Most eye-opening is Emmer’s support of an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution that makes way for federal laws to be ignored at the discretion of the state. It defines Minnesotans as “sovereign individuals.” A seemingly tame little twist of diction that hides a revolutionary, some might say downright anti-United States, posture.

But does Emmer have a sense of humor? You betcha! Despite being a steadfast Republican, this Roman Catholic has sons named Jack, John, and Bobby.

Emmer is popular with the Tea Party and has its “official” support, as much as anything is official in the party’s terrorism-cell-like structure. Not surprisingly, he also has the support of Sarah Palin. She endorsed him as a “hockey dad.”

Emmer also has the support of the ironically-named “MN Forward,” an organization formed in the blast zone of the Citizen’s United ruling. In just three weeks, MN Forward raised over $400,000 from just four (4!) corporations: Polaris, Hubbard Broadcasting, Davisco Foods and the anti-Wal-Mart Minnesota liberal yuppie’s hometown retail favorite, Target. MN Forward is already running ads for Emmer (one of which has drawn accusations of Photoshopping away Emmer’s substantial girth).

— I finally got around to reading all of the Awl write-up on our friend Tom Emmer, and I strongly, strongly recommend reading it.