Of Two Minds

A couple of e-mails with from 3rd District constituents with conflicting views on Jim Ramstad's vote in favor the non-binding House resolution on Iraq.

We start with Steve from Minnetonka.

Here is the letter I sent to Jim Ramstad, after his vote to support Nancy
Pelosi's anti-surge bill:

Mr. Ramstead, with all due respect, I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with your vote supporting Nancy Pelosi's anti-surge resolution. I find myself embarrassed that I spent so much time pushing for your election. I was obviously mistaken, and I shall not make that mistake again. You have betrayed me, betrayed the people of Minnesota, betrayed your country, supported our enemies and, through your encouragement of our enemy's efforts, possibly gotten some young American killed.

I have a blog, where I am posting your name, and the name of those 17 Republican Representatives who voted with you and the Democrats in Congress. I hope to post that list as often as I can, in as many places as I can. I want everyone to see who our friends are and who they aren't.

I hope that you someday realize what you have done, here.

Sadly, between President Bush, Norm Coleman and Jim Ramstad, I am not very happy with the Minnesota delegation. I wrote Coleman that the United States has a very good chance in succeeding in Iraq...and when that happens, there will be bills to pay.

The solution is not to run candidates against these guys, but to write the Republican National Committee and tell THEM that we will NOT contribute the RNC if IT supports these two bozos. Let the Republicans take care of them. We stand a far better chance of replacing them that way.

The Republican Party does not own Conservatives. It is up to the Republican Party to maintain Conservative principles, if they want Conservative support, and if they don't, it is up to us to hold their feet to the fire.

While that stategy may help with a Senate seat, I still think the best way to send a message in the House is to mount a challenge in the primary. The truth of the matter is that Ramstad has always been a mushy moderate, but we counted on him to vote the right way on the most important issues. Now that he's not doing that, I see no reason at all to support him.

Meanwhile, Liz, who has a very personal stake in the matter, offers a counter-point:

Oh, and don't be too hard on Ramstad. I live in his district; my husband is part of this National Guard deployment that got extended for the surge. I understand why Ramstad voted the way he did and have no hard feelings.

UPDATE: Liz has her own letter to Congressman Ramstad at a Blonde moment.