The Daily Digest: 8-31-06

Posted at 9:46 AM on August 31, 2006 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

The race in Minnesota's First Congressional District leads the digest this morning. DFLer Tim Walz and Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht are both in the national papers.

Walz is quoted in the Washington Post talking about the Iraq war. It doesn't help Gutknecht that both the Post and the New York Times mention him in stories as a vocal supporter of the war who has changed his position. Or does it help him?

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire also examines the race in the first and the other MN races (props to Blue Stem Prairie for catching that).

The Star Tribune profiles some voters.

The Senate candidates took a deep breath yesterday after announcing policy positions and hosting fundraisers earlier in the week. Perhaps they're preparing for Friday's MPR debate at the state fair (shameless plug -- The debate is at 11 AM in Carousel Park or on the radio and at mpr.org).

DFLer Mike Hatch speaks at the DFL Party booth at the State Fair at 6pm. Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty will be at the fair for most of the day.

Pawlenty wants Alfonso Rodriguez Junior put to death.

WCCO's Pat Kessler reality checks Pawlenty's latest ad. I'm sure he'll be busy examining the latest counter ad from The Alliance for a Better Minnesota.

The GOP must be happy to see fuel prices going down. But a Kansas City Star report says Americans are paying billions more than they should be because the gas temps are too hot:

But you should understand it too - because collectively it's costing us billions of dollars a year. An investigation by The Kansas City Star has found that at recent prices U.S. consumers are spending about $2.3 billion more for gasoline and diesel this year than they otherwise would if fuel pumps were adjusted to account for expansion of hot fuel.

The economy is also in the news. Polls are finding workers pessimisstic and that has labor focusing its efforts in Minnesota this election cycle according the New York Times.

It doesn't help that some folks in Bemidji got laid off.

The New York Times tries to drive the ethanol corridor.

The Star Tribune has a story on a GOP complaint filed against DFL Representative Denise Dittrich. This was first raised on Minnesota Democrats Exposed.

MPR's Tim Post takes a look at Senator Paul Koering's primary challenge. Koering, an openly gay Republican state senator, says he's being challenged because of his sexual preference.

Republican Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer drops a fee after her DFL opponent criticized it.

The Pulse is the second weekly mag this week (following City Pages) with a front page story on Keith Ellison.

Ellison and the other DFLers running in the Fifth are mixing it up a bit today. Ellison gets the endorsement of the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action later this morning. Mike Erlandson gets Congressman John Murtha's (PA-D) endorsement via a written statement later today. Erlandson will describe how he differs from the other candidates on the war. Paul Ostrow also had a statement on the Iraq war but it missed the digest and I got busy. He has an op-ed piece on the conflict today.

The West Central Tribune has a candidate profile on Dean Johnson's primary challenger, Michael Cruze.

By the way, the MCCL endorsed Cruze. The group opposed to legalized abortion used to back Johnson.

The Washington Post's David Broder says the rejiggering of the Democratic primaries leaves a lot to be desired.

Finally, the Pi Press has a story saying Vikings owner Zygi Wilf's eye may be wandering from Blaine.

Comments (1)

Do you have a link for Bluestem Prairie?

Posted by anon | August 31, 2006 11:24 AM

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