Polinaut: September 14, 2007 Archive

Revenge of the 'bed-wetters'?

Posted at 10:18 AM on September 14, 2007 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

A few months ago my mother-in-the law (perhaps the most decent person you'd ever want to meet other than, perhaps, my father-in law), announced to her daughter (whose birthday is today, by the way) that she was no longer a Republican. She'd had it with the party that -- in Massachusetts and elsewhere -- has gone to great lengths to purge the party of "Saltonstall Republicans," or -- as the far-right that controls the party would say "RINOs" -- Republicans in name only. Or, if you want to take a step further down Crass Street -- "bedwetters" as a right-wing Republican talk-show host refers to the non-far-right-wing Republicans (in this case he was referring to Rep. Jim Ramstad).

As my mother-in-law, who attends a typical New England mill-town's typical oversized Methodist Church each Sunday (that is to say, it's mostly empty and those who attend tend to be in the, shall we say, "upper demographic"), is not an evangelical, far-rightist, her lack of allegiance to the party that really didn't want her anymore anyway might come as good news, even if her pedigree -- including as the spouse of a former Republican candidate for Congress in the Massachusetts 1st District -- makes her the political version of a canary in a coal mine.

Political parties are often portrayed, of course, as everyone on one side (Republicans) against everyone on the other side (Democrats). But over a length of time they are, themselves, made up feuding parties. This is hardly news to anyone who's ever watched Democrats self-destruct with party infighting, but it's less noticeable in the Republican Party, which has been more effective at simply telling the dissenters to "get lost."

I'm thinking of this because of the sense of angst one gets these days when the subject of Rudy Giuliani comes up in Republican circles.

When he was in town a few weeks ago, he talked about "electability." He wasn't, of course, talking about a general election; he was talking about electability within the Republican Party.

The far right doesn't much care for Giuliani because of his stand on abortion and a few other issues that are litmus test issues for those who control the Republican Party.

My guess is the Republican power brokers would rather see a Republican in the White House than a Democrat. But my guess is also that the angst surrounding the possibility of Giuliani walking out of the Xcel Center next September with an endorsement, might also mean the "bedwetters" are back, and ready to assert some control over the party that worked so hard to kick them to the side back in the '90s.

Within the context of a battle for the soul of the Republican Party, the importance of the Fred Thompson candidacy becomes more apparent. As unlikely as it is that either of our two major political parties would allow a convention to begin without an outcome assured, if Thompson and Giuliani were to come to St. Paul next year without the outcome assured, we could stop focusing on the protests outside, and start considering the free-for-all between the loyalists inside the X.

It could determine the nature of American politics for a generation.

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The Daily Digest: 9-14-07

Posted at 11:20 AM on September 14, 2007 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Daily Digest

Today is the deadline for schools to give notice on whether they will ask voters to increase school funding. MPR says Anoka Hennepin Schools will close nine schools if a referendum doesn't pass.

Minnesota is pressuring Washington to preserve health care funding for kids.

A St. Paul delegation hopes a trip will remedy a Hmong grave issue in Thailand.

Gov. Pawlenty pushes for clean energy at a Wednesday news conference in Washington. AP and U.S. News have stories.

Governor Pawlenty is sending one of his children to private school. His other daughter still attends public school.

Legislative leaders were in southern Minnesota to talk about the flood relief bill that became law earlier this week.

Kessler wonders if special sessions are special.

The list of impaired waters is growing.

Congress

CQ and NPR say President Bush's speech on Iraq was meant to shore up support. Both say Coleman is inching away from the president on the war.

AP says Coleman wants to put the Petraeus recommendations into law.

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar says Bush's action "brings us back where we started."

DFL Rep. Tim Walz and GOP Rep. John Kline will debate the future of the Iraq war on Almanac tonight.

Klobuchar and Coleman also want insurance companies to disclose if plans include flood insurance.

Klobuchar is working to raise money for South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson.

She also says in a Senate hearing that "It's time to get serious on toy safety."

The Star Tribune says the Senate transportation bill is a little bit fat.

USA Today says $8 billion worth of pork clog infrastructure plans. DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar is mentioned.

Oberstar is also mentioned in this Salon article that says Transportation Secretary Mary Peters wants to take money from bike paths and spend it on roads.

2008

The L.A. Times takes a look at the Senate '08 scorecard.

Former White House political advisor Dick Morris writes in this New York Post article that Mike Ciresi will beat Al Franken for the DFL nomination. He doesn't say where he's getting that information.

The Nation calls Sen. Coleman a Bush Republican.

Republican senators like Coleman are urged to give voters "something new".

Stu Rothenberg says Minnesota leans Democratic in the presidential column and the GOP's weak national standing could both harm Coleman's reelection chances.

But Charlie Cook says DFLer Al Franken has tremendous negatives.

El Tinklenberg may run for Congress again but he's not committing yet.

If it were a slow day...

Posted at 2:13 PM on September 14, 2007 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

If it were a slow day and there was nothing else to do, I'd take a long look at the official logo for the RNC 2008 convention host committee and try to figure out how they decided what buildings made it.

Take, St. Paul, for instance. The Capitol. Cool. First Bank? Yeah, that's kind of an icon. The Travelers building? A company that just took St. Paul out of its name? One that the chair of the host committee used to run? And why is the building so big? It towers over the Capitol and the First Bank building. What subtle message is that telling us?

And the bridge....what's the message delivered by the bridge?

Yep, I'd use the awesome power of the Internet to create an entire subculture of conspiracy that will make the Proctor & Gamble logo and "I buried Paul" look tame by comparison.

Nah....

Although it's a good thing the convention isn't being held in Sleepy Eye.

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Select A Senator

Posted at 4:57 PM on September 14, 2007 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Our Select A Candidate quiz -- presidential version -- is getting more "traffic" than I would have thought at this time of the year. That says something; though I'm not yet sure what.

Next week -- I hope -- the initial version for the U.S. Senate race should be done. We need to add a few more questions but we can build it as we go along.

One warning to Jim Cohen fans. Your candidate isn't going to be well represented, I'm afraid, although he'll be included. Our intern, Charlie Knutson, hasn't been able to get the time of day from the Cohen campaign.

We had several hundred thousand people take the SAC "quiz" in the last campaign. Some of them might even be voters.

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