Opponents of U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack say they will protest today near Grandma's Saloon and Grill in Duluth, where the freshman congressman will speak to Minnesota members of the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
Labor leaders and other DFL-leaning groups say the Grandma's meeting is another example of Cravaack, R-North Branch, ignoring common Northlanders in favor of raising campaign money or meeting with his Republican-leaning allies. The National Federation of Independent Businesses supported Cravaack in his bid last November to unseat incumbent Democrat Jim Oberstar.
But Mike Hickey, Minnesota state director of the business owners' group, told the News Tribune that the $10 members will pay to listen to Cravaack at Grandma's "is for our members to pay for lunch and soda. It's absolutely not a fundraiser."
A similar protest was held Wednesday at Wayzata Country Club in suburban Minneapolis where Cravaack, House Speaker John Boehner and
Twin Cities Rep. Erik Paulsen attended a $10,000-per-person fundraiser for the chance to play golf with the Republicans, or $1,000 to dine with them. Cravaack did not golf but attended the dinner event, said Michael Bars, Cravaack's spokesman.
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Cravaack is scheduled to have breakfast todayat Northland Country Club in Duluth to address the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants.
The local protesters say Cravaack should hold a town hall meeting in the Duluth area before Congress' monthlong August recess comes to an end. They say Cravaack is dodging the area because of his votes in Congress to change Medicare and temporarily shut down projects under the Federal Aviation Administration, threatening construction projects.
"It's easy to only meet with people who have the same extreme ideology that led (Cravaack) to support turning Medicare into a voucher system and stubborn anti-union views that led to the costly shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration," said Dan O'Neill, president of the Duluth Central Labor Body, in a statement. "But the reality is if that's all you do, the only thing you're going to create is gridlock. In the 8th (Congressional District), what we need is job creation, not more gridlock."
But Bars noted that Cravaack has held open public town hall meetings in Deer River and Grand Portage this month, two of 12 he has held since he was elected, along with several telephone town halls held in recent months where computers randomly dial district residents to talk with the Congress member.
"I don't think anyone (in Congress) is more accessible than Chip," Bars told the News Tribune. "His visibility in the (8th) District is unparalleled."
On Wednesday, Cravaack is scheduled to attend a Coast Guard maritime exercise in the Duluth-Superior port.
