The outcome of this fall’s election in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District will demonstrate just how effective a wedge issue can be.

In normal times, particularly with a candidate like Mitt Romney at the top of his ticket, Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack would have little chance of making inroads on the staunchly-DFL Iron Range. But these aren’t normal times. The debate over proposed copper-nickel mining south of Ely has rubbed raw the longstanding differences between those who continue to see mining as the only viable future for our region, and those who advocate an emphasis on quality of life as the best way to build a more stable and sustainable economy here in the North Country.

Cravaack, who is certainly no dummy in the game of politics, has recognized this divide as a classic wedge, one that has allowed him to cleave off a portion of the Iron Range electorate that normally wouldn’t vote for a Tea Party Republican.

Cravaack’s opponent, Rick Nolan, is certainly not opposed to mining, which is one reason the Steelworkers endorsed him this week. Still, Nolan’s campaign has largely focused on more traditional DFL issues, such as education and protecting Social Security and Medicare.

Cravaack, at least when he’s on the Iron Range, has been all mining all the time. Taking such a position has probably not advanced either the timeline nor the overall potential for new mining projects in our region, but it has certainly advanced his own political prospects. He’s had truckloads of help in his effort from Mesabi Daily News editor Bill Hanna, whose over-the-top love fest with the congressman has bordered on obsessive.

Ely Mayor Roger Skraba and St. Louis County Commissioner Mike Forsman joined Hanna on the Cravaack bandwagon this week, by announcing their support for the congressman’s re-election.

While Skraba’s political persuasion has been flexible to say the least over the years, Forsman has generally stood with the DFL, so his announcement was the clearer demonstration of just how effective Cravaack’s mining wedge may be with some Rangers.

Of course, the idea of a wedge issue is that it can get voters to overlook major differences with a candidate on a long list of other issues, as long as they appear to agree on one particular issue that is near and dear to the hearts of certain groups of voters. Republicans have been masterful at the art of the wedge for years, and it’s allowed them to attract the votes of demographic groups that have no legitimate interest in supporting the national Republican agenda, which these days consists almost entirely of tax cuts for the wealthy, and more tax cuts for the wealthy.

Most Iron Rangers, of course, don’t support that agenda, and they will likely vote for President Obama by a wide margin, just as they did four years ago. How many will opt to split their tickets, and also vote for Cravaack, remains to be seen.

In announcing his support for the congressman, Mayor Skraba said he’s always voted for the person, not the party. While that sounds good rhetorically, it makes little sense in the realm of politics— particularly today when the partisan divide in Washington is so stark.

Politics is a debate over competing priorities and policies, and a candidate’s party affiliation generally signifies where they will line up when the congressional votes are called. As a Tea Party Republican, Cravaack has for the past two years lined up with every other Republican in opposing virtually each and every initiative proposed by the Obama administration, including the president’s most recent jobs bill. Such universal opposition by Republicans has, without question, contributed to the lackluster economic recovery, if only because their actions have forced state and local governments to cut hundreds of thousands of teachers, police, and other public sector employees from their payrolls. Had those job losses been avoided, the unemployment rate would be well under eight percent. But then Republicans have made no secret that their top priority has been the defeat of President Obama, and they know that a weak economy helps their cause.

Voting for Obama, and then voting for Cravaack, is like saying you prefer the president’s priorities and policies, you just don’t want to see them enacted. It’s illogical, and it’s just asking for more gridlock in Washington.

Most people don’t vote a split ticket for good reason. The majority of us don’t have one set of beliefs when we vote for one candidate on the ballot and an entirely different set by the time we check the next box.

Wedge issues sometimes make voters forget that. We’ll see how well most Iron Rangers remember come Nov. 6.