled it right back at him. She accused him of championing liberal polices, likening Pawlenty's stewardship of Minnesota to that of our current President.
"That sounds more like Barack Obama, if you ask me," Bachmann said.
Maybe Minnesota Nice was overrated. Maybe it has been dying a slow, gradual death and we haven't noticed. But last night it was exploded, buried by the searing presidential ambitions of two Minnesotans who obviously don't like each other.
