Polinaut: June 28, 2006 Archive

Time to sing 'Kumbaya'

Posted at 9:32 AM on June 28, 2006 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

The Strib can't win for losing. There's been a flap brewing in blogland for the last couple of days that's been a good lesson in how stories get inflamed, often by attempts to minimize them. MNPublius ran an entry that said Mark Kennedy had 'scrubbed' his congressional Web site of references to President Bush. The DFL issued a release. The GOP shot back with a release that it wasn't true. Charges went back and forth and finally the mere cacophony was too much for MSM to take and so the Strib ran the story.

It makes me chew on the old axiom about whether it really is a given that you always answer a negative in politics. (Was that a Carvilleism?)

Anyway, the two sides agree on one thing: the Strib is clearly in the pocket of the other.

First, from MNPublius:

Instead of figuring out the facts, they seemed to have just opted for Ron Carey's talking points (which, as Jon-David has shown below, are severely flawed). In fact, the article uses the very same adjective that Carey does to characterize our claims: "exaggerated." And I have to admit, the claim that all the references to Bush have been erased would have been very exaggerated, but then again, we never made that claim. Let me make that clear: we never claimed that all references to President Bush were removed from Representative Kennedy's website. Funny thing is, the first person who said that we did was, you guessed it, Ron Carey.

Meanwhile, over at Kennedy vs. the Machine, there was an equal amount of distaste for the Strib.

Now most people know that the Star Tribune hasn’t given a Republican a fair shake in, well, forever. And they always protect their own. Usually that means a fellow liberal, but in this case, with the daughter of legendary Strib writer Jim Klobuchar running for U.S. Senate, they are protecting family.

Equally hated by both sides, the Strib newsroom must be thinking, "good job."

Comment on this post

The taxes debate

Posted at 10:59 AM on June 28, 2006 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

My day just started and I am already behind. Anyway, a good "debate" is on tap on Midday today (11-12). Bill Cooper, the former Republican Party chair in Minnesota, and Joel Kramer, the former Star Tribune boss who headed a group that bought that ad in the Strib last week calling for more taxes on the wealthy, are mixing it up.

Comment on this post

Endorsements

Posted at 12:36 PM on June 28, 2006 by Bob Collins

A couple of endorsements today. Sen. John McCain endorsed Rep. Mark Kennedy for Senate. Former VP Walter Mondale endorsed Amy Klobuchar.

A Republican endorses the Republican. A Democrat endorsed a Democrat.

This should change everything.

McCain, by the way, has posted an item at Porkbusters.

Not quite a poke in the eye with a sharp stick; but close

Posted at 2:48 PM on June 28, 2006 by Bob Collins

Boy, there's a guy having a bad day, eh? Revenue Commissioner Dan Salomone. In fact, next to accidentally sending an e-mail that rips somebody to that person, losing a data tape with thousands of names and Social Security numbers has got to be the worst.

Here's his news conference (RealAudio) and the story to go with it.

Hastert for Bachmann

Posted at 3:20 PM on June 28, 2006 by Bob Collins

If the "who's who" of campaigns team didn't give it away, if the vice president's appearance at a fundraiser didn't give it away, maybe the final clue to the notion that Republican bigshots in Washington really want Michele Bachmann in the 6th District race is today's announcement from her campaign that House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert is coming into town for a "Salute To Freedom" luncheon, also known as a fundraiser, at the Territorial Golf Club in St. Cloud.

As I've noted before, I'm not all that sure the "Bush backlash" is going to materialize in November. I'm not sure it's not. I'm pretty sure Michele Bachmann isn't that worried.