Polinaut: January 31, 2008 Archive

The Daily Digest: 1-31-08

Posted at 8:47 AM on January 31, 2008 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Daily Digest

A new MPR/University of Minnesota Humphrey School poll has Hillary Clinton and John McCain leading in the race for president in Minnesota. Here's the story. Here's the complete poll methodology which includes head to heads, etc.

Barack Obama will hold his Saturday rally at the Target Center. The Star Tribune and the Pi Press have stories.

John Edwards supporters are now looking for another candidate after learning that the former North Carolina Senator dropped his presidential bid. Ted Mondale says they may back Obama.

State Government

Gov. Pawlenty tells MPR that he agrees with State Economist Tom Stinson that the state's budget gap could widen:

"It's pretty clear that the economy is fragile and deteriorating and so we're anticipating, in my own personal opinion and the economist backs this up, that the deficit will probably grow. I hope it grows in a manageable manner and not some sort of mushrooming manners but clearly the economic condition of the country and most of the states, with the exception of the energy or defense states is deteriorating. It's something that we're going to have to address."

Finance officials won't be able to make a complete budget prediction until the next revenue forecast is released next month.

The Star Tribune says long waits for jobless benefits have been cut.

The Pi Press says the state will test Washington County residents for PFCs, Arsenic and Mercury.

MnDOT will not put a weight limit on the Hastings Bridge.

The Star Tribune says a contractor may refund some of the payments made on the expensive staircase at the I-35W bridge.

Minneapolis may ban elephant rides. How is this related to state government? Well, the city will push to have the state retire some of the Target Center's debt citing a lack of business because of the Xcel Center. How do you make that argument when you are basically taking an action that could kick out an annual tenant?

U of M president Bob Bruininks talks about light rail and bonding with the Minnesota Daily.

Gov. Pawlenty visited a U of M open house.

Congress

AP has a story on military action in the Middle East. GOP Sen. Norm Coleman is quoted as saying he doesn't see military action in Iraq as a diversion from Afghanistan.

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar is reminding Minnesotans that travel rules to Canada change today. MPR and the Star Tribune say the chances will cause some complications for travelers.

MPR says Minnesota's congressional delegation is calling for cooperation from the Justice Department on the Paulose probe.

The La Crosse Tribune says lawmakers, like DFL Rep. Tim Walz, defend their spending requests as President Bush targets earmarks.

The Washington Post calls GOP Rep. Jim Ramstad a "dying breed of moderates."

The Hill says liberals are threatening to not back the Farm Bill. DFL Rep. Collin Peterson is mentioned.

The new Ag Secretary tells Reuters that President Bush is committed to changes in the Farm Bill.

USA Today says lobbyists are finding other ways to bond with lawmakers. DFL Rep. Jim Oberstar is mentioned.

The Salt Lake Tribune says pilots oppose airline mergers. Oberstar is mentioned.

2008 U.S. Senate race

Roll Call (subscription required) says Tuesday's precinct caucuses serve as a test for the Senate and Congressional candidates.

MinnPost has a story on what the DFL U.S. Senate candidates are doing to convince people to caucus for them.

Channel 4000 has a profile on Al Franken.

Franken stopped in Esko and is headed to Wadena on Friday.

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer makes a stop in Bemidji.

The Minnesota Daily has a story on U of M faculty donations to candidates.

2008 Legislature races

Bob Hill, a Stillwater Attorney, announces his bid to run for the Minnesota House.

2010

Governor Pawlenty hauled in $850k in 2007.

Ramstad backs McCain

Posted at 11:30 AM on January 31, 2008 by Tom Scheck

GOP Rep. Jim Ramstad backs John McCain for president. AP has the story:

ST. PAUL (AP) - U.S. Representative Jim Ramstad is endorsing Senator John McCain for president. The popular moderate Republican from Minnesota says in a prepared statement that McCain is "clearly the most tested, experienced and capable candidate" and the most qualified to lead the war against terrorism. He also says McCain has a record of working with Democrats in Congress. Ramstad says he decided to back McCain even though they don't agree on every issue. Ramstad represents Minnesota's suburban 3rd Congressional District. He's not running for re-election.

Endorsements!

Posted at 2:07 PM on January 31, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Illinois Senator Barack Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton picked up some newspaper endorsements. The U of M Daily is backing Obama. La Prensa de Minnesota is backing Clinton (note: the endorsement is in Spanish).

Obama event sold out

Posted at 2:08 PM on January 31, 2008 by Tom Scheck (4 Comments)

Minnesota's Barack Obama campaign says Saturday's event at the Target Center has essentially been sold out. A campaign spokesman says 15 thousand online tickets have been given out and the campaign is expected to give out a few thousand paper tickets. Update -- All tix are gone. No tickets are available. I'm told there's a waiting list of 2,000 people.

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Ciresi self-finances to a tune of $516 thousand

Posted at 2:13 PM on January 31, 2008 by Tom Scheck

DFL U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ciresi has spent $516 thousand on his campaign despite a pledge to not self-finance. MPR's Mark Zdechlik has the details:

Ciresi's campaign raised $294,623 during the last months of 2007. Ciresi kicked in more than $512,000 of his own money.

DFLer Al Franken raised nearly $1.9 million during the third quarter. Republican incumbent Norm Coleman took in $1.7 million.

Ciresi campaign manager Kerry Greeley says Ciresi has not gone back on his pledge not to pay for his campaign out of his own pocket.

"This is only a fraction of what he raised and we wanted to do some special things. We wanted to go up on TV and our campaign was the first to go up on TV . Mike wanted to reach a lot more people," Greeley said.

Greeley would not say whether Ciresi plans to put more of his own money into his Senate bid.

AP and the Pi Press also have stories.

Leading DFL U.S. Senate candidates to debate on Tuesday

Posted at 4:10 PM on January 31, 2008 by Tom Scheck

MPR's Midday program will hold a debate between Mike Ciresi, Al Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer on Tuesday, February 5th. The debate will be held at noon and can be heard on Midday. The three candidates are vying to win the DFL endorsement for U.S. Senate. GOP Senator Norm Coleman is running for reelection.