A note for St. Cloud state Senator Tarryl Clark (who tells me she reads this blog) --

Dear Tarryl,
I am sure by now you know that your remark on Michele Bachmann being "the devil in the blue dress" has become a target for the blogs and the newspapers.

"Michele is the devil in a blue dress, and Patty's a saint," said Sen. Tarryl Clark, DFL-St. Cloud, who, along with husband Doug, was a Wetterling delegate.

I know this was in a seconding speech for Wetterling and it was meant to be red meat for the delegates to cheer. Goodness knows this kind of thing happens at every convention.

But it's nevertheless a mistake, not because of the words but because of who you are. You are no longer a lobbyist nor a functionary of the DFL. You are my representative to the State Senate. If there is a bill now before the Senate that could help our district -- oh, I don't know, maybe an expansion of the National Hockey Center? -- and you need her vote or those who support her, are you going to do business with "the devil"? How effective do you think your appeal will be?

As our representative, you have an obligation not to piss off people you may need to work with in that capacity. You let the politics of the particular moment get ahead of those obligations Saturday. My readers who live in the district and I will not forget this in November. An apology to your district and to Sen. Bachmann would seem to be in order.