Minnesotans in Bloomington had an opportunity to do just that — meet the endorsed Republican candidate for Governor, at a party hosted by Jan Schneider and sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition. The RJC was kind enough to invite me to hear Tom Emmer speak, and below is the video of his remarks. We have interviewed Emmer several times over the past few years on our NARN show, with memorable appearances at the State Fair shows. The reason he makes such a great interview is apparent in the video; he says what’s on his mind, with a blunt speaking style that will remind some of Chris Christie, whom Emmer praised last night. In fact, Emmer admitted to a little envy, saying that Christie says all of the things Republicans say at meetings like these, but forces the media to cover it:

It’s a lengthy video, but worth the time. Pay special attention to Emmer’s explanation of the “tip credit” controversy and how it got misreported by the media. He says that the full video of the question and answer will be appearing on his campaign site soon to show how his remarks were not only taken out of context, but also that he never said anything about lowering the minimum wage for restaurant workers to $2.13 an hour as the media claimed. In the Q&A afterward, Emmer also addressed the issue of voter ID. At one point, he said, “I don’t care if anyone’s recording this or not. If you support voter ID, you support integrity in elections. If you oppose voter ID, you support voter fraud.” As I said — blunt.

We’ll try to get Emmer onto a TEMS soon, but if you are a NARN listener, stay tuned for the State Fair coming up in seven weeks. We’ll be sure to get Emmer back up on the stage.