Polinaut: July 12, 2006 Archive

More on Bell

Posted at 6:55 AM on July 12, 2006 by Mike Mulcahy

So much for the notion that a Senate primary will drain resources and energy from the general election campaign. Whether you plan to vote for her or not you have to admit that Amy Klobuchar has run quite a campaign so far. Remember all the names that were mentioned as possible DFL candidates when Mark Dayton announced in February of 2005 that he would not seek re-election? Klobuchar staked her claim on the seat early and now is the only DFLer in the field.

Here's her response to Bell's announcement:

“I am grateful for Ford Bell’s support. We’ve had our differences, but today we are united and determined to elect a Senator who will put the people of Minnesota first. I humbly invite Ford’s supporters to join our campaign for change in Washington and thank him for his great commitment to public service.”

The Daily Digest

Posted at 10:17 AM on July 12, 2006 by Tom Scheck

The Daily Digest...

The Star Tribune story on the rift between Attorney General Mike Hatch and the DFLer who wants to replace him leads the news. Apparently Matt Entenza, a state representative who's running for Hatch's job, paid a private investigator to check into Hatch's office. Hatch is the DFL endorsed candidate for governor. Entenza has the DFL endorsement for AG. Who knows where this will lead. Props to Brodkorb with Minnesota Democrats Exposed for breaking this a while ago...

The Associated Press has a story on the Senate voting in favor of allowing the reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada. President Bush and the U.S. House have rejected the idea. Governor Pawlenty was quick to praise the vote in a news release. He's been on the reimportation bandwagon for a while.

MNPublius is reporting by linking to a variety of Democratic sites that New Orleans dropped its bid to host the DNC Convention in 2008. That means the Twins Cities is still in this game of musical chairs.

A columnist in the Wall Street Journal says some folks who work for the IRS have been caught illegally examining confidential taxpayer data. GOP Congressman Jim Ramstad is mentioned (subscription required).

Finally, the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reports on how some high profile Republicans and Democrats are trying to bridge the partisan divide with a new website.

"A group of political strategists who have spent years firing heavy artillery at each other came together at the Hay-Adams Hotel yesterday, put aside their weapons, decried the polarized state of debate in America and vowed a new approach to peaceful coexistence.

Toward that end, they are launching a Web site that they hope will eventually reach 30 million opinion leaders, elevate public discussion on matters from politics to sports to culture and, in the process, make them some money."

What makes a good poll?

Posted at 10:55 AM on July 12, 2006 by Tom Scheck

The Washington Post's "The Fix" has a fascinating analysis on polling data. In an earlier post, I mentioned that some had concerns about polls conducted by Rasmussen. Chris Cillizza goes through the pluses and minuses of polls conducted by Rasmussen and Survey USA. The main sticking point involves how they do the interviews. Rasmussen and Survey USA don't use live interviewers but a "single, digitally recorded voice."

Anyone interested in polling should give it a look.

Candidate wants to be first deaf lawmaker in Minnesota history

Posted at 1:04 PM on July 12, 2006 by Tom Scheck (7 Comments)

Rev. Emory Dively, a Republican, says he's running for the Minnesota Legislature in House District 64B. Dively is a pastor of the Twin Cities Deaf Assembly of God Church. Dively says he would be the first deaf legislator in Minnesota and the nation. He says he's running a campaign that will focus on special education, light rail transit and low taxes.

Dively will face an uphill battle in this election. He's challenging DFL Rep. Michael Paymar in a legislative district that is heavily Democratic.

Today's other candidate filings include:

Mark Ritchie, the DFL endorsed candidate for Secretary of State.

Republican Obi Sium in Minnesota's 4th Congressional District,

Minntelect also had a post that a husband and wife team is running for State Senate and State Representative. Paul Holle, a Republican, will challenge DFL Sen. Keith Langseth. Holle's wife, Angie, will challenge DFL Rep. Paul Marquardt.

Tomorrow will be a big day for filings.

Republican House Speaker Steve Sviggum and a large slate of GOP House candidates will file in groups. Former State Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge, a DFLer, will file in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District. Former U.S. Sen. Rod Grams, a Republican, will file for the 8th Congressional District against DFL incumbent Jim Oberstar.

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Entenza held a fundraiser last night in Washington D.C.

Posted at 3:19 PM on July 12, 2006 by Tom Scheck

Someone sent me the attached fundraising letter. Senator Mark Dayton and Entenza's campaign manager confirmed that it happened. There's some pretty high profile Dems on this list.
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Sen. Mark Dayton, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sen. Evan Bayh, Sen. Byron Dorgan, Sen. Tim Johnson, Sen. Barack Obama, Fmr. Sen. Tom Daschle, Rep. Jim Oberstar, Rep. Betty McCollum, Rep. Earl Pomeroy, Rep. Lois Capps, Rep. Ed Markey & Dr. Susan Blumenthal, Frm. Rep. Jim Moody, Frm. Rep. Louis Stokes, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Howard Paster, Bob Van Heuvelen, Raymond Paretsky & Karen Zacaria, Peter Fenn, Rev. Ron Christian, Mark Lindsay, Laurie Sullivan, Dale Snape, Chris Jennings, Tracy Spicer, Tom Koutsoumpas, Holly Bode, John Feather & Stephen Parsons, John Hart, Mary Ann Marsh, Mike Radu, Decker Anstrom, Lee Matthews and Joyce Larkin

Invite you to a reception in honor of:

Matt Entenza
Candidate for Attorney General of Minnesota
Tuesday July 11th, 2006 5:00 - 7:00 PM

The Monocle Restaurant
107 D Street NE
Washington, DC

Suggested Donation $500
Sponsor $250
Benefactor
$25 - Staff/Student
(Under Minnesota Law, The Maximum Contribution Is $500/Person or $1,000/Couple)

Bunker Mentality

Posted at 4:01 PM on July 12, 2006 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

Mike Hatch and Matt Entenza aren't commenting to the media today about the story in today's Star Tribune. The Strib confirmed that Entenza hired a private research company to examine Attorney General Mike Hatch's office. Entenza says he wanted to learn about the AG's office, where he worked for several years.

The Strib also reported that Hatch obviously wasn't happy with someone snooping around and has asked other DFLers to consider running in a DFL primary against Entenza. What makes this interesting is that Hatch is the DFL endorsed candidate for Governor and Entenza is the DFL endorsed candidate for Attorney General.

In a written statement, Hatch didn't discuss the flap with Entenza. He went after Republican Party Chair Ron Carey, who held a news conference questioning the entire incident. Here's Hatch's statement:

"The Republican Party has nothing to offer Minnesotans. Ron Carey is a paid political complainer who, to date, has not offered one consecutive proposal for Minnesotans as it relates to education reform, the high cost of college tuition, the health care crisis or transportation gridlock. True to form, Mr. Carey is again simply trying to distract voters from focusing on the ineffectiveness of Governor Pawlenty."

Entenza also wouldn't comment. His written statement also ripped the GOP and said nothing about the flap:

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"Statement from Matt Entenza

Today's State Republican Party's press conference distracts voters from the real issues facing Minnesota: keeping families safe and building a secure future.

A year and a half ago, I requested public records from the Attorney General's Office. No private investigators were involved. The AG's office complied with the request. Anyone may request and receive the same documents.

Now, as we're witnessing, Republicans are intent on using rumor, innuendo, half-truths and outright lies to advance their agenda. My opponent's recent attacks on my wife prove this point.

Despite the fact that AARP is reporting that United Health Group has issued a report, based on an independent, internal investigation, unequivocally stating that my wife, Lois Quam, has never had anything to do with granting stock options or setting compensation policy, my opponent and the State GOP leadership, continue to insinuate otherwise.

I have no conflict of interest on healthcare issues. I've voted to expand access to affordable healthcare; my opponent voted against. I voted to keep Minnesota a non-profit HMO state; my opponent supports for-profit providers. I've been a vigorous consumer advocate; my opponent sides with the insurance and pharmaceutical giants.

The real question before us, is who's side is my opponent on?

The Republican Attorney General candidate, Jeffrey Johnson, now needs to explain how he'll unravel his own deep ties to the insurance, pharmaceutical and corporate agribusiness industries. Johnson is the consummate company man, working against families, consumers and employees at every step, both as a legislator and in his private legal practice.

Johnson's coziness with big business interests has clearly created a major conflict of interest for him. It's obvious in his campaign's failure to address any pro-consumer issues.

I look forward to my opponent's disclosure of his deep industry ties and his many conflicts of interest."

-30-

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MPR's Laura McCallum has a story on the flap. Pat Sweeney with the Pi Press also has a good take on the day's events and Entenza's initial statement when Michael Brodkorb with MDE raised the issue last year. Brian Bakst, with the Associated Press, details the DFL rough patch of late.

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Norm Coleman to vote against embryonic stem cell bill

Posted at 4:48 PM on July 12, 2006 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

Fred Frommer with the Associated Press reports that Norm Coleman will vote against a bill that would expand funding for embryonic stem cell research. Frommer reports that Coleman will vote for a different bill instead. That bill encourages stem cell research but doesn't call for the destruction of embryos.

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