Polinaut: September 6, 2006 Archive

The Daily Digest: 9-6-06

Posted at 10:06 AM on September 6, 2006 by Tom Scheck

Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District leads the digest. Mike Erlandson gets a big bump this morning by receiving the endorsement of the state's largest newspaper.

Erlandson, DFL endorsed Keith Ellison, former state senator Ember Reichgott Junge and Minneapolis City Council member Paul Ostrow also met in a KSTP-TV debate. Nothing new there. Rochelle Olson with the Star Tribune has a write-up in the morning paper. She also has a profile of Erlandson. The blog, Northern Debater, also has a blow by blow account of the KSTP debate.

The Star Tribune and MPR fact check Governor Tim Pawlenty's latest tv ad on education.

Pawlenty's DFL opponent, Mike Hatch, is also up with his first tv ad. I haven't seen the ad but was told it aired on KARE-11 this morning. The tag line basically says "Minnesota tough meets Minnesota nice." I'll link to it when it's on the website. Here's the ad. The tagline is "Minnesota Tough; Making Minnesota Nice."

Pawlenty is one of a handful of governors pushing for more federal drought aid.

Pawlenty is leading in the latest Rasmussen poll (props to Sundog for the heads up). Pawlenty at 46% and Hatch at 39%.

The Star Tribune has a story on a spat between Republican Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer and her DFL challenger Mark Ritchie.

Kiffmeyer is also trying to get overseas troops to vote absentee.

Senator Dayton says he'll vote "no confidence" for Donald Rumsfeld..

But the Wall Street Journal says the GOP is working to block the vote.

CNN has a poll saying the war could hurt the GOP in the November election.

In the Senate race, DFLer Amy Klobuchar is leading Republican Mark Kennedy in the latest poll.

Some Hennepin County commissioners are turning down money from the Pohlads.

The St. Cloud Times has a story on State Senator Paul Koering's primary challenge.

And one final thought. The Vikings signed wide receiver Todd Pinkston. Many of you know that I'm a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan so I know Pinkston's play pretty well. Anyone who wants to know where Pinky stands in the minds of Philadelphia fans should play the online game "Pass it to Pinky." The game is simple. Throw the ball to Pinkston as he runs crossing routes. The catch is Pinky never catches the ball but always has a good excuse.

The new government

Posted at 10:29 AM on September 6, 2006 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

OK, bear with me now. This isn't about the election, per se. But then again, Polinaut isn't about the election per se. And this is something I've been kicking around in my head for the last week or so and still can't get my arms completely around it... in a political sense.

But the subject is homeowners associations and the topic entered my noggin' last week with a piece in the Pioneer Press, "Welcome to the blurbs, now follow the rules." Oddly, it didn't generate much reaction, which -- considering its in the suburbs and MSM -- and apparently most bloggers -- don't really give a rip about the 'burbs -- shouldn't be surprising.

See, this guy put up a basketball hoop in the backyard. But, because it was a real hoop -- embedded in the ground an all -- and not one of those plastic fill-it-with-water-so-it-won't-get-blown-down type of things -- the local homeowners association took him to court.

It's in our cultural nature to avoid conflict in general," said Paul Hanscom, ssistant director of the Minnesota chapter of the Community Associations Institute.

Oh, don't kid yourself, Paul. It's not about any such thing. It's about passive aggressive and a desire that everything looks the same. But, I digress.

Did you notice anything about the story? Lakeville and Woodbury were the two suburbs mentioned and both are among the most staunch enclave of Republican support, which is fine with me.

What I haven't been able to qjuite understand is how this new form of government -- and isn't that what this is -- squares with the Republican ideal to limit the size and scope of government?

As local government is scaled back -- and I realize we're talking hypothetical here -- does quasi-government spring up to replace it? And, if so, how do we feel about quasi government in the "less government" sphere?

Presumably, the folks in the 'burbs who have embraced this new form of government, do so because it "protects" their property values, which of course is another way of saying they can make more money when they sell their home. But look at cities like Woodbury, Excelsior, White Bear Lake and Edina. Comparatively speaking, their high-tax cities with high property values. Is there a connection? And, if so, why is there a disconnect between those taxes and those property values as there is with the quasi government?

Now, keep in mind I tend to like politics at the local level much more than the stuff at the high fallutin' level, but I think this whole question is going to end up on the laps of the local elected officials.

In fact, I notice in the PiPress today that the Blaine City Council tomorrow night has an item on the agenda to "consider a resolution to eliminate the need for a Homeowners' Association and to allow for different home styles and square footages within the plat for the Deacon's Forest addition."

Next to leash laws, I can't imagine a bigger hot potato in local politics.

Like I said, I haven't got it all figured out yet from a political standpoint, so give me a hand and discuss.

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Hatch ad

Posted at 11:29 AM on September 6, 2006 by Bob Collins

Mike Hatch has just sent out an e-mail announcing an online preview of his first TV ad. Here.

They show him out hunting first and ended up with him playing with a dog, which for some reason reminded me of the initial round of Mike Ciresi ads in 2000. (Listen)

Mische to leave Senator Coleman's office

Posted at 11:52 AM on September 6, 2006 by Tom Scheck

Senator Coleman's office just issued the release. Here's part of it:

Mische to become Senior Vice President of D.C. based Government Relations Firm

Washington, D.C. – Erich E. Mische, 43, Chief of Staff for United States Senator Norm Coleman, has accepted an offer to serve as Senior Vice President of a D.C. based government relations firm. Mische has been Coleman’s key political and policy advisor since 1992, having first served Coleman as his campaign manager for his successful campaign for Saint Paul Mayor in 1992.

“Erich Mische is one of the best political and policy strategists in the business,” said Coleman. “He’s creative, visionary, and most importantly, he gets things done. Erich takes ideas and concepts and puts them into action. I am extremely grateful for his service as my Chief of Staff, and pleased for this new opportunity for him and his family.”

After you, I insist

Posted at 12:46 PM on September 6, 2006 by Tom Scheck

Leslie Sandberg, Attorney General Mike Hatch's communications director, is shifting over to Hatch's campaign for governor. Sandberg's move comes one day after Brian McClung, Governor Pawlenty's communications director, shifted over to Pawlenty's campaign.

Planning for primary night

Posted at 2:24 PM on September 6, 2006 by Bob Collins

And now this behind the scenes extravaganza.

We had a little meeting this afternoon in advance of election night next Tuesday. The usual suspects. Mulcahy, McCallum, Eichten along with Sara Meyer who produces Midday and has a generous helping of the brains behind these sorts of things. And news director Bill Wareham and new boss Chris Worthington along with my colleague Mel Sommer and fellow editor Bill Catlin.

Part of the tightrope act that we do is trying to figure out what's going to happen and staffing appropriately for it. OK, the 5th District congressional race and the attorney general race; those are easy calls.

Of course, the problem is a limited number of bodies to cover everything and everybody as well as the logistics of the thing. For instance, radio folks need to install phone lines -- either basic ones or souped-up ones -- at the various candidate locations. This has been made difficult this year because Mike Hatch won't say yet where he's going to be and the DFL doesn't seem to have an idea what they're doing or where they're going to be on Tuesday night either. And that's fine; they've got lots of details beyond a party to worry about. But have you ever tried calling the phone company on short notice. "Sure, we'll be there in November some time between 3 in the morning and 11 at night." This is where folks like Sara really have tough jobs because listeners expect to hear these people utter, well, completely predictable words.

Then you've got the other stories that might develop. In Dean Johnson's district, a GOP opponent is running as a DFLer and encouraging Republicans to register and vote as DFLers. If Johnson loses, that's a story. If he wins, well, it's not really. So how do you staff something like that?

And there's Sen.. Paul Koering, the gay legislator who faces a primary challenge. If he loses, that's a story. If he wins, is it still a story? And if so, what is it? That Republicans don't mind gay legislators? Maybe. Maybe not.

What if they both lose? I happen to think it's a story about why they both lost and how that changes everything in the upcoming general election. But that's me. I tend not to give a rip who it is that won or lost but why they did, especially in the context of how it changes the subsequent campaign.

But that's the sort of thing you really can't plan for other than to be ready to throw out the plan and start over again, which is a tough thing to do at 11 or 12 at night.

Back when I produced presidential visit coverage in Boston, I would always have a reporter at the nearest hospital. You can guess why. There's this cameraman who works at the White House. When the presidential helicopter leaves, most of the crews pack up and go back inside and hit the buffet. But he keeps filming. Just in case.

Anyway, we didn't really get all the I's dotted and the T's crossed because, well, it's just not a business where you can do that. We'll just have to play it by ear on Tuesday night.

As for your online buddies. I'll be here. Our election night results program won't be ready until November so we'll just depend on the Secretary of State's Web site. But we'll grab all the speeches with the predictable answers, and post up all the stories that Laura and Tom and Tim and Zdechlik put together, go to bed and get up and see how all of you bloggers linked to an inferior story in the Strib.

Here's hoping there'll be lots of surprises.

Polling in the 6th

Posted at 4:14 PM on September 6, 2006 by Bob Collins (22 Comments)

RT Strategies and Constituent Dynamics -- whatever that is -- has a poll out that apparently has Michele Bachman leading Patty Wetterling fairly handily. Or, since no names are used, "Your name here" is ahead of "The other person." The numbers include "weak" support for each candidate so I suppose there's still some instability in the numbers.

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