Polinaut: May 20, 2009 Archive

The Daily Digest: 5-20-09

Posted at 6:41 AM on May 20, 2009 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Daily Digest

Gov. Pawlenty says he's prepared to balance the budget on his own. MPR, the Star Tribune, MinnPost, the Pi Press, AP and Fox9 have stories.

AP says Pawlenty's move changes the balance of power.

He's also going to take budget suggestions by e-mail.

The Pi Press examines how this move will raise Pawlenty's national profile but could also back fire if the cuts go too deep.

You can listen to Pawlenty's full remarks here.

DFLers argue that the state will suffer if Pawlenty vetoes a bill that includes tax increases.

Anxiety builds for health care/social agencies.

Forum Communications calls the 2009 session the "Unsession."

MinPost details the winners and losers of the session.

2008 Race for U.S. Senate

The Chair of the DNC wrote a letter to Pawlenty urging him to drop Norm Coleman.

A Washington D.C. based watchdog group is asking the FEC to turn down Coleman's request to use campaign funds for his personal legal expenses.

A new poll finds that more people believe Al Franken will win than who voted for him in November.

D.C.

The Senate passes a credit card reform bill.

Senate leaders balk at closing Gitmo.

The jockeying for U.S. Marshal begins.

The owner of a Chrysler dealership asked DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar for help.

The ethanol formula and climate change legislation collide in the House. DFL Rep. Collin Peterson is mentioned.

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann debates Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank.

2010

Stu Rothenberg rates Minnesota's governor's race as narrow advantage to the Republicans.

Fox9 has a poll that looks at Pawlenty's approval ratings/prospects for president.

The NRCC will protect GOP Erik Paulsen's seat.

Obama's "Pastor in Chief" to speak in St. Paul

Posted at 8:05 AM on May 20, 2009 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

Krista Tippett, with Speaking of Faith, will be hosting a discussion tonight with Joshua DuBois at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Dubois is the Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Time Magazine dubbed DuBois as President Obama's Pastor in Chief in a February article. Here's another interesting profile of Dubois.

Speaking of Faith will be streaming live video of Krista Tippett and Mr. DuBois' conversation at the Fitz. You can watch it online here. You can submit a question there that may be asked during the show.

Full disclosure alert: My wife works for the Speaking of Faith program.

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Klobuchar on MPR's Midday.

Posted at 10:33 AM on May 20, 2009 by Tom Scheck

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar will be on MPR's Midday today at 11.

Audit: Gang strike force needs some policing

Posted at 10:52 AM on May 20, 2009 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

The Legislative Auditor has found that the Metro Gang Strike Force did not have adequate oversight over seized and forfeited property. The reprort added "The Metro Gang Strike Force was unable to account for at least $18,126 of seized cash and could not locate or support the legal disposition of at least 13 forfeited vehicles and one seized vehicle held as evidence."

Here's the summary.

Here's the full report.

For those interested, the Star Tribune's Randy Furst has been doing really good work on this group. You can read his stories here, here and here.

UPDATE FROM THE YOU CAN"T MAKE THIS UP DEP'T: On page 13 of the full report, you'll find that the Gang Strike Force misused $72 on (wait for it) doughnuts.

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Kaine and Pawlenty become Pen Pals

Posted at 4:32 PM on May 20, 2009 by Tom Scheck

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (who chairs the Democratic National Committee) wrote a letter to Gov. Pawlenty today urging Pawlenty to sign the election certificate if the Minnesota Supreme Court rules in Democrat Al Franken's favor.

Here's Pawlenty's response.

KSTP/Survey USA on gov's race

Posted at 6:30 PM on May 20, 2009 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

KSTP commissioned a Survey USA poll on Minnesota's 2010 governor's race. It's still a way off but here's a look how the bottom five DFLers (according to the pollKSTP's Tom Hauser's report) fare against Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty (who hasn't said if he'll run for a third term):

Pawlenty (50%) vs. Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner (36%)

Pawlenty (51%) vs. DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher (34%)

Pawlenty (51%) vs, DFL Sen. Tom Bakk (34%)

Pawlenty (51%) vs. DFL Sen. John Marty (34%)

Pawlenty (51%) vs. DFL Rep. Paul Thissen (32%)

Hauser said he'll present the rest of the poll results at 10 tonight. In his report he said these four candidates square off the best against Pawlenty:

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman Former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton Former DFL House Minority Leader Matt Entenza Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak

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KSTP/Survey USA: Dayton fares best

Posted at 10:18 PM on May 20, 2009 by Tom Scheck (4 Comments)

The KSTP/Survey USA poll finds that former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton fares the best among DFLers in head to head match-ups with GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty has not said whether he'll run for reelection. Some of the DFL candidates are officially in the race others aren't. It's 18 months until election day.

KSTP's Tom Hauser has a story on the poll.

Here are the results:

47% Pawlenty (R)
43% Dayton (DFL)
10% Undecided

47% Pawlenty (R)
42% R.T. Rybak (DFL)
11% Undecided

48% Pawlenty (R)
37% Chris Coleman (DFL)
15% Undecided

51% Pawlenty (R)
37% Matt Entenza (DFL)
12% Undecided

50% Pawlenty (R)
36% Susan Gaertner (DFL)
14% Undecided

52% Pawlenty (R)
34% Tom Bakk (DFL)
14% Undecided

51% Pawlenty (R)
34% John Marty (DFL)
15% Undecided

51% Pawlenty (R)
34% Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL)
15% Undecided

51% Pawlenty (R)
32% Paul Thissen (DFL)
17% Undecided

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