News Cut

News Cut: November 3, 2008 Archive

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News Agenda - Monday November 3, 2008

Posted at 7:23 AM on November 3, 2008 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)

Hmmm. You know, it really didn't seem noticeably brighter this morning. Anyway, here's what the afternoon headlines will look like. The day before Election Day is generally a slow news day.

This is "surrogate day" in Minnesota. Compared to 2004, the main players have pretty much ignored Minnesota, sending the second string into Minnesota. Today, Hillary Clinton will campaign for Obama and Al Franken in Duluth. What's Hillary's future? The New York Times pokes at that question today.

On the talk shows today, Midmorning discusses civic literacy in the first hour. Should there be some sort of prerequisite to voting. Minnesota pats itself on the back -- and appropriately so -- for leading the nation in voter turnout. Still, it's also a state where candidates do better if they're named Anderson.

In the second hour, they'll fact-check the latest campaign ads. It'll be news if they find one. We should change the name of these things to a context-check. Many of the ads I saw this weekend were accurately quoting headlines and such... from statements made 10 years ago. The fine print tells the tale.

The first hour of Midday features political scientist Stephen Smith talking about Senate races around the country. The second hour will replay last night's Senate debate.

By the way, the New York Times considers the Minnesota Senate race and the 6th District race in a story about a shift in strategy and spending by the GOP to defend what it already has.

Rudi Giuliani is in St. Paul to ampaign for Norm Coleman. Prior to that, Coleman is in Winona, Rochester, Owatonna, Mankato, Willmar, Alexandria, St. Cloud, Brainerd, North Branch, Forest Lake. The mayor gets around. Yesterday Giuliani was in Florida campaigning for Mel Martinez.

Tonight on All Things Considered, MPR's Elizabeth Stawicki will report on Supreme Court arguments on whether the Constitution requires public defenders for poor people accused of misdemeanors. The public defenders budget has been slaughtered in recent years, leading some to contend there are now two systems of justice in the state. You might also be interested in the News Cut piece I did a few months ago on a day in the life of a public defender.

Also on the program this afternoon, Tim Pugmire will follow the 6th District candidates around. Tom Scheck and Mark Zdechlik are trailing the Senate foes.

Non-elections: Perhaps by afternoon the standoff in Fargo will be over. The downtown area is sealed off.

In Wausau, Wisconsin, there's a court hearing for Dale and Leilani Neumann. They prayed as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes. They've been charged with second-degree reckless homicide. They considered the illness "a test of their faith." This is a huge story nationwide that's gotten scant attention around here.

And here's the big question, as asked last summer by the Wall St. Journal:


The Wisconsin case against the Neumanns also highlights an obscure area of child-protection law that will force judges to weigh seemingly conflicting laws: If a state permits people to employ prayers for healing, can it then hold a parent criminally liable if those prayers fail?

Now, as for tomorrow, I'm not quite sure how News Cut is going to approach things. Obviously I'll be live blogging, but is there any interest in a live chat? Let me know below. Oh, and if you vote tomorrow, Starbuck's will give you free coffee.

The "only in Minnesota" story of the day. In Cass Lake a couple has made a big donation to Habitat for Humanity: the heads of animals (reg. possibly required) they shot while hunting. "It's an unusual donation for us," a Habitat official said.

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What would you give up?

Posted at 9:25 AM on November 3, 2008 by Bob Collins (12 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

There's a good reason MPR's Gary Eichten is in Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame. After five Senate debates, three presidential debates, and one vice presidential debate, only Eichten got a candidate to answer the question: If you had to, what of your campaign's agenda would you give up?

Begrudgingly, Al Franken answered the question in last night's debate, no doubt knowing that it could easily be turned against him. He said Early Childhood Education. Dean Barkley didn't answer the question, even though he could have said he'd sacrifice elements of his health care plan, or his energy plan, both of which likely would include some government expense.

Norm Coleman said he'd be willing to give up his congresisonal pay raise; a poor answer considering that giving himself a pay raise isn't part of his agenda on which he's running.

At the heart of the question is the old adage that politics is the art of compromise. Of course, an old adage of poker is you don't show your hand.

The politicians clearly aren't interested in answering this sort of tough question. Are you?

What part of your candidate's agenda, would you be willing to give up if you had to? Don't answer unless you have an answer.

(Update: I've removed answers that don't answer the question. If you believe it to be a bad question, don't answer it. )

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The junkmail war -- Part 2

Posted at 10:13 AM on November 3, 2008 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

For the last 5 days, I've been saving all the political junk informational literature that's been arriving with the daily mail. Here's the not-at-all-scientific breakdown.

6th District

mailings_chart.jpg

Total number of pieces: 31
Republican (or anti-DFL candidate): 20
DFL (or anti-GOP candidate): 11

Races:

U.S. Senate 8
Legislative House seat: 10
6th District Congressional seat: 4
President: 3
General party: 5
County board: 1

Legislative seat:
Pro DFL (incumbent): 3
Pro GOP: 7

Congressional seat:

Pro Tinklenberg: 3
Pro Bachmann: 1

Senate seat:
Pro Franken: 2
Pro Coleman: 6

2nd District

Meanwhile, a colleague in Apple Valley has saved her mail for the last three days and has come up with this breakdown.

Total number of mailings: 22

Pro GOP (or anti DFL): 18
Pro DFL (or anti GOP): 4

Races:

U.S. Senate: 6
2nd Congressional District: 3
Mn. House seat: 7
President: 2
General Party: 3

Legislative seat:

Pro DFL (incumbent): 3
Pro GOP: 4

Senate seat:
Pro Franken: 1
Pro Coleman: 5

3rd District seat:
Pro Kline: 2
Pro Sarvi: 1

I can't imagine any of you saved your political mail over the last week, but if by some chance you did, let me know how it breaks down.

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The last day: Home-schooled kids

Posted at 1:25 PM on November 3, 2008 by Bob Collins (23 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

home_schooled_kids.jpg

Why aren't these two kids -- Alex and Cate Sutton -- in class? Because they are, actually.

They're home-schooled kids who have been given the assignment to drop leaflets in Woodbury today for Rep. Michele Bachmann, who's in a close fight for re-election in the 6th District. They say this is part of a paper they're writing on government.

Kristin Troyak, left, is driving them around and is responsible for 3 "teams" of home-schooled kids who have been deployed today in Woodbury. There are 64 teams being deployed around the region. They've also made 6,000 phone calls on Bachmann's behalf over the weekend, she said.

"Some people swore at us," Cate told me this afternoon, although she says most people have been nice.

"We're part of Operation Generation Joshua," Alex said, although he couldn't explain what Operation Generation Joshua is. (Update: See comments)

Neither is old enough to vote, and even if they were, they couldn't vote for Bachmann. They live in Minnetonka, which is in the 3rd District.

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The last day: The dedicated spouse

Posted at 2:28 PM on November 3, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

dedicated_spouse.jpg

You'll have to forgive Phillip Weik of Woodbury if he looks tired. He's been walking the mean streets of Woodbury today -- I'd guess it's close to 8 miles -- carrying a sign for his wife's campaign for the Washington County Board of Commissioners. It's a good reminder that there's still some grassroots politicking going on.

"Why not just stick this thing in the ground?" I asked.

"It's more visibility," he said. While it's not true a walking sign is viewed by more people than one planted in the ground, it is true that people notice a guy walking with a sign,

Weik says it's been a "once in a lifetime" experience helping his wife run for office, something that -- the odds say -- won't be true if she wins.

Behind every candidate, there's usually a dedicated spouse. But not many walk the streets carrying a lawn sign.

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Robocalls

Posted at 3:55 PM on November 3, 2008 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

If robocalls are illegal in Minnesota, why do so many politicians keep making them?

Earlier this month, for example, the McCain campaign was criticized for using robocalls against Barack Obama in the state. It was made by Jeff Larson, Norm Coleman's landlord in Washington, according to Finance and Commerce, although the company denied making the calls..

But ignoring Minnesota's anti-robocall law is a bipartisan effort. Today, I got this one from Al Franken's campaign.

Shaun Dakin, CEO & founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry told Huffington Post two weeks ago:

"Most robocalls are supposed to have two things, "paid for by X" and a phone number of the group making the call. Most do that. Now, that being said, there are some states that have their own robocall laws and they are much stricter. Minnesota pretty much bans robocalls entirely unless they are introduced by a human voice. And that pretty much never happens because it defeats the point."

In August, state Attorney General Lori Swanson sent a memo to candidates outlining the state's automated telephone law.

: Via Twitter I've just learned about this Web site that is tracking robocalls.

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Election Day caption contest: Smudge the dog

Posted at 4:34 PM on November 3, 2008 by Bob Collins (18 Comments)

caption_smudge.jpg

Mary Lucia sent out this picture of her dog, Smudge, along with a political caption. I've removed the caption so that you can supply your own as we face Election Day.

Just make it good and one that will make us laugh. We need it.

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Dire straits

Posted at 5:43 PM on November 3, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Economy

New data out this afternoon says the U.S. auto industry suffered its worst month of car sales in more than 17 years last month.

"This is clearly a severe, severe recession for the U.S. automotive industry and something we really can't sustain," said Mike DiGiovanni, General Motors Corp.'s executive director of global market and industry analysis who said the government should speed up actions to thaw out frozen credit.

Tucked in the analysis, however, is a factoid contributing to the problem: The cars being built these days are too good.

Emily Kolinski Morris, Ford's senior economist, told a conference call with reporters that because automobiles are more durable than in the past, people can wait without buying a new vehicle until they feel more confident in the economy.

In the past, perhaps, the auto industry could pull the economy out of a slump if people had no choice but to buy cars. Those days are gone.

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