Capitol View: July 5, 2006 Archive

Filed

Posted at 6:29 AM on July 5, 2006 by Mike Mulcahy (3 Comments)

The filing period for candidates opens today and runs until July 18th. We'll find out by then if everyone who's threatened to run in the primary against various endorsed candidates actually follows through.

I was off celebrating the nation's independence yesterday and nowhere near a computer. Interesting to note that Zack Stephenson of MN Publius has made it official: he's going to work for Amy Klobuchar.

Speaking of Independence Day, I mentioned the other day that my neighborhood was relatively quiet. Well, the moron who kept me up until after 1 a.m. last night with his fireworks show changed all that. And for that I thank Jesse Ventura.

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Amy Klobuchar: You say good BAYH, I say hello!

Posted at 9:32 AM on July 5, 2006 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh will be in Minnesota Thursday morning to hold a fundraiser for Amy Klobuchar. The fundraiser for Minnesota's DFL endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate will be at Mark and Amy Rotenberg's home. I wonder if the menu will feature a good ol' Indiana farmer's breakfast?

We're told Bayh is also in Minnesota for a fundraiser for his Political Action Committee. He's exploring a possible presidential bid in 2008 and is trying to gain a foothold in the Upper Midwest.

Evan Bayh served as governor of Indiana before winning his senate seat in 1998. He won the seat that his father, Birch Bayh, held in the sixties and seventies. Birch lost his seat to a young up and coming Republican in 1980. That up and comer was Dan Quayle.

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Former Duluth school board member launches independent bid for Congress

Posted at 10:00 AM on July 5, 2006 by Mike Mulcahy

Here's his press release:

Two-term Duluth School Board member Harry Welty will begin petitioning Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District voters to be placed on the ballot as an independent candidate to challenge incumbent Congressman James Oberstar and former US Senator Rod Grams in this fall’s election.

Running as a “Unity” party candidate Welty says that if elected he plans to join the Democratic caucus as “Republicans can no longer be trusted with three branches of government.”

Welty was elected to the Duluth School Board in 1994 and served two terms until 2003. Welty also ran against Oberstar in 1992 as an independent candidate. His campaign has set up a website: www.welty4congress.org which encourages people to download petitions to help him get the 1,000 signatures he is required to return to Minnesota’s Secretary of State by the filing deadline of July 18th.

Welty, a former long time Republican who caucused with the Democratic Party this year, says that both party’s candidates will simply continue to do what the American public has come to dread – play politics. “Oberstar will try to get more pork barrel projects at a time when Congress has already saddled our children with a ten-trillion-dollar deficit and Grams voted to remove our last President from office.” Welty says he’s counting on moderate and centrist voter’s disgust with the current political climate. In a three way race Welty says he could get elected with as little as 34 percent of the vote. In Welty’s 1992 campaign for Congress he drew over 22,000 votes which was seven percent of the vote.

Welty will take his petition to cities through out the sprawling Eighth District over the next two weeks. He’s beginning his campaign this morning on Duluth’s favorite tourist attraction, the Lakewalk.

Former Nixon White House Counsel to speak at Humphrey Institute

Posted at 1:37 PM on July 5, 2006 by Tom Scheck

John Dean, former Nixon White House Counsel and author or Conservatives with a Conscience, will speak at the U of M's Humphrey Institute on July 20th. Here's the news release...

What: Lecture and booksigning with John Dean, author of Conservatives without Conscience
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, July 20
Where: Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis
Contacts: Jamie Proulx, Humphrey Institute, (612) 625-9436

Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean will speak at the Humphrey Institute

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (07/05/06)—The Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and the Bookcase of Wayzata will co-sponsor a lecture and book signing with John Dean at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 20, at the Humphrey Institute.

Dean, former White House counsel and author of the New York Times bestseller Worse than Watergate, takes a critical look at the Republican Party in his new book Conservatives without Conscience in which he argues the party’s extreme members are ruining democracy in America.

Before becoming counsel to President Richard Nixon in July of 1970 at age 31, Dean was chief minority counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, the associate director of a law reform commission, and associate deputy attorney general of the United States. He served as President Nixon’s White House lawyer for nearly three years.

Dean has long written on the subjects of law, government, and politics. He recounted his days in the Nixon White House and Watergate in two books, Blind Ambition (1976) and Lost Honor (1982). He devotes his time to writing and lecturing, having retired from his career as a private investment banker.

This event is free and open to the public. No registration is required

Move by Zach Stephenson of MN Publius means more blurring of the lines....

Posted at 2:04 PM on July 5, 2006 by Tom Scheck (13 Comments)

Zach Stephenson with MN Publius announced earlier this week he was leaving the blog to work for the Amy Klobuchar campaign. Now I can't begrudge a brother for trying to make a nickel but there are some serious questions about the line between being an independent blogger and working for a campaign.

Now everyone knows MN Publius backs Klobuchar over her Republican opponent, Congressman Mark Kennedy. But do these moves cause another blurring of the lines for folks who visit MN Publius to get an objective, Democrat view on the status of the race? MN Publius was hailed by liberal bloggers nationwide last week for reporting on the Kennedy campaign removing some references and photos to President Bush. Was that done independently of the Klobuchar campaign? Was it leaked to MN Publius or did the two work hand in hand? Zach is leaving MN Publius but that doesn't mean the blog won't get a tip or two along the way.

Michael Brodkorb with Minnesota Democrats Exposed was questioned by Bob Collins about his decision to work with the Kennedy folks. Zach Stephenson should answer those questions along with any other blogger who decides to work for a political campaign.

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Gas prices to spike

Posted at 2:09 PM on July 5, 2006 by Mike Mulcahy (1 Comments)

This just crossed on the wire:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Oil prices jumped to a record above $75 a barrel on Wednesday, propelled by a rally in gasoline that analysts said could send average U.S. pump prices past $3 a gallon by the weekend.

Recent snags in oil-shipping and refining along the Gulf Coast have raised traders' concerns about motor-fuel supplies at a time when demand continues to rise in spite of soaring prices. The start of a new fiscal quarter also brought more speculative money into the market, brokers said.

"Everybody thought we'd hit a price that would create permanent demand destruction. But demand for gasoline is rising," said Alaron Trading Corp. analyst Phil Flynn. "Once again the American public has shown its ability to get over paying high prices for gasoline."

A protracted diplomatic standoff between the West and Iran, OPEC's No. 2 oil supplier, has kept a high floor underneath prices, and analysts said geopolitical tensions were heightened further on Wednesday by North Korea's test-firing of missiles.

So what does this have to do with politics? I'm not sure. But would you want to run for re-election with gas prices going up?

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Pawlenty may send Minnesota National Guard to U.S. - Mexico Border

Posted at 2:13 PM on July 5, 2006 by Tom Scheck

Later today, Governor Pawlenty is scheduled to announce a plan that may include sending Minnesota National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to enhance border patrol operations. More on this later --

In the meantime, listen to an interview MPR News did with Adjutant General Larry Shellito on the proposal when President Bush announced the plan in May.

Pawlenty to send 200 MN National Guard members to patrol southern border

Posted at 6:15 PM on July 5, 2006 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

As expected, Governor Pawlenty says he's sending 200 Minnesota National Guard troops to New Mexico to help patrol the U.S.-Mexico border. Pawlenty says he's activating the troops because the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security issued a request for help. He said the Defense Department or the White House did not pressure him to send any troops.

President Bush said in May that he wanted 2,500 National Guard troops in the southwest by June to prevent people from crossing the border illegally, less than half the desired number of troops were in place along the border on June thirtieth. Pawlenty says the initial batch of troops will volunteer for the duty. He says they won't arrest anyone crossing the border but will provide support services to border security agents.

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