Here, have a heapin' helpin' of goo

Posted at 11:12 AM on August 28, 2006 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)

Whenever I tell people that I occasionally deliver newspapers in the early morning (or is 2 a.m. late night?), they look at me funny. I guess they don't think it's a job worthy of my obvious star status and endangers the amount of beauty I can reflect on the world by sleeping regularly. But, alas, my parents gave me a work ethic, I don't sleep all that well anyway, and there is no better time to be out walking than a few hours before sunrise. I don't deliver the things regulary anymore -- just a week here or there in the summer. But for 10 years, I got up and schlepped papers for 2 hours a day, 7 days a week to raise the cash to embark on the great airplane building project.

It gives you a chance to listen to all the overnight radio and get up close, frankly, to the way people live. You can learn a lot about people this way. You can see who's got what sticker on the car, who's got too much junk in the garage when they forget to close the door (or not. Marion Gaborik had absolutely nothing but a sportscar in a three-car garage). You can figure out who's got kids and what age they are, what sports they're into at school and, yes, what their politics is. You can, in short, get a pretty good demographic breakdown of a household.

It's not scientific, of course, but even political science isn't really science. It's one gigantic batch of guesswork goo served up as knowledge to people who don't often enough question it. I had a hunch Jesse Ventura was going to win just by listening to Al Malmberg's overnight callers. Overnight radio callers are a little better indication of what's going on out there because they're not as heavily screened as shows during the day. I don't listen too much to Al anymore because he's gone a bit overboard on the stir-the-pot-by-saying-stuff-that's-outrageous mentality that afflicts talk radio so. So the value of his show to my research this year is questionable.

But lawn signs? Ah, that's another thing. In the last few weeks, the lawn signs have started springing up in Woodbury. So I've picked up a bunch of different routes on the newspaper run in the last few weeks to get a better look. Now, it's silly of me to predict anything based on lawn signs, so I won't. But it's good anecodtal evidence -- I'm sorry, I meant political science -- of how things are going.

Klobuchar? Kennedy? Wetterling? Bachmann? In my time off, I've enjoyed ignoring them all and intend to continue doing so until I'm back fulltime at MPR next week. But the Legislature, to me, is the best political story out there that nobody -- and I mean nobody -- covers it because it's too big to do it any justice. But the personalities out there are terrific and, let's face it, what happens at the Legislature is going to affect you faster than anything those politicians who have car doors opened for them in Washington do.

That's why I've taken an interest in the District 56B legislative race between incumbent Karen Klinzing (campaign site) and Woodbury High School teacher Marsha Swails. Disclaimer time: my wife is a Swails volunteer, which is why I'm sticking to the anecodtal here. I keep my head down and don't tell my wife what to think or who to vote for, especially since I can't be counted on to vote at all, and my view on public education may change now that my kids have graduated; don't tell her that, however. Like I said: head down.

A couple of weeks ago the Swails organization put its lawn signs out and I was struck by their abundance. Moreover, I was struck by their abunchance in areas that I considered solid Republican territory as I tossed the newspapers on the front porches of what is, I think it's safe to say, Republican turf. Over the weekend, however, the Klinzing organization started deployintg their signs and it's clear they're not giving an inch. I would guess I'll have a better handle on who's got the edge in lawn signage within a week.

By way of background, former legislator Len Price ran against then-first-termer Klinzing in 2004, apparently thinking his name recognition would carry him to victory. Klinzing beat him handily.

This race, however, seems to shape up as a great battle because both candidates are very bright, very well organized, and the electorate seems very unpredictable. Couple that with the apparent wonkiness of both candidates. They seem to eschew the babble in favor of policy analysis.

There might be a tendency to dismiss this race because it is Woodbury, afterall. But I think this is a race that won't be a typical Republican vs. Democrat battle. Both of the candidates, you see, are teachers. And one issue that has always transcended political boundaries in Woodbury, is education; especially secondary education. That's not to say both candidates can't slug it out on the other traditional party-line issues; they can.

Klinzing is a rising star in the GOP caucus. Swails appears to be a rising star in the DFL (OK, a "pulse" generally qualifies in recent elections as a rising star in DFL circles), and it looks like given the ability of both sides to organize, raise money, and campaign, the race will actually tell us more about what the voters think than how recognizable a candidate's name is. The voters, by November, are actually going to know the two.

It might just be enough to make people get interested in issue politics again.

So, what's the lawn sign situation in your legislative district?

Comments (6)

In SD 33A, Steve Smith doesn't have a challenger, so there have been no signs in that race.

Driving through 33B on County Rd 15 reveals a ton of John Berns, the Republican for that seat, and none of his opponent Mary Schrock.

I have not seen any signs for our Senate race yet, Tim Carlson (D) v. Gen Olson (R).

Glad your coming back soon... hope your lift-off goes better than Alantis's...

Posted by gml4 | August 28, 2006 12:52 PM

In Senate District 41 (Edina and West Bloomington), Andrew Borene was out of the gate first with over 300 signs. Geoff Michel's campaign reacted by throwing up their signs earlier than usual. A local GOP activist wrote an odd
letter to the editor complaining that Borene's signs don't state he's been endorsed by the DFL Party. Funny, Michel's signs don't announce his endorsement either.

In the wealthiest parts of town, it looks like more signs for Michel. His signs are sitting in the front yards of some huge houses. Everywhere else, it looks like Borene has the edge.

Posted by Tom | August 28, 2006 2:44 PM

Great question. Coming out of a coffee shop this morning I rubbernecked for signs, and came up with...

Wellstone.

Yep. When I looked for yard signs I ended up seeing two old Wellstone signs. Maybe the front lawn landscape will change after Labor day, or maybe never.

Posted by Julia Schrenkler | August 29, 2006 8:26 AM

I kind of like this lawn sign in our district (and no, it's not illegally defaced):

http://static.flickr.com/58/227801350_41a6c923f6_m.jpg

Posted by Karl | August 30, 2006 7:29 AM

The only sign in my neighborhood is for Ostrow. Though Bob, I was thinking about your survey a little bit and can't help but wonder; how will the plethora of for-sale signs impact voters this year? Are they more inspired by advertisements for candidates or for signs of a maybe not-so-booming economy?

Posted by bsimon | August 30, 2006 10:45 AM

This post reminds me what I was missing. Good to have you coming back.

Posted by charlieq | August 30, 2006 9:43 PM

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