Share your insights about the 2nd Congressional District here. Catch up on news from the district here from Minnesota Today. If you only read one thing about this race, check out Mark Zdechlik's story about Democrats feeling optimistic in the newly redrawn district.

Hi Michael, Patrick here!

You're welcome. You're doing a great service by moderating this!

Hey, it's Mike Obermueller here. Thanks Michael for hosting. Thanks everyone for joining us today.

Minnesota's redrawn 2nd Congressional District has a trio of Democrats weighing a challenge to incumbent U.S. Rep. John Kline, a Republican who could be more vulnerable than he has been in past elections.

In the recent round of redistricting, the 2nd District lost conservative ground in Carver and Le Sueur Counties to the south. It gained solid Democratic turf to the north, picking up parts of South St. Paul and West St. Paul.

Today we will learn more about the DFL candidates.

I am running for the DFL endorsement in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional district because critical issues are being ignored or attacked by an inflexible Republican party. I believe that government is about people, and that no matter how many dollar signs and zeros are attached to the bills before Congress, the 435 Representatives must be able to answer the question, what are we doing to improve people’s lives, what are we doing to make tomorrow better?

Especially when decision making feels rushed or based on sound bites in this age of Twitter and Facebook, the core value of helping those who need help has to inform the many and complicated issues our United States Congress addresses.

I will work for strong education in this country, recognizing it as the foundation of our ambitions for a vigorous economy. Making college, skilled trades training, and community colleges affordable must be a priority for this country. We must invest in people so that an innovative economy can flourish. Local transportation and infrastructure issues also have been neglected, from roads and bridges to rail and transit.

A reasonable approach to government is needed and I will work with everyone in the district for balanced representation.

We will get to question one as we wait for Mike to post his opening statement.

With that, here's the first question:
Is there an issue you don’t generally agree with your party on?

I support single-payer health care, which isn't universally supported in the party. I think we have to work within the party to find agreement on difficult issues.

It's not so much of a disagreement, but there's not enough talk about balancing our budget. There's no question we have to balance the budget, but we need to make sure it's not being balanced on the backs of middle class families, students and seniors. We have to make sure we are doing things like eliminating government redundancies, such as were cited in the recent GAO report. This would save us $10s of billions
without compromising our priorities.

A whole career of service. I've made choices about my career and all of them involve serving the public, which I will continue to do if endorsed and elected to Congress.

@Patrick. How do you see that setting you apart from the other candidates?

Yes

Yes, I will drop out of the race if not endorsed.

I believe this is one of the most important issues we are facing today. One of my goals in Congress will be to work to make sure our students are getting a world-class education. Education is an investment in our future. It means a stronger economy, better jobs and more innovation. I think the No Child Left Behind Act has failed our students and we need to make sure we are empowering our teachers to do much more than simply teach to a test.

I think this is one of many examples where incumbent Congressman Kline is completely out of touch. Even Mitt Romney has stated strong support for extending the current low student loan rates. I am in strong support of extending these rates to college students and think we need to look at more ways to expand access to college for our students.

Art Penfield, an undecided voter from Mendota Heights asks, ”I'd like to see our country stop importing oil from the Middle East so we could pull our troops out of that area. Do you think that's possible?”

We will continue to use oil and coal for a long time, but we must invest significantly in alternative energies, using our best scientists, engineers and researchers to find economical ways to produce renewable, non-imported energy. Our country should focus on this issue as it has enormous long term implications for climate change, military conflict, and the economy as a whole.

As I just wrote in the Q about energy, we must address climate change because it has causes that affect so much of our economy. The first thing I would do is continue to invest in alternative energies. This research has been supported in the stimulus package but much of the research money will soon dry up. And an investment like that encourages innovation, which is what makes this country so economically strong and dynamic. the environment is just one place to invest. we also have to look immediately at our returning veterans and support them as they transition to civilian life.