Capitol View: October 31, 2012 Archive
The Daily Digest (Clinton stumps in MN and Duluth, Ryan eats in St. Paul, First 6th CD debate)
Posted at 6:27 AM on October 31, 2012
by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Daily Digest
Presidential politics may have come and gone in Minnesota on Tuesday.
Former President Bill Clinton made the case for President Obama at two campaign stops in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Paul Ryan's plane landed in Minnesota. He then traveled to Hudson, WI for an event and then finished with dinner at O'Gara's in St. Paul. He made no public comments during his visit to MN.
But it's unclear whether the campaigns will step foot in Minnesota again. That's because a KSTP-TV/Survey USA poll shows President Obama with a seven percentage point lead over Mitt Romney. That lead is much wider than the Star Tribune poll which had the Obama up three points.
Vice President Joe Biden will campaign in Superior, WI on Friday.
Sandy is upending the final week of the campaign.
President Obama will visit storm damage in New Jersey with Republican Gov. Chris Christie.
On Tuesday, President Obama visited the Red Cross.
On Tuesday, Romney held a storm relief effort event in Ohio but is refusing to talk about whether he would end FEMA.
Critics also allege that the Ryan budget hits storm aid.
AP says Romney and the GOP are plunging onto to Democratic turf.
Obama is spending on TV ads in Michigan.
GM and Chrysler are criticizing Romney's latest TV and radio ads.
Former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman is backing away from comments where he said Romney won't work to overturn Roe vs. Wade. He said he wasn't speaking for Romney when he made the initial comments to a Jewish group in Ohio.
Voter ID
Both parties sparred over the proposed amendment in a debate.
Outside money pads Voter ID efforts.
Amendment to Ban Same-Sex Marriage
Marriage amendment foes added almost $3 million to their coffers.
Fundraising
In campaign's final closing push, the DFL has more cash in the bank.
Race for Congress
The candidates in the 8th Congressional District meet in their last debate today.
GOP rep. Michele Bachmann and DFLer Jim Graves clashed in their first debate. The next debate will be on Thursday on MPR's The Daily Circuit.
Race for U.S. Senate
DFL Rep. Collin Peterson will campaign for Joe Donnelly, the Democrat running for the U.S. Senate.
Finally
Drive safely tonight. There will be lots of little ghosts, goblins, monsters and princesses running around for Halloween. They won't always be paying attention so you should pay extra attention. Happy Halloween.
Pro-Romney super PAC launches MN ad buy
Posted at 10:25 AM on October 31, 2012
by Catharine Richert
Filed under: Campaign 2012: Presidential Race
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney may not be spending much on ads in Minnesota in the waning days of his campaign, but Restore Our Future, a super PAC dedicated solely to electing Romney, says it's buying $1.1 million worth of ad time in the state.
It begins today and will rotate between two ads through Election Day, according to the group.
It's the first time Restore Our Future has advertised here.
Meanwhile, it appears that Romney has scaled back an initial $30,000 ad buy in the Twin Cities market. According to Federal Communications Commission filings, his $13,000 buy with KSTP has decreased to $650. An order for $16,550 with KARE11 still stands, according to the FCC.
Romney's campaign spokeswoman wouldn't comment on the buy.
Though Restore Our Future can't coordinate with the Romney campaign, the group's ads will boost his campaign in the area. According to the FCC, Restore Our Future has so far reserved air time with KMSP and KSTP, both in the Twin Cities market, for a total of $186,350. That means these ads will also air in Wisconsin, which is considered a battleground state.
The ads will also air statewide and on cable in Minnesota, according to Brittany Gross, the group's spokeswoman. Those orders don't show up in FCC filings.
Restore Our Future treasurer Charlie Spies said the group is advertising here because Obama's hold on the state is tenuous.
"The Obama campaign has been forced to advertise in Pennsylvania and Michigan, and Bill Clinton, the top Obama surrogate, has been sent to campaign in Minnesota. Now polls show a tightening race in New Mexico," he said.
Clinton was here yesterday, and at least one poll shows Obama with a narrow 3 percentage point lead in Minnesota.
But a separate poll released yesterday by KSTP/SurveyUSA shows Obama has a 7 percentage point lead over Romney.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is downplaying those polls, saying that Romney's worried about having enough electoral votes to win next Tuesday.
Obama, meanwhile, still has more than $360,000 worth of air time reserved with KSTP, KARE11 and KMSP between now and Election Day, according to the latest FCC filings.
Bill Clinton makes fundraising appeal for Jim Graves
Posted at 12:30 PM on October 31, 2012
by Brett Neely
Filed under: Campaign 2012: U.S. MN CD6, Michele Bachmann
Jim Graves is getting some big name help with fundraising in the final week of his campaign.
The Graves campaign sent out an email fundraising appeal from former President Bill Clinton Wednesday morning.
Graves, a Democrat and hotel entrepreneur, is taking on 6th District Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in what's become one of the costlier U.S. House races this fall.
Clinton doesn't mention Bachmann by name in the email but says, "our country deserves better leaders than these Tea Party Republicans in Congress." Bachmann chairs the House Tea Party Caucus. He also says Republican super PACs are flooding the airwaves in the 6th District although their presence is actually minimal in that district compared to the nearby 8th District contest.
The fundraising pitch sets a goal of $112,000. Bachmann has a huge financial lead in the race with more than $3.2 million in the bank as of mid-October compared to the $471,000 available to Graves.
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