Notes on the SOS

Posted at 8:08 AM on January 18, 2007 by Mike Mulcahy

I couldn't help but notice that security seemed a lot lighter this year. I guess that's the difference between election year and the year after. There was also no big protest on the gay marriage issue. In fact in the post-election Capitol the social issues are entirely off the agenda this year. (That's a cue for a hot button debate to begin!)

I thought on his way into the House chamber Gov. Pawlenty seemed to go out of his way to avoid shaking hands with GOP Rep. Mark Olson, who faces domestic abuse charges. But later I saw a shot on TV of Pawlenty shaking hands with Olson as the governor was leaving, so maybe I read too much into it. (I was busy going through my notes on the air and couldn't pay attention to what Pawlenty was doing after the speech.)

I was struck by Sen. Larry Pogemiller's declining to take issue with the governor. His post- speech comments basically amounted to taking a wait and see attitude. Later other DFL senators held a news conference to respond more forcefully to the governor. By contrast House Majority Leader Tony Sertich immediately declared a couple of the governor's ideas--the requirement that 70 percent of education money be spent in the classroom and the cap on property taxes--dead on arrival.

I overheard some fans of the governor saying after the speech they didn't think it was one of his best. He's been previewing a lot of stuff he talked about for several weeks. And while he tried to make it a typical state of the state grab-bag, the most detailed proposals were on education. By contrast he pretty much breezed through sections on energy and health care. It seems to me that state of the states are always a little disappointing because by nature they come off as unfocused. Maybe someday a governor will decide to talk about just one issue.

Even in the age of digital communications we still have some technical glitches broadcasting an event like that. In fact because of our digital signal there's a delay between what Gary Eichten says into the microphone and when you actually hear it on the radio. That makes it hard for Gary and me to talk to each other on the air when I'm in a remote location like the House gallery. Basically it involves me sticking a cell phone to one ear and hoping for the best. For some reason the cell phone kept cutting out at the start of the speech. Worst case scenario is I end up sounding like an idiot, but there's always that danger when I go on the air.

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