Capitol View

Capitol View: October 2, 2012 Archive

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The Daily Digest

Posted at 6:42 AM on October 2, 2012 by Catharine Richert (1 Comments)
Filed under: Daily Digest

Welcome to the Daily Digest, where two football players engage in a battle of words over the marriage amendment, DCCC won't spend on ads for Walz, and Obama leads among women by 18 points.

Around Minnesota

Vikings player Chris Kluwe, who opposes the marriage amendment, wrote a response to former Vikings player Matt Birk, who supports the marriage amendment.

Birk wrote an opinion piece about the amendment in the Star Tribune Sunday edition.

Accent Signage employees fought with Andrew Engeldinger before he began shooting, according to new details from the police about last week's deadly shooting in Minneapolis.

The shootings show cracks in the nation's mental health system, AP writes.

The White House is expediting the southwest light rail project.

State regulators are requiring Xcel Energy to retain a solar power subsidy.

Lake residents are taxing themselves to prevent aquatic invasive species.

St. Cloud's mayor is planning for the city's first cost-of-living raise in the four years.

The Race for Congress

Feeling confident that 1st Congressional District Rep. Tim Walz will win in November, the DCCC has decided to trim its Minnesota ad budget, eliminating two ads it planned to air in Walz's favor from its reserved airtime.

Where was Rep. Michele Bachmann on the eve of Yom Kippur? At the Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune. During the service, Bachmann was acknowledged by the synagogue's rabbi, which so outraged one member of the congregation, he started donation campaign for Bachmann's challenger, Jim Graves.

Republican Senate hopeful Kurt Bills will visit all of Minnesota's 87 counties before election day.

Around the Nation

Another look at how Americans for Prosperity is influencing down ballot races, this time in Arkansas.

In Washington

Senate leaders are working on a plan to avoid looming mandatory spending cuts, the New York Times reports.

The Supreme Court rejected the National Organization for Marriage's appeal of a Maine law that requires them to reveal their donors.

The government is encouraging people to invest, but we're saving instead, the Washington Post reports.

The Presidential Campaign

Whistle-Blower lawyers are giving generously to President Barack Obama, according to the New York Times.

Mitt Romney is broadening his focus beyond the economy.

Politico writes that Romney is struggling to sharpen his message.

A new Quinnipiac University poll finds that Obama leads 56 - 38 percent among women and 94 - 2 percent among black voters. Men back Romney 52 - 42 percent while white voters back the Republican 53 - 42 percent.

The first presidential debate is tomorrow, and Obama will be trying not to make missteps, the AP reports.

Offshore holdings increased Romney's wealth, the New York Times reports.

(1 Comments)

Walz picks up NRA endorsement over Quist

Posted at 2:45 PM on October 2, 2012 by Brett Neely
Filed under: Campaign 2012: U.S. House, Campaign 2012: U.S. MN CD1, U.S. House

WASHINGTON - The National Rifle Association endorsed DFL Congressman Tim Walz's bid for a fourth term on Tuesday, snubbing Walz's Republican contender, Allen Quist.

The organization gave Walz an "A" rating for his "proved record of defending the Second Amendment."

"I grew up hunting and spent 24 years in the Army National Guard. I know how important Second Amendment rights are to the people of southern Minnesota. I'm proud to stand with the NRA members across southern Minnesota to protect our Second Amendment rights, and I'm truly grateful for their endorsement," said Walz in a statement released by his campaign.

Despite not receiving the NRA's nod, Quist also earned an "A" rating from the group.

The Quist campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the endorsement.

"Allen Quist has been endorsed by the NRA in the past and has always had an A+ NRA rating. The policy of the NRA is to endorse the incumbent if that person is anywhere near their position. So this Walz endorsement was expected," said campaign manager Julie Quist, in a written statement.

The gun rights group has also endorsed Republican U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann, Chip Cravaack and John Kline and DFL U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson.

In June, Walz and Peterson bucked House Democrats and supported a Republican and NRA-backed measure to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his actions related to an investigation into botched gun smuggling operation. In its endorsement, the NRA cited the vote as part of Walz's record.

Minnesotans react to PA voter ID ruling

Posted at 3:58 PM on October 2, 2012 by Tim Pugmire (7 Comments)
Filed under: Voter ID Amendment

Supporters and opponents of Minnesota's voter ID constitutional amendment are reacting to today's court ruling in Pennsylvania.

A judge in Pennsylvania blocked that state's photo identification requirement from going into effect this year. Judge Robert Simpson said he was not convinced that every voter would be able to get a valid ID by Election Day.

In Minnesota, voter ID foes issued a news release that noted Pennsylvania's law is far less restrictive than what's proposed here.

"Minnesota has the highest voter turnout in the nation, but if this amendment passes it will become the most restrictive, more restrictive than the voter restriction system called into question by the judge in Pennsylvania," said Our Vote Our Future Campaign Manager Luchelle Stevens. "On Nov. 6, Minnesotans will block this poorly written and costly amendment just as Judge Simpson did this morning with the Pennsylvania law."

Stevens' counterpart, Dan McGrath of the pro-amendment campaign organization Protect My Vote, offered sympathy to the people of Pennsylvania.

"The will of the people, the will of the legislature has been thwarted by this one activist judge, who has really only accomplished delaying the implementation of voter ID there," McGrath said. "The people don't have the protection they expected for this coming election."

If Minnesota voters pass the voter ID constitutional amendment, McGrath said it will be protected from what he termed as "court meddling."

(7 Comments)

Campaign board clears Minnesota for Marriage in donor complaint

Posted at 3:23 PM on October 2, 2012 by Catharine Richert
Filed under: Marriage Amendment

The state's campaign finance watchdog has cleared Minnesota for Marriage, an organization backing a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman, of a complaint that the group did not adequately disclosed its donors.

The case goes back to last February, when Common Cause-Minnesota asked the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board to investigate whether Minnesota for Marriage had listed all its donors on its 2011 finance report.

The Common Cause complaint centered on the fact that Minnesota for Marriage (MFM), which is a special committee set up by the Minnesota Family Council to raise and spend money in support of the marriage amendment, has a vast membership and therefore should have reported more than seven individual donors its 2011 report.

"Either MFM's support is startlingly weak, contrary to its claims of broad-based support... or MFM violated the campaign finance laws by failing to report required contributor information or by redirecting contributors to an intermediary organization for the purpose of avoiding required disclosures," the initial complaint argued.

The campaign finance board's investigation involved a review of Minnesota for Marriage's bank records, and found that the group reported all its deposits accurately.

At the same time, the board declined to investigate a second claim in the Common Cause complaint that Minnesota for Marriage was redirecting contributions to other organizations that support the amendment.

"To assert that an association's activities do not pass 'the smell test' is to acknowledge that the, complainant has no actual evidence but, rather, relies on suspicion as the basis for the complaint," the board concluded. "Suspicion alone is insufficient to compel a Board investigation."

Voter ID opponents drop $158k on first round of ads

Posted at 6:19 PM on October 2, 2012 by Catharine Richert (1 Comments)
Filed under: Voter ID Amendment

Our Vote Our Future has reserved at least $158,000 in television airtime to broadcast ads opposing the voter ID amendment, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission.

Group spokesman Eric Fought says he expects the organization will spend more than that in the weeks leading up to Election Day, but wouldn't say precisely how much.

These will be the first television spots Our Vote Our Future has purchased. The group is the primary organization raising and spending cash to defeat a constitutional amendment that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Spots are reserved on KARE-11 from Oct. 25 through Election Day.

It appears the group has also reserved airtime on Fox News affiliate KMSP and ABC affiliate KSTP for the same period of time.

ProtectMyVote, which is the primary group organized by Minnesota Majority to support voter ID recently put out their own ad, which features an elderly veteran talking about why he's going to support the proposed amendment.

(1 Comments)
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The feature examines statements made by Minnesota politicians and checks them for accuracy. Based on data analysis, document reviews and interviews with non-partisan analysts, statements are rated true, misleading, false or inconclusive. More

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