Enlightened Burnsville - NOT!

I was out of town this weekend and missed the big McCain rally in Lakeville, just down the road from my home. So I missed the sorry exchange between McCain volunteer Gayle Quinnell and McCain when she apparently tried to label Obama as a Muslim terrorist and McCain grabbed the microphone from her. Good for him for not putting up with this kind of bigotry.

I just read this followup between Quinnell and several correspondents:

Gayle Quinnell: I went to the library in Shakopee and I got lots of ... three pages of information about Obama.

Adam Aigner of NBC News: And what kind of information did you get?

Quinnell: I got to tell you, you call me. It's a long story. I'm afraid of what's going to happen to this country.

Aigner: What would you think would happen? Do you think it would become Muslim country and what would that mean?

Quinnell: It would be bad

Aigner: So even though Senator McCain told you that he didn't feel that was true and you ought to be more respectful, you still fear that?

Quinnell: I still do. Yeah. I'm not alone. I go to Burnsville, the main Republican headquarters and I do a lot of work over there. A lot of sending out mail and talking to people. And all the people agree with what I'm saying to you about Obama.

Aigner :Then do you feel there are a lot of volunteers for McCain who feel that way?

Quinnell: Yes. A lot of them. In fact I got a letter from another woman that goes over there to Burnsville and she sent me more things about Obama.

Aigner: What was on the letter?

Quinnell: Oh all kinds of bad things about him and how, I mean I have to tell you to call me. It's all bad.

Reporter: Are a lot of people getting this letter and are a lot of people believeing it and is that turning a lot of votes or support for McCain?

Quinnell: Yeah I sent out 400 letters. I went to Kinkos and I got them all printed out. And I sent about 400 letters. I went in the telephone book and sent them out to people. So they can decide if they would want Obama.

When I moved to Burnsville 16 years ago this was the kind of sentiment I encountered frequently. I can't tell you how shocked I was to be in what I thought was a very progressive state and discover in the south metro of the Twin Cities that it was overwhelmingly conservative and often very narrow minded. I attended a DFL (Democratic Farm Labor party - MN's version of Democrats) Senate District meeting shortly after I moved and there were 5 in attendance. Through an elementary school friendship of my daughter I became aquainted with our local state senator who is know a judge and he encouraged me to become involved with Republicans because he said it was really the only game in town. I resisted and am happy to report that the tide has turned here and we are now electing Democrats to state office from my area. But apparently Burnsville remains a center for the forces of darkness in MN.