Pete Hegseth For Senate

I wrote here about our friend Pete Hegseth’s campaign for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Amy Klobuchar. Pete returned from his last tour of duty as an Army Captain just in time to announce for the race, in which there are two other GOP contenders. Pete is a decorated combat veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Although very young–he is 31–Pete is not a stranger to the political world. He ran Vets For Freedom and turned that organization into a powerful force supporting our military personnel overseas. If you go here, you can see Pete testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. The subject of his testimony was Kagan’s banning of military recruiters when she was the dean of Harvard Law School. And if you go here, here, here and here, you can read Pete’s extremely thoughtful reports from Afghanistan that we published on this site.

Most of all, though, I urge you to go here, learn more about Pete, and donate to his campaign. He is by far the strongest candidate to take on Amy Klobuchar, and the only one with any real chance of success. Our state convention is later this month, and the Ron Paul forces have made a strong bid to stack the convention with delegates. They have their candidate for the Senate nomination. But Pete is the solid, consistent conservative in the race. He subscribes to the Reaganite three-legged stool, with conservative principles on the economy, foreign policy and the social issues.

Beyond that, Pete has a national profile and, with his youth and charisma, will bring some excitement to the Senate race. Taking on the Democratic Party machine in Minnesota isn’t easy, but Pete has the potential to attract the resources that will be necessary to inform voters about Klobuchar’s liberal voting record. (The newspapers and television stations, needless to say, have no interest in doing that.) As a member of Minnesota’s donor community, I can say with confidence that the other candidates in the race will have trouble attracting local, let alone national, resources. In a year like 2012, which should be a good one for the GOP, the last thing we should do is let a Senate seat go by default.

I talked with Pete today about the campaign and my intention to endorse him and urge our readers to contribute. Pete said, “Over the years as I have traveled around the country, and again as I have been campaigning here in Minnesota, I have been amazed by how many Power Line readers I run into. I have found that they are among the best-informed and most committed voters I meet. I would be honored if Power Line readers would support my campaign.”

If you are in Minnesota, I have a special invitation for you: I am co-sponsoring a fundraiser for Pete on Sunday, May 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. It will be at the Edina Country Club (5100 Wooddale Avenue, Edina, MN) and Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard will be our featured guest. You can get more information on the fundraiser here. If you are reading this post, you are invited! Please bring a check if you can; otherwise, just come and meet Pete. As an added bonus, you can meet me. And Bill Kristol. Yes, I know it’s Mother’s Day, but that’s all right: mothers get in free. Hope to see you there!

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