The Republican convention in Rochester this past weekend was a somewhat staid and stultifying affair.
Staid because there was nary a balloon or speck of confetti at an event that, in the last few decades, has evolved into grand political pageantry. Anybody remember six years ago when Norm Coleman was first endorsed to [...]
At 26 and 24, the more youthful members of the PIM team have not paid a landline phone bill since our sophomore years in college (2001-2002/2002-2003 respectively) and most likely will never will again. When we look through our contacts, we do not find one friend or peer whose number is a home landline. It [...]
Today’s Wall Street Journal has a front page story, "Labor Makes Big Comeback in ‘08 Races." That’s certainly true in the Minnesota U.S. Senate race. It’s a story we’ve been tracking for months, in A Tale of Two AFSCMEs, A Tale, Chapter Two and A Tale, Chapter Three.
This week, Education Minnesota endorsed DFL U.S. Senate [...]
Dueling House Parties
The real battlefields of the DFL endorsing contest to run against GOP U.S. Senator Norm Coleman are being held in the living rooms of DFL activist homes. In PIM’s view, this is a good process: Democrats have the opportunity to judge the candidates up close and personal. We sent Pam Steinle to the [...]
Our Tale of Two AFSCMEs continues. AFSCME Council 65’s executive director, Steve Preble, back at AFSCME Council 5:
Last week I wrote that AFSCME Council 65’s endorsement of Mike Ciresi instead of Al Franken in the DFL U.S. Senate endorsing contest was a big win for Ciresi. Eliot Seide,
the executive director of the other AFSCME group, Council 5, begs to
differ. In a phone conversation, Seide called Council 65’s endorsement
"a last gasp [...]
The Star Tribune’s Pat Lopez has the latest twist in Minnesota DFL union politics:
"One of the state’s most powerful labor groups has split its U.S. Senate
endorsement between Democrats Mike Ciresi and Al Franken. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 65,
which represents 13,000 outstate Minnesota workers, announced its backing of
Ciresi, an attorney, [...]
