Am I the only one who really doesn't care about Martha Stewart? TV actually covered her the other day delivering hot chocolate to reporters and photographers camped outside her estate. Is that news? Anyway, there's plenty to talk about here with the governor's release of his casino plan. If you missed the roll-out of the plan Friday check out Michael Khoo's MPR story:

The governor's plan envisions a casino with 4,000 slot machines -- roughly the size of the Shakopee Mdewanketon's Mystic Lake. The new casino could also offer craps and roulette, which are currently not available in Minnesota. No site was specified -- and Pawlenty says the state and the tribes will search for a willing host community.

The plan still faces steep odds. Leaders in the House and Senate acknowledge strong resistance to expanding gambling, or to using gambling revenue to pay for basic state services. DFL Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson says the opposition is bipartisan.

"The left has joined with the right, and the right has joined with the left and all of us in the middle. And I do not see 34 votes for this" in the State Senate, says Johnson.

And everyone knows that if the left joins with the right and the right joins with the left and the middle is left right out....oh, never mind.

Assuming the Legislature were to pass a casino bill there is that question about where it would be located. Bloomington lawmakers say they don't want it at the Mall of America. Mayor Randy Kelly says St. Paul doesn't want it. In the Star Tribune Kevin Duchschere writes that the cities aren't exactly lining up to attract the casino:

Law enforcement officials worry about another kind of impact. National and statewide studies done in the last 10 years show a relationship between casinos and crime.

[Sheriff Gary] Miller, of Wright County, said gambling would stretch department resources already saddled by the demands of his growing county. The Sheriff's Office provides police service for 13 of the county's 16 cities, he said.

"I don't see that we need a casino here. Wright County is doing very well without that economic engine," Miller said.

Dakota County Sheriff Don Gudmundson was more blunt: A casino would tie up traffic, swell alcohol-related crashes and tempt profligate gamblers to break the law. He's still bitter that a drunken driver on his way to Treasure Island Casino in Red Wing in 1996 ran a stop sign and hit a squad car, killing Deputy Luther Klug.

"My opinion has always remained the same -- I view money taken as a result of gambling as blood money. I'm not going to change my mind on it," Gudmundson said.

Yikes. So why did the governor propose this thing? Bill Salisbury has an analysis in the Pioneer Press:

Pawlenty risks his political reputation with this plan, but the payoff could be large. While he alienates voters who oppose more casinos in Minnesota, if he succeeds he taps a lucrative source of new state funding without breaking his campaign promise not to raise taxes.

But the dynamics of the debate are tricky, and they affect not only Pawlenty's chances of re-election in 2004 but also his viability as a potential candidate at a national level.

The debate over the casino promises to be one of the most interesting in years.
You have the governor's fairness argument versus the Native American complaints that the state is trying to cut in on their economic development. Then there's the need for more state revenue versus the governor's no-tax pledge. And of course the gambling issue splits the Republican Party on issues of morality. At the center of it all is Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is putting his popularity on the line.

Forget Martha Stewart. We've got real action at the Capitol.