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.

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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.

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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?

Comments (6)

Live blogging is great, but we over with the U-DFL (University of Minnesota college Democrats) have experimented this weekend at CD5 with audio blogging, made very convenient from Blogger. I made the two posts from the weekend when I could (I was fairly busy being one of the Sgt.-at-Arms), but be sure to check back for some future events including the state convention when we'll have much more audio blogging going on.

Our two posts are: http://udfl.blogspot.com/2006/05/update-1-from-5th-cd-convention.html

and

http://udfl.blogspot.com/2006/05/update-2-from-5th-cd-convention.html

Posted by Max Page | May 8, 2006 9:14 AM

Mike Erlandson's temper tantrum makes me think that he has forgotten that white male candidates with connections to out of state money are not likely to be the first choice of Minneapolis democrats after the venerable Congressman Sabo stepped down. I can understand his disappointment but a former party chair should not leave a convention in a huff stating "see you in September." If he can't see the value of the endorsement then what is the point.

Posted by John | May 8, 2006 10:42 AM

I for one really want to see Rasmussen's poll results on the Senate and Gubernatorial races. Say what you want about the auto-dialing issue, they're an independent pollster who at least gives us a baseline to talk about in our little corner of Blogistan.

Posted by MN Campaign Report | May 8, 2006 1:26 PM

Didn't Rasmussen get the most accurate poll results of the '04 election?

http://www.slate.com/id/2110860/

Posted by Bill | May 8, 2006 3:12 PM

I haven't seen anything, frankly, in Rasmussen's stuff that looks out of the ordinary -- methodology aside. Of course, the other explanation for the lack of any "leaking" of the poll could be that the candidate who hasn't it got clobbered in the latest poll. But it's clear that this isn't a poll that both sides have.

Posted by Bob Collins | May 8, 2006 3:34 PM

Do people have any thoughts on the audio blogging? Indifferent? Yay? Nay?

Posted by Max | May 8, 2006 3:53 PM

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