Capitol View: October 2, 2008 Archive

6th District Debate

Posted at 11:57 AM on October 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Here's the audio from Wednesday's 6th District debate in Stillwater. The debate included GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann, DFLer Elwyn Tinklenberg and I-P candidate Bob Anderson. The audio is in three chunks. Much love to MPR's Tim Pugmire for sending this along.

1st part of debate:
Listen

2nd part of the debate:
Listen

3rd part of the debate:
Listen

Info on Gore/Franken event

Posted at 1:33 PM on October 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

Here's the info on the Al Gore/Al Franken event on Saturday:

Vice President Al Gore will join U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken for DFL Founders Day at Northrup Auditorium Saturday, October 4th. Gore will unite with Franken in the call for change, and Franken will discuss the need to restore the promise of America's middle class and create jobs here in Minnesota by investing in renewable and alternative energy sources.

WHO: Al Franken and Vice President Al Gore
WHAT: DFL Founders Day Event
WHEN: 10:30 am - press set-up begins
11:00 am - doors open to the public
12:30 pm - program begins
WHERE: Northrup Auditorium
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

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MPR to air Sunday's Senate debate live

Posted at 3:26 PM on October 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck

MPR will provide live coverage of Sunday's Senate debate between GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, DFLer Al Franken and I-P candidate Dean Barkley. The event, hosted by Debate Minnesota, will be in Rochester. It's the first of five debates on the docket.

McCain camp: "We need to win MN, PA or WI to win..."

Posted at 4:38 PM on October 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Politico's Mike Allen reports quotes an unnamed McCain staffer who said McCain has to win Minnesota, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin to win the White House:

"Our ability to pick off one of those three states is where our fortunes are largely held," a McCain official said. "These are states where Barack Obama is on the defense."

The news comes after McCain has pulled up the stakes in Michigan, a state they were hoping to win.

For his part, Obama said yesterday that he'll campaign in Minnesota again before election day.

527 to run ads in Senate race

Posted at 5:35 PM on October 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck

A 527 group dubbed Republicans who Care has reserved ad time in all four of Minnesota's TV stations on behalf of GOP Sen. Norm Coleman.

The group has reserved nearly $500,000 worth of ads on WCCO, KARE, KSTP and Fox9 between October 21st through election day.

Calls to the group were not returned but the

An official with Republicans who Care just called and said "No Comment."

Here's a synopsis from the group's website:

These years have been challenging for all Republicans, and particularly for Moderates. The rise of wedge politics, of playing to the base and of heated partisan rhetoric has been antithetical to our traditional GOP values and centrist ideas of governing. We believe in limited government, balanced budgets, free trade and a strong national defense. (We read the "Wall Street Journal" and are just as apt to read the "New York Times"). We cherish personal liberty and do not promote a socially conservative agenda. Instead we seek to build a broad inclusive base for the GOP and believe that effective government relies on our ability to reach across the aisle.

At last our time is coming and we proudly support John McCain, our Moderate standard bearer and the next President of the United States. For the Senate, we're supporting ALL Republicans because getting to sixty is so important. That said, we're especially pleased to support Moderate Senators Gordon Smith (OR), Norm Coleman (MN) and Susan Collins (ME)!

(Note: I emphasized Coleman's name)

A 2006 Bloomberg story says the group was created to help moderate Republicans and counter efforts by more conservative GOP groups.

Republicans Who Care was formed to counter the Club for Growth, which seeks to defeat moderate Republicans such as Chafee and Representative Joe Schwarz of Michigan in party primaries.

But this Politicker story quotes Club For Growth officials as saying Republicans who care is a sham group for the Service Employees Internatioal Union:

This morning, the Club for Growth called Republicans Who Care, "a sham group fronting" for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), citing a recent FEC filing showing a $200,000 transfer from the labor group. The Club for Growth notes this covers the $180,000 First District ad buy.

That's true. A search of the contributions to the 527 on the IRS site found that Republicans Who Care's 1st Quarter report shows that the Human Rights Campaign and the Service Employees International Union gave money to the group. So did Tim Gill, head of the Gill Foundation which support Gay rights.

Another financial disclosure report shows that former GOP Congressman Amory Houghton (and a few other Houghton's) has given to the group. Gordon Gund, a venture capitalist and CEO of the Gund Investment Group, also ponied up. So did Robert Ziff, who is listed as one of the richest Americans.

Survey USA: Coleman has ten point lead

Posted at 6:36 PM on October 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck

A KSTP/Survey USA poll says GOP Sen. Norm Coleman has a ten point lead over DFL challenger Al Franken:

Less than a month ago, Coleman lead Franken 41 to 40 in a statistical dead heat. Barkley had a remarkable 14 percent.

On Thursday, Coleman led Franken, 43 to 33 percent. Barkley does surprisingly well again, registering 19 points.

KSTP says 25 to 30 percent of poll respondents who support each candidate now say they could still change their mind by Election Day.

Pawlenty talks VP as Palin prepares for debate

Posted at 7:59 PM on October 2, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Gov. Pawlenty will be back in Minnesota tomorrow morning after spending the last few days on a European trade mission. Not sure if Pawlenty took some time to visit Big Ben, Westminster Abbey or Piers Pub (the blog's favorite) but he did speak with SkyNews. He told the news channel that he knew he wasn't McCain's choice when he didn't get the call on Thursday:

"I knew when I wasn't being called to go to another city for the announcement, they wouldn't do that at the last minute. But officially I was eating breakfast when I got a call from Senator McCain."

Here's the video:

Side note: The Pawlenty interview was interesting but a picture on the left side of the page kept catching my eye. The story: "Drunk 'Cow' sent to jail."