"What do you call a candidate who attacks Rudy Perpich in northeastern Minnesota?

"A Loser.

So goes the new joke rapidly spreading throughout Minnesota's 8th congressional district in the wake of St Cloud resident Tarryl Clark's explosive and completely unprovoked attack on the DFL-endorsed front-runner in the race, former Congressman Rick Nolan of Crosby, and on the popular late former Governor Rudy Perpich of Hibbing.

Clark's 11th hour attack on Nolan and Perpich is clearly an act of desperation by a campaign rich in outside money and poor in grass roots support. Clark is now facing the grim reality that telling voters in northeastern Minnesota 'no one can beat me, I have too much money' is not a strategy for success. Indeed, her carpetbagging campaign has failed to gain traction in the 8th district over the past 13 months, and even her campaign manager has acknowledged to the Minneapolis Star Tribune that money alone can't win elections:

You cannot compete without money, but money doesn't do anything for you if you don't also have the underlying support of voters and individuals..

And he is right; If having an obscene amount of money guaranteed success, Clark would be representing the 6th district in Congress and Matt Entenza would be governor of Minnesota. In order to win support, one must have a strong message that resonates with voters. Shockingly, Clark is running her current campaign on exactly the same generic fit-any-district message that failed miserably in her home district against Michele Bachmann in 2010 - hardly a formula for success against Bachmann-clone Cravaack in a district that loathes carpetbaggers. Tarryl Clark remains an outsider with lots of outside money who has no message that has resonated with the voters in the 8th congressional district.

In contrast, the Nolan campaign has raised less money, but has built strong grass roots support across the 8th congressional district. The Cuyuna Range native has been outspent yet has won every straw poll, numerous labor endorsements and the DFL endorsement, and continues to build momentum in the race. Nolan is able to do so because voters get his message. Voters like his message. And voters know that an honest candidate with a strong, clear message is a winner. A proven winner, Nolan didn’t repeatedly win elections in conservative areas (including what is now the southern part of the 8th district) because he had the most money. Nolan won because people respected him. Nolan won because people trusted him. Nolan won because he is just that good. The people of the 8th district have seen Nolan run an aggressive boots-on-the-ground campaign in this race. They have seen his energy and his passion and his commitment for the common good. And the voters clearly like what they see.

A candidate without a message is like a hunter without a compass, wandering aimlessly through the dense forest. St Cloud resident Clark is a lost soul desperately clawing her way through the unfamiliar wilderness of northern Minnesota, yet unlike the hunter who is soon rescued by a search party, there is no one looking for Tarryl because no one knows she is missing.

No amount of money is going to change that.

Because in the 8th district, as in the Beatles classic, money can’t buy love.

Cross posted at Iron Country Free Press