Polinaut: June 20, 2006 Archive

The kid vote

Posted at 8:45 AM on June 20, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

I thought it was pretty politically smart when Rep. Karen Klinzing, R-Woodbury, sent official letters to all of the graduates of Woodbury High School earlier this month with a message of congratulations. Oh, and threw in a voter registration card. OK, so most of them probably have it in a big pile of junk on their floor next to the newly-arrived Selective Service card, torn-envelopes with the money from Auntie Sue removed (don't forget to write those thank-you notes, kiddies), and the dirty laundry, which, for the record, has probably been there since Mom told them to pick up their room back in freshman year.

It's not like her opponent, Marsha Swails, didn't have an "in" with the kids, though, since she's one of their teachers, and was picked as one of the few of the faculty to sit on the stage during their commencement.

Klinzing's reminder that she's in the game too -- officially, of course -- was the result of the power of incumbency, to be sure, but a good indication that no one is ceding the youth vote to one party.

And with more media targeting kids, more options are available to the politicians who want to reach them. In Maryland, for example, candidate profiles are showing up on Facebook.com according to the Washington Post.

It's being used in the governor's race.

"I got on Facebook around the time the 2004 elections were going on, and it was huge as far as students mobilizing and getting the word out," said Jahantab Siddiqui, 20, a University of Maryland student who works for the O'Malley campaign and was responsible for creating the Baltimore mayor's profile.

So if you don't find a date, maybe you'll find a hero.

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Pictures, not words

Posted at 12:55 PM on June 20, 2006 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)

At the Capitol today, Rep. Matt Entenza, the House Minority Leader, handed over the reins of no power to Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

Apparently the DFL believes jobs, education, and health care are the issues. Just a guess.

Meanwhile, out on the campaign trail...

This was actually a shot MPR's Laura McCallum took at a parade in Brooklyn Park last Thursday (they have parades around here...on Thursdays???).

I'm thinking driving down the highway behind this bulldog would make me kind of uncomfortable.

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Blogs fill the vacuum

Posted at 2:59 PM on June 20, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

On my "things to do one of these days" lists, I've had "begin working on legislature section of Campaign 2006 Web site." I looked up the other day and noticed it's June. June! How did that happen? I'm now beginning to question whether it'll happen at all.

But I've noticed recently that it's now 2006, too and blogs seem to be filling in the information gaps. By way of Minnesota Campaign Report, for example, I learned that Polytick has started reviews of targeted House seats, starting with the northwest territory. Interesting reading.

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