Polinaut: July 16, 2006 Archive

The Daily Digest: 7-16-06

Posted at 9:02 AM on July 16, 2006 by Tom Scheck

The Star Tribune/Minnesota poll says Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty and DFL Attorney General Mike Hatch are in a dead heat in the race for governor. The poll says Pawlenty has a two point lead over Hatch (43% to 41%) but it falls within the margin of error of 3.1 %. Everyone knew this would be a bruising contest and we’ll continue to see that over the next four months.

The wild card is Peter Hutchinson, with the Independence Party. The poll found his support at 5%. Will he mount a serious candidacy or be a spoiler?

www.startribune.com/587/story/554728.html

The other wild card is whether voters care about the Mike Hatch/Matt Entenza flap and what impact it will have on the race. The Strib’s Lori Sturdevant examines how the DFL infighting isn’t helping the party’s cause. This has to make Pawlenty and MN GOP happy that the attention has shifted away from the struggles their party has been having nationally…

www.startribune.com/314/story/553134.html

There are a couple of other items brewing on the national scene that Minnesotans may be interested about..

First off, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to take up the stem cell debate this week.

The NYTimes and the Washington Post have previews of the debate and the possible political fallout.

www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/washington/16stem.html

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071401380.html

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in Minnesota's senate and congressional races.

Speaking of Congressional races, Martiga Lohn with the Associated Press profiles the race in MN’s 1st Congressional District…

http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2006/07/16/news/01gil16.txt

The Washington Post has a story on how the parties are trying to attract the youth vote. This is an untapped gold mine for politicians since teens and those in their early twenties vote in lower numbers than other Americans. Anyone who can get this age group to vote and volunteer will have a political advantage (a la Jesse Ventura in 1998).

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500685.html

The Wall Street Journal’s John Harwood also writes that House Republicans will take a “values vote” this week. The bill in discussion is a pledge of allegiance “protection.” Harwood writes that these types of votes are popular among older, white voters who live in rural states..

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115291811279007427.html

While the GOP may be looking to score some political points on issues like “pledge protection," the Washington Post writes that they are a bit worried about immigration. Apparently not everyone in the party believes that the tough position taken by the GOP controlled House will help them later on.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500681.html