Rep Chip Cravaack lost the coveted United Steelworkers endorsement to former Congressman Rick Nolan last month, prompting a whiny temper tantrum that echoed across the Iron Range. Cravaack's jealousy over Nolan's big endorsement has now morphed into a serious case of steelworker envy with the airing of a desperately deceptive mining ad purporting to be filmed on the Iron Range.
The ad titled "Good Man" features two Iron Rangers discussing mining and Cravaack visiting with workers. The release that accompanied the ad reads:
A strong and vibrant mining industry is key to creating good-paying jobs for Minnesota workers and their families.... I am thankful for the support of so many former and current miners throughout this far-reaching district,” said Chip Cravaack
To say this ad offers no credible evidence of support from Iron Range steelworkers is an understatement. Consider the following:
1. It was shot at the Operating Engineers Local 49 Training Facility in Hinckley, not at a mine on the Iron Range
2. The retired miner is not a member of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR), and the active miner is viewed as a renegade who once tried to sue the USW for not advocating enough for workers, and reportedly threatened to run against Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
3. Cravaack is shown with 49ers, not steelworkers
Talk about compensating for one's shortcomings!
Cravaack is trying to parlay a very misguided endorsement from the 49ers into an implied endorsement from SOAR and USW, both of which have endorsed Nolan. And how arrogantly insulting that Cravaack thinks Rangers won't notice. Packsacker Chip Cravaack may not know the difference between steelworkers and 49ers, or between Hibbing and Hinckley, but Rangers sure do.
This deliberately misleading ad is devoid of all credibility and is just the latest of many desperate attempts by Cravaack to deceive voters into believing he has support of Range steelworkers.
Only an outsider or one truly clueless would think this ad is going to be effective with its target audience. Insulting the intelligence of voters from across the Iron Range is not a winning strategy, something Chip Cravaack would know if he were actually a Minnesotan.
Cross posted at Iron Country Free Press