Polinaut: December 23, 2008 Archive

The Daily Digest: 12-23-08

Posted at 6:49 AM on December 23, 2008 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest

The latest numbers from the Secretary of State's office show Democrat Al Franken with a 48-vote lead over GOP Sen. Norm Coleman. The State Canvassing Board meets today to accept the unofficial numbers.

MPR, AP, the Star Tribune and the Pi Press have stories.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing today regarding the Coleman campaign's arguments over duplicate ballots today.

Recount specialist Benjamin Ginsberg is helping Coleman with recount efforts. Ginsberg worked for President Bush during the 2000 recount and also has ties to the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth.

State Government

Legislators may look at the sales tax for clothing and food.

The Met Council swats down MPR's objections to the Central Corridor line.

Metro Transit faces additional financial struggles.

Violent crime falls again in Minneapolis.

Minnesota Monthly profiles Attorney General Lori Swanson.

Economy

Loggers struggle in light of the timber industry slump.

U.S. snowmobile sales are down, but sales worldwide are growing.

Congress

As Associated Press investigation finds that bank officials won't say how they're spending the federal bailout money.

Some small toy makers are not happy with the new toy safety law. DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar is mentioned.

Klobuchar is cautioning parents to buy safe toys.

A European group is the first to bring credit default swaps onto an exchange platform. DFL Rep. Collin Peterson is mentioned.

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann wants more transparency in budgeting.

2010

DFL Sen. John Marty forms an exploratory committee for governor. He ran and lost in 1994. MPR, the Star Tribune and AP have stories.

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Canvassing board schedules meetings in January

Posted at 9:57 AM on December 23, 2008 by Tom Scheck (3 Comments)

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie says the State Canvassing Board has scheduled meetings on December 30th, January 5th and January 6th. January 6th is the day the Senate is set to convene. The Senate race is no longer spilling into the New Year, it's spilled into the New Year.

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Harry Reid's office weighs in on the new Senate timeline...

Posted at 3:55 PM on December 23, 2008 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: Recount

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has set a new timeline for the recount in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. He said there isn't any way that they'll finish their work before the end of 2008 and may even still be working to declare a winner on January 6th, the same day the Senate will swear in its new members. I called the spokesman for Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to see if the Senate was ok with the process. Here's how he responded:

"It's perfectly acceptable for us to just wait to seat somebody until somebody is certified by the state."

He also dismissed any notion that Gov. Pawlenty could appoint someone. He said the Senate would have to declare a vacancy first which he said the body is unlikely to do.

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New Jib Jab video

Posted at 6:44 PM on December 23, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Gov. Pawlenty makes a quick appearance but Minnesota's Senate race isn't mentioned.

Perhaps it will be in the 2009 year ender? (I can't believe I just wrote that)

Here's the video...

And then there were seven...

Posted at 7:00 PM on December 23, 2008 by Tim Nelson (1 Comments)

A new study by Election Data Services says there's not much question about it: Minnesota is going to lose a seat in Congress after the 2010 Census.

From their just-released report: "States scheduled to lose a single congressional representative based on all five models of the new 2010 projections include the states of Illinois, Minnesota, and Missouri. Also the state of Ohio would lose a second seat in all five projection models."

The entire Upper Midwest is poised to take it on the chin, in fact: Iowa, Illinois and Missouri are all on the list to lose at least one seat.

That would tee up any number of political scenarios: two of Minnesota's incumbent members of Congress may face each other in 2012; one could retire, ceding the district to a neighboring member; a redistricting might set off a free-for all in the Twin Cities suburbs, similar to what happened after the last redistricting in 2002.

It also raises the stakes for 2010. A veto-proof majority for the DFL wouldn't just let them run the table for a session (if they don't win the Governor's office). A veto-proof majority might allow the DFL caucuses pick the battle for the shrinking Congressional delegation, potentially pitting Erik Paulsen or Michele Bachmann against John Kline, rather than pairing Democrats together. Legislators taking their seats in 2011 will get the first crack at redrawing the state's district boundaries.

And a loss of a seat it won't just be a matter of representation on the Hill. Each state's presidential electors are doled out similarly. Minnesota would drop to nine and Iowa to six. (Wisconsin lost one of its 11 seats after the last census and North and South Dakota are already at the minimum three electors.)

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