What a big mistake it was to think that U.S. Representative Michelle Fischbach didn’t care about me.
Just recently, the phone rang and her voice asked me my opinion on the farm bill. What do I think about crop insurance? What do I think about expanding global markets for American products?
Of course, it wasn’t the real her. It was just a recorded message touting her accomplishments during her tenure and asking me a few questions.
I waited for her to say, “Press 1 to continue federally subsidized crop insurance for small farms.”
I would have pushed it hard, like Princess Diana voting to abolish the monarchy in season 5 of The Crown. So, so, so! The people who supply food to local schools and hospitals are just as vulnerable to hail damage as large corn and soybean growers, and they too are eligible for federal crop insurance.
But she didn’t ask about it.
She wanted to know if I would support investing in rural Minnesota, and that could mean anything from supporting a rural dentist to helping turn a 10,000-cow dairy farm into a 20,000-cow dairy farm. How do you know, Michelle? It depends on what you want to do with it!
When I was writing for the Alexandria paper, Fischbach regularly emailed me criticizing Democrats and promoting her work. She was otherwise unavailable. I once reached out to her for comment on an agriculture story I was writing; her predecessor, Collin Peterson, spoke with me for an hour about federal farm policy. I never heard back from Fischbach.
As a voter, she never seemed interested in my opinion until this year, when she faced off in a primary against Steve Boyd in west-central Minnesota.
Staying in touch with her constituency isn’t easy, she admits. Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District covers most of western Minnesota, from the Canadian border to near Iowa. Driving from the north end to the south end takes about seven to eight hours, depending on how many boats and tractors are behind you.
Not to harken back to the past, but during the health care debate, Peterson held town hall meetings across his district. You didn’t have to be affiliated with his party to attend; you could simply live in his district and apply for a turn to speak. Many people spoke, and Peterson sat at a table at the front of the room the whole time.
Why doesn’t Fischbach do that? She has more options than Peterson to meet with voters. She could easily hold a digital town hall meeting. But I’ve never seen one.
I have no right to question her, but I have a lot of questions. What is she doing to heal this divided land? Does she think we should reverse the “get big or get out” federal farm policies that have closed so many Minnesota farms and damaged so many rural areas in the state? What is she doing to support rural emergency services? What does she think about climate change? Where will she be all these years as the thick, choking smoke drifts down from Canada?
The folks at Fischbach know I’m writing this column. They know what it’s about. And yet, no response. Maybe the risks of talking to a journalist outweigh the benefits. And yet, Boyd’s signs are popping up in our neighborhood.
Boyd is handsome, eloquent, and ruthless at heart. He shows up, he talks to reporters, he takes the tough questions but doesn’t always answer them. He doesn’t call himself a Christian nationalist, but he doesn’t deny it either. Fischbach has raised a lot more money than him, but he gets out there, meets people, campaigns hard, and it shows. He advertises his events well in advance on social media. As in Peterson’s day, anyone who wants to go can go.
A veteran politician like Fischbach should have secured the support of his party, especially since he has the backing of Trump, but the GOP chose not to endorse anyone. This is a win for Boyd.
Whoever wins the Republican nomination in the Aug. 12 primary will face off in the general election against presumptive Democratic nominee AJ Peters, who runs a computer business and is also president of the Hands of Hope Resource Center, which helps crime victims in Morrison and Todd counties.
I really appreciate Mr. Fischbach asking for my opinion. The next step will be to face tough questions from journalists and the general public.
