In this post, wingnut blogger John Hinderaker helpfully informs us that Minnesota governor Tim Walz is unpopular in rural Minnesota. The reasons include that he seems "angry" and dresses "slovenly," which I guess is annoying to farmers, who surely must have noticed, as John did, that in their FarmFest debate Walz's GOP challenger Scott Jensen was attired in a comparatively "respectable" manner. John posts pictures to prove it.
Whatevs.
Our first congressional district is the heart of Minnesota's farm belt and the host of FarmFest. The district's entire southern border is the Iowa line. The US House seat there has been vacant since the Republican incumbent died last winter. A few days after John posted his sartorial comparisons, there was an election to fill the vacancy, and the Republican candidate defeated the Democrat by 4 points. Two years ago, Trump carried the district by 10 points—and lost the state 52.6% to 45.4%. Maybe the former president isn't a sharp enough dresser! Maybe Walz's rural problem isn't as big as Jensen's Twin Cities problem! I'm just spit-balling, obviously.
On the subject of anger, John should read his own blog. His co-author Scott Johnson heaps vitriol upon the Walz administration's COVID response, here. Nursing home residents died because of forced social isolation! Constant harping on danger! Destroyed the lives of school children! Walz policies caused sharp increases in deaths attributed to drug and alcohol use! Wrecked the economy! Suppressed data!
The last charge, regarding the suppression of data, is notable in an article that is itself free of any supporting evidence. It seems there should be statistics showing, for example, that drug and alcohol deaths spiked, but if there are Mr. Johnson and his mouthpiece, Kevin Roche, aren't sharing. Here are some numbers relating to the arguably crucial metric of keeping people alive—COVID deaths per million population in Minnesota, its bordering states, and one other state with a governor adored by the Power Line bloggers (source is Worldometer):
Minnesota (2369)
Wisconsin (2571)
North Dakota (3052)
Iowa (3122)
South Dakota (3361)
Florida (3652)
The closest thing to a data point in the diatribe concerns "hundreds of thousands" of lost jobs brought on by "lockdowns." It's true that around 3 million Minnesotans were working in late 2019, and that employment in the state fell to about 2.6 million in the spring of 2020. Over the same time frame, South Dakota lost 42,000 jobs and Florida lost 1.2 million. Maybe a killer pandemic isn't good for business, anywhere, and "lockdown" is just a vocab word favored by hyperventilators. More spit-balling.
If only a curled lip and loud, hectoring tone could take the place of an argument.
Comments