8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT UPDATE

I just received this information from an unimpeachable source and dedicated reader of MDE: Over the weekend I heard from a high-level and (believe it or not, credible) DFL friend that Oberstar finally has talked about retiring. It's not clear whether he's talking about 2006 or 2008, though. In the past, when people like Tony Sertich have tried to broach the topic w/Oberstar, he has kind of brushed it off as being too early to talk about that. Not so now, I guess. We'll see if his wife agrees (she's supposedly the one who has the most interest in him staying a Congressman--she likes being a Congressman's wife and all the prestige that comes w/it). I also heard that people in DC have heard the retirement hint from Oberstar, too. Consequently, I know that Rod Grams, who works mostly in DC and is privy to the beltway gossip, is seriously interested in running for the seat (the farm where he lives, and the radio stations that he and Chris own, are all in the 8th CD). Since 1994 when Rod won the 8th CD in his senate run, the district has changed to become more favorable. Still, the candidate on the DFL side will be key. At this point the best possibility of a GOP pickup stems from the fact that Becky Lourey, according to her friends, is ready to run for the seat, if Oberstar retires. She's supposedly kept her gubernatorial donor list fresh. Also a good prospect, friends of Duluth city councilman Donny Ness say he's ready and eager to run. People at least used to see him as the next thing, kind of like Oberstar was for Blatnik--I don't know if that's totally the case anymore. And, of course, Tony Sertich is pretty open about his interest in the seat. I understand that Tom Bakk might also be interested, and in fact views it as an imperative that he or someone like him replaces Oberstar. In fact, DFLers talk about a real blood bath in the making, with the liberal wing (a la Lourey) battling against the conservative wing (a la Bakk) for the endorsement. They think a primary is almost certain. They talk about the old Jim Oberstar-Joan Growe rivalry being reborn (remember the extremely long 1984 US Senate endorsement battle between prolifers and prochoicers that led to so many defections to the GOP and left the DFL in tatters?). I don't know if I quite see that, seeing as how there aren't really any prolifers left in the DFL, and none of the potential candidate I just listed are prolife. And some of them seem pretty equivalent on guns. I guess the land rights issue could be the big divide, though, because Lourey and Ness are clearly on the leftwing fringe on those issues, where Sertich and Bakk are more in line with Oberstar and Grams.