“Minnesota is a great place, and a lot of people look at the candidates for who they are,” he said. “And they may not agree with them on every issue, but they feel they can trust that person to be straight with them.”

A new direction

With too few exceptions, Walz has been a loyal supporter of the Democratic leadership of the House, Davis said.

“What we were told in 2006 is that we were going to see an independent voice. We haven’t seen that from Mr. Walz.”

Walz bucked his leadership on gun issues, the No Child Left Behind education plan and on the $700 billion bailout of the financial services industry — but not much else, Davis said.

“And when it comes to the votes on Iraq, he hasn’t always been there — I would argue — in terms of supporting the mission.”

Much of Davis’ campaign has centered on oil drilling. Davis supports virtually unlimited access for the oil companies to federal waters and lands, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He condemns Walz for initially opposing expanded offshore drilling, although Walz later joined a coalition of Democrats and Republicans who developed a compromise plan that received 179 Republican votes (about 90 percent of all Republicans) in the House earlier this fall.

But the delay was a costly one, Davis said.

“That preceded our financial crisis, and the two are very much related,” he said. “I think it’s difficult to deny that that precipitated our financial crisis. And that’s where we differ.”

Davis adds that the bursting of the housing bubble and the reckless lending practices of financial institutions also played a role.

Criticisms

The Walz campaign and the Democratic Party have criticized Davis’ positions on Social Security and taxes, in both cases not telling the complete story.

Because Davis would consider partial privatization of Social Security, a Walz ad has said Davis supports “cutting guaranteed benefits.” The basis of the accusation is that Davis would undermine the financial viability of the system because younger workers would be able to divert money to private accounts.