To the editor:
Our congressman, Republican Erik Paulsen, had his own “Melania Moment” at the Edina Fourth of July parade.
Melania Trump made headlines a week earlier when she visited immigrant children, presumably to show them that someone cared.
But she wore a fashionable coat that said on the back, “I really don’t care; do U?”
In Edina, Paulsen walked the parade route alongside a shiny campaign car, presumably to show those along the parade route he cares about the state he represents, Minnesota. But the car had Florida plates.
Oops.
Out-of-state plates underscore Paulsen’s anti-Minnesota voting record. He weakened the state’s firearms laws by voting “yes” on H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, which requires states to allow people in the state to abide by the concealed carry laws of all other states, which includes the state with the weakest regulation. Other examples abound.
In contrast, Democrat Dean Phillips has agreed to not accept money from political action committees, and – unlike Paulsen – won’t be controlled by them.
Phillips cares about Minnesotans. He was also in the parade. But he didn’t have a fancy Florida sports car. His team drove the “Dean Machine,” a restored 1960 milk truck.
With Minnesota plates.
Dave Bender, Edina
Edina Sun-Current, July 26, 2018