The Facebook photos Tom Emmer doesn't want you to see

•  his name is not tripp. he is named after his dad and grandfather. thomas emmer III. nicknamed tripp

• FUCK TOM EMMER he is a racist homophobic bastard who fucks his wife too much, just look at all those kids. he's a horny little scum bag, hope he dies a horrible slow painful death

• It was very sad to see Tripp and his friends drinking like this. I know that drinking can tear apart families, even if it is in young people who hopefully grow out of it. Some do not. And some get into cars and drive drunk. Not too funny.

• Using your dead son in a disgusting DFL advertisement must have made your son roll over in his grave. Margaret, you are disgusting!

• Things you do in your twenties no way define you as an adult. Infact mistakes we make at that age make us better people - we learn from them. Did your publication attack Clinton for smoking pot as a college student? I find your journalism immature and accusatory with no basis.

• Ok. First of all does Tripp drinking mean emmer is incompetent? No. Second, do the decisions of a son reflect the father? Yes. Maybe the concern should be why drawing genitalia on passed out women and smiling with a thumbs up for a picture is O.K. according to Tripp. Personally I find that repulsive and would say it reflects his father's general disrespect for women and their rights. With the exception of the above mentioned issue I can agree that this story is relatively insignificant and agree that CP should focus on more important political stories in the future. But come on, clearly Tripp isn't your typical 19 year old nice guy.. lets stop making him out to be a victim and let him take responsibility for his actions, something he and his father dont seem to be capable of.

• Attacking a candidates past is fair game. But attacking him for his son's action is wrong. Do you think it is something as a father he condones or is proud of? Grow up?

• This is horrendous! Clearly Tom Emmer is not a qualified candidate because his son has a drinking problem! Does anyone find any logic in that statement? I hope not! Although it was interesting to see the correlation between Tripp's and Tom Emmer's drinking problems, the story itself should not have been published, for it reports on the family of Emmer, which is pathetic, and doesn't focus on the REAL issues.

• Who cares...everyone drinks underage.

• As you can see it is alright for renuzicians to have a good time at other people's expense and are above the law while people who are on the otherside of the fence or isle or oppose them like democrates can not get away with it but Tripp up with the help from Daddie can because he is running for governor and running away from the truth that they are both drunks and can be both drunk as a scunk if things go wrong and not the way they want. Oh! that is just to bad because it is called life! When you drink like they do you think that solves your problems and you for get. Not!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Uhm...how could the media miss that Tom Jr. was coming from a strip club when he got his last minor. Relevant or not, it's certainly newsworthy.

• How come no one mentioned

• Both Emmer and his douchbag son give hockey players a bad name

• So what? He's a kid, what kid hasn�t consumed some sort of alcohol before they turn 21? I am guessing the author of this story went to college; did you not partake in a drink ever? He is a kid, and who ever thought this could pass as a legitimate news story clearly has nothing better to write about as a story. Here is a story, "Liberal Douche Bag starts attacking candidate�s families for the simple reason that they are not of the same political party as the reporter." Kind of a long title, but I think it would make for better reading. I hope you don�t have kids Kevin, last thing we need is you putting morals into young minds. Do the right thing and leave the family of the candidates out of it.

• Well said Moderate guy. But be prepared to be called a right winger or an operative for the MN GOP like I have been time and again for pointing out how low these articles are. I have voted for the DFL or a Democrat more than 95% of the times I have voted on any position. The other 5% never once included a Republican. It's pathetic. I used to think that Democrats were better than Republicans in this department. More moral, not willing to go for the low blow. I was wrong, they really aren't any different and that is very saddening to me. I disagree with the shady tactics employed and they throw me under the bus.

• I find it pretty upsetting that the staff at Citypages decided to run with this. Family attacks always backfire. This publication has never hid it's liberal bias, and I suspect we won't see any articles degrading Dayton or Horner about problems that may have happened in their families. Maybe Mr Hoffman's family has been problem free, but I know mine hasn't. This is trash and I'll consider this article if I decide to read anything he writes again. Let's face it, none of these candidates are thrilling, but garbage like this only upsets voters who are already disgruntled by hyper-partisan politics.

• Boys will be boys is Bull shit! This is not an 18 year old acting like a 18 year old unless you have low morals! I believe, like many other Minnesotans His actions were sick and disgusting. It is a reflection of this moral upbringing...Plain and simple

• I used to get f'd up when I was Tripp's age.We NEVER abused women like is done here.The real sad part about this is he posted it like some sort of trophy.He's scum and so are the other kids in the photo.

• The real situation is not only that he was underage drinking, but those pics of a penis drawn on that poor girl's body. I understand that boys will be boys, but when do we stop tolerating this kind of behavior? What if this was a black girl with markings of the "N" word on her? There is absolutely no difference as both are degrading to humanity. As for CP posting this information...To all you Conservatives, FOX News does this kind of reporting all the time and you love it! These kids are fair game and pose the situation that if Mr Emmer can't control his children, how can he control legislature? Remember, children learn from their parents.

• @Kevin, hate to agree with the Wingnuts, but this isn't much of a story, and it implies a certain amount of laziness on the part of the reporters. I mean, the "son of a drunk is a drunk" kinda writes itself, ya know? If you guys want to do something germane and meaty, how about digging into Tom Emmer's personal finances and legal dealings. The guy can't manage his own checkbook and legal affairs. Hell, he's not competent to run a lemonade stand. He's certainly no candidate for operating such a large, complex, legal and financial entity as the State of Minnesota. Maybe not as sexy as the drunken son thing, but a lot more relevant.

• Unfortunately for you, that "moron" you speak of is sober, did not draw the sharpie, and most definitely was good friends with the girl at the time. We come from a school with a graduating class of 160 pupils, where everyone knows everyone and having a good time together is always a must. We (as in our close group of friends who attended the party) all laughed in the morning as good friends do who like to give each other a hard time. What, you think we figure she's passed out so let's rape her? Absolutely not. Things like that don't happen where we come from, we are plenty more respectable than that. Not only that, I can't remember the last time I was at a party and alcohol wasn't consumed. I would even agree parents, that is sad, but wake up! It's reality. If you want your children to grow up as hermits, not see the world and have no fun on their own, then go ahead and force it upon them. HAD Tom known better of the behavior, he would have intervened himself. So very sorry our parents would like us to live life on our own and not hound us constantly. Come on people, we were nearly adults and at some point we were going to realize that what we're doing is immature. Not that I should EVEN be needing to say this, but in case you still feel thick in the skull about how "relevant" this topic is, who is the media to throw bulls*** pork against a man who is a great guy, has great morals and would absolutely not tolerate that behavior in his own household. Get your facts straight before assuming something so absurd.

• First, the talking point that these pictures were taken in Canada is moot. He got busted for underage drinking in America. Second, why are people so upset about the penis drawings? I have seen them referred to as sexual assault, sexually inappropriate?? I'm sorry, but you must not have gone to any parties when you were younger. If you drink too much and pass out, there are consequences. Normally it's a boy drawing on a boy, but if they leave girls out isn't that being sexist? Does that underage girl get a free pass from drinking to the point of passing out because she's not Tom Emmer's child? Sure he was an asshole to take pictures and post them on facebook, but all in all this is pretty normal behavior from a 19-20 year old. Seems a lot of you haven't been 19-20 in quite some time. Looks like CP is running with the drawings now to try to take the heat off how shady this has all been. Greeeeeeeeeeeeat. This is getting ridiculous.

• "He is sociable, outgoing, and EXTREMELY well mannered young man" Well, he does appear to be sociable and outgoing in the photos. Well mannered I have an argument with. I would hope the young woman would press charges against this moron. What I see is culpability and assault.

• I am good friends with tripp and from his hometown. Funny an unsolicited group needs to pull the most hellacious lies about the "opposed" party's family. Not only was tripp completely sober, but that picture was years ago, try 2006. I was at that party and I personally know the other two people in the picture. Who's got the marker in hand? Not tripp. People need to understand tripp's personality and a simple thumbs up does not prove anyone guilty. He is sociable, outgoing, and EXTREMELY well mannered young man. Shame on anyone who would try to twist the truth.

• Besides Emmer grinning about this, and publishing it on Facebook to document and publicize his humiliation of the defenseless woman, there is another youth atop her. This is okay with you GOP types? She asked for and expected such a mounting effort, to be photographed and displayed on Facebook? She asked for it by partying with people she wrongly trusted? She asked for it don't cut much these days. We've moved past that. The woman was abused and should sue and collect damages. Who bought the beer and supplied it to minors? Who provided the party site, without supervision? Who drank and drove home? If Tripp Emmer had his snoot full as depicted, loose eyelids and all, and drove home - did the apple fall far from the tree?

• Tripp Emmer is 20 years old and is an ADULT! Underage drinking is not a story. Engaging in sexually inappropriate conduct with an unconscious girl is not a " child that goofed up."

• Nothing is ok about going after someones children. They are good kids. and who doesnt make mistakes? This is a child that goofed up. You cant tell me that all u people who are bitching about it have not made your fare share of them!!!!!

• Apparently, Tripp's college major is 'Date Rape.' Another Emmer moment we can all be proud of.......

• Did you know Ken Pentel is also running for Governor? I am voting for him.

• Big John: Ummmm, Emmer's son didn't have a DWI. Can you people at least TRY to get your facts straight before you shoot your mouths off?

• Anyone who says that this issue is not fair game in deciding who to vote for needs to think about this again. First of all this guy touts his management of his kids in his ad. His son posted these pictures on his public myspace page. He obviously does not look at his kids myspace page or doesn't care until he runs for office. This tells me that he approves of the degradation of this girl and under age drinking. If he can't manage his kids how is he going to manage this state? Less than a year later his son gets a DWI (the apple doesn�t fall far from the tree). some people are saying ohh its not a big deal. Really? Not a big deal? Would you be saying that if he plowed into a group of kids? That is a major problem with this state. This state has more DWIs than I have seen in all my travels in the U.S. People think its the norm or kids being kids. WAKE UP and realize that underage drinking can cause long term damage to the liver, the brain, can lead to DWI. DWI = at the very least an embarrassing permanent record that may impair their future as employers ask about this to possible death of that person and other people that the person may hit. As far as I am concerned he is at least partially responsible for his sons behavior and some of that should reflect on him. It doesn't sound like he is taking enough responsibility for this and is not taking this as seriously as he should.

• Warren Spannaus.... now there's an objective voice. LMFAO He was quite possbily the most unpopular AG the state has ever had.

• ope

• I came across young Emmer's conviction more than a month ago, while or shortly after tne DUI ads ran, and wondered why the press hadn't even mentioned it. When Emmer ran an ad featuring his idyllic family, I wondered again and thought, "OK, they feel family is off limits." Reading that young Emmer was/is employed by his father's campaign (at over $300 a week) makes it relevant, IMO, just as it would be if any other staffer had been popped for commission of a crime. (I also can't help but wonder what Emmer's many volunteers and contributors think about Emmer using the campaign as a way to employ family members.)

• LOL Journalism at it's finest. Really...who cares? Mark Dayton is a lunatic, and Tom Horner...well Tom Horner has an actual chance of winning this thing. Tom Emmer is a skidmark on the underpants of the Republican Party. He's a nobody. He's an angry neoconservative with a grudge against Democrats for screwing the pooch the last 4 years. Big deal. Don't throw his kid under the bus...seriously...fuck you for even doing this.

• For Paul wondering why we pull the drivers license of a drunk driver before they are convicted. Read the letter to the editor From Warren Spannus in Fridays Tribune. We do not give a person who already shows how irresponsible they are to do it again and perhaps maim or kill Minnesota citizens.

• GKN, The truth of Emmer's DWI legislation is that it was authored by Lawyers who were primarily DWI defense lawyers who try to get people off. Now, they very rarely contracted with the municipality to prosecute cases, but their bread and butter is trying to get people off. Emmer misrepresented the fact that he supported legislation from DWI defenders. Some would say he lied. Either way, he tried to weaken DWI law in a way that would benefit him

• GKN, Is the person your reference a paid staffer of a campaign, because Tripp is. Is the person you referenced family paid staffers of any campaign? If they are paid staffers, and they screw up, they are fair game. Are they paid staffers? Did they screw up? I answered you question, you answer mine please.

• Dear Anonymous, I don't give a rip about Mark Dayton. This isn't about Mark Dayton, so please stop trying to divert the conversation away from the Emmer article. The point I am trying to make is Tom Emmer lacks the intelligence to be our next governor. He recently talked about proposing legislation that was already in place. I live in Delano and I know Tom Emmer and his kids. I find the political ads portraying his family as "The Brady Bunch" ridiculous. I won't comment on some of the stunts the younger Emmer boys have pulled because they are not adult aged, paid campaign staffers like Tripp. Finally, it is a complete joke for Tom Emmer to be talking about managing our state budget when he couldn't manage his own personal finances.

• Dear westofmpls: Please expound upon the brilliance of Mark Dayton.

• ...oh, yea Joe - stupidity has always been legal. It's just not what we need in a governor and all you have do you is read what Emmer senior has written over the years and you will see that he has stupidity covered.

• Emmer was foolish to subject his Family in a Poltical Commerical. Mark Dayton is recovered Alcoholic has the time to serve the Public in the Gov. Mansion. Affiant Sharon Anderson 2nd Husband SilverStar,Purple Heart PTSD from Korea was exploited by the City and County Attorneys ended at Brainard State Hospital, subsequently Murdered 21Sept2000 10 years City St.Paul has always looked the other way licensing BARS> Condeming Propertys Now Sara Grewing new City Attorney v. Landlords will break the bank of "Risk Managment" www.justalandlord.com www.sharonswater.blogspot.com www.sharonagmn2010.blogspot.com

• Emmer is portraying his kids as "The Brady Bunch" on a billboard on Hwy 494 and Hwy 55. He dragged his family into the campaign, and Tripp, being an adult, is fair game. Emmer campaigns about fiscal responsibility. He must have learned his lesson from having a foreclosure notice on his house...probably around 2004 or 2005 or so..it was posted in the Delano Eagle... Maybe that is why he sued a landscaper because he didn't want to pay him for work his wife authorized (he lost and had to pay like he should have in the first place). Emmer is a man lacking brain matter who is not looking out for the middle class. If he is going to cut school funding, let's start with the Delano High School sports programs...they aren't vital to earning a high school diploma.

• These photos were taken in Canada therefore making them legal.

• The penis drawings were clearly art so I'm certain that your typical CP reader would likely approve of this for an NEA grant.

• I wonder of the penises drawn on the young ladies face were drawn by a graduate of a public Minnesota High School. If so, I'm concerned. They do not meet minimal standards. What's the answer? Add an art component to the standardized tests? You tell me...

• "Shut up". Ah yes, when you don't want to hear the truth, stifle it.

• Tommy, You're a class A moron plain and simple. You don't have one effing clue about the context of Emmer's DWI legislation other than the simplistic sound bites that the DFL and ABM have offered. "Mugs" Everson injected herself into the campaign. It's interesting to note that she didn't mention her son's DWI track record. Why is that? I'm sure the City Pages will be doing an investigative piece on that record for an upcoming expose'.

• "Is Margaret Everson and her family fair game since she inserted herself and family into the campaign?" Yes. Now shut up.

• GKN, "blinded by (my) partisanship"??!? Go with that; it works for you. The difference you refuse to see, is a paid staffer - Emmer's kid - drawing dicks on an unconscious woman v. a mom saddened by her loss commenting on Emmer's personal DWI history AND DWI legislative record. I'm sure that's apples-apples on your world. Here on terra firma, not so much.

• Really Tommy, WTF? The standard that is being applied here that family is fair game if they had been inserted into the campaign. Margaret Everson certainly has inserted herself into the campaign woudln't you say? So since this standard is being applied here, the threat of the same being applied equally to others doesn't sit well with you? Why is that? Is it because you are too blinded by your partisanship? What a hack.

• First of all, I don't know when the City Pages ever claimed to be any kind of serious journalistic endeavor. Everybody within a 500-mile radius of Minneapolis knows that they lean far to the left, so get the f*ck over it. Everyone drank before 21. We all know that. The things about this that bug me are: (1) his thumbs-up and douchebag, shit-eating grin next to the unconscious girl. I drank before 21 but I never did that, and never would have. It's mean and just so stupid. What kind of father raises a child to do this? That's a good question. (2) HE WAS IN THE TV AD. Once that happens and he's used for political gain, it seems to me that it's fair that he's open to criticism too. If you don't like that, THEN DON'T USE YOUR CHILDREN FOR POLITICAL GAIN (are you listening, Sarah Palin? And doesn't she also have a child called Tripp?)

• <i>"Is Margaret Everson and her family fair game? "</i> According to whom? As it was current GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb who went after campaign staffers two years ago, some/many argue under Brodkorb's standards, Emmer's campaign staffer kid certainly is. So, I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see GOPers continuing to lower the bar in their race to the cesspool by putting Everson and her family in play.... It would just be another example demonstrating that GOP now stands for Greed Over Principles.

• Strawman argument but if you want to criticize him then go ahead. Is Margaret Everson and her family fair game?

• Hey, GKN: Tom Emmer's son Tripp posted a photo of himself proudly pointing to an unconscious young woman whose face and upper body were defaced with laundry-marker images of a spurting penis. Name one non-Republican candidate's offspring of whom this can be said. Or do you approve of abusing people who are helpless, even if only temporarily?

• Hey Alec: Is Margaret Everson and her family fair game since she inserted herself and family into the campaign?

• Yep, looks like assault. Also, Tripp, I believe is a paid employee of the Emmer campaign. He is a public spokesperson for the Emmer campaign. You want your family to be part of the campaign, then your family is part of the campaign.

• Oh, yes: Notice how the Cons here are doing their level best to ignore the documented photographic evidence, on Tripp's own Facebook page, that he and at least two of his buddies (the one with him in the photo and the one taking it) thought they should show the world that women who make the mistake of going to parties with them deserve to be taken advantage of when helpless due to drink or to roofies slipped in their drinks. And yes, that sure looks like assault to me. Here's one of the relevant Minnesota statutes: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?year=2009&id=609.235#stat.609.235

• Yeah, my Swedish and Norwegian grandparents didn't approve of these German and Irish immigrants and their hard drinking ways. We needed more good Lutherans to keep Minnesota clean.

• Anonymous Emmer Staffer @ 12:08 am (hi, Tripp!): So, somebody who is a paid staffer for his dad's campaign (http://www.cfbreport.state.mn.us/pdfStorage/2010/CampFin/A/16914.pdf), and who committed a form of assault on an unconscious woman, just made a widdle boo-boo? We're talking about somebody who took an unconscious, unwilling woman and drew spurting penises all over her face and body, marking her as a "slut", to boot, to be displayed as such all over Facebook -- because apparently in the conservative code, women who date before marriage are all "sluts" who deserve to be treated like dirt. You're saying he just made a widdle boo-boo and we're all meanies for pointing this out? What a messed-up sense of morals you're showing.

• Bobby refers to Tripp as a "20 year old kid." If he had been 15 and killed someone, I bet Bobby wouldn't be tossing around the word "kid" then.

• Stupid is what stupid does...

• So, you're putting a kid making mistakes on the front page of your site and sleeping well tonight? That's really not ok. I'm not voting for Tom Because I disagree with him politically but you guy's are really wrong right now. Seriously.

• "The abortion comparison doesn't work here. Tom Emmer likes to drink. He was trying to pass a law that made the punishment for drinking and driving less severe. " It does work since I'm implicating him as a conservative hypocrite, not arguing the semantics of his legislative record.

• Love watching Republicans pretend that Tarryl Clark doing what most politicians do and putting her kids in an ad is EXACTLY THE SAME as Tom Emmer's son (and paid campaign spokesman and staffer starring in ads designed to make the Emmer family seem oh-so-wholesome) humiliating a young woman by drawing spurting dicks all over her face and body and then posting the evidence on Facebook. Keep it up,

• Hey Jen, You must not know many conservatives! Conservatives want to be left alone.. especially by the government, and ask nothing from anybody! Liberals on the other hand act like they are above everyone else and have a right to the property. If you disagree with Obama they call you a racist, if you disagree with someones life style they call you a homophob or what ever, etc! just look at the way our elitist President acts!!

• ONCE AGAIN, YOU FAGGOT LIBERALS HAVE TO TRY TO RUIN SOMEONES CREDABILITY CAUSE THY DONT BELIEVE IN YOUR FUCKED UP VIEWS.. WHEN THE SHIT HITS THE FAN ALL YOU LIBS WILL SUFFER,YOU ALREADY TRY TO KEEP MINORITIES DOWN IN THIS COUNTRY BY MAKING THEM DEPENDENT ON YOUR GOVERNMENT, YOUR COMMUNIST PIGS, AND OH YA WOODSTOCK, HIPPIES AND ALL THE REST OF YOUR COMBAT BOOT WEARNIN BUDDY HOLLY GLASSES, SLEVED TATTOOED DIKE BITCHES ON THEIR 1920 BICYCLES, WEARIN A SUN DRESS,, FUCK UPTOWN TOO!!! HAIL EASTSIDE ST.PAUL...

• Can we just stop with this "Emmer wanted make the punishment less severe BS"? It's not true. It had nothing to do with reducing penalties for CONVICTED DWI offenders. It was a due process issue... people shouldn't automatically lose their license before being convicted. The crowds that screamed for Habeus Corpus for the Gitmo gang should understand this but these same people are crucifying Emmer.

• David - The abortion comparison doesn't work here. Tom Emmer likes to drink. He was trying to pass a law that made the punishment for drinking and driving less severe. So wouldn't it be more damning if it came out that his son was sober in your comparison? Tom Emmer supports drinking. His son drinks. Real shocker there. The legality of abortions is an actual political issue. Sadly, there are people that vote exclusively on that issue or similar issues.There is not nearly the same kind of debate over under age drinking, because it's not a political issue. You can say the right would be making similar attacks if they had this dirt on an opposing candidate's kid, and you'd probably be right. So does that mean we should stoop to their level? If no one takes the first step, we're going to be where we are now forever, and that's a terrible thing. If a big news source like the City Pages can somehow justify doing this, then what's next? I'm afraid to find out the answer.

• Coming soon to a City Pages near you, a Kevin Hoffman column: The DWI's that the Alliance for a Better Minnesota and a certain TV commercial spokesperson doesn't want you to know about!

• Tripp plays hockey in Canada and i'm pretty sure it is legal to drink when you are 19 in Manitoba. None of this has anything to do with being governor of our state.

• We should all vote for Emmer. It seems he and his family needs the government driver the most.

• Let set the record straight these photos were taken in Canada where the drinking age is 18!!!

• Ok, let's say the guy was the Pope. Relevant yet? Granted it's a cheap shot...but this is politics; home of the cheap shot. Par for the course, business as usual. Don't want your family to be scrutinized...don't hold them up to scrutiny and leave them out of your propaganda. If his wife had made some crack about limiting access to abortions, then we found out she had 15 of them...or has his daughter discussing abstinence and then she got pregnan...too soon?

• How about the fact that one of his favorite movies included an elementary spelling error. "The Dark Night" Are you kidding me?

• Uh.. Let me remind you, you're reading CITY PAGES. This stuff is classic CP material. Kudos for showing a douchebag, further proving that you need to really watch what you put on Facebook before you get put on blast.

• David - No that would not make him off limits, but it would make this story even more irrelevant than it already is. I know a certain Palin that names their kid Tripp (or Trig or something?) (What's next? Fax Palin?) While he might not be a "child", but he is still a family member. Family members, in my opinion, should be off limits, especially to personal attacks like this. Even the golden boy Obama said that. Instead of rising above the attacks that are prominent on the right, City Pages sinks to their level. Jeremy - I have been as critical of CP as anyone in this comment thread. I voted for Dayton in the primary and plan to vote for him in the general election as well. I hate Tom Emmer but I can respect him enough to not care that his son did the same things I did when I was 19. Making generalizations like you did doesn't help anything. All in all this is a cheap shot with the intent of getting page views, which they have now received due to links from various sites across the web. I would prefer that CP do some investigative journalism on something relating to the campaign than take the path of least resistance and try to turn a non-news story into a campaign issue. We all lose when that happens. Also, I'll ask again, why am I the only one asking about the Miller Lite and the OAR???? If I were to grill Emmer about this story, I would ask him why he didn't teach his son to drink real beer and listen to real music. Why did CP leave the difficult questions unanswered?

• I love the hypocrisy. If this had been one of Dayton's sons, all of the people in here bashing CP (way to shoot the messenger, btw) would be calling Dayton a bad father, and would be attempting to draw parallels between his inability to keep his children in check, and his probable inability to do the same for our state. Don't blame CP because your favored candidate's son is just as big a d-bag as he is.

• Why are half of you referring to Tripp as a "child" or "kid"? He's 20. He can go get shot for oil. He's a man. A man standing up for a candidate in a campaign ad. While his relationship to Tom is relevant, imagine for a moment he was just some guy they interviewed that talked about how much Tim loves cutting taxes. Is he off-limits then? Let this man stand on his own two feet and taste the repercussions of his bad decisions. Also...who the fuck names their kid Tripp?

• And, to focus on ACTUAL POLITICAL STANCES, which should be much more important than any of this when it comes to deciding your vote, go here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/ongoing/select_a_candidate/positions.php?race_id=24 I had already decided against Emmer long before any of this tabloid crap came up, due to his opposition to renewable energy mandates, opposition to women's rights, plans for reducing environmental regulations on factory farms, support of "an Arizona-style immigration crackdown", opposition to gay rights, and the list goes on. Frankly, Dayton wasn't my pick for Democratic candidate, but he's a far better choice for my values and beliefs than Emmer could ever pretend to be.

• Cathy, it's not being an alcoholic that makes a person a bad decision-maker and selfish asshole. Admitting you are an alcoholic is not nearly the same as choosing to, more than once, risk the lives of others by driving while intoxicated. Dayton instead decided to Man Up to his alcoholism by acknowledging its existence and seeking help. Had he not admitted it, we probably would never even know it was something he is dealing with because he's smart enough not to get behind the wheel when he's hammered. Emmer has only tried to blatantly cover it up by changing the laws to go easier on DWI offenders. I don't really give a shit what his not-too-bright son does, but his past actions prove that he is a self-absorbed coward. Now THAT'S something to consider when choosing your candidate.

• Maybe Uncle Drew is hiding out from the Wright County Tax Assessor-- http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/2010/08/which-emmer-is-in-arrears-on-delano.html

• This is hilarious! I'm curious, have you been holding Mark Dayton to the same standards? The man lapsed into an alcoholic relapse in his last year at US Senator, then in an interview says, "Anyone involved in recovery knows that no one, regardless of length of sobriety, can guarantee its permanent continuation." http://www.minnpost.com/ericblack/2010/01/06/14696/mark_dayton_no_one_can_guarantee_sobriety Moral relevance pot, meet kettle. Emmer's DUIs were 20 & 30 years ago. Dayton's relapse was 4. Big difference. You guys are as pathetic as the DFL primary winner.

• Kind of like Tom's Uncle Drew's disappearing blog "Wright County Republican." Wonder what scribblings of Drew Emmer's his nephew is trying to hide from the public? http://thecuckingstool.blogspot.com/2010/06/into-thiner-air.html And why is Uncle Drew, former campaign manager of Nephew Tom, no longer a member of Nephew Tom's campaign team?

• You guys are really classy. Going after families? How is it relevant to the issues facing the state? It's not, take a page out of Obama's playbook and leave families alone.

• I'm sure none of you drank before you were 21, right? This is a pathetic excuse for journalism. All you people that are justifying this by Emmer putting his family in the campaign ad are just as guilty as City Pages. They are just going to do this again and again until we stand up, together, and say enough is enough and that we would prefer actual journalism. Have we really lost all sense of morality as a nation? I'm not talking about the phony morality the religious right trumpets, I'm talking about seeing things they way they actually are. Right is right, wrong is wrong. Political affiliations don't affect that. Politics should not be a team sport, because EVERYONE loses when it is. This is just going to further justify personal attacks on Mark Dayton in the mind of people on Emmer's side. It's an endless cycle. Politics is no longer about people's lives, it's about people's son's facebook page. And that makes me want to go find the nearest pillow and cry into it for hours.

• Wow, Kate has not been laid in while, what a bitch.

• Bobby - I too feel it's a little unseemly to write about a candidate's family. But the fact of the matter is Emmer could have opted to keep his family out of the spotlight. The fact his family is in the news is at least 75% his fault. He should just go back to campaigning against civil rights by his lonesome.

• Tarryl Clark uses a single still photograph of herself with her family, and devotes one sentence each to her sons' current whereabouts and accomplishments. That's hardly the same thing as featuring your children in a TV ad to cutesy up your campaign.. That being said, going after a candidates child seems pretty weak. He can't help that douchebaggery is in his genes.. He'll get what's coming to him eventually.

• I disagree Johnny and Paul. I hate Sarah Palin as much as the next liberal (I am liberal, by the way), but what the media did to Bristol Palin was disgusting. Every candidate certainly at least mentions their family at some point in the campaign. Does that make them fair game for attack? If you hold that mentality, all you are saying to these reprehensible media outlets is that what they are doing is alright. Tom Emmer is a terrible man and a terrible candidate. There are so many ways City Pages could have gone after him, yet they chose to take this route. A route that takes no skill and no effort. I don't understand why CP thinks their readers would care to know that Tom Emmer's son is just like almost every other 20 year old in Minnesota. I would be more upset to find out he was some goody two shoes who didn't drink and didn't draw on passed out friends. I think more highly of Tom Emmer today than I did yesterday because now I know a son he raised is completely normal. Lastly, City Pages didn't even go after the things they should have gone after. He was drinking Miller Lite and listed OAR as his favorite band. Ewwwwww.

• Kind of like this Johnny? http://tarrylclark.com/about You people are so fucking hypocritical, it is almost comical. I can't wait for November, when the GOP controls the House and the Senate, and renders Obama useless.

• As much as I hate to say it, if he's using his family as a campaign tool, then they're fair game to attack. Regarding Emmer's positions on DWI, while I disagree with privatizing the record after ten years, can someone tell me why the licenses are getting yanked BEFORE the person is found guilty?

• Since Emmer has chosen to use his kids in his ads, he just made himself--and them--fair game. Same goes for any other candidate regardless of party.

• Bobby, that is all the CP is anymore, just a bullshit piece of garbage shilling for the left.

• So Jen, sure you have an example.

• The similarities between father and son are uncanny. One is an obnoxious, loud-mouthed douchebag, and so is the other. One has a severe love for the drink, and so does the other. One will draw penises on your face if you fall asleep with him in the room, and I can only assume that so will the other.

• I know you guys need your page views, but this is really despicable. I would much rather you put this kind of effort into something that actually affects the governor's race. On top of that, it's pretty low to go after the family of a candidate, especially a 20 year old kid. Is this what the once great City Pages has been brought to? That Jerry Moore piece a few weeks ago was excellent. Many of your cover stories are still great too, but I am losing more and more faith with each passing week. Enough is enough with this smut peddling business you've gotten into. Your readers want and deserve more than that! Please, I'm begging you, as a once-faithful reader that you are about to lose for good: Stop.

• Tom Emmer has been going around acting morally superior to everyone else? I must have missed it.

• I guess you guys actually used a camera to take your "screen shots".

• I'm considering voting for Emmer as he would seem to be our best hope for repealing the statewide ban on Sunday liquor sales.

TotalComments: 100