The Daily Digest: 8-18-06

Posted at 10:28 AM on August 18, 2006 by Tom Scheck

The conventions lead the digest this morning.

The Star Tribune's Nick Coleman wrote a column telling Twin Cities leaders to be careful what they wish for. Congressional Quarterly handicaps the Twin Cities in the DNC and RNC horse race.

Attorney general Mike Hatch was on MPR's Midmorning. You can listen to it here.

The Pi Press has a story on Governor Pawlenty's efforts to invest in hybrid electric buses.

DFLer Becky Lourey, who is challenging Hatch in the primary, emphasized the war in Iraq as a campaign issue.

There are a few stories on some of the lesser known gubernatorial candidates. The Star Tribune has a story on Sue Jeffers, who is challenging Pawlenty in the primary. The Bemidji Pioneer has a story on Green Party candidate Ken Pentel.

Republican senate candidate Mark Kennedy continues his statewide tour with stops in the Twin Cities. Here's a story from the St. Cloud Times.

The Washington Post's "The Fix" is dropping the ranking for Minnesota's senate race three spots:

9. While we don't believe that Amy Klobuchar (D) is ahead of Rep. Mark Kennedy (R) by 18 or 19 points, we do think the Democrat has a margin either in the high single or low double digits. Now that Kennedy is on television (with several terrific spots courtesy of media consultant Scott Howell) we would expect that margin to narrow somewhat, but even Republicans admit that this is a difficult race. We are beginning to suspect that our initial read on this race was right: In a matchup between a traditional Republican and a traditional Democrat in a Democratic-leaning state in a year in which the political wind is blowing at the Democrat's back, it's likely the Democrat will win. Republicans believe Kennedy's quirkiness will be a major asset in the fall and help him avoid being labeled as just another rubber stamp for President Bush. Maybe, but this race seems to be a longer shot than it was at the start of the cycle. (Previous ranking: 6)

Bloomberg also has a story on Kennedy:

Kare-11 examines Kennedy's gas ad.

The Star Tribune has a story on Kennedy's DFL opponent, Amy Klobuchar, and her proposal on Homeland Security.

Forbes ranks Minnesota as the 14th best state to do business.

Some voting experts say they expect voter turnout to be high.

The Washington Post says the GOP is losing "security moms."

And finally, American tourism in Canada is down.

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