Polinaut: March 22, 2006 Archive

No Dean

Posted at 11:37 AM on March 22, 2006 by Bob Collins

Dean Johnson was supposed to be on MPR's Midday at 11. I'm told he bailed out. I believe the decision came after the Republicans delivered an ethics complaint against him.

Looking for some audio of Sen. Claire Robling and Sen. Mike McGinn, who served Johnson with the ethics complaint? Here you go (RealPlayer)

And Sen. Dean Johnson's reaction. Listen (RealPlayer)

Erlandson announces

Posted at 12:02 PM on March 22, 2006 by Bob Collins

Mike Erlandson announced his candidacy in the 5th District today. Want to watch a Web site being built. http://www.erlandsonforcongress.com.

It's built.

Just say it. Whatever it is. Just say it!

Posted at 12:21 PM on March 22, 2006 by Bob Collins

There seems to be some confusion...somewhere.... about what Gov. Pawlenty said yesterday regarding Dean Johnson. Why, I don't know. It sure seemed clear to me. But these are the times of politicians and political spin and a lot of simple use of the English language gets sacrificed. Noun. Verb. Noun. Verb. It used to be such an easy concept.

Let's take a look at what Gov. Pawlenty had to say yesterday about Sen. Dean Johnson.

"From my standpoint, it should be handled like this: Senator Johnson has admitted that he's not been truthful. He's asked for forgiveness and second chance. We should give it to them and we should move on," he said."

Later, the governor issued a news release saying this:

Senator Johnson was not truthful in describing conversations he says he had with Minnesota Supreme Court justices. He has asked for forgiveness and we should forgive Senator Johnson and give him a second chance. But I also believe a full explanation is needed.

OK, great, governor, but what about that strategy you outlined if you were handling it? The one about ... moving on. Where did that go? And if it changed, why did it change?

In the Pioneer Press today, Patrick Sweeney wrote this:

Later, Ron Carey, the Republican state party's chairman, said Pawlenty had telephoned to talk about the Johnson controversy, but Carey said the governor did not ask for an end to the party's criticism of the majority leader.

"This is certainly not the governor saying we should all just forgive and forget and let this all die and go away," Carey said

So let's see if I'm following this. The governor has a news conference and announces he's going to call Ron Carey later on and suggest, shall we say, a different approach.

Then he puts out a press release that suggests that a full explanation is needed. Then Carey says Pawlenty did call but it doesn't look like any sort of different approach was suggested. Huh?

So did the governor tell the news media one thing and Ron Carey another? Does the governor think his comments were misrepresented? Or am I just missing the nuance of the word "forgiveness?"

You decide. Here's the governor's own words. And, yes, he knew the tape recorder was running. Listen in RealPlayer.

This whole controversy has been yet another example of how politicians do immense damage when trying to engage in damage control. They're terrible at it. Just terrible. I pointed it out after the GOP marriage CD controversy. The smart thing then -- and the smart thing now -- would've been for the person making the "mistake" to slap themselves on the head and say, "you know what? I screwed up bigtime. What an idiot I am." People understand that. People are smart that way. Sometimes politicians are loathe to admit that people are smart.

Instead, for the second time in a month, we see politicians and political parties falling over themselves trying to talk their way out of something... and just looking more and more foolish to the real world in the process. Did the "definition of 'is'" debate not register as being completely ridiculous anywhere inside political circles? Because I'm pretty sure everyone else figured it out pretty fast.

It's amazing, sometimes, why so many consultants get rich advising political parties and politicians on how to communicate. They're really not very good at it.

Johnson speaks... again

Posted at 4:02 PM on March 22, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Ace Capitol reporter Tom Scheck had a few minutes between assignments today so he went up to Dean Johnson's office to see what's new. There was Dean starting a conversation with Eric Eskola of WCCO and Brian Bakst of the Ap (two of Polinaut's favorite dinner companions -- well at least once every four years in some far-off city where a political convention is being held). So they locked the door behind them and had a chat.

Here's the audio in all of its RealPlayer splendor.

As I was just driving back from a doctor's appointment awhile ago I was struck by the talking points that "this could all go away if he'd just let the same-sex marriage bill go to the floor for a vote."

That's true. And the way the same-sex marriage bill goes to the floor is if the DFL Senate caucus has a little civil war and the one DFLer who'd like to bolt, is allowed to bolt in the vacuum that results....and the half-dozen or so who would follow him if he did. This is where Johnson's whips -- like Ann Rest -- are earning their money this week. It's a good time to be a DFL senator and need a few favors from the leadership in exchange for your loyalty, I would think.

That's what this is about. That's how this goes to the Senate floor and that's why the GOP won't relent. Not to get Johnson to change...but to get the caucus to erupt.

Now, putting on the other side's hat for a moment, I still don't understand why Sen. Don Betzold doesn't just hold a hearing and -- if the DFL wants to kill the bill -- has a vote in the Judiciary Committee and -- like a couple thousand other bills up there every year -- kills the bill there.

Assuming Judiciary has the votes to kill it.

So what would the net effect of that be? It got its vote. It got killed, and the other party has no leg to stand on since they kill unfavorable bills in committee too.

Meantime, we're left with a Senate Majority Leader who says something, then tries to explain what he said...and explain what his explanation said etc. A governor who gives his strategy....then issues a release clarifying his strategy...and then the GOP chairman says the original strategy wasn't the strategy. Confused? You're not in politics, then. Because maybe the real story is this all makes sense to someone. Usually the same ones who will be quoted in a couple of months -- as they were last year and the year before that -- kvetching about how things just can't get done at the Capitol. The same ones who start every session predicting a new bipartisanship. After awhile, you'd think we'd all wise up. But we are -- and this is the good news, I guess -- far too idealistic to admit that this is not possible.

It's certainly politics in its form. It's just not being practiced as an art right now. Well, unless you think those mud flaps on tractor-trailer trucks of a naked woman's silhouette is art.

Mud flap. Hey, that actually is apropos. Polinaut loves it when the oxygen mixture gets enrichened.

This would, by the way, be a great time for someone to revisit a question that was asked after last year's government shutdown. "What did you learn?" Multiple answers? At this point, I'd be darned impressed with one.

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Oh yeah, that Senate race

Posted at 4:50 PM on March 22, 2006 by Bob Collins

According to the Ford Bell campaign, these women are endorsing him. And, yes, I know it's a formatting disaster.

Arvonne Fraser
Margaret Perryman
Pam Klema
Rep. Alice Hausman
Gretchen Hafdahl
Ana Maria Parins
Ruby Hunt
Patricia McCullough
Dr. Kristine Petrini

Susanne Hutcheson
Franchelle Mullin Barbara O’Leary, DVM

Paulette Will
Elizabeth B. Myers
Bonnie Marshall

Emily Galusha
Maureen Kelly Neerland
Rita Salone

Amy Bell
Alicia Phillips
Kathleen Farber

Cathie Hartnett
Perrin Lilly Shannon Wesley

Ruth Meany Murphy
Mary Grace Flannery
Kate An Hunter, DVM

Meredith Brown Alden
Mary Plant
Ana Batsakes
Dr. Pamela Jane Armstrong
Diane Neimann
Michelle Cullum
Nancy Balto, DVM
Connie Sillerud, DVM
Kristen Rose
Lisa Nilles
Adaire Peterson Christina M. Gassman
Pat West
Patti Lacrone Lorna Reichl, DVM
Ann Clausen
Betty Kramek-Heffernan, DVM
Mary O. Petra
Vicki Moore
Emmie Hester Lori Fedje Paulson
Sarah Bell
Carol Santana Zena Kocher
Diane Bourgeois
Juanita Lewis Mary VanPilsum Johnson
Ann E. Brownlee
Yvonne Lewis Betty Caldwell
Donna Buckbee
Jennie Bell Penny George
Patricia Burns, DVM
Kathryn Anonsen Ginger Simon
Erin Bursch
Stephanie Thompson Kamila Marciniak
Josephine H. Carney
Sue Bohn
Nancy Engh
Judith Cooperman
Samantha Matson Rebecca Davies
Judy Dayton
Nancy Butler Judy Healey
Mary Lee Dayton
Beth Birke Theresa Johnson
Carolyn Fletcher
Nicole Hubert Mary Collins
Kathleen A. Fluegel
Vicki McMorrow
Dee Dee Loegering
Gerda Gassman
Donna Freeberg Polly Etzel
Ellen George
Deb Reed, DVM Jane Etzel
Barbara Greig, DVM
Dorothy Horns
Linda Simmons
Daina Rosen, DVM
Judith Ingemann Maudie Johnson
Dr. Mildred Hanson
Eileen Weinberg Julie Palmer
Marian S. Hoffman
Ruthey Lawler
Patricia deLuna
Elizabeth H. Howell
DiAnn Clendening
Stephanie Shulman, DVM
Kathryn L. Jensen
Irene Lilly Marian Saksena
Nancy Johansen
Kristin Miller Melissa Lindsay
Lucy Rosenberry Jones
Mary Bell
Clare Sorman

Linda Kaufman
Edwina Franchild Sally Baker Ross
Diane Klausner
Susan Slattery-Burke
Barb Liebenstein
Joan Lapensky
Pamela Johnson Mary Ellen Alden
Georgia Ray Lindeke
Mary Sauter
Shannon Gale
Nancy Lindley
Anita Martinez Christine Brown
Roberta Mann
Judy Covey Lucia Newell
Annabel Marcouiller
Karen Fraase
Tild Brodin Oen
Barbara Meier
Andrea Nelson
Tara Varco
Dr. Aimee H. Meyer
Francie Nelson
Mara Gollin-Garrett
Patricia Ketola
Susan Shearer Rhonda Haddorff
Amber Thompson
Vicki Tousey
Leann Kispert
Roseann Mammoser
Sarah Volk
Dorrie Spahr
Annette Rondano
Kristina Lantz Thelma Hunter
Joni Scheftel, DVM
Starla Krause
Kristina M. Clark
Vicki A. Schulz, DVM
Jennifer Boyd
Christina Denton
Alexis Scott
Bev Ramolae Tabitha Berglund
Sue Skog
Kathleen Davies Beth Girard
Noa Staryk
Rebecca Hope Jennifer Vieth
Ellen D. Sturgis
Stephanie Pommier Elizabeth Carlson
Lucia Watson
Nicole Wagner Kathy Zonne
Sue McCarthy
Laura Freeman Vivian Neiger
Kate Hanson
Jill Cochrane Anne Hunter
Jill Determan
Sharon L. McNamara
Kay McCarthy
Krista Erickson Anderson
Amanda Clausen Sima Seaver
Lisa Koch
Debbie Apland Gretchen Amis
Sara Dickson
Georgiana Campbell Krystyna Skrowaczewski
Diane Penwarden
Cathi Broat Melissa F. Weiner
Sharon Stitler
Susannah Baudhuin Alison Falldin
Christine Johnston
Sarah Dixon
Molly Maass
Laura Sharp
Jane Goggin Dr. Julia Ponder
Joanna Furnans
Marilyn Lee Hafdahl
Maria MacNamara
Lori Arent
Tina Gassman Jessica Gonzalez-Moore
Amy Swank
Jennifer David Kelley L. Benedict
Courtney Yasmineh
Sally Herfurth Tina Ritchie
Joan Strand
Sharon Ritchie Margret Stankovsky
Mary-Stuart Snyder
Sara Pierson Isabel Keating
Jody Poling
Julie Churchill Blythe Brenden