Capitol View: May 2006 Archive

How not to get elected? Don't tell anyone you're running.

Posted at 7:36 AM on May 1, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

A guy in the Indianapolis Star has a column on the grief he gets when he doesn't mention all the candidates running for office. Poor guy. We must remember to try to get the name of the guy holding a gun to his head forcing him to be in the news business.

I'm one of those media people who thinks if someone is running for office, they're worth putting in the newspaper or on the radio (I have no hope for TV news, so I won't bother). Sometimes they've very interesting people and they talk as though speaking the English language, which -- for the record -- those who are considered "actual" candidates do not, for fear of saying something that could be used against them.

Sometimes they're nuts, or at least have -- shall we say -- unconventional ideas. I remember one guy running a few years ago (we usually give everyone 5 minutes late in the campaign), whose campaign seemed to be based around his "invention" of a giant claw that would come out of a parka sleeve whenever you fell through thin ice -- thus guaranteeing, apparently, the survivability of the kind of person most likely to vote for the person in the first place.

But for the most part, MSM (mainstream media) are kingmakers, determining who is a "legitimate" candidate, based on their electability. And their electability often is determined by whether their political affiliation begins with a "D" or an "R". Frankly, I don't know what the media is afraid of; but they often seem to be afraid of something, when the word "fringe candidate" comes up.

Don't believe me? Then explain how Sue Jeffers became a candidate worth covering, only after she switched from Libertarian to Republican? Granted, she created a nice buzz for political wags while poking a finger in the eye of the Republican bigwigs, but what does that have to do with service to voters? You know, the thing we're paid to provide?

So I have a soft spot for many candidates who can't get coverage. (Want me to prove it?)

But there are exceptions.

I got this messsage over the weekend from a candidate.

I am working hard to establish my candidacy and I am looking for fairness in reporting. I thought that MPR is supposed to be an objective public news organization. But, when there are no Republican candidates profiled and you have already declared the race over for the Republicans, can you really truly call yourselves objective? Seems that there is a strong political bias here and that is disappointing as it interferes with fair reporting. In this case, does the public really get treated fairly when you can selectively discount candidates before a race has even begun?

It's from a candidate for Congress. He may well be working hard, and I'm sure he is, but he never told the people from whom he demands coverage that he's running. Call me crazy, but I've never viewed that as a good first step for would-be office-holders.

First, let me take you back to March 29, 2006, the first of several identical posts on the subject.

That reminds me. I'm getting occasional cryptic phone messages from people who wonder why they don't have a page yet in the Campaign 2006 section.

The reason is:

(1) I don't know who you are.
(2) I don't know you're running for office.

If you're running, send me a statement of your candidacy (for the snapshot section), a mug of yourself, as much personal information as you'd like to share (date of birth, where born, where do you reside, married? To whom? Kids? How many? What religion (I'm not actually sure why this is relevant but some candidates think it is so I include it), political experience (if any), education (don't bother including high school unless you didn't graduate or get a GED, Web site (if you have one, of course)

And once I set it up, if you could stay in the race for longer than 4 days, my life will have a little more meaning to it.

Last week, I heard this candidate was running. So I set about trying to find him. I stopped by the GOP Web site looking for a list of candidates. This would be the same GOP whose spokesman, Mark Drake, couldn't name the candidates when quizzed after Sabo dropped out. I did find one page that lists the names of the candidates, but no other information. So Drake and his party haven't exactly been digging to fill in the gaps since they came up empty on the big question two months ago. Think about that: your own political party doesn't know who you are, and doesn't provide any information.

I then went to a couple of Republican blog sites where nothing escapes their notice. But in this case, this person's candidacy apparently did. Nothing.

I went to the secretary of state's page. Nothing.

I tried the Federal Election Commission. I figured if the candidate was raising money, he'd have filed an April quarterly report. Nope.

I then turned to the next most powerful journalistic resource on the plent. Google. Nothing. (Note: The spiders have since crawled and revealed the appearance of a Web site). Cool. There's at least the underpinnings of a Campaign 2006 page there.

This is a process, by the way, which I repeat about 6 times a week as I hear through the grapevine that someone is running in a particular race. Maybe it'd be easier if you just added me to your mailing list, folks.

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The Colbert Report retort

Posted at 8:38 AM on May 1, 2006 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)

OK, I'll admit it. Years ago -- during the Reagan presidency -- I was invited by my boss in Boston to fly to Washington to attend the White House Correspondents Association dinner. In fact, he was taking the whole editorial staff then. I was young. I was stupid. I passed.

It wasn't that I didn't think Washington in April would be cool. It's that I was 20-something.... and didn't own a tuxedo, and the prospect of walking into a rental store to buy one would require me to admit that I didn't know anything about formal tuxedos for Washington galas. This -- at this time in my life -- was equivalent to pulling over at the SuperAmerica now and asking for directions.

Surely, I would end up with some frilly thing that would result in me being banned from society forever for looking too much like Sal Mineo. I'm not without the ability to see into the future, folks. A few years later, when I was married, the church broke out in laughter when we kneeled near the end of the ceremony because the tuxedo joint (or maybe I rented it from The Tuxedo Joint, I forget), wrote inventory numbers on the bottom of the shoes, which -- in polite society -- is equivalent to writing "I'm a dork!"

So I made up a story about having an inner ear problem and not being able to fly and I stayed home (another glimpse into the future: years later -- now -- I actually do have an inner ear problem and can't fly. But I digress).

The White House Correspondents Dinner, even by Washington standards, brings out the big guns. But its value has always been , up until recently, that everything's off the record. For one day, a few hours, it's just a bunch of folks in, roughly, the same line of work, having some fun, usually at the expense of the president who attends.

That's changed. Now C-SPAN broadcasts it live, and it's become a real news event. And, well, it's hard to keep the wraps on something when it involves about 500 reporters and the President of the United States.

So I think the good times are probably over for the event.

I say this because of the fuss over the alleged attempt by MSM not to cover the "Colbert story." Salon insists its another mainstream media cover-up of a failed presidency. Editor and Publisher has a somewhat more staid approach to its coverage.

What? You've never seen The Colbert Report? This is what he does and I'm guessing -- although I could be wrong (at least until the future) -- that the folks who signed him knew that because that's what this event has always been. Biting and satirical. (See City Pages article). But he may not be invited back.

Salon takes the mainstream media apart for failing to "report" on Colbert. The problem with reporting on satire, of course, is when you write it down and repeat it in another voice, it isn't satire anymore.

Plus, they'd screw it up if they tried.

As for the future, this tip for the president: get yourself a phony inner ear problem.

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Cover me, I'm going in.

Posted at 11:27 AM on May 1, 2006 by Bob Collins

Following up on a previous post about candidates who are less than savvy when it comes to getting publicity for their campaigns, it's worth pointing out that on Saturday, Wendy Wilde announced her candidacy for the 3rd District against Jim Ramstad.

Here's the header on the press release e-mail. See if you see anything odd:

From: Wendy Wilde For Congress [mailto:news@wildeforcongress.com]
Sent: Fri 4/28/2006 8:51 PM
To: news@wildeforcongress.com
Cc:
Subject: PRESS OPPORTUNITY: WENDY WILDE TO ANNOUNCE CANDIDACY FOR CONGRESS

FOR RELEASE Saturday April 29, 2006 Contact: Kathy Nelson
PRESS ADVISORY Phone: 952 941-6613

----

Give up? You're telling the media you're announcing for Congress at almost 9 p.m. on a Friday night for an event at 10 a.m. on a Saturday?

If there's one event you want to pull off just right, it's the one where you tell people you're running.

C2006 additions

Posted at 12:30 PM on May 1, 2006 by Bob Collins

Two new pages in the Campaign 2006 section.

Alan Fine -- Republican candidate for 5th District.

Wendy Wilde -- Democratic candidate for the 3rd District.

This would be easier if it weren't so hard

Posted at 10:37 PM on May 1, 2006 by Bob Collins

In the blogosphere and even in mainstream media, there's a lot of talk about the effects that blogs are having now in politics and in the dissemination of information. There should be, of course. Giving voice to people who were relatively voiceless before, is a good first step in having something to actually listen to; stuff that can actually make a difference.

The unrecognize factor in calculating where this medium is going, however, is the effect of blogger burnout. Most of them simply don't last too long.

Blogging is hard. Mainstream media is no picnic either, but you get to go home at the end of the day and, most of the time, there's more than one of you. Oh, and you get paid.

Bloggers don't have that luxury. With a few exceptions, they have to come up with their own ideas, research whatever needs researching, and then find the time in their lives to actually write. And then do that four or five times a day.

When you get right down to it, not many people can sustain that. A voice today, is gone tomorrow.

All of that is a preamble to telling you that Backbone Minnesota's voice is the latest to fall silent.

Select A Candidate change #1

Posted at 7:29 AM on May 2, 2006 by Bob Collins

After only a week, I'm making my first change to Select A Candidate 2006. Usually, I end up having to make a few changes with every version because candidates -- hey, get this -- tend to change their positions.

I think this is the earliest I've had to change and the issue is the stadium. The candidate is Steve Kelley, running for governor. And the answer in question was one he gave on MPR in March.

To the question of what we should do about the stadium issue(s), the answer -- then -- was:

"I support limited public role in the Twins and Vikings stadium. Gophers stadium is public and we should support that. I see the state role as 'limited.'"

In the answer to a question from Gary Eichten, Kelley said "education and health care" come first and he wouldn't put the stadium ahead of those. (Listen in RealAudio)

Let's take it from the end. First, the Senate doesn't appear to have done anything on health care and education -- anything substantial anyway. The bill guaranteeing health care as a right is dead in committee. The bill mandating health insurance coverage by large employers (the WalMart bill) hasn't taken a breath since early March. On education, the DREAM act -- dead in the House -- didn't even get a companion bill in the Senate.

I say that because I want to be sure I'm not missing any technicalities on the original answer; that maybe some significant steps have been addressed on health care and education that I wasn't aware of, that makes stadiums jumping ahead something to ignore in the original answer.

Nope.

So now we focus on the word "limited." Kelley is author of the amendment that replaced the Hennepin County tax for a baseball stadium, with a metro-wide half-cent sales tax that throws the Vikings into the list of beneficiaries.

I have no guidelines here, but by the power vested in me as the creator of Select A Candidate, I declare expansion of the sales tax by a half-cent, the number of counties by 6, and the teams getting the cash by one does not count as "limited." And we haven't even talked about the fact yet that the question regarding voting on a tax increase isn't a question of "they elect us to represent them." It's a question of taking away something via legislation that is granted by present law. That, regardless of how you feel about the referendum question, is an expansion of government power by simple definition. So "limited" is no longer a valid term for purposes of this question -- you can't limit something by expanding it.

So the original answer is thrown out as no longer valid. The replacement will be:

I support a half-cent increase in the state sales tax in the seven-county metro area, the proceeds of which should be used to help build stadiums for the Vikings and Twins.

Keep in mind I have no opinion on any candidate's opinion, but the hard part of Select A Candidate is keeping a proper connection between the actions and the words.

Now it's possible that Kelley's goal here is to actually sink the stadium by attaching amendments he knows the House will never accept. And he'd get credit for that before the Select A Candidate panel of judges. After he says that.

Ain't politics grand?

(Update 9:55 a.m.) The Kelley campaign points out the following two points:

1) "The sales tax would also pay for a network of light rail. Sen.
Kelley is a huge proponent of light rail and sees this
legislation as a possible avenue toward creating a modern
transit system in the Cities."

2) "By financing the ballparks Steve’s way, there are enormous interest cost savings (hundreds of millions in interest payments). Instead of a 30-year financing plan, Steve’s bill would pay off the
stadiums by 2014.

"Plus, if you take 3 different proposals and combine them,
that does not translate into a larger government role. The
substantive and economic terms of the deal between
Hennepin County and the Twins, and between Anoka County
and the Vikings, do not change--except for the addition of
the roof on the Twins stadium."

Grab the popcorn. I'll get us a seat

Posted at 8:05 AM on May 2, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

Delegates to the Republican state convention look like they'll have a front-row seat to the best political show in town. Some delegates reportedly are not entirely happy that Republican leaders have tried to block Republican-turned-Libertarian-turned-Republican Sue Jeffers from speaking at the convention, thus disrupting the coronation of Tim Pawlenty.

We got this e-mail today from Dan Coleman. I had to look around a bit to figure out who he was (he's Jeffers' campaign manager), since it didn't indicate in the e-mail that I got. Anyway, it appears this is being sent to delegates, although the names on my e-mail were all media types.

During the 2002 campaign season, Sue Jeffers was considered good enough to work on Tim Pawlenty's behalf. Sue believes the MN Republican Party has abandoned the principles it once stood for - freedom and personal rights, smaller, affordable, and effective government. When Pawlenty discarded party precepts for the wealthy special interests and fees that are not taxes, Sue Jeffers became as disenchanted as many of you have. Unless the right to think or have an opinion has been repealed - the real Republicans of MN still have choices in selecting who will be the candidate.

Once, the Republican Party prided itself on being the political party that grew from the integrity and justice of Abraham Lincoln, the tenacity and vigor of Theodore Roosevelt and the decency and indomitable optimism of Ronald Reagan. As great as those leaders are, it is always the people who make the party excel at the grassroots level. It is the volunteers, who work at the local headquarters stuffing the mailings or knocking on doors. The party people who do the grunt work and carry out often under- recognized but highly necessary jobs deserve to be allowed to hear from candidates with
differing views.

As you have undoubtedly heard, the State GOP is attempting to unfairly block Sue Jeffers' challenge to Governor Pawlenty. All Sue is asking is the opportunity to be heard and give the convention a choice. The obstacles being placed before our campaign go against the principles upon which Republican Party was built. The 10 or 20 percent delegate signature petition smacks of the poll tax of old, which the Democrats used as a discrimination tactic. This is especially irresponsible and misguided in as much as only one candidate has announced her intention to seek the Republican endorsement for governor. Then perhaps it should be argued all candidates must meet this threshold.

The Republican leadership thought and encouraged Sue Jeffers to run for every other office as a Republican, just not governor. Now they want to play insider games, and try to change the rules on a whim, to prevent a new voice from being heard. Apparently, this insidious attitude rests with a few vacuous leaders at the top of the GOP. If they are so positive, their vassal is to be the anointed favorite, then what is the harm? Let Sue speak!

Intimidation, threats, and reprimand have no place in Minnesota elections whether it is the race for governor or failure to allow referendums to come before the voters who are capable of deciding on their own what they want. The government and the party politic belong to the people, not the other way around.

The bottom line here is that fairness and inclusiveness are still alive and well in the MN Republican Party. In order to substantiate this fact to those who deem themselves unaccountable to you for the decisions they unilaterally make - they must be told unequivocally by you, that Republican delegates will not tolerate it.

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Binkowski on Binkowski

Posted at 11:48 AM on May 2, 2006 by Bob Collins

I can't really say that John Binkowski's news conference at the Capitol today was his announcement of his candidacy for the 6th Congressional District seat. He's already got the endorsement from the Independence Party.

So I'll just call it -- as a colleague suggested -- a "plea for publicity," which is a good call since I'd never heard of him up until now.

Here's most of his news conference (RealAudio), except for the beginning. We have a bunch of fancy, solid state recorders that replaced the DAT machines that replaced good old tape machines that ... worked. These often don't.

The strength of one

Posted at 12:52 PM on May 2, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

So, the guy from Daily Kos is coming into the world headquarters of Polinaut to talk to All Things Considered today. They're taping the interview at 2:30 or so.

I just strolled by the ATC cubicle to tell them I wanted the extended version (pre-edited) of the interview as soon as they're done, so I can get it on the site in this news cycle.

Tom Crann, who's reading the guy's book, asked me what I would ask him? I guess my answer amounts to "nothing about politics."

Frankly, I've started to pare down the number of national blog sites I read with a political philosophy -- Powerline, Daily Kos, Red State, for example -- because I know what they're going to say. They might come up with new ways to say it; but they end up saying the same thing.

I like radio talk shows, although I'm not very interested in radio talk show hosts. I like radio talk show callers. They're "local." They have a voice and something -- sometimes -- interesting to say.

I think local blogs are much more interesting than the "aristocracy blogs" for a number of reasons. One is that they're usually written by just one person. In fact, I think the more people contribute to a blog, the less interesting it is because it no longer has a "voice."

You look at Daily Kos, now, and it's many, many people. It takes, many, many people to feed the beast. But the New York Times is many, many people. The Washington Post is many, many people and the Pioneer Press is many, many people (at least for now).

So what's the difference?

This gets back a little bit to what I wrote last night. The beauty of a blog is that it's singular -- one person's thoughts. And the hardest part of blogging is that it's one person. So what is at the same time the medium's strengths, is also its fundamental weakness.

One of my must-read local bloggers -- Bogus Gold -- provided a more eloquent perspective(he's a better writer for one thing).

The strength of my mission? Low expectations. Seriously, that's an advantage.

I write about what I want to, when I want to. I don't worry about being eclectic. If I get bored writing about a particular topic, I write about something else instead.

And, perhaps more importantly, I like to write. I'm amazed by the number of bloggers who admit that they don't. Except for the occasional video blog, blogs are simply a new medium for the same old writing. If you don't like to write, you're not going to like blogging very much.

Reading blogs, to me, is fun because I like listening in to other people's conversations at restaurants. That's the personal nature of the medium.

Who else masters this presentation? Tons of people, none of whom are going to be interviewed by a radio station today. But here's another one of my favorites -- 56572 -- from Pelican Rapids.

Friends and neighbors of Louise Sasso-Lundin, wife of Pete, mother of Phil, daughter-in-law of Lynn and Miriam are grieving the death of Louise this afternoon at the age of forty-five. Louise fainted while driving home along Highway 108, then drove off 108 at the East Lake Lida Road intersection. She must have struck her head when the Corolla bottomed out in the ditch. When she regained consciousness she called Pete. He came to get her and took her home. She had a bloody nose. A short time later she passed away. Pete said he had no idea why. Louise is to be cremated and her ashes flown back to her family in Boston. Pete and Phil, Lynn and Miriam can be condoled at 40364 275th Avenue, Pelican Rapids. I thought that Louise was a lovely, dignified woman. A dreary weekend just got a lot drearier.

Isn't that something? The elegance and beauty of the writer's single voice.

So, that's a long-winded way of answering the question: what would you ask Markos Moulitsas Zúniga? I'd ask him, "what happened to your voice?"

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6th District Republicans on Midday

Posted at 1:23 PM on May 2, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

The first hour of Midday on Wednesday will feature Republican candidates for the 6th Congressional District. Everyone's been invited. We'll see who shows up.

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Kos update

Posted at 3:54 PM on May 2, 2006 by Bob Collins

The extended interview with Markos Moulitsas is done and posted here.

For more from Polinaut, here.

Under the big top

Posted at 4:17 PM on May 2, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

I wonder if the convention itself will be as good as the warm-up. Here's the latest salvo in the Jeffers vs. the Republican Party battle. This responds to an e-mail sent out earlier today by the Jeffers camp.

One of these days, by the way, we should talk about why Minnesota allows multiple party endorsements.

-0-

Dear fellow Republican activists:

Many of you know me from my previous employment at the Republican Party of Minnesota. I am also a BPOU chair, state convention delegate, and state-central committee delegate.

Recently you received an email from Sue Jeffers' campaign manager, Dan Coleman, comparing the procedures of the Republican Party of Minnesota to a tactic used to disenfranchise African Americans, Native Americans, and select whites from voting.

“The 10 or 20 percent delegate signature petition smacks of the poll tax of old, which the Democrats used as a discrimination tactic.” Source: Dan Coleman email

As many of you know, Ms. Jeffers is a Libertarian Party candidate for governor and Mr. Coleman is a Democratic operative from Tennessee hired to manage Jeffers’ campaign.

Since deciding to seek the GOP endorsement for governor (while still running as a Libertarian), Ms. Jeffers has attacked the leadership of the Republican Party of Minnesota and Governor Tim Pawlenty. These misguided attacks have generally focused on perceived differences of fiscal policy between Ms. Jeffers and Governor Pawlenty.

Unfortunately, Ms. Jeffers and her campaign manager have now resorted to using incendiary statements and racists comparisons in an attempt to garner an additional 15 minutes of fame for her failed campaign for governor.

Mr. Coleman and I spoke earlier today and he informed me that Ms. Jeffers personally approved the email message sent out comparing Republican Party of Minnesota procedures to a poll tax.

Both Ms. Jeffers and Mr. Coleman should apologize to Chairman Ron Carey, the entire Republican Party of Minnesota leadership, and party staff for the inappropriate and insensitive comments contained in Mr. Coleman’s email.

Chairman Carey and other party leaders have acted in a completely appropriate manner in preventing our state convention from being used as a campaign prop for a candidate not even running as a Republican.

I find it outlandish that a Democrat operative from Tennessee, who ran for Congress as a Democrat in Florida, would challenge Chairman Carey and other party activists’ dedication to upholding the principles of the Republican Party of Minnesota. As party activists, we should be proud of Chairman Carey’s leadership.

Ms. Jeffers, through her campaign manager, has once again shown her true colors.

Ms. Jeffers filed to run for governor as a Libertarian. Ms. Jeffers sought and received the endorsement of the Libertarian Party.

It should be clear to everyone after reading Mr. Coleman’s email, that neither he nor Ms. Jeffers have any long-term interest in the success of the Republican Party of Minnesota.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this email and if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Respectfully,

Michael Brodkorb

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A Krinkie crash

Posted at 5:14 PM on May 2, 2006 by Bob Collins

The Web site for Phil Krinkie's 6th District campaign has crashed -- at least as of 5 this afternoon. Also e-mail to the campaign is bouncing back.

Working the athlete/lobbyist ratio

Posted at 7:58 AM on May 3, 2006 by Bob Collins

As the stadium issue becomes -- surprisingly to me -- the dominant issue of Minnesota politics this year, I marvel again at the utter impossibilities that become possible in the political world. Consider: When the Twins issue first surfaced, they weren't far removed from a World Series championship. And yet, support of the stadium was a political poison pill -- instant death. Now, the team is a bumbling collection of has-beens, and they're close to walking out of the Capitol with new digs.

Is there any connection between the stadium lobbying fortunes of Minnesota's sports teams and their on-field performance? It sure doesn't appear that way.

In fact, there's at least anecdotal evidence to say the political fallout from supporting a stadium is directly opposite that on-field performance. For example, when the Twins first started the stadium push, they weren't far removed from the World Series. And Puck, Hrbek, and the gang were still playing for them.

It was a political poison pill.

So I thought I'd review the disaparities between lobbying prowess and athletic futility to see if there's a connection.

-1- Twins - Fall out of the American League race on May 1st, can't pitch, can't hit. They can field a bit, which is good since they're always in the field. Virtually unwatchable. What if the players performance grade matched their lobby grade? The pitchers would keep them in the game even when the fans were sick of watching them. No matter how far behind they get, they're still in the game long after everyone else gives up, and near the end of the game, they still have a decent shot at pulling it out -- to everyone's surprise.
Supporting cast performance: F
Lobbying grade: B+

-2- Vikings. OK, well, the "athletes" include the coaches here. Consider, a day after your boss calls out the governor of the state for not working hard enough on a stadium for you, you spit the bit in the NFL draft, causing more head scratching than the lice epidemic in your kid's 2nd grade class. As the Senate prepares to vote on a stadium deal, it leaks that one of the guys calling the shots lied on his resume and is about to get a million-dollar buyout and invited to enjoy the home version of the game as a consolation prize. This, of course, is on top of giving away a former near-MVP quarterback, trading what some say was the best receiver in the league, bestowing pride on the seven seas of Lake Minnetonka and, oh yeah, stinking the joint out in the old stadium -- and 8 others.
Supporting cast performance: F
Lobby grade:B-

-3- Gophers. I didn't go to the U of M, so I don't follow this one particularly closely. But if I were casting one of those old Disney movies -- you know, the ones with Kurt Russell at some college that always seemed to be named Mayfield -- Robert Bruininks would definitely be the perfect choice for president. There's something about seeing Bruininks at a hearing table with a football that reminded me of my college days... when people would wolf down a Hershey bar with a Diet Coke for dinner. Anyway, fine lobbying team that -- were they actual athletes -- would almost be as competitive as Glen Mason's non-conference schedule.

Doesn't hurt a bit, that as the Senate Taxes Committee was meeting to consider your stadium's chances, the U's Laurence Maroney goes to the most dominant team in the NFL this century in the NFL draft, proving once again -- are you listening, Vikings -- that the most effective tool to competitive balance isn't a stadium, it's a brain.
Supporting cast performance: B+
Lobbying performance: A-

-4- Timberwolves. What are they doing here? They haven't asked for a new arena? True, but you think that Jay Weiner article in the Strib after the season was a coincidence? Target Center, home of what some say is now the worst-run franchise in the NBA, is -- the line goes -- showing its age, and is no longer the elite beacon representing the city that it was when it opened. The article seemed to suggest, even, that the reason there were so many empty seats at the end of the season, was the age of the arena. The Wolves, of course, posted their worst on-court season of the Kevin Garnett era. Perhaps that had something to do with it.
Supporting cast performance: F
Lobbying grade: C (That high because they didn't actually ask for a new arena. That low because they didn't react to the article all that strongly; indicating they just might.)

5th District drop-out

Posted at 8:49 AM on May 3, 2006 by Bob Collins

This just handed me by Mike Mulcahy, handed to him by someone else:

Tim Anderson has informed me that he is withdrawing from the race for the 5th congressional district seat, leaving one candidate (Alan Fine) seeking Republican endorsement.

Thank you,

Carleton Crawford, Chair
5th Congressional District Republican Committee

Krinkie a no show

Posted at 11:07 AM on May 3, 2006 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)

With only a few days to go before they're whittled down to just one, the 6th District GOP candidates are "debating" on MPR's Midday today.

Krinkie didn't show.

Meanwhile, his campaign Web site is still down.

Kinda feels like the wheels are coming off.

(Update: The wheels are still on. A Krinkie e-mail newsletter update arrived today)

BTW, I was wrong in a response I posted yesterday. The Midday folks are not taking calls or allowing online folks to ask questions. I have no clue why.

I'll try to get some of the answers posted to the individual candidate pages on Campaign 2006 at some point this afternoon. Hopefully.

Update 12:42 p.m. - It was pretty much of an hour of "me, too." Here's the highlights. They're also on the individual candidate pages on Campaign 2006.

Energy: Esmay | Knoblach | Bachmann

Immigration: Knoblach | Bachmann| Esmay

Iraq: Bachmann | Esmay | Knoblach

Iran: Bachmann | Esmay | Knoblach

Tax system: Esmay | Bachmann |Knoblach

Medicare: Bachmann | Knoblach | Esmay

Tax cuts: Esmay | Knoblach | Bachmann

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Wake me when it's Monday

Posted at 7:36 AM on May 4, 2006 by Bob Collins

Roll Call has a look at this weekend's district endorsing conventions. There's going to be a lot of out-of-work-candidates going back to their political jobs by Monday. Oh, yeah, you need a subscription to view the story.

(;59 a.m.) - KvM has an interesting assessment of the scenario at the 6th District convention this weekend. Worth noting.

While Mr. Esmay certainly has the makings of an up-and-comer in the GOP ranks, it’s unlikely the convention will find itself deadlocked regardless of where Bachmann places at the end of the first ballot. If whoever finishes second does so with some distance from the third place contender, a real endorsement race is more than possible. But if Krinkie and Knoblach find themselves essentially tied for second with Bachmann ahead by any sizeable margin, consider the balloting battle not to last more than 3 or 4 rounds.

The Felonious Barbers

Posted at 11:23 AM on May 4, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Ever have one of those days when you're sure something happened, but then in the absence of direct evidence, you think, "maybe I dreamed it?" Welcome to my day yesterday.

There was a lot going on when I came in yesterday. The 6th District candidates -- some of them -- were on Midday and my TV had the House committee taking on the Vikings. And I had the usual nonsense waiting for me that is always waiting for me.

Out of the corner of my eye, however, I could SWEAR there was a hearing or floor debate in either the House or Senate on a bill that would address licensing restrictions currently on felons, which prevents them from becoming barbers or cosmetologists in Minnesota.

My first reaction, of course is, "is there a problem with an abundance of felonious barbers in Minnesota that I'm not aware of?" And my second thought -- again, of course -- was "Shoot. I wish I had some musical talent because I'd call my group The Felonious Barbers. (Although if I go solo, I will change my name to Felonious Monk).

Anyway, today I decided to investigate the mysterious case of the felonious barbers and cosmetologists that apparently is going on, people, right under our noses, but I couldn't find it.

First, the House Web site's search function is a joke. Search "barber" and you come up with some press release from Rep. Marty Seifert that he issued in 2001, crowing about some breakthrough legislation that benefits barbers. I stopped only momentarily to wonder why he didn't see the coming crisis with felons with clippers. But I moved on.

Then I realized: maybe it's in the Senate. And, aha! I'm not (that) crazy. The Senate did, in fact, debate HF3464. And approved it 35-30. It looked to be mostly along party lines, which tells me it must've been a cool debate. I'm sorry I missed it.

Why do I bring this up? Because this is never going to see the light of day (from the media, I mean. Why cover this when you can do the 42nd, 43rd, and 44th story of the session about the stadiums?). There must've been an interesting debate; perhaps there was a big crime involving a felon posing as a barber or a cosmetologist. I don't know. I missed the debate.

Personally, I have no clue why you even need a license to cut someone's hair in Minnesota and often wonder what would happen if we didn't. Would there be a sudden influx of bad haircuts? Would Al's Hair Emporium expand offerings to nail polishing and methamphetimines? If we prevent them from becoming barbers -- where someone is always in the chair keeping an eye on them -- will felons become insurance agents instead?

We're the 4th biggest binge-drinking state in the country, and we didn't need licenses to accomplish that. Couldn't we cut hair well without licenses? Unless we've been binge drinking, of course.

Anyway, yes, I make light of it and I'm sure it's a serious subject. But I lament that while I was listening to a debate with the same old candidates saying the same old thing in answer to the same old questions (don't take offense, it would've been the same with any group of candidates), this debate was going on in the public arena... and nobody will know.

I actually think it WOULD be insightful (if not inciteful) if at the next big candidate debate...we ignore the same old issues because we know the same old answers....and ask questions about whether barbers should be licensed.

I bet you'd learn something about the candidate you didn't know before.

And that'd be a start.

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The Senate election. Is it about Bush?

Posted at 2:11 PM on May 4, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

It's rather boring on the old sod today. I know that because I found myself reading the transcript from today's White House briefing. Deep in, I found this nugget:

Q Yes. Scott, Elizabeth Dole, as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has sent out a fundraising email, and in it she says that if the Democrats take control of the Senate this year they're going to try to call for endless congressional investigations and possibly the impeachment of President Bush. And she also says that that is worse than losing the war on terror. What is your reaction to that?

MR. McCLELLAN: You know, I haven't had a chance to look at the fundraising letter. I think that if you have questions about it you ought to ask Senator Dole. We appreciate all that she does to help advance the ideas that the President has outlined in his agenda for the American people. And we appreciate all that she's doing to support Republican candidates for the United States Senate. But I think we've previously talked about how there are some Democratic leaders who think the enemy is the President. The enemy is the terrorist. And that's why we're going to continue the stay focused on winning the war on terrorism and doing everything within our power to bring the terrorists to justice and prevent attacks from happening.

This will be a very interesting strategy to watch. "If you don't vote for XYZ, President Bush will be impeached."

If anyone has this e-mail fundraising letter, I'd love to see it. Call me skeptical -- or any other name you wish -- but I find it hard to believe Dole said losing the majority would be worse than losing the war on terror.

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Nukes

Posted at 3:31 PM on May 4, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

I didn't catch this when she said it yesterday -- and apparently you didn't either -- but in yesterday's questioning of the 6th District candidates on the issue of a military response to Iraq'sIran's developing nuclear weapons, it appears Sen. Michele Bachmann extended the response possibility to include the U.S. using nuclear weapons against Iran.

"We certainly don't want to move toward a nuclear response anytime soon or without an abundance of caution."

"We can't remove any option off the table and we should not remove the nuclear response."

She advocated, of course, plenty of caution and the use diplomacy here, but this is the first time I've heard a politician suggest the U.S. might actually use a nuclear weapon in its military response.

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The battle in SD 12

Posted at 3:39 PM on May 4, 2006 by Bob Collins

Kevin Goedker has decided to mount a primary challenge to Sen. Paul Koering, in Senate District 12, even though he didn't get the endorsement from the GOP last week.

Koering was outed after his vote against bringing the same-sex marriage bill to the floor last year.

GOP Chair Ron Cary released a statement on the situation this afternoon.

“Kevin Goedker’s decision to run against Senator Paul Koering, the GOP-endorsed candidate in Senate District 12, is greatly disappointing for Republicans who value the endorsement process and seek party unity. The endorsement process was open and fair. I asked Mr. Goedker to respect the decision of local Republican leaders as he had indicated he would do.

“Republican leaders in Senate District 12 have clearly spoken. They chose to support Senator Paul Koering due to his unwavering support of the unborn, as well as his effective voice for the needs of central Minnesota.

“I encourage the citizens of Senate District 12 to vote for Senator Paul Koering in the September 12 primary.”

Where's Patty?

Posted at 5:03 PM on May 4, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

The Patty Wetterling for Congress Web site (http://www.pattywetterling.com) has gone dark.

Odd, it was defaulting in IE to a "this domain expired" page. Seems fine now. Go back to your homes.

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Weekend plans

Posted at 8:45 AM on May 5, 2006 by Bob Collins

..for the congressional district conventions. Tom Scheck is covering the 5th. Tim Pugmire is covering the 6th. Since I expect both to be long, multiple-ballot affairs, I doubt I'll have the audio and the obligatory -- if not interesting -- picture of the losers embracing the winners until Sunday. Of course, on Sunday a guy is flying in to Lake Elmo to show me his company's cockpit intercom system (among my other hobbies is a weekly newsletter for experimental airplane builders, and I guess he thinks a mention in it would lead to more sales), so I'm not sure how all the timing is going to work out yet.

Then there's the lawn in the back yard still calling my name...

update 10:29 a.m. If you're live blogging from any of the conventions, please e-mail me and I'll put a list together.

Grams makes it official

Posted at 12:07 PM on May 5, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

Former Sen. Rod Grams has made his bid for 8th Congressional District official, announcing he'll be seeking the GOP endorsement. The convention starts at 9 on Saturday at the Breezy Point convention center.

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Patrick Kennedy

Posted at 1:58 PM on May 5, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

Rep. Patrick Kennedy will enter rehab for
addiction to prescription pain medication Friday evening after a
highly publicized car crash near the Capitol.
Kennedy, D-R.I., plans to seek treatment at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minn.

Source: AP

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Who's blogging this weekend

Posted at 1:59 PM on May 5, 2006 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)

Sites that are live blogging (or sort of live blogging) events at the various district conventions this weekend.

3rd District
Minnesota Campaign Report

5th District
Power Liberal
CD 5 Web site (will post updates)
Minvolved

6th District
Residual Forces

8th District
Almost on the Range

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Compassion at the Capitol

Posted at 2:51 PM on May 5, 2006 by Bob Collins

Some of the unsung heroes of political news in Minnesota have just got to be the folks up at the Capitol who put Session Weekly together. It's a darned fine read, the articles are well written and the photography is first rate.

Looking through this week's issue, I was fascinated by a profile on Rev. Lonnie Titus, the chaplain of the House.

"I never see the members as Republican or Democrat, they're just people, friends of mine. Whenever they go through a time time, I immediately feel the call to stand alongside and ask, 'How can I help?"

It's on page 20.

Open thread: At the conventions

Posted at 1:15 PM on May 6, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Note the post below with the links to those who are blogging. Here's a roundup of what's happening via some of the blogs.

5th District
Via Power Liberal, Dorfman, Ellison, Saavedra, Schiff, Pallmeyer, Knapp, Thompson, Erlandson still in after first ballot.

6th District
Via Esmay delegate Psycmeister, Bachmann scores big -- as expected -- on the first ballot, but not enough for the endorsement.

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Ellison, Bachmann have solid days

Posted at 5:56 PM on May 6, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Keith Ellison gets the endorsement in the 5th (though the story seems to be the reception former party boss Mike Erlandson got).

Michele Bachmann destroyed the competition in winning the 6th.

Bachmann's and Ellison's speeches are or will be on the story pages.

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Nobody loves you, Ras.

Posted at 7:41 AM on May 8, 2006 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)

We (that would be the MPR "we," I'm a team guy, you know.) have been periodically kicking around what polling firm -- if any -- to use in this campaign season. I lobbied for Rasmussen Reports because of the frequency of their polling in Minnesota (monthly) and the price (not outrageous).

I think we can now conclude, however, that no self-respecting political wonk gives a rip about Rasmussen, confirming the belief of several media organizations (Associated Press for one) that refuse to acknowledge its existence. Apparently the firm uses automatic dialers, which in political polling circles is the equivalent of forgetting to zip up.

Rasmussen has made its polling on Minnesota available since late last year, but this month's was put in the "premium" category; nobody could see it without paying. Apparently nobody is paying. I just Googled Kennedy, Klobuchar, Rasmussen and nobody has picked it up. I've checked the blogs around here and double-checked the press releases in the last week (fortunately, the recycling person hadn't come yet) and... nothing.

Without this crutch, what will we use to measure this horse race (and the governor's)? Zogby is too easily dismissed. And the media folks aren't polling yet and, if you believe them, at least one big-city newspaper around here has suggested it may cut back on polling this year.

Maybe we should take up a collection.

-0-

There was some outstanding writing among the political bloggers who went to the district conventions, none better than Minvolved.com's description of Mike Erlandson's (pick one depending on whom you believe) "sudden temper tantrum"/"wisened political calculation" at the 5th District convention.

Anywho, immediately following the speech, you could hear folks in the audience yell some pretty interesting things at Mike. I won’t reprint them here, but let’s just say these were some pretty surprising things coming from folks with “Peace First” stickers on. One of these folks was Doug Grow. Yes, the Doug Grow. He wasn’t a delegate but he was in the room reporting on the festivities. One of Mike’s staff was trying to get Mike out of the room so that he could answer questions after he made it out to the hallway; plus Jorge was about to speak…he had to get out of the room. Apparently, this wasn’t good enough for Doug Grow, who obviously felt that Mike should stop in the middle of a crowed hallway next to a bunch of people who were yelling at him to ask a few questions.

It's important to note, I think, that every blogger I read over the weekend, stated in advance what candidate they personally favored. I could then consider that in reading their material, and I still found it interesting. What if MSM did that? By the way, there's no way that MSM can cover these events as well -- or as interesting -- as bloggers.

Of course, you may have to work a little bit. Inside Minnesota Politics has posted an e-mail from an unnamed Ellison delegate who refutes the Erlandson heckling stuff. (Memo to self: get a copy of Ellison's speech and post it here this afternoon.)

At least one MSM member gave it a go, by the way. Lawrence Schumacher of the St. Cloud Times blogged from the 6th, and says he'll be at it next weekend at the DFL 6th.

In the 6th, it's not all happiness. Andy over at Residual Forces, a Phil Krinkie disciple and a district party official of some sort, describes the post convention scene at the local pub.

So were are sitting there, most of the campaign, including Phil, drowning our sorrows. But it was a happy thing. I was surprised that no one was in the dumps, sure we were all pissed at what happened, but it was a positive mood. One of the campaign supporters came in wearing his Krinkie for Congress shirt with some fancy modifications. He changed it to say Krinkie for Speaker. There was a very loud roar of approval.

We even had members of the Knoblach and Esmay campaigns join us. One big happy family, ho hard feelings, Minus one of the members of course. hmmmm?

By the way, Minntelect says now that Michele Bachmann is definitely out of the Senate, Rep. Ray VandeVeer will run for her seat.

Turns out that Hopkins High School doesn't have wireless (hey, what do you expect from the state ranked 49th in technology in its schools?), but Minnesota Campaign Report also had good after-the-fact coverage of the 3rd District convention.

-0-

Wall Street Journal opinion piece Democrats may not be able to win the House, but Republicans could lose it. The piece seems to mirror -- at least a bit -- the theme of this alleged fundraising letter that Elizabeth Dole sent out. You know, the one that -- allegedly -- suggested that if the Democrats take control in Washington, Bush will be impeached etc. etc. etc.

I'm not sure what this new "message" means for the future of democracy. "OK, they hate us, but if we don't get re-elected, they'll get them."

Maybe there's another -- more intelligent -- alternative to scaring your way to re-election.

It's true that when you're job approval ratings are plummeting, it may not mean the voters would rather have another party in control.

But it does mean the people are talking to you. The question is: what's so bad about listening?

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Stuck in the middle with you

Posted at 10:22 AM on May 8, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

I wish I could live in the moment. Just once. One of the problems of being a Type A person -- or didn't you notice -- is you can't turn your brain off. Just now, for example, I was cleaning the stovetop from the burned-on egg from this morning's scrambled eggs. If I were a more laid-back person, perhaps I'd spend that time thinking about ways to improve non-burner surfaces, or the chemical composition of that goop that supposedly cleans your cooking surface to a mirror-like finish... but doesn't.

But no... two things have been in my brain all weekend and nothing has worked to make it stop. One, Ray Charles' version of America, which was played on the Current Thursday. It's undoubtedly the finest version ever recorded. But still, you can only take so much of...

...and crown thy good. ...yes he did, he said he would.. ...with brotherhood....

But it's still better than ABBA's SOS which for some godforsaken reason was stuck in that noggin' last week.

The other is a profile of a middle-of-the-road voter. You know, the kind that wins or loses elections?

I've been thinking about all the various combinations that are out there. Here's a couple:

Doesn't like the war in Iraq but doesn't want to pull out and retreat, doesn't like the idea of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, but doesn't like the idea of same-sex marriage either, is pretty well dry when it comes to paying more taxes, but can't stand large deficits.

You can play with that combination in a number of ways -- favors war in Iraq, is in favor of same-sex marriage by consenting adults, wants restrictions on abortion, for example -- and you can probably come to the same conclusion.

This ain't the political season for them.

This is what I like to call "red meat" season. It's when the candidates feed the base, which is usually not in the middle, only to have to run to the center in search of November votes. That is, if they don't think their base alone is enough to put them over the top.

We spend a lot of time in the news business chasing the candidates. But I think we should spend as much time chasing the voters because -- and I acknowledge I have absolutely no scientific proof of this -- I'm pretty sure the two are not the same at this point.

Here at MPR, I've argued for years for a budget item that provides for an extensive poll after Election Day to figure out exactly what voters were saying. The winner will always say they've got a mandate from the people to execute items 1-10 on their campaign issue list. But I don't think they do. I think there's a fair bet they have a mandate on item #1... and maybe 4 or 5 others. The problem is nobody can say for sure what 4 or 5 items those are.

When I first moved here in 1992, I remember sitting in the hotel before my interview listening to Morning Edition, and I heard a Chris Roberts piece profiling a family that MPR had identified as one of several undecided voters they'd follow during the campaign. It was brilliant! They were from all walks of life and they had one thing in common: they didn't know who they would vote for. And they were conflicted -- man, were they ever conflicted -- because how they felt wasn't at all with the certainty that candidates -- and their red-meat base -- displayed on every issue.

We haven't done it since. This year -- although I think it's getting late -- we're in the process of resurrecting the idea to see if we can pull it off.

I think it'll be fascinating. The only question is: if the candidates don't come back to the middle...where do these people who win and lose elections go?

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Erlandson's gambit

Posted at 11:41 AM on May 8, 2006 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)

Thanks to Tom Scheck, here's Mike Erlandson's speech at the 5th District convention on Saturday. (Listen in RealAudio). Personally, I don't think they worked him over that much. Seemed pretty calculated to me.

Which means -- and this hasn't gotten a lot of analysis -- the former chair of a political party (frankly, the last person you'd think would undermine the endorsement process) undermined the endorsement process.

Doesn't that beat all?

Update 2:36 p.m. - Mike Mulcahy tells me that Erlandson has not set a precedent for party chairs ignoring the endorsement process. A guy by the name of Mike Hatch, a former DFL Party chair, once ignored the party bosses and ran against Rudy Perpich.

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Nuggets (Open thread)

Posted at 12:06 PM on May 8, 2006 by Bob Collins

From the "I bet it's not Mike Hatch" department, this from Tom Scheck.

Becky Lourey confirmed to me that she will be naming her running mate this week. She wouldn't tell me who it was but was clearly excited about it. It's clear that it's a man because she said she was going to announce it in two weeks but this person's wife is so excited about it that she's announcing this week. She didn't specify a day.

-0-

Rod Grams, fresh off his endorsement victory at the 8th District convention (which came a day after announcing he was running, sort of), worked the Capitol press room today. Audio in a few minutes. Here's audio (RealAudio) of what he had to say.

-0-

Jon Olson, otherwise known in newsroom as, "the guy that owns the Dairy Queen" (you got a better way to sort out 5th District candidates?), has had a change of heart and has decided to honor the endorsement process and drop out.

The 6th District DFLers

Posted at 1:00 PM on May 8, 2006 by Bob Collins

Patty Wetterling and Elwyn Tinklenberg will be on Midday at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

If I were Polinaut, I'd....

Posted at 7:55 AM on May 9, 2006 by Bob Collins

Posting may be relatively light today, as I'm out sick. Talk among yourselves for a bit.

It's stadium day

Posted at 12:27 PM on May 9, 2006 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

Update 2:04pm The Senate has just passed the Twins and Vikings bill (the one with light rail and transportation projects in it and a metro-wide sales tax referendum) 34-32.

SF2460, the Gophers stadium bill, just passed the Senate on a 34-32 vote. Here's the roll call. I'll have the roll call on Votetracker in a few minutes.(It's a very high-tech process, I take a picture of the TV screen showing the Senate tote board and then load it up into Photoshop and squint my way to figuring out the vote. Hi tech, eh?)

There does not appear to be any taxing mechanism attached to it, but I admit I turned on the debate late so I'll have to sort it out later.

The Senate is now taking up the Twins and Vikings stadium bill with gubernatorial candidate Sen. Steve Kelly leading the charge.

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Some things are too painful to watch

Posted at 12:45 PM on May 9, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

Every once in a while, I see a clip on ESPN with some kid, plucked from the obscurity of Kidville, trying to sing the National Anthem and forgetting the words. Usually there's a warm moment, however, when some big NBA superstar (I think in this case it was Maurice Cheeks but don't quote me) will put his arm around the kid and help him/her through it, usually to the large applause of the crowd, appreciative of the effort and embarrassed for the kid from Kidville.

Apparently there were no big NBA stars around Washington this week when ABC News -- at the height of this controversy over whether the National Anthem should be sung in English -- cold-cocked a bunch of lawmakers and asked them the words to the anthem.

One of the ones who misfired was Rep. Mark Kennedy. It was only a moment; but it was a moment of pain.

First of all, they gave them a line in the middle of the anthem and asked them for the next line. Quick: what's the last four digits of your Social Security number? Most folks can't do it without ripping off the full number and then loudly proclaiming the last four.

That, my friends, is rote, and it's how the brain works for a lot of people. OK, sure, it's fun to chortle at somebody's embarrassment, but, seriously, is it indicative of one's love for the country? Is it indicative of one's opinion of the value of the National Anthem? Nahhhh. The value is what's in your heart while you're singing it -- start to finish.

Believe me, I know the sensitivity around the National Anthem. When I ran a small radio station (the greatest small town radio station in America, by the way) in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in the '80s, I torpedoed the U.S. Marine Corps band version that we played at sign-on and sign-off each day. I replaced the morning edition version (sign-on) with Marvin Gaye's version at the NBA All Star game (a fascinating rhythm-and-blues version that people actually paid attention to) and the late-night(sign-off) version with Whitney Houston's Superbowl version (I was going to rotate various versions).

The phones lit up, with the majority wondering how we could disrespect the national anthem so. Near as I could tell, both versions were sung in English. What do you suppose the real problem people had was? I probably should've asked the callers what the words were.

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Dribs and drabs

Posted at 4:36 PM on May 9, 2006 by Bob Collins (16 Comments)

The you've-got-to-pay-for-it-now Rasmussen poll this month on the Senate race and governor's race is coming out in dribs and drabs.

On the governor's race, it looks like someone over at the DFL dusted off the credit card, because they have issued a release that claims to have the Rasmussen numbers. (I'm not on the DFL mailing list so thanks to Tom Scheck for passing this along).

From the poll:

Hatch over Pawlenty 49% to 39%
Lourey over Pawlenty 43% to 40%
Kelley over Pawlenty 43% to 38%

"Some other candidate" registers between 6 and 8%.

The DFL doesn't mention the Senate race. For good reason.

Over at Kennedy vs. the Machine, they're quoting something called G2 (no idea, I don't know the secret handshake), saying Klobuchar is at 45% with Kennedy at 43%. I presume that's within the margin of error.

By the way, back to the governor's race for a moment. Think Becky Lourey's "no" votes vs. Steve Kelley's "yes" votes in today's stadium votes in the Senate further define their campaigns? I sure do.

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IP 5th review

Posted at 8:16 AM on May 10, 2006 by Bob Collins

Minnesota's in the Middle has a review of yesterday's IP convention in the 5th District.

Oh, and Rasmussen has finally decloaked its poll.

How was your day?

Posted at 8:22 AM on May 10, 2006 by Bob Collins

I love reading votes. They help me get an idea how much heavy lifting is involved in a lawmaker's day. Say what you will about the final result, but there's a lot in a Minnesota Legislature member's day.

I'm not so sure about Congress, where sometimes it seems like the goal is to have a couple of votes about issues that nobody disagrees with, and then race over to the RNCC or DNCC to raise some cash.

Yesterday's heavy lifting in Congress:

Heavy lifting

Posted at 11:08 AM on May 10, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

Maybe I should take the comment in one of the earlier posts back. The Minnesota Senate today will consider naming the Honeycrisp apple as the official state fruit.

Seriously.

It's the branchild of Sen. Brian LeClair, who was persuaded by a 4th grade class' letter, apparently favoring the honor upon the apple (which, just for the record, is way too expensive).

11:16 Sen. Kiscaden: "Senator LeClair, honey, can you give us a crisp answer as to why this should be the state apple?"

11:18 Sen. Warren Limmer: "Thank you for bringing up this core issue."

11:18; We have some no votes on SF 2302. Bachmann, Betzold, Chaudhary, Foley, Frederickson, Koering, Limmer, Marty, Pappas, Moua, Skoglund originally. Then, a bunch of sudden switches to make the final something like 53-4.

Great, we now have a state fruit.

After this lengthy work -- amost 10 minutes -- the Senate recessed.

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Snagging some publicity

Posted at 11:29 AM on May 10, 2006 by Bob Collins

By sheer coincidence, a bunch of reporters with cameras were in Joe's Sporting Goods when the governor came in to buy some lures for fishing.

Tinklenberg vs. Wetterling

Posted at 12:44 PM on May 10, 2006 by Bob Collins

Elwyn Tinklenberg and Patty Wetterling, the two DFL candidates for the 6th District, were on Midday today. I've sliced up their comments on particular issues. These are also posted on the individual candidate pages on our Campaign 2006 Web site.

Abortion: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Guns: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Impeachment: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Iraq: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Iran: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Palestinians: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Immigration: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Gas prices: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Deficits: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Tax cuts: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Medicare: Tinklenberg | Wetterling
Health care: Tinklenberg | Wetterling

I'm putting together a Select A Candidate for the 6th District. With any luck at all, it'll be out next week.

What issues do you care about?

Posted at 2:32 PM on May 10, 2006 by Bob Collins

This message from Andrew Haeg, who heads up MPR's Public Insight Journalism network.

* * *

A little while back (as previously reported here) we reached out to our audience (and beyond) to find out what issues people think are most important issues this election season, and why.

More than 2,000 people have responded, from across the political spectrum and from every established party, and have told us what their first and second choices are, and why . (We plucked all of the issues directly from the lists of issues that candidates said they were going to be focusing on this election season.)

We’re only now beginning to analyze the responses. At the moment, all we have is this graphic showing what issues respondents ID’d as most important, and 2nd most important.

It’s not scientific. It’s not even quasi-scientific. Think of it as a Polaroid snapshot: a little blurry, a little fuzzy but authentic and pretty interesting.

What do you see in it?

We’ll be providing some more analysis here at some point soon and look at what other issues people think are important; and we’ll be looping back to those who responded over the next several months to gauge voter sentiment and to get their questions for the candidates.

It’s the sort of interactive give-and-take with our audience that we’ve wanted to engage in for a long time here at MPR, but only recently have developed the wherewithal to do, via Public Insight Journalism.

Download pdf file of responses.

CQ on TP and MH

Posted at 3:40 PM on May 10, 2006 by Bob Collins

Congressional Quarterly takes a look at the Minnesota gubernatorial race and declares it in the "no clear winner" category. Ignore the pun on Pawlenty's name -- they still think that's funny stuff inside the Beltway.

Longer terms for reps?

Posted at 5:14 PM on May 10, 2006 by Bob Collins

I've been remiss in note pointing out that HF 2890 is slowly working its way through the House. It's another constitutional amendment, this one changes the terms of representatives from two to four years. And also staggers the terms in the Senate. It passed House Ways and Means Committee yesterday.

The Senate version of the bill appears to be gasping for breath in the Elections Committee.

Shake-up in Jeffers' camp

Posted at 10:48 AM on May 11, 2006 by Bob Collins

Craig Westover is reporting that Dan Coleman, the Democrat-turned-Libertarian-turned-Republican campaign manager for Sue Jeffers... is out.

The theory is that the Jeffers camp will now play nice with the GOP bosses.

Plasticized Polinaut = Plastinaut?

Posted at 2:24 PM on May 11, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

Haven't had much time to post anything today. I had to rush to get a Flash presentation put together in support of All Things Considered's tour of the Body Worlds exhibit tonight.

I've had half-an-ear (which is about all I have left now) cocked to the House and Senate and while the debate is passionate, I'm not finding it particularly interesting. (It's not that I don't like the idea of 20% renewable energy targets by 20-something, it's just that I'm at the stage of my life when I can't afford to spend precious time listening to the same debate again). In fact, there's nothing out there today I'm finding especially fascinating. I know this because the only thing that interests me is why Mark Kennedy voted not to adjourn the House. I'm guessing there's something he wanted taken up. Maybe later.

Tim Pugmire has a piece running in the morning profiling the two DFL candidates in the 6th District who may be whittled down to one by the end of the weekend. He's provided two extended interviews with the candidates which you're welcome to listen to if you wish. Patty Wetterling and Elwyn Tinklenberg are in RealAudio (of course).

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Whatever happened to health care?

Posted at 3:25 PM on May 11, 2006 by Bob Collins

Seems like only yesterday when health care dominated politics. That was before apples and stadiums took over.

The Boston Globe takes a look at the GOP's "health week," and the legislation that's been filed in Congress.

Better eat those apples.

The era of expectations

Posted at 5:47 PM on May 11, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

I'm still trying to figure out just what these various Bush job approval numbers have to do with the '06 elections. It's not that I'm stupid (although that may play a role), it's just that I'm not a political scientist, number one, and, number two, I've seen this country's penchant for putting incumbents back into office almost without interruption since I drove my little VW bug home from college in a snowstorm to cast my first vote as an 'adult' (for Mo Udall) on Super Tuesday 1976.

(Update 5/12/06 12:25: Listen to Congressional Quartery Bob Benenson's take on this national vs. local thing at KCPW in Denver)

So I tend to take with a grain of salt the expectation that there's a polarized coat-tail effect happening; at least until I see it for real.

But that doesn't stop the folks with the fancy book learnin' in the way of politics, as a Wall Street Journal article points out today (subscription required).

Try as they might to live by the words of the late Democratic House Speaker "Tip" O'Neill -- "All politics is local" -- Republicans are finding that this year that just isn't so.

With their House and Senate majorities at stake, Republicans are swimming against a national tide of voter unrest in the presidential midterm elections. Rep. Simmons, for one, says he "felt a kinship" with the salmon fry he had helped some fifth-graders release into a creek Monday, few of which would survive the trip upstream to eventually restock the river.

His rival, former state Rep. Joe Courtney, and other Democrats are running "nationalized" campaigns. They are hoping to capitalize on anger about the Iraq war, gas prices, congressional corruption and a White House seemingly at sea, to unseat enough "Bush Rubberstamps" -- as they call all Republican incumbents -- to recapture a majority. Democrats need to gain 15 seats in the 435-member House and six in the 100-member Senate.

...

Given the negative national mood, Republicans say they have little choice but to run "localized" campaigns in hopes that enough constituents will make an exception for them. "People are totally comfortable with criticizing Congress but then voting for their congressman," says Carl Forti, communications director of the National Republican Congressional Committee. He cites Mr. Simmons, a moderate who beat an incumbent Democrat in 2000 by painting him as out of touch with the district, and then survived in the Democratic-leaning district in 2002 and 2004 by emphasizing local issues.

But 2006 is shaping up to be different. Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan election analyst, says there is no doubt 2006 is a nationalized election year that threatens a wipeout for the party in power. Republican pollster David Winston argues that in an Internet age of Web blogs, talk radio and cable news, all politics henceforth are national, not local. "We are going to play in a national arena this fall, not a local sandlot," he wrote recently in Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

It was interesting -- to me -- that last week a candidate for governor -- I think it was Steve Kelley -- sent out an e-mail newsletter about the Iraq war. So perhaps the "nationalized campaign" strategy is taking place in "local" (i.e. not Congress) races too.

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This weekend

Posted at 8:35 AM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

If you're live blogging this weekend, send me an e-mail and I'll create a directory here.

6th District

Friday miscellany (open thread)

Posted at 9:01 AM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)

Rep. Mark Kennedy is out with a challenge to Amy Klobuchar today. Kennedy is promising not to accept pay for any day he's not able to vote in Washington. The challenge to Klobuchar is for her not to accept pay whenever she's not at the courthouse because of the campaign.

* * *

OK, you have to admit, this is pretty funny. DFL Senate noted this picture adorning the front of the Kennedy for Senate campaign.

Look closer...

What the heck is that? An extra arm (DFL Senate suggests)? It appears to be holding the fish properly. Whose arm is that? What's weird is the skin tone on the, umm... top arm... matches the guy's left arm and face. The ...err... "lower arm" is a darker tone, almost as if it were in the shadows. But if you look at the fish casting a shadow on the shirt, it's obvious the arm couldn't be in the shadows.
One arm is casting a shadow on the shirt, but the other one isn't.

Also, check out the shadow of the fix on the shirt and compare it to the position of the actual fish. The head is lower, indicate the sun high enough on the horizon to cast a downward shadow. The shadow of the tail, however, is even with the tail of the actual fish.

My theory: this is a legitimate picture of a fish that had just eaten a human. Only the poor victim's arm was left.

This is why I don't fish. Too dangerous.

* * *

By the way, if you want to see some terrific pictures, check out Minnesota Democrats Exposed. You have to love the guy. He's on vacation, but still blogging. That's dedication. Nice pix.

* * *

National Journal has a phrase I hadn't heard before: "Republican fatigue." It's uttered in this week's cover story, "How Republicans can get their groove back."

* * *

The stadium conference committee began its work this morning. As far as commentary, Morning Edition had one this morning on "chronic stadium fatigue syndrome." Yesterday, by the way, Wurz talked with former House Speaker Dee Long about the conference committee process.

* * *

Laura McCallum is pulling a piece together for All Things Considered tonight on the various plays politicians are drawing up regarding high gas prices. On the one hand, this is apparently a big political issue to folks. On the other hand, I once again got blown off the road by just about everyone as I drove home at 55 mph last night. Are people really interested in lower gas prices? Slowing down and using less of it is widely considered the best way to accomplish it, and yet clearly nobody is doing that. How that fact does or doesn't lead to a charged-up electorate, I obviously don't know; nothing about the gas price debate makes sense to me.

* * *

The Fix at the Washington Post has the latest update of tight races. Guess which one is in there?

6. Minnesota -- OPEN Rep. Mark Kennedy continues to represent Republicans' best chance at a pick-up this cycle, but his road is not an easy one. Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar (D) cleared the primary field with remarkable ease over the past six months and has performed admirably on the fundraising front -- raising more than $3.7 million by the end of March. Klobuchar campaign pollster Anna Greenberg released a survey this week that showed her candidate with a 50 percent to 42 percent lead over Kennedy. More interesting than the head-to-head number, however, was that 66 percent of the sample said the state was on the wrong track and 58 percent voiced disapproval of the job President Bush is doing. Since the numbers were provided by Klobuchar's pollster, we take them with a grain of salt. But if Greenberg's numbers are anywhere close to where public sentiment actually lies, it will be extremely difficult for Kennedy to win. (Previous ranking: 5)

* * *

People have looked at me funny over the last two years when I mentioned a civil war in this country isn't far-fetched. I view it as a bipartisan affair. A Weekly Standard article recently took apart a Harvard professor who seemed to lay it all at the feet of Republicans, something the Weekly Standard rightly criticized. So think about it: what makes the United State immune to civil war?

The Standard offers an intriguing answer:

Most Americans maintain an attitude towards politics that is best described as benign indifference. Even when the Bush-Gore battle hung in the balance, concerned partisans did not take to the streets in significant numbers. When the Supreme Court put an end to that struggle, there were some delirious Republicans and some despondent Democrats. But most of America shrugged its shoulders and began looking forward to the second season of Survivor.

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It's his finger

Posted at 2:25 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (19 Comments)

Kennedy press boss Heidi Frederickson sends an e-mail. The mystery arm is the fisherman's finger.

I've attached several pictures below and there will be more e-mails that follow with additional pictures. The picture on your blog has not been doctored/photoshoped in any way shape or form. I was in the boat when he caught the fish, yes he really caught the fish - it was not in a live-well, caught by anyone else, etc. I was the one who took the pictures.

If you look closely and look at the additional photos and how Kennedy is holding the fish you'll notice that 'thing' is his finger. While I understand the idea of a "doctored" photo is much more amusing to some than others, it was really disappointing to see something completely false and misleading on your blog... again.

A simple phone call could have prevented all of this - I hope you will consider that in the future. My cell is xxx-xxx-xxxx if you ever need to reach me.

Here's the pictures:

Here's the close-up of the finger.

That's definitely a knuckle.

For the record, I continue to believe the picture is real. I'm rethinking the notion that it's eaten a human, however.

Still too dangerous. And I need someone to bait the hook.

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Time-wasters

Posted at 2:56 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins

Speaking of Photoshopping -- or not -- there's actually a site we discovered today that specializes in contests to see who can doctor photographs the best. This is not for amateurs. These folks are good.

My favorites:

And one from the Democrat side (in case you're keeping score):

Here's the political drag category.

Inside EMILY'S list

Posted at 3:37 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins

CQ reporter Greg Giroux reveals what really happened at EMILY'S list luncheon yesterday. The "k" word , and the other "k" word are both mentioned, though not particularly prominently.

If it's Friday...

Posted at 3:46 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins

... then Monday must be coming.

Sen. Mark Dayton is on Midday at 11.

At 9, Tamar Jacoby is on Midmorning. She is also the author of "Reinventing the Melting Pot: The New Immigrants and What It Means To Be American."

At 10, former Sen. Dave Durenberger is on Midmorning.

Here's a question. Suppose Durenberger jumped back into electoral politics. How do you think he'd do?

Lost amid the fish hysterics

Posted at 4:46 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

...is the fact Minnesota is one of 9 states that could lose federal funding for education because it didn't make enough effort to comply with teacher standards.

According to an AP article, "The 4-year-old No Child Left Behind law says teachers must have a bachelor's degree, a state license and proven competency in every subject they teach by this year. The first federal order of its kind, it applies to teachers of math, history and many other core class."

Guess how many states have a qualified teacher in every core curriculum?

None.

The Education Department on Friday ordered every state to explain how it will have 100 percent of its core teachers qualified - belatedly - in the 2006-07 school year.

In the meantime, some states face the loss of federal aid because they didn't make enough effort to comply on time, officials said.

They are Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina and Washington, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.


"At some point there was, I suspect, a little bit of notion that 'This too shall pass,"' said Henry Johnson, the assistant secretary over elementary and secondary education. "Well, the day of reckoning is here, and it's not going to pass."


Department officials would not say how much aid could be withheld from states to force compliance. But Johnson said, "In some cases, we're talking about large amounts of money."


States often fell short because they did not report accurate or complete data about the quality of the teacher corps, said Rene Islas, who oversees the department's review.

The 4-year-old No Child Left Behind law says teachers must have a bachelor's degree, a state license and proven competency in every subject they teach by this year. The first federal order of its kind, it applies to teachers of math, history and any other core class.


In grading the states, the department found that 29 have made substantial progress. They must improve but do not face looming sanctions.

I'm guessing this is going to be a huge issue in the campaign since there are quite a few candidates who bristle under the notion of the "submit or die" nature of the law.

This'll be interesting. An actual, you know, issue.

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Huh?

Posted at 5:10 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

You know that AFLAC commercial where Yogi Berra is in the barber's chair and the duck shakes his head because of the utter confusion of Yogi's comments?

Well, ummm...yeah.

The only thing missing is the duck.

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No easy path for Ellison

Posted at 10:20 PM on May 12, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Minnesota Democrats Exposed has been working over DFL endorsee Keith Ellison (5th Congressional District), specifically his relationship with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Of course,anytime you're talking about Farrakhan, you're talking about the relationship between Jews and African Americans. It's one of the more hotly-commented blog postings I've seen in months with lots of archived Star Tribune material and allegations of race baiting. It's bare-knuckle stuff.

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What if?

Posted at 9:27 AM on May 13, 2006 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

Always Right, Usually Correct plays an interesting game of "what if?" w.r.t. the question of public employees campaigning while being paid by the public.

Perhaps we need to think about this more. What are the various permutations of this concept? What if we just separated it from the campaign season and paid them by the hour anyway? You know, punch-in, punch out?

I don't think it's any secret -- is it? -- for example that a great deal of time spent by politicians in Washington is actually spent at the RNC or the DNC dialing for dollars. What if we stuck an old Simplex machine over there and they punch in/punch out there and then that time is deducted from the salaries?

I've heard it said -- and I have no idea if it's true -- that Congress actually meets about 90 days out of the year.

What if we paid prosecutors on the basis of the number of cases they win? Sure, it could lead to abuses of the system, but the system has a cure for that too. Jail.

How 'bout this? How about elective office is a non-paid position? I'm just noodling out loud here but let's think about this a bit. It wasn't long ago that baseball players had to go get real jobs in the off-season. Did that make them more "grounded" in reality?

Statewide, there's that report from a task force that said one of the ways to improve Minnesota lawmaking is to pay Minnesota lawmakers more money. But what if it were a volunteer position? Would it speed things along a little bit? Would it lead to shoddy lawmaking? Bribery? Scandal?

And I haven't even brought up my idea yet of moving the nation's capital around every year from city to city. Fargo? Your day is coming, my friend.

Discuss.

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Oh yeah, it can happen

Posted at 9:57 AM on May 13, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

Courtesy of Centrisity, the Right and Left meet in the ... I don't know...middle?

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Visit a blog week

Posted at 3:01 PM on May 13, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

Especially after Fishgate, I remain fascinated by the role of blogs in the political universe -- utterly fascinated by them. I also remain glued to the debate inside newsrooms and also -- obviously -- inside political campaigns when mainstream media creates blogs, part of the purpose of which is to scatter the dialog underway in the (I'm growing to hate this word) blogosphere. People have a voice with blogs and sometimes they're right, and sometimes they're wrong. But the process of being right and being wrong happens in real time. Sometimes it's naked truth; sometimes it's naked untruth.

Powerline was right about the Dan Rather case, in the most celebrated case of blogs contributing to the political universe. But what made it more fascinating was the process of being right happened in real time. If Powerline had been wrong, that would have happened in real time too. The blog that outed the phony White House reporter-- might've been Kos or Josh Marshall, I forget -- did so in real time.

That goes against everything traditional media stands for, which is one reason I think it's so interesting. Conversations start, continue and eventually end. At the end, you get to decide whether the participants were worth listening to and --if not -- there's nothing that says you have to ever listen to them again. It's the marketplace in its purest form. You can't stop it. You can't control it.

In his spat with NY Times editor Bill Keller, Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine said:

Blogs are personal. Bloggers are passionate.

Journalism is institutional. Journalists are dispassionate.

Blogs are just people talking. And maybe that's the way journalists should look at them. Oh, yes, blogs do journalism. But when you read bloggers and think of them in your terms as journalists -- and then you hear these voices that are passionate, personal, brash, opinionated, immediate, irreverent, persistent, grating, and loud -- I'll bet it shoots a hot spike up your spine. Journalists don't talk like that! Mobs do! I understand that. I went to J-school and drank from the cup. It was hard for me to deprogram when I became a columnist, let alone a blogger. But I've come to cherish this new medium precisely because the voice is so earnest and honest and human.

So, if you want, think of bloggers not as journalists but as citizens (no, sorry, I almost forgot you didn't like that). Or think of them as the people (no, that's still not it -- too Internationale, don't you think?). Instead, think of bloggers as readers (if we're lucky). But to paraphrase Jay Rosen, these readers can now write -- and so your writers should now be reading. Do you and your staff want to hear what your readers have to say? I hope you do. Of course, you do. Well, blogs give you a new way to listen... without having to knock on doors in Queens (or Washington).

And, by the way, I wasn't suggesting that you needed to respond to every blogger -- or knock on every door -- in the case of your remixed quote. If you had responded directly to one of the bloggers -- challenged them, called them on taking you out of context -- I'll guarantee that bloggers themselves would have spread your response for you. That's how this distributed medium works: our audience gives us content and distribution and marketing.

Yes, exactly. Real time.

One of the real tensions right now in the political universe is a clash of cultures between people whose goal it is to control the message (aided and abetted by an only-too-willing media, by the way) and a medium that cannot be controlled.

That process of following that which turns out right...should not be silenced. Neither should the conversation that follows the process of turning out wrong.

Sure, politicians may -- perhaps, rightly -- demand mainstream media
control the content of those voices, just as they would in their core medium. A better idea, however, is for the politicians to engage with that medium.

That's what the COMMENTS sections of blogs are for. And yet, most politicians -- or their spokespeople -- don't touch them. They should (disclaimer: I notice Sen. Linda Higgins occasionally posts here. She's obviously keeping track of what people are saying. That's terrific!)

I know that many politicians and their campaigns read blogs, so chew on this idea: this week, visit your favorite blog, and ENGAGE. Visit the ones you don't like, the ones that are saying bad things about you (go to the source) and ENGAGE. Just to see what happens.

If it doesn't work and you get burned, hey you can always blame me.

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6th District DFL coverage

Posted at 3:45 PM on May 13, 2006 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

If you're not following both Power Liberal and Minvolved's coverage of the 6th District DFL convention today, you're missing out on some fine live blogging.

I'm working out in the garage on the plane today, but I duck in every few minutes for an update. Just like I used to do for baseball when I gave a rip about the Twins or the Cleveland Indians.

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Scenes from the 6th

Posted at 7:28 PM on May 13, 2006 by Bob Collins

Courtesy of Laura McCallum, here's a few shots from the 6th District convention.

Patty Wetterling holding her granddaughter, Lili, after winning the endorsement on the 7th ballot. (Does that look Photoshopped to you?)

Elwyn Tinklenberg concedes.

The folks who powered the convention -- the delegates -- whoop it up after the endorsement.

Audio later. It'll be on the story page.

New Bachmann blog

Posted at 8:08 PM on May 13, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

The folks who gave you Kennedy vs. the Machine and Residual Forces have started Bachmann vs. Wetterling.

Three blogs. Man, I can't even find the time to do laundry. I bow.

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Taking risks

Posted at 10:19 PM on May 14, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

If you didn't read the full Pioneer Press piece about the danger politicians face when flying small planes, you'd think it was about, well, the danger of small planes. Actually it was about the dangers of political personalities.

"Campaigning in small planes is extremely dangerous," said former Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C., who survived a crash. "Small planes are dangerous themselves. But the campaigning is extremely dangerous for the very simple reason that they push and take chances they never should take. It's push, push, push. We think we're so important and this admiring throng is waiting for us, we fly through thunderstorms and fog and whatever, thinking we can get there."

That's a good quote. Too bad the writer didn't spend the rest of the article examining what goes on inside a politician's head.

Planes rarely crash because of the planes; that is, a technical glitch is seldom enough to bring a plane down. Usually, when a technical glitch is involved, it sets off a chain of events when a pilot forgets a simple rule for staying alive: fly the damned plane.

But most of the time, planes crash because someone decided to take off in the first place. That's why the piece should've been headlined, "politicians are dangerous."

The piece that was printed, however, is what happens when reporters and columnists "try this at home."

Yet they're also 40 times more likely to be in accidents than commercial jetliners, according to National Transportation Safety Board statistics.

It then lists all of the small planes that killed politicians. What say we look a little closer at the real problem.

Oct. 25, 2002 — Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., killed with his wife, daughter and five others when their plane crashed in light snow in Eveleth, Minn.

The pilot initially didn't want to go, given the weather. He felt pressured by the Wellstone scheduler and eventually launched. Confusion near Eveleth about where the airport was caused the pilots to forget to fly the plane. The plane worked fine. It was the pilot and the campaign that made some bad decisions. I still think the faulty airport beacon played a role. I flew the same route a few weeks later and ended up with the same confusion. And several FAA-assigned pilots flew it too and ended up off-course, until the NTSB made them fly it later. When they flew it successfully, the NTSB said "nope. The beacon works fine."

Oct. 16, 2000 — Democratic Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, killed with his son and an aide when their plane crashed in bad weather in Missouri.

This was a vacuum pump failure, which powers a couple of instruments such as the one that drives the artificial horizon...a good thing to have in instrument conditions. They fail quite often, but it's not fatal. In this case the back-up instruments were working but they were in front of the co-pilot's location and the pilot couldn't handle it.

April 19, 1993 — Republican South Dakota Gov. George Mickelson, killed with seven others when their state-owned turboprop plane crashed in a rainstorm at Zwingle, Iowa.

Yep, blame this one on the airplane. A cracked propellor hub essentially destroyed the engine.

April 1, 1991 — Sen. John Heinz, R-Pa., killed when his plane collided with a helicopter over Lower Merion, Pa.

A plane didn't kill John Heinz. Stupidity did. It was a "problem" with landing gear; the same kind of problem that CNN has raced to cover at least 6 times in the last two years, never with any problem. In this case the pilots did a fly by the control tower (which could tell them nothing) and then decided to have a helicopter check it out. A stupid move. The helicopter couldn't tell them anything they didn't already know. In this case, fold up the landing gear, and land on a runway on the belly. Simple. Instead, the helicopter got too close, and they collided.

The others, I don't have a memory (as I do the above) to lay complete claims on but I do know airplane crash statistics and causes and airplane malfunction is almost never the case. Pilot error in the air and the pressure to take-off kills people; a lot. And not just politicians.

BTW, an emergency landing is not a plane crash any more than pulling your car to the side of the road is an automobile crash.

It's true airplanes involve risk, more risk than driving a car or a bus. But we all manage risk every day. The real issue that would've been more informative, would have been this question: why are the pilots and politicians who die in plane crashes so poor at managing risk?

There's an old axiom in flying: "there are old pilots, and there are bold pilots. But there are no old, bold pilots."

Can't think of any about the planes themselves, though.

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See no evil? Speak no evil? (and an obligatory West Wing moment)

Posted at 11:10 AM on May 15, 2006 by Bob Collins (14 Comments)

Some of the blogs are alive with chatter today about the words spoken at the 6th District convention on Saturday toward Michele Bachmann. One state senator referred to her as evil "the devil in the blue dress."

Patty Wetterling, the candidate Bachmann faces now says she's bad on several fronts. Here's the actual speech. (RealAudio)

Did that cross a line? If so -- and this is my West Wing political science training here -- can Wetterling's opponents seize on that without also allowing her message to be repeated? (It was the episode when someone slipped a political ad tape to Sam Seeborn and he gave it to a friend who, as it turns out, wasn't really a friend and the thing ended up running for nothing on all the news channels).

By the way, as long as we're on West Wing, I've commented here a number of times on how good the researchers were for little political drop-ins that would appear in the dialog from time to time. All of that was undone last night when -- if you saw it, this will make sense. If you didn't, it won't -- a train derailed between Exeter, New Hampshire and Haverhill, Massachusetts. The person telling the president referred to the city as HAVE her hill, which is pretty much like calling Cloquet CLOE-kett. It's pronounced HAY-vrill. And the thing is, the president -- Jeb Bartless Bartlett -- is from New Hampshire.

Reminds me of the time he stopped his Saturday morning radio address taping because the phrase "leaf peeping" was in it. He pulled off his glasses and turned to the writer to inquire what "leaf peeping" was. Right, a guy from New Hampshire -- the leaf-peeping capital of the free world -- didn't know what leaf peeping was?

It's like a president not knowing what a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread sells for.

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Hutchinson weighing in

Posted at 12:07 PM on May 15, 2006 by Bob Collins

The Hutchinson campaign is out with a new biweekly newsletter:

Minnesota is not alone. New York Times Columnist Tom Friedman thinks it will take a third party to deal with the energy crisis. A headline on a column by David Broder, Washington Post, asked rhetorically, "Who'll meet the demand for unity?" Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and John Avlon, author of "Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics," think an independent will be sent to the White House in 2008. In Oregon, Texas and Massachusetts, highly regarded leaders are abandoning traditional parties and running for governor as independents. It's beginning to look like a movement.

Gotta give Huchinson credit for catchy slogans: "Not Left. Not Right. Forward."

6th District issues

Posted at 1:48 PM on May 15, 2006 by Bob Collins (10 Comments)

I'm putting together Select A Candidate for the 6th District. How 'bout forwarding what you think are issues in the 6th that you think are -- or should be -- part of the campaign. I'm especially interested in hearing from people in the 6th.

So far...

Iraq
Iran
Health care
Abortion
Immigration
Marriage
Tax cuts or tax policy

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CQ on Wetterling-Bachmann

Posted at 9:49 PM on May 15, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

"Republicans contend that Bachmann’s strongly conservative views on both social and economic issues neatly fit the leanings of voters in the 6th, which stretches from Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs northwest to the city of St. Cloud. They note that Bush, who narrowly lost Minnesota as a whole, took 57 percent of the 6th District vote.

"Democrats, who need a net gain of 15 seats nationally to gain a House majority, argue that the 6th is eminently winnable for them. They choose to focus on Wetterling’s candidate debut as their 2004 nominee, in which she held Kennedy, already touted as a GOP rising star, to 54 percent."

MORE

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They're onto you... sort of

Posted at 10:30 AM on May 16, 2006 by Bob Collins

Psst to media flacks (aka: communications directors/PR people): the public has finally figured you out. Your "trainees" don't answer questions, they just return to their "talking points." Well, so says Jeff Jarvis, anyway, who's at some conference (doesn't anybody in the media actually go to work doing news anymore? Or are they just always at conferences?)

Richard Edelman, who’s becoming known as the most clueful flack, says that they are getting rid of the “message triangle,” the old, accepted wisdom of media training that taught the speaker to keep coming back to three points no matter what the question is. He says the John Kerry failed in his debates because he was too-well trained; he kept coming back to those points. Too much training reduces credibility, he says.

I don't know if I'm ready to buy that yet. Although now that he's out of the race, let me suggest you go back and read this monologue from days gone by.

When you hear a candidate start a sentence with "we need...." then you're probably listening to a candidate not answering the question. All the "we need" does is rephrase the problem, it doesn't offer solutions. This week, we hear, "we need to secure our borders." Well, duh, no kidding. The question is not what we need to do when solving a problem. The question is how we do what we need to do.

Case in point. Every candidate I know when "answering" the question about immigration, has said "we need to secure our borders." But I'm not hearing unanimous agreement on at least one guy's plan for doing that -- not from conservatives, and not from liberals. So that really wasn't an answer, was it? At least an answer that means anything.

The answer to "how" is usually in short supply during campaign seasons.

Go back and listen to Elwyn Tinklenberg's answers when he was on Midday. Count the number of "we needs." I don't mean to single out Tinklenberg, because most candidates do this. It's what they're trained to do. It's just that I can't derail Tinklenberg's candidacy now that he's not a candidate anymore. But, trust me, it was driving me crazy last week.

So I'm not convinced that Jarvis -- or rather Edelman -- is correct. It takes two to tango -- a candidate who doesn't answer the question...and a media that doesn't demand that they do.

I haven't seen much indication in this campaign season so far -- at least on the part of the media -- that they've awoken from their non-challenging slumber of recent years.

WSJ discovers blogs changing politics

Posted at 11:44 AM on May 16, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Who knew?

"The system for keeping unverifiable reports out of the news is totally broken down when you look at the online world," says Jay Rosen, a professor of journalism at New York University and a blogger himself at www.pressthink.org. Instead, he says, there is a "let's see if this holds up" philosophy that he thinks has merit in today's fast-paced news world, though he admits it isn't a practice that major news organizations could or should adopt.

Oh for the days of sitting around the radio at night waiting for Jack Benny to come on.

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Is it a fee or a tax?

Posted at 1:33 PM on May 16, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

We'll find out in a half hour when the Supreme Court rules. Should throw the Legislature into a tizzy one way or the other.

Decision will be available here at 2.

Update 2:04 p.m. - The fee stays. Big win for Pawlenty. But it could complicate the end of the session.

The court said:

The imposition of the Health Impact Fee under Minn. Stat. § 256.9658 (Supp. 2005) does not violate the 1998 settlement agreement between respondent tobacco companies and the state because the terms of the settlement agreement do not unmistakably relinquish the state legislature’s sovereign authority to impose such an exaction on tobacco products in order to recover health care costs related to the use of tobacco products and to discourage smoking.

In particular, note Justice Alan Page's apparently swing at the Legislature (or gov or both) in his concurring opinion:

Now, with the imposition of the Health Impact Fee and the pass-through of that fee/tax to the consumer, smokers are once again paying for the state’s smoking-related health care costs – the same costs one could reasonably have hoped were being paid for by the tobacco companies through the 1998 settlement. On the record before us, it cannot be determined whether the settlement payments, combined with the Health Impact Fee, exceed the state’s smoking-related health care costs. But, to the extent that what smokers who are not parties to the settlement agreement pay towards the settlement payments and the Health Impact Fee exceeds those costs, this scheme exacts a direct, although hidden, tax on smokers to fund any manner of nonsmoking-related state expenditures. This hidden tax is neither imposed on nor borne by any other Minnesota taxpayers. Thus, I find this scheme troubling.

Kind of like a "hey, where's the money from the settlement?" statement. Where, indeed?

I'm thinking his use of the term "scheme" -- and all that implies -- was not by accident.

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Power rankings

Posted at 3:11 PM on May 16, 2006 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)

Congress.org is out with its Power Rankings. Sometimes, the most well-known aren't the most powerful, you know. Sometimes they are.

Here's the rankings for Senate:

Sen. Frist (R-TN) 96.75 1
Sen. Specter (R-PA) 82.31 2
Sen. McCain (R-AZ) 80.94 3
Sen. Grassley (R-IA) 78.50 4
Sen. Reid (D-NV) 71.06 5
Sen. Domenici (R-NM) 69.25 6
Sen. McConnell (R-KY) 64.56 7
Sen. Stevens (R-AK) 61.56 8
Sen. Hatch (R-UT) 56.75 9
Sen. Cochran (R-MS)

And for the House:

Rep. Hastert (R-IL-14) 97.25 1
Rep. DeLay (R-TX-22) 63.50 2
Rep. Lewis (R-CA-41) 60.57 3
Rep. Young (R-AK-AL) 55.00 4
Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI-5) 48.00 5
Rep. Barton (R-TX-6) 45.56 6
Rep. Thomas (R-CA-22) 42.13 7
Rep. Pelosi (D-CA-8) 41.89 8
Rep. Obey (D-WI-7) 40.00 9
Rep. Regula (R-OH-16) 38.38 10

But I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "what about our people?"

As a group, Minnesota ranks on the weak side of "average." Figures.

Specifically, it goes like this:

Senate:
Name Rank in State Score Rank in Senate
Sen. Coleman (R-MN) 1 23.81 74
Sen. Dayton (D-MN) 2 15.75 91

House:
Name Rank in State Score Rank in House
Rep. Sabo (D-MN-5) 1 22.88 61
Rep. Oberstar (D-MN-8) 2 16.63 167
Rep. Kline (R-MN-2) 3 16.12 176
Rep. Kennedy (R-MN-6) 4 15.87 181
Rep. Ramstad (R-MN-3) 5 14.50 226
Rep. Gutknecht (R-MN-1) 6 14.00 233
Rep. Peterson (D-MN-7) 7 10.00 304
Rep. McCollum (D-MN-4) 8 4.00 429

I think the most surprising one -- to me -- is actually Kline ranking higher than Kennedy, but maybe that's just because of all the publicity Kennedy has generated with his Senate run, and Kline's tendency to be a little more low-key on the homefront. Peterson ranking so low, but that may be Democratic payback for the fact he's sort of not a Democrat while he sort of is.

What's interesting about Kline is that most of his ranking comes from the position he holds. But he gets 0 points for influence. Huh?

Kennedy gets -1 for influence, and points for position. And a low number of legislation.

Peterson gets nothing for influence, nothing for legislation. And McCallum McCollum (where'd that come from?) gets nothing for influence, nothing for legislation, and not much for position.

In the Senate, Dayton ranks 91 out of 100. Coleman 74 out of 100. Neither score is a heck of a lot to write home about.

But check that map. I'd have guessed that the South would be the one to have the most influence. But it's not. It's the mountain states and -- get this -- North Dakota.

How do you like that, Minnesota? You just got whacked by North Dakota.

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Congressional Quarterly on Patty Wetterling

Posted at 4:29 PM on May 16, 2006 by Bob Collins

CQ provides a transcript of their interview with Patty Wetterling, the 6th District candidate for Congress.

Bush for Kennedy

Posted at 9:49 AM on May 17, 2006 by Bob Collins

Read in the paper today that the campaign wasn't commenting on Laura Bush coming to town for a fundraiser for Mark Kennedy. Here's what Tom Scheck says is floating around the MN YoungRepublican site.

US Senator Norm and Laurie Coleman

Cordially invite you
to join them in welcoming

Mrs. Laura Bush

For an evening in support of

Mark Kennedy
Candidate for United States Senate

Tuesday, June 6

"The Blue Room"
4:30 p.m. - Reception

"The Red Room"
6:00 p.m. - Dinner

The Depot
225 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota

For more information
Please call 651.644.2506 or email rsvp@markkennedy06.com
All attendees must be paid and registered by June 1

As Pennsylvania goes?

Posted at 10:07 AM on May 17, 2006 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

Primary election day in Pennsylvania yesterday, and a whole bunch of incumbents -- 14 in all -- were swept out of office including the top two Republicans in the state Senate; the first time that a legislative leader was voted out of office in 40 years.

Maybe some folks will say this indicates a tidal shift nationally, but that may be wrong. There apparently was a lot of voter angry over a pay raise the lawmakers gave themselves last year.

There were a couple of congressional races worth peeking at yesterday. In Kentucky, Andrew Horne, a veteran of the war in Iraq, lost to a Democrat political columnist. In Pennsylvania, another war vet -- Patrick Murphy -- won the Democratic nod in a congressional swing district.

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Caution, humor ahead.

Posted at 10:26 AM on May 17, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

My boss always gets a letter or two whenever we go the humor route but, hey, what are you going to do? Politics is funny. It just doesn't usually intend to be.

The GOP has a new Web site out. Amy's Record, which purports to set the record straight on Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar.

On Minnesota Stories, a very tech-savvy gentleman, Chuck Olson, returns the volley... in a humorous sort of way.

This could be the start of a good match. I'll see your Web site, and I'll raise you a video. Wonder what's coming next?

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Random non-political musings while watching the Senate

Posted at 10:49 AM on May 17, 2006 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

I'm working at home this morning, watching a not-terribly-riveting Senate floor debate over HF 2916, the fire safety account. So naturally my mind is wandering. I glanced out the back door and saw something that I see many times over the Twin Cities:

See that contrail? It's up about 37,000 feet. The thing is cruising along, reaches the Twin Cities, and then takes a hard left, more to the East (this is looking directly West). Why?

Fuel prices are bankrupting airlines, why not just take the route indicated by the red line (I put that there, that did not appear in the sky over Woodbury, just for the record) and save a few thousand dollars? There can't be a plane going in the other direction to avoid, they fly at different altitudes.

Or maybe it has something to do with the curvature of the earth and they're not really turning at all?

Tell you what. I'll keep an eye on HF 2916 for you. You figure that out and let me know.

Back to work.

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Politics and "tar baby"

Posted at 2:23 PM on May 17, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Every morning, I look at the traffic stats for the MPR regional news & information site. I like to see what people are responding to. OK, fine, you caught me. I look to see how Polinaut is doing (4th most popular page on the site, and moving rapidly up on Midday and Midmorning, which is the real reason why Kerri Miller is doing that Fox TV gig).

Anyway, without reading the papers this morning, I did today's routine exercise and notice this story was the most visited page on the site yesterday.

When a two-month-old story comes in #1, I know something's going on and some high fallutin' Web site has either linked to it, or a bunch of people had a reason to Google it.

So I did, and, sure enough... Tony Snow came through in his first media briefing as White House press secretary with this little quip:

Again, I would take you back to the USA Today story, simply to give you a little context. Look at the poll that appeared the following day. While there was -- part of it said 51 percent of the American people opposed, if you look at when people said, if there is a roster of phone numbers, do you feel comfortable that -- I'm paraphrasing and I apologize -- but something like 64 percent of the polling was not troubled by it. Having said that, I don't want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program -- the alleged program -- the existence of which I can neither confirm nor deny.

Hmm...that briefing was at 12:30 ET yesterday and I've been doing this long enough to know that if a story shoots to #1 on our site in connection with something that happened halfway through the day, then something other than the orderly progression of the news cycle is taking place.

Someone, my theory goes, is trying to whip up the troops.

First we find something called Whizbang which mentions the incident

John Amato even links to three stories (1, 2, 3) that, he says, show people have been fired for using the term. I read those three stories, and no one gets fired...

One of the links -- #1 actually -- is the story referenced above. Now the next assignment. Find out who the heck John Amato is. Whizbang, whatever that is, references something called Think Progress, whatever that is.

But in “American lore,” the expression tar baby is also a racial slur “used occasionally as a derogatory term for black people.” Use of the term has resulted in people being fired.

"people-being-fired" has each word linked to a different story. The MPR gets the "being" position, which ticks me off because I think we should have gotten the "people" spot, even though nobody got fired.

I check another link that Whizbang mentioned and it mentioned something called Crooks and Liars. I check Crooks and Liars. I get this:

But in "American lore," the expression tar baby is also a racial slur "used occasionally as a derogatory term for black people." Use of the term has resulted in people being fired.

Again, relegated to the "being" position. Bleah.

Memo to politicians: unless you want to get off your message (and, who knows, maybe that's exactly what Snow wants) and spend two days discussing why you think "tar baby" is or isn't offensive, don't say "tar baby." Pick any other word. Just ask the guy in Stearns County. Or the Washington DC city worker who got fired for using the term "niggardly" during a budget hearing. It has nothing to do with the word you think, but perhaps prudence dictates you use another word anyway.

On the other hand, it's good for the traffic stats if you don't.

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I told you I was bored

Posted at 3:59 PM on May 17, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

A few months ago, in a column that ripped Mike Ciresi (sort of), I wrote:

I gave up any hope of being the guy who drives the Zamboni at the old Boston Garden quite awhile ago. But here at my place of employment, I'm constantly flailing away at suggesting new things, in the face of evidence sometimes that it's a wasted effort. But hasn't that been our national character: fighting lost causes?

So today, some of my colleagues in new media proved that dreams really can come true with this puppy:

Not just a Zamboni, but a custom-made Polinaut Zamboni. Radio controlled (only because they haven't made a Web-controlled version of it yet).

It'll be awhile before I'm good enough to take it to the ice. But this was quite a surprise. I was planning on the next installment in the Polinaut plan to take over the universe being action figures.

This is how Keillor started, you know. A stupid poster about biscuits.

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Things to do when you're bored

Posted at 5:11 PM on May 17, 2006 by Bob Collins

Continuing a theme.

Suggestion: Turn on channel 17 and watch the House take roll call votes. Notice when there's a vote on a bill which lawmakers spend an hour passionately arguing. Take special note of votes that appear significantly one sided (as with today's game bill on the House floor) and note the small number of "red" votes.

Think to yourself, "hmmmm...hunters vote, what are those folks with the red (i.e. "no" votes going to do). Wait for Steve Sviggum to say "clerk will close the roll."

Watch how fast the red lights turn green.

Nothing more worthless than a vote in favor of a lost cause.

Speaking of lost causes, sounds bad for the future of the dedicated funding for the environment effort. And property tax relief has suddenly become a dominant issue.

Wetterling (not) on the issues

Posted at 7:58 PM on May 17, 2006 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)

The blog Bachmann vs. Wetterling made an interesting discovery today. Sixth District candidate Patty Wetterling has removed the "issues" page from her Web site, days after inviting people to go to her Web site to see where she stands on the issues.

I checked myself and they're right. The issues page is gone from the navigation structure. Now, I know the page was there because I've been building the 6th District Select A Candidate this week and I used the page to check where she stands on some issues (which weren't actually there, by the way, but the issues page was).

In our Select A Candidate program, I have a function that allows us to enter the URLs of pages where we "source" the candidates positions.

As luck would have it, I wrote down the URL for her position on Iraq. I had other sources for other issues so that's the only URL on her site I have.

As you can see the page is still there.

I didn't take a screenshot of her site, however, so I don't know if the page has been redesigned or not, but it looks like the nav structure changed. The "new" nav structure is also on the issues page that I recorded.

So the question is not only, why aren't the "issues" on the nav structure anymore, why is the new nav structure -- without the issues link -- on the issues page?

If I had to guess, I'd guess that the nav structure was changed to add an item and I think it's the "add an event" function because I don't recall seeing that before.

So I checked the "cached" version on Google and, yep, the "add an event function" has just been added. But on the cached version, neither is the "issues" nav. That was cached yesterday at noon, however, and I did the SAC hunt on Tuesday morning.

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You just can't beat coincidence

Posted at 11:39 AM on May 18, 2006 by Bob Collins

I was washing some dishes this morning and thinking, "what the heck ever happened to the federal marriage amendment? All those folks in November of 2004 campaigned as if it would be the first thing they did when they got back inside the Beltway and hear it is May 2006?"

Now I know.

Don't vote for my opponent, he'll probably die

Posted at 12:36 PM on May 18, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

Well, I guess here's a new approach to a campaign message. The National Journal has the mailer that Bill Conrad, a candidate for Assembly in California, is using against an incumbent.

Makes you feel good to live in Minnesota, doesn't it?

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Does this only apply in generic congressional districts?

Posted at 1:56 PM on May 18, 2006 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)

Rasmussen has a poll that just feels like it's full of holes. But I pass it along anyway.

Following the President's Monday night speech, Democrats enjoy a 15-point advantage on the Generic Congressional Ballot. A Rasmussen Reports national opinion survey of 1,000 Likely Voters found that 48% would vote for the Democrat in their district if the election were held today. Just 33% would vote for the Republican.

Why do I think it's full of holes? Well,here's today's congressional vote forecast map from Congressional Quarterly. Red is leaning, strongly leaning or safe Republican. Does that look like the Republicans are in trouble to you?

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It just happened again

Posted at 2:03 PM on May 18, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

Last minute vote-switching in the Minnesota House. The House just passed a ban on the sale of "mature" videogames to kids under 17. Just before the vote closed, and it was a sure win, I counted something like 7 representatives who voted "no," telling House Speaker Steve Sviggum they were voting "yes."

Did they have a sudden change of heart given the nature of the debate in the 75 seconds between their vote of "no" and their switch to "yes?" Or is it something more?

I guess this is how "I voted against it after I voted for it" becomes part of campaign lexicon.

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A cut-and-paste political ad

Posted at 3:41 PM on May 18, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

I'm writing this as a public service to all those folks out there who specialize in writing biting political ads who are having a hard time coming up with something for the next campaign.

I was just watching the Minnesota House debate the omnibus health finance bill and somebody offered and amendement -- I can't remember what it was about, maybe health care for kids or something -- and on a voice vote the speaker -- in this case Greg Davids -- said "all in favor?" followed by a not-very-signficant number of "ayes" and then he said "all opposed?" followed by a ringing chorus of "no's" delivered not only with passion and gusto, but with the sense that they thought if they said it loud enough, they could also skip mass on Sunday.

It was then that I realized that the political parties are completely missing out on a great ad. And mine is a bipartisan effort, the first party that steals it can have it. Just change the issues as you see fit.

Want to hear it? Fine. Here goes.

Ahem.

(Quiet, subdued political ad narrator voice with just the right amount of exasperation?)

What do you think? If you like it, better steal that audio soon, though. The bill just passed 132-0.

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Shhhhh! It'll be our little secret

Posted at 5:11 PM on May 18, 2006 by Bob Collins

Courtesy of NPR, we learn today that "freedom of the press" is no longer in the Constitution. Hardly a discouraging word is uttered among the folks who swore to defend and uphold it.

But there is a logical excuse: Alfonso Aguilar, the director of the office of citizenship at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, acknowledges that the flash cards are based on "flawed" information, and that it will be corrected.

Flawed information? Does that mean nobody in charge at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recognized that a fundamental part of the Constitution was missing?

I wonder if the people who "missed it" had to learn the Constitution as a condition of living here. Or maybe..... (dah dah dum dum...)

Round up the usual suspects. And check to see if the flash cards still have the 18th Amendment in effect; preferably before Happy Hour.

Safe at home?

Posted at 6:33 PM on May 18, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

Congressional Quarterly takes a look at those folks who bucked their party to vote against the budget resolution early this morning. "All House Democrats present voted against the resolution, arguing that it would shortchange vital programs. Most Republicans supported the budget blueprint, saying that it would reduce the rate of growth in federal programs but not cut spending, and also allow for tax relief," CQ said.

In looking at the Republicans, we found this:

• Jim Ramstad, Minnesota’s 3rd District: Another prominent GOP moderate, Ramstad has dominated elections in suburbs west of Minneapolis. Democrats say they will make a serious run in the district, which narrowly favored Bush in 2004, when Ramstad eventually leaves Congress — but admit they are unlikely to do so before then. CQ Rating: Safe Republican

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What is a real Republican?

Posted at 8:13 PM on May 18, 2006 by Bob Collins

Tom Scheck, who never misses a thing, sends along an e-mail to supporters and others from Libertarian-turned-Republican gubernatorial candidate Sue Jeffers.

Update on Sue at the GOP Conventions
A message from Sue Jeffers

I had a wonderful speech to give at the GOP Congressional District conventions, most of which were held the weekend of May 6th. My speech was titled, "What is a Real Republican?"

My speech addressed many issues important to the voters in Minnesota. Even with a Republican governor, a Republican House, and an evenly divided Senate, our state has continued to binge on tax dollars. Under the current watch we saw the 2005 legislative session produce a partial state government shut down, gambling expansion proposals, a minimum wage increase, double digit property tax increases, $559 million in fee increases and our state budget grew 8% to become the largest state budget in Minnesota history. It makes one wonder what happened to notions of smaller, more efficient government.

Continuing along a similar path, the 2006 session is about funding stadiums, a billion-dollar bonding bill, the Clean Water Legacy Act, and over $80 million for mass transit. Is anyone looking out for the taxpayers?

Unfortunately, Republican Party officials decided I was not welcome at the conventions. My staff and I were uninvited to the conventions and blackballed from attending. I chose not to turn these conventions into a media circus and will concentrate on attending the state convention June 1st - 3rd.

I have formally requested the delegate lists, contacted the nominating committee and asked for access to the State Convention. I am waiting for a response. If the party refuses to allow me to attend, I would hope the party officials would explain the basis for an arbitrary exclusion of any viable candidate seeking their endorsement. I would hope they would welcome all conservative candidates to compete.

Delegates who are familiar with my hard work within the party appreciate my goal to open the debate. My intent is to further party principles. I know a couple delegates who strongly oppose my challenge to Tim Pawlenty. Their opposition seems to stem from an eager willingness to settle for the status quo. In my opinion, the status quo is just not good enough. Voters deserve better.

Keep watching. I think this is going to get very interesting pretty darn quick.

The approval rating-midterm effect

Posted at 10:25 PM on May 18, 2006 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

Daily Kos isn't one of my daily stops but Swing State Project is and SSP caught note of a study with lots of charts and graphs that seem to suggest a correlation between a president's approval rating and the midterm performance of his party.

Now, keep in mind in the comments section, someone points out that the guy who did this really wants to be concentrating on Polynomial matching, not straight line. And also the Y variable may not be Delta. Now, as someone who pointed out the obvious suggested, a Delta vs. approval rating with a 5 percent Polynomial might overfit the data. Right?

For the life of me, I can't figure out why the Democrats have such a hard time getting their message out. Can you?

How would a Republican Web site interpret the data? It would say, "we're gonna kick your ..." And folks would nod and say "yep," and go about their day.

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Are you sure you want to do this?

Posted at 11:43 AM on May 20, 2006 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

After we left New York City in 2004 after the Republican National Convention, I heard some commentator suggest the days of having conventions in big cities (OK, I'm being a little bit charitable, St. Paul) is over.

I didn't bother listening to him explain why because I saw the post-911 convention "gala" in Boston and New York that year and I knew. It's a giant money suck in the post-911 world. The cities basically are shut down. In Boston, employers closed during their convention because people weren't going to be able to get to work. I-95, the main north-south drag, was closed during convention becasue it passes close to Fleet Center (or whatever they call it now), local businesses -- with a few exceptions -- did not get a big jump in business, or at least one to offset the folks that patronize them regularly, who weren't about to be caught dead near the convention scene during those weeks.

New York (a slice of which is shown above), I don't believe fared quite as badly. They're pretty used to this sort of stuff, but disruptions it did cause and as much as I love ya, Minneapolis, you're no New York.

But let's think this hosting a political convention thing through a little bit. Orlando just did and decided there are better places to spend $100 million. Dallas, along with Las Vegas, the king of convention facilities, did too. And took a pass.

Maybe it would be easier if we had a mass transit system and people wouldn't be faced with driving down roads that would be closed in entire sections of the city(ies) you couldn't get to, but we don't.

And when those delegate busses start rolling from St. Paul or Minneapolis in one of the gazillion hotels, the roads -- or at least substantial number of lanes -- are closed...each lines with cops for the duration. That's "cops" as in St. Cloud because that's as far as the Twin Cities will have to go -- if not farther -- to get the number of cops needed to staff this puppy, be it DFL or GOP. Boston pulled them in as far as western Massachusetts. And there weren't many State Police on the road that week; they were all in Boston (you may actually consider that a "good" thing, I'll leave it to you.)

By the way, if you're a police officer, cops in both Boston and New York told me they were required two weeks without days off, double shifts, and had to sleep at their precincts. None of us said the overtime was worth it, by the way.

And it won't be just the cities. You can count on the Hawaii delegation being holed up in Woodbury or Vermont stuck in Fridley.

The airport? Forget the airport. Enjoy the crawl on I-494 in the afternoon. Imagine it with a couple of lanes closed because that's where a lot of the host hotels will be.

Oh, and do they wave the smoking ban during the convention?

Look, I'm not saying having a convention that reminds the world "we're here," even though it no longer serves any earthly purpose in the world of politics is necessarily a bad thing.

But let's just make sure all the bigshots who don't have to wait in line to get to their job everyday tell us exactly what the downside of this is.

It could be the best thing that ever happened... to the northern resort.

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Bingo!

Posted at 10:54 PM on May 20, 2006 by Bob Collins

Tom Scheck sends this along tonight...

When there are long hours on the floor, House members often play legislative bingo. They mark cards that include phrases like "the speaker waves at someone from the podium" or Rep. Lynn Carlson gets up and says "When I was chair..." and Rep. Tom Rukavina mentions his Aunt in a floor speech.

Just like bingo - you win when you get something in a row. I don't know what the prize is and I've never heard anyone yell out "Bingo" on the House floor.

I don't know if you can see some of the bingo events, but they include:

* Matt Entenza saying its a sad say in Minnesota.
* Member confused Haws and Howes
* Cellphone rings during prayer
* All three Johnsons voted green on a bill

Moving on

Posted at 7:32 AM on May 22, 2006 by Bob Collins

Now that the Minnesota Legislature has completed its work for the session, the political world swings back to the November election. But not for everyone. Tim Pugmire looks at the number of seats that are opening up. I didn't see Rep. Irv Anderson's name in is piece. There were rumors last week that he would announce his retirement and I noted he didn't make any of the stadium votes over the weekend.

Who voted for/against the Twins stadium?

Posted at 2:01 PM on May 22, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

I don't know what I was doing (other than watching a pretty fair Pirates-Indians game) when I was inputting the Twins stadium vote into Votetracker at home yesterday, but the votes were all messed up. I even remember thinking, "Ann Lenczewski voted for the stadium???" as I inputted the obviously incorrect information. I should've listened to the inner voice. Anyway, they've now been corrected.

Judging, however, by the number of calls I got or were relayed about people calling their legislators angry that they voted either "for" or "against," the measure, I'm thinking that maybe this issue isn't quite the dead matter that we were led to believe in the last few days of the session.

We haven't started putting together the election results application yet, but I'm thinking we should build something that will show the vote on the stadium side-by-side with a lawmaker's election result. I remember CBS did that one year with the House Judiciary Committee vote on the impeachment of Richard Nixon. On election night they replayed what was a very solumn roll call vote, and as each representative was shown, a graphic showed the result of their re-election. It was, even for that long ago, one of those most compelling pieces of election night coverage I've ever seen.

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Leap days

Posted at 2:09 PM on May 22, 2006 by Bob Collins

Yeah, I guess this is about politics, sort of.

Advance copies of former MPR host, Pioneer Press columnist, and Air America sidekick Katherine Lanpher's new book "Leap Days" -- arrived in the newsroom today. Folks seem to be quickly scanning and have yet to find their names. That appears to be a good thing.

Some people got them. Some people didn't. I didn't. Figures. I use to tell Lanpher I made her what she is today...or was...yesterday...actually, since for 10 years I got up every day of the week and delivered the Pioneer Press, with her column, to the doors of anxiously waiting Woodbury subscribers.

Apparently she still doesn't believe me.

The book comes out in October.

Can it happen?

Posted at 4:47 PM on May 22, 2006 by Bob Collins

Now that the Legislature is over and the real campaigning is probably going to take a week off, attention turns to November, and guessing whether XYZ can "really" win? Articles are being developed by the bucketload because, well, when there's no actual news, this is what we do. Could it happen? Will it happen? My friends, no editor in America is paying freelancers to write two-word stories ("beats me"), and so this is what we're left with to power our economy. Speculation, the lifeblood of politics.

The latest one to cross the desk is from Congressional Quarterly, which has taken 9 "experts" and sampled what they think. Could Democrats take control of Congress. Sure, it could happen. The Red Sox won a World Series.

The most honest answer may have come from Rhodes Cook who said, "At this point, one result is as likely as the other."

Which brings up another potential question that is likely to produce as little firm information: "is the result of one, likely to be pretty much the same as the other?"

Beats me.

Testing the amnesty issue

Posted at 7:54 PM on May 22, 2006 by Bob Collins

FactCheck.org is out with a look at Republican House candidate Brian Bilbray's testing of the "amnesty" issue in the "illegal immigration" debate.

A toast

Posted at 11:04 AM on May 23, 2006 by Bob Collins

Today is the day that America has the longest-living ex-president/vice president in its history. Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale have survived John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, I hear.

I was but a wee lad working at a national radio network in New York when Mondale delivered the most memorable line (for me) in politics the day after his failed presidential bid.

"I wanted to run for president in the worst way," he said, "and that's just what I did."

For the record, the second most memorable line in politics -- for me -- is actually from a movie. "In the absence of true leadership, Americans will listen to the first person at the microphone."

It wasn't my most memorable political quote, but it was one a lot of people stole over the years. "I've met John F. Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was my friend, and, senator, you're no John F. Jack Kennedy," former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen said to VP Dan Quayle in a well-timed, old-school political smackdown. Bentsen, who appeared only casually interested in Mike Dukakis being elected, died this morning at 85.

So that's why they call them "hicks"

Posted at 3:49 PM on May 23, 2006 by Bob Collins

I don't consider myself a snob, although I'm sure I sound like one whenever I say "I don't watch American Idol" on TV. Fact is, it's probably because I'm watching something like The Unit or CSI NY or Deal or No Deal. I like my crappy TV as much as the next guy. It's just that I like different crappy TV than most Americans, I guess. (All of this assumes the Cleveland Indians aren't on TV, which is a whole 'nother definition of TV).

So you can take it with a grain of salt, if you want, when I shake my head at this revelation today from the National Journal blog:

(Taylor) Hicks Could Factor Big in Alabama Primary

As every actor/actress in Apocalypse 10.5 was forced to utter at one point in Sunday's night's fine fare, "oh my God."

Politics for junkies? Where?

Posted at 4:44 PM on May 23, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

Caution, rambling ahead.

This year I find myself not reading the sports pages anymore. I think part of it has to do with the fact I don't have a fantasy baseball team anymore and part of it has to do with the fact I've finally given up on the idea that reporters and columnists who line up at the buffet table at the ballpark, are going to ask a tough question.

If there's a world where MSM has seen its future -- I hope -- it's in the large number of big sports fans -- the kind that like to talk about strategy and stuff -- that don't bother with the dead-trees anymore, because there are blogs and Internet mailing lists to accomplish the same thing (go ahead, try to get the information in the local papers' sports sections that you can get at The Hardball Times).

I'm sure the editors figure the dyed-in-the-wool folks just aren't worth catering too and that there really is a casually interested sports fan that's more important.

Sometimes I think the same fate awaits political coverage. You know what I wish the local papers would do when they print a story about a bill? Print the number of the bill! Don't get me wrong, I think they do a great job of the he said-she said portion of debate at the Capitol. But I'm not sure the "inside" stuff makes the paper (or the radio for that matter), for the same reason I can't find an article about the stupidity of bunting in the first inning. Somebody thinks nobody cares.

Wow, that's a lot of copy to get to this point. Read the feature article in last Friday's Session Weekly, put out by the Minnesota House of Representatives (link is pdf). It's called "Down In flames," and I think it provides a good glimpse of how legislation got derailed at the Capitol this year. In short, Republicans in the House thought they -- as the majority party -- should control what's in legislation more and Democrats thought that since the majority was by a single seat, legislation needs to have more of their imprint on it.

That's the nice version, anyway. The other version is a bit more vicious. It was a nice piece of work and if the local papers dumped the sports section tomorrow and put a politics section with this stuff in it instead, I'd read it. If not, I can always find it online.

* * *

Incidentally, in that same issue, there's a sample of Rep. Phyllis Kahn's quiz for determining suitability to be elected to the Minnesota House. She spotted me, "does money grow on trees?" but I admit "how much does it cost to rais a child through 12th grade?" got me. I think it's because the mind blocks out trauma.

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Recommended reading

Posted at 1:39 PM on May 24, 2006 by Bob Collins

Afton columnist and blogger Craig Westover had an interesting piece on labels -- most of the political type -- a few days ago and a follow-up today on response.

The Carpetbagger Report has a blurb or two on the impact of the president's efforts regarding the constitutional amendment on marriage. It's based on an article in Insight Magazine. I think you have to take this one lightly because I'm not sure President Bush was ever the fervent supporter of this amendment that his party may want to suggest. If memory serves -- and it frequently doesn't -- he never came out with a firm "yes" or "no" answer to the question of whether there should be an amendment, until January 2004.

The Marshall Independent is giving at least a little nod to the rumor that Rep. Marty Seifert may not run for re-election. This was, and this is all I'm going to say on it, an "interesting" session for Seifert. I found him to be one of the more fascinating speakers on the floor of the House during several debates, and always wanted to know more about what he was really thinking and why he was thinking it. I'd find myself saying, "there's a strategy he's using here," and then later listen to more and say "no there's not." I still don't know.

And this one has almost nothing to do with politics but for the sheer joy of the "ahhhhh factor," you really need to stop by the blog, 56572, on a regular basis.

Retirees

Posted at 2:18 PM on May 24, 2006 by Bob Collins (8 Comments)

Someone asked in the comments section for a list of people giving up seats in the House and Senate. Here's the latest list I have.

Republicans
Sen. Bob Kierlin - Winona
Sen Michele Bachmann
Rep. Jeff Johnson - Plymouth
Rep. Jerry Dempsey
Rep.Barb Sykora
Rep.Fran Bradley
Rep. Ron Abrams
Rep. Scott Newman
Rep. Char Samuelson
Rep. Jim Knoblach
Rep. Andy Westerberg
Rep. Ray Vandeveer

Democrats
Sen. Becky Lourey
Sen. John Hottinger
Sen. Sharon Marko
Sen. Jane Ranum
Sen. Wes Skoglund
Sen. Sheila Kiscaden
Rep. Ruth Johnson
Rep. Barb Goodwin
Rep. Keith Ellison
Rep. Katie Sieben
Rep. Dan Larson
Rep. Matt Entenza - St. Paul

Ones that haven't announced anyway but there seem to be enough rumors to at least watch:

Rep. Irv Anderson
Rep. Marty Seifert
Rep. Maxine Penas

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No shock, just curiosity

Posted at 5:49 PM on May 24, 2006 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

Not being a party member, insider or -- in some recent years -- a voter... I have no clue what took Mike Erlandson so long to announce officially that he's in the primary battle for the 5th District. Doesn't seem like a surprise to me so I don't know what's been going on in that campaign for the last 3 weeks.

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So do we have to sing now?

Posted at 1:47 PM on May 25, 2006 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

Rybak and Coleman have put out a release that says their "joint bid" to host the '08 Democratic National Convention , has made the "short list of finalists."

Apparently our competitition now is New York, Denver, and New Orleans.

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Dorman out

Posted at 11:59 AM on May 26, 2006 by Bob Collins

Add him to the list (below). Here's his press release.

ST. PAUL * Rep. Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea) today announced that he is retiring from office, and will not run for reelection to the Minnesota House of Representatives in District 27A, representing Freeborn County. Dorman was first elected to the seat in 1998 and has served four terms.

"Eight years is a long time, "Dorman said. "And even though I'm not a fan of term limits, I sensed it was a good time to step away from the capitol and politics to spend a little more quality time with my family and run my business.

"There is never a bad time to re-tire," added Dorman, a Goodyear Tire dealer.

Dorman, 43, was an early advocate for continuing state support for the state's ethanol industry, helping to ensure a plant was built in nearby Glenville, and backing requirements that ethanol be blended in all gasoline sold in the state. As a result, farmers have had a profitable new market for their corn and the air got cleaner in the Twins Cities.

One byproduct of Dorman's early advocacy is that ethanol is in demand worldwide in response to rising oil prices.

"I'm not smart enough to have been a visionary to see that ethanol and biodiesel would be filling major gaps in fuel supplies," Dorman said. "But I sure do feel proud that Minnesota was well positioned to be a leader in ethanol production."

Into his second term, Dorman was focused on economic development in Greater Minnesota, advocating incentives for businesses to grow and expand. He said he is still concerned that Greater Minnesota is losing influence at the State Capitol.

He also became an influential spokesman on the House Tax Committee, decrying inequities in the property tax system that often disadvantage Greater Minnesota communities. And when the state was faced with a budget crisis in 2003, Dorman often bucked members of his own party in opposing reductions in Local Government Aid which hit many rural cities hard.

"We're still trying to remedy many of the missteps we took in fixing that budget crisis," Dorman said.

Over his last term, Dorman served as chair of the House Capital Investment Committee, successfully brokering two $1 billion bonding bills between the House & Senate, and amid political in-fights between Republicans and DFLers.

"The secret is talking with people," Dorman said. "If you understand their needs, there's more room for compromise. That was a missing ingredient, I think, during the legislative gridlock in 2005."

Dorman and his wife, Mary Jo, have two children, Christopher and Matthew.

-0-

Republicans
Sen. Bob Kierlin - Winona
Sen Michele Bachmann
Rep. Jeff Johnson - Plymouth
Rep. Jerry Dempsey
Rep.Barb Sykora
Rep.Fran Bradley
Rep. Ron Abrams
Rep. Scott Newman
Rep. Char Samuelson
Rep. Jim Knoblach
Rep. Andy Westerberg
Rep. Ray Vandeveer
Rep. Dan Dorman

Democrats
Sen. Becky Lourey
Sen. John Hottinger
Sen. Sharon Marko
Sen. Jane Ranum
Sen. Wes Skoglund
Sen. Sheila Kiscaden
Rep. Ruth Johnson
Rep. Barb Goodwin
Rep. Keith Ellison
Rep. Katie Sieben
Rep. Dan Larson
Rep. Matt Entenza - St. Paul

Goodbye, Jayne

Posted at 12:41 PM on May 26, 2006 by Bob Collins

This isn't about politics, per se, but sometimes you just have to indulge me or hit the BACK button on the old browser. But I think you'll find this interesting.

Jayne Solinger, the producer of MPR's All Things Considered, is about to embark on her last few days at Minnesota Public Radio before she moves to Atlanta to do...well... I'm not really sure what it is she's going to do , but whatever it is, she'll be the best person doing it.

I've always enjoyed the behind-the-scenes anonymity of the radio business (which I recognize has disappeared for me since I started Polinaut and was asked to do Current newscasts). I think the behind-the-scenes people are fabulous, partly because they really are often the "straw that stirs the drink." That's not to say the on-air folks aren't great; they are. But they're all you hear and while they tell you the whole story, you can't really get the whole story -- if you know what I mean.

What's happening behind the scenes in this business is usually controlled chaos. Sure, it sounds easy when you're sitting in the car listening, and that's a testament to the job they do. What you don't see is the last-minute breaking story that just eliminated an entire day of planning. You don't see the reporter coming out of a production booth at 5:18 p.m., shouting "DCART (the digital audio system) just crashed and ate my story," a story that you were scheduled to hear at 5:20 p.m., the premier spot on All Things Considered. You don't hear the give-and-take between a boss who thinks you should hear a story about national elections in East Nowhereyoucareabout, and a producer who says, "you know, I'm sure East Nowhereyoucareabout is important, but the Minnesota House just passed a bill prohibiting the sale of certain video games to kids under 17 and that might have some impact locally, doncha think?" in a way that doesn't get the producer fired, but gets the story she's convinced is more important on the air.

There are a lot of people in the business who wilt under that. Not only does Jayne thrive in it, she does so while smiling and telling jokes.

You don't see the people staying here late because there's something you should hear; the missed anniversaries, or birthdays. You don't hear the one word a producer takes out of a lead to a story that is the difference between music to the ear and a verbal assault.

More often that not, you might hear perfection (or what comes close to it), but you don't hear the person behind the scenes demanding it of herself, and -- because of that -- the dozens of people who respect her so much, that they demand it of themselves too.

We had a little party for her in the newsroom a week or so ago, and reporter Annie Baxter told the story of when she moved down from Collegeville a year or so ago and Jayne took her in to her home (which apparently she renovated with her own two hands and a butter knife). On Annie's birthday, a bouquet of flowers waited for her at the top of her stairs. They were, of course, from Jayne.

There's lots of people who make the engine go at MPR. Jayne not only is the best of this lot, she's the best of any lot. In all the usual hubub about public radio and the money thing that, let's face it, we hear all the time... let me tell you, MPR members, you got your money's worth with Jayne.

This is a transient business and for all the benefits of being in it, one of the parts of it that wears thin, is the part where you're always saying goodbye to good people.

You probably never met Jayne Solinger before. But now you have. And if you're like us here at MPR, you miss her already.

She's got a few days to go, but I'm posting this today becaue Polinaut will be off the grid for a week or so.

One more

Posted at 4:52 PM on May 26, 2006 by Bob Collins (11 Comments)

As rumored, Rep. Irv. Anderson is calling it quits. So, updating the list:

Republicans
Sen. Bob Kierlin - Winona
Sen Michele Bachmann
Rep. Jeff Johnson - Plymouth
Rep. Jerry Dempsey
Rep.Barb Sykora
Rep.Fran Bradley
Rep. Ron Abrams
Rep. Scott Newman
Rep. Char Samuelson
Rep. Jim Knoblach
Rep. Andy Westerberg
Rep. Ray Vandeveer
Rep. Dan Dorman

Democrats
Sen. Becky Lourey
Sen. John Hottinger
Sen. Sharon Marko
Sen. Jane Ranum
Sen. Wes Skoglund
Sen. Sheila Kiscaden
Rep. Ruth Johnson
Rep. Barb Goodwin
Rep. Keith Ellison
Rep. Katie Sieben
Rep. Dan Larson
Rep. Matt Entenza
Rep. Irv Anderson

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