Jim Oberstar is a Democrat congressman from Minnesota. One might be tempted to say that after spending 50 years in Washington – 14 years as a congressional staffer and the last 36 years as a congressman – he’s lost touch with his constituents.

Politico.com has the exceedingly odd details:
With a potentially competitive race developing back home in Minnesota’s 8th District, Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar collected a contribution from just one resident of the district between June 22 and Sept. 30, according to a federal election report filed Wednesday.
Jane Robbins of Pine City gave Oberstar $500 on Aug. 22.
Other than that, all of his contributions came from political action committees, Native American tribes or individual donors in other districts and states.
In all, the veteran Iron Range Democrat, first elected in 1974, collected just $233,102 in receipts over the time period. By comparison, fellow Minnesotan Michele Bachmann, a Republican firebrand, pulled in $5.4 million between July 1 and Sept. 30.
Nevertheless, no one can accuse Oberstar of not listening to his constituents as long as they remember that his constituents are PACs, lobbyists, Native American tribes and people from outside his district.
Source: Politico.com
This post was last modified on October 20, 2010

View Comments (14)
Heh heh heh -- I actually grew up in Pine City (fled as quick as I could) and knew Mayor Jane Robbins. She's been around since God was a kid so probably got confused as to what she was doing.
Pine City is a town you go through on your way to & from Duluth, if you are from the TwinCities.
To think that this guy gets even a single vote is mystifying ... people like him, Crist, Blumenthal, Grayson - I mean *who the heck* is voting for this POS?
mv
p.s. Olberstar, Olberdork - haven't met an Olber-anything worth a crap!
MichiganVet. I too am amazed that this sleazebag can get a vote. But, the Sheeple of Minn simply vote for whomever the Mpls Red Star and Sickle tell them to vote for, or worse, do whatever the unions (which have made most of No. Minn unemployed for the last 20 years) tell them.
"Dontcha know den dare, I'm way to stupit to tink fer myself, dats why I let da yoonyon tell me wot to tink."
Olberstar brings home a sh!tload of pork. He Chairs the transportation Committee, & brings home projects. That's why he is still gets elected. I hope he gets his walking papers, but beating him will be a tough task. He's a pork guy, & that's a cancer in politics. Guys who deliver pork usually die before they are voted out, like Murtha, Kennedy, & Byrd.
Where are the citizens of this great country?
Reading this website!!
Good point. We must all thank Al Gore for inventing the internets. But a story like this is so disappointing, this guy just coasts along endorsing all kinds of mayhem for the people - and nobody in his jurisdiction seems to notice or care.
Pathetic politics. Can anyone say....Banana Republic. At least we know where the money is coming from. Campaign finance is a problem for both parties. But republicans have a Lindsey Lohan caliber problem.
Congressman Oberstar has become a nonentity in his own district. His only chance at victory now is to have Al Franken count the votes.
"But republicans have a Lindsey Lohan caliber problem."
Yeah, but dumbocrats have a Paris Hilton caliber problem.
Definition of dumb: burglar waiting for Paris Hilton to leave for work so he can rob her home. I know, it's non sequitur but I like the joke.
Its going to be so awesome when things get so bad these people will start litterally being torn apart by angry mobs. Next 36 months is my guess.
I give it 18 tops YT-barry is going to break out the NG across the country when all the dem theft occurs in the november elections. the wider margin races they can't fraud-but the tight ones, they are already working on -chicago is an example, where no military personnel are getting ballots-but they have hand delivered them to felons in the joint-which means they gave 10 ballots to each felon and they will get lenient sentences if they fill them all out-SOP here-but when we contest those-and the truth starts to come out-look for riots when the dems try to seat frauds in January-it will boil and fester and soon after that-the riots start, with the help of a Kent State type of shot heard round the world, ordered by the muslim in chief.