The Daily Digest: 7-22-08

Posted at 8:27 AM on July 22, 2008 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest

The Digest leads with basketball today. Will John McCain announce his running mate this week and posterize Barack Obama during his foreign travels or is it just a head fake with the hopes of taking press attention away from Obama?

The hoops analogy comes after Conservative columnist Robert Novak reported that John McCain may announce his VP selection this week:

Sources close to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign are suggesting he will reveal the name of his vice presidential selection this week while Sen. Barack Obama is getting the headlines on his foreign trip. The name of McCain's running mate has not been disclosed, but Mitt Romney has led the speculation recently.

The Fix is reporting that McCain will meet with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal later this week.

Several news sources, however, report that McCain will not announce his pick this week.

Meanwhile, Democrat Barack Obama talks about a timeline with Iraqi leaders.

The GOP is hoping for a strong convention to boost McCain in November. The comments come as the RNC prepares the Xcel rebuild. AP, MPR and the Star Tribune have stories.

Vets battle over their prez choices. MPR, AP, KARE and the Pi Press have stories.

The New York Times rejects a John McCain editorial.

DFL Rep. Collin Peterson tells MinnPost that farmers fear a McCain presidency.

2008 Race for the Senate

Democrat Al Franken proposes a tax plan. His DFL challenger, Priscilla Lord Faris also calls for three debates. The Star Tribune says Franken rejected the debate request.

The Star Tribune says the Franken campaign takes a sharper edge.

2008 Race for Congress

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann will talk about drilling in ANWR today. She wrote an op-ed on the subject yesterday.

Meanwhile, Bachmann's DFL opponent, El Tinklenberg, offers his own transportation plan and a plan to fix the economy.

3rd District Republican candidate Erik Paulsen tells The Hill that he doesn't like Republican John McCain's "blank check" on Iraq.

An August debate is scheduled for the candidates in Minnesota's 3rd District.

2008 Race for the Legislature

GOP Rep. Mark Olson is running for the Minnesota Senate.

Pawlenty for VP Watch

Pawlenty is headed to Michigan on Wednesday. The Grand Rapids Press speculates on Pawlenty's VP chances.

Minnesota Monthly has an excellent profile of Gov. Pawlenty

Congress

The Hill says the oil bill pits the oil industry vs. the airlines. Senate Democrats, like DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar, are pressuring the GOP on the oil speculation bill.

The Washington Times writes about Africom. DFL Rep. Betty McCollum has questions about the proposal.

A Minnesota girl bikes to DC to call for a better electric car. Klobuchar is mentioned.

The Chippewa Bands can't agree on how to split a settlement.

State Government

Gov. Pawlenty sends a letter to Ford Motor Company officials asking them to keep the St. Paul Ford plant open.

A study by the U of M says Minnesotans need to drive less to exceed a 2025 clean air goal.

Violent crime in Minneapolis is going down.

Finally

A Rasmussen Poll says the public thinks the media is reporting that the economy is worse than it really is.

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Comments (1)

If McCain's smart, his veep will be John Thune. Never heard of him? Join the crowd. But Thune's a right wing evangelical; his presence on the ticket would drive evangelical voter turnout in Ohio and Florida.

Yesterday evangelical conservative James Dobson of the Council for National Policy announced that he "might," under certain circumstances, endorse John McCain. Dobson announced that on his "Christian radio" program, "Focus on the Family" which actually focuses on politics during election years, in hundreds of markets with evangelical constituencies.

So if McCain's smart, and wants to cattle-prod the millions of evangelicals who'd normally stay home rather than vote for a liberal Republican: McCain will put Thune or someone very much like him on the ticket.

But maybe McCain is not that smart. People watching the campaign are beginning to have their doubts about the current state of his discretion, intelligence, and command of the facts.

Posted by Bill Prendergast | July 22, 2008 1:52 PM

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