That Democrat Can Shoot

The
Democrat is former DFL state party chair and now SuperValu veep of government
affairs Mike Erlandson.

And, he wasn’t shooting guns, but rather,
video.

Erlandson (smartly) got SuperValu to be a major sponsor of Will
Steger’s latest expedition and tied the expedition to the launch of
SuperValu’s new organic and natural food line, Wild Harvest. He was then invited
to greet the expedition team (a group of 20-somethings from four countries) at
the end of their 60-day trek across Ellesmere Island to highlight global
warming. Before he left for the Arctic Circle, Erlandson called friend and
colleague Rick Kupchella at KARE 11 and pitched borrowing a video camera
to bring on the trip. The result was a lengthy
piece that ran on KARE 11 last week.

Kupchella may have narrated the
piece, but Erlandson wrote the questions, interviewed the team and shot all the
footage. One of the people Erlandson met on the trip was Richard Branson,
the swashbuckling British CEO of Virgin Group. Branson’s son, Sam, was on
the trip. Erlandson reports that he had a blast meeting everyone and seeing
wolves, huge hares and other wildlife. One great quote from the online
Kare 11 story from a young Canadian explorer, "[After 60 days in the Artic
wilderness,] it’s nice to be back to flush toilets and showers and salad."
Salad?!