Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 3, Issue 45 - 5/20/2008

In this issue: Happy End Of Session & Publishing Notes; House Retirements And The Lay Of The Land; A Final Gesture: Eloquent Ozment Saves Foreclosure Reform; Superdelegate At Large: Nancy Larson On The Spot - And Within The Dark Void Of Fox & Friends; Salvia Part II, Fictional Fiscal Note Edition: Save Money & Look Good By Expanding The War On Drugs For Free!; Ron Paul Revolution Everlasting!; Third Congressional District, Continued...; Bits & Pieces; Lobbyist Watch.

Happy End Of Session & Publishing Notes

A truly happy end of session, indeed. After years of partisan acrimony and budget stand-offs, a cosmic compromise was most welcome this year. Particularly gratifying were the genuine grins on the faces of GOP Governor Tim Pawlenty, House Speaker Margaret Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis) and Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller (DFL-Minneapolis). Way to go!

We won't be publishing a Weekly Report this Friday, in keeping with our Memorial Day holiday tradition. Next week we'll be publishing from Rochester where the Republicans are holding their annual convention. If you go, be sure to swing by the Politics in Minnesota and Saint Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report booth. We''ll be at the DFL convention, also in Rochester, the following weekend.

Everyone have a grand Memorial Day weekend with family and friends, and do pause to reflect and honor those who died in military service to our country.

House Retirements And The Lay Of The Land

The Kum Ba Yah Session makes predicting the content of the campaigns for Minnesota's 134 House races difficult. Both Democrats and Republicans can equally claim credit for the "got 'er done" session. One thing is for sure, however, the GOP faces a difficult--if not impossible to win--battle in trying to take back the House, give that party's 49 seats to the DFL's 85. What follows is our analysis of this year's crop of retiring House members, along with some interesting notes from retirement speeches.


A Final Gesture: Eloquent Ozment Saves Foreclosure Reform

Rep. Jim Davnie's (D-Minneapolis) foreclosure assistance bill (HF3346) zipped off the House floor on Sunday with strong bipartisan support. On the way to caucus, Davnie told PIM that retiring 12-term Republican Rep. Dennis Ozment (R-Rosemount) delivered strong GOP support in an inspiring speech late on Friday. "Very clearly and calmly," Ozment explained that the same arguments had been deployed against the Legislature's action during the 1980s farm crisis; after the Legislature created the Farmer Lender Mediation Act, the dreaded concerns never materialized then, and won't now. Credit didn't dry up, Ozment said, and as the only current GOP member who was there at the time, he could speak from experience. The Legislature is losing that "institutional memory" with Ozment's departure, Davnie lamented, and its value really "came to the fore" during his speech.

Overcoming the "ideological opposition" of the financial services industry and addressing the governor's concerns, Davnie saw his bill as related historically to the then-radical 1933 Minnesota Mortgage Moratorium Law, passed by the then-nonpartisan Legislature. (While the financial sector was dead-set against it then, the flexible nonpartisan system managed to break out of the usual interest group deadlock, and in 1934 the U.S. Supreme Court set an important precedent by backing the moratorium in Home Building and Loan Association v. Blaisdell.)

Superdelegate At Large: Nancy Larson On The Spot - And Within The Dark Void Of Fox & Friends

At the press camp-out outside the governor's office last week, long-time small cities lobbyist and national Democratic superdelegate Nancy Larson observed the scene for some time, and shared with PIM her experiences in this season's most pivotal political role--as superdelegate. Larson, who works as a lobbyist for the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities at Flaherty & Hood, was concerned over the fate of Local Government Aid (LGA) and the outcome of the property tax cap battle. Local spending is already contained: "we're not the problem," she says. The local budget problems are propelled in no small part by spiraling health care costs and the ever-rising price of fuel. Without a good deal, the state's infrastructure will continue to deteriorate and benefits might get cut back, she warned.

Turning to her nationally publicized role as a Democratic superdelegate, she said that the system "has to be changed," because this year, "all the flaws are coming to the forefront." Seating the Florida and Michigan delegations is a big deal: you "can't shut the people off," but "how we do that is tough." She endorsed U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) through a "gut reaction" over where people were heading. She tried to "take my feelings out of it," seeing it as important to step in now. After all, "timing is everything in politics." She says she's up for re-election at the state DFL Convention in June.

Prior to announcing, she called U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) campaign to let them know she wasn't with them. She talked to top strategist Maggie Williams, and Chelsea Clinton called her at about 10 p.m. that night. It was a "really difficult" chat, and she thought it inappropriate for Chelsea to ask her why she wasn't endorsing Clinton. As a frequent candidate herself, "I never ask anybody" about their endorsement decisions. She hasn't talked to Obama directly, but has talked to Michelle Obama and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) in recent months.

It seemed that Larson had a logical resume for a superdelegate: growing up on the Iron Range, she engaged in politics and spent some time as a reporter, both there and briefly at the St. Cloud Times. She ran for the House in 1992 and lost by 41 votes, ran for Lt. Governor with Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville) in 1994, and ran for State Auditor in 1998 against Judi Dutcher. Over that time, she's advocated a great deal for rural Minnesota. She says it was a "less personal" decision than what elected officials face (for example, the effect U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) suffers by snubbing Clinton).

Over her career, which has moved in "spirals" of activity, she eventually became a superdelegate, and quickly attracted barrages of media attention after she announced for Obama. First called upon by public radio and the local papers, CNN, FOX News, the New York Times and the Times of London all wanted her story. For the most part "no one's heard from" the sixteen Minnesota superdelegates, because they "don't want to talk." Hence, she decided to put herself out there, so the media would "see me as a normal American," and she decided to have fun with it.

If you're not used to TV, it's "very scary," and weird since you generally don't even see a monitor displaying what the audience is seeing. When on the air, you "keep focused on nothing," just the blackness of the camera and the earpiece conveying audio. She agreed to appear on "Fox & Friends," the notoriously odd and fluffy morning FOX News show. You "don't shy away from things like that," she said. They told her that she would be appearing with former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Moments prior to going live, "they weren't telling me anything" and the audio cut out. Suddenly she heard with surprise that someone from Hillary's finance staff was coming on at the same time, also remotely.

It "had to be on purpose," an attempt to knock her off-kilter and make her look awkward. "I kept my sense of humor, dealt with it," and "enjoyed it totally." To deal with TV, "You have to be comfortable, can't get thrown by it." Her advice is to laugh and look good because your exact words won't be remembered anyway, but looking nervous will be. FOX picked her up in a limo, and she told the driver that was great since they're actually spending dough on a Democrat in Minnesota!

Salvia Part II, Fictional Fiscal Note Edition: Save Money & Look Good By Expanding The War On Drugs For Free!

Last Thursday, PIM staff caught a brief House Finance committee hearing where Rep. Joe Atkins (DFL-South St. Paul) was touting his bill (HF2949) banning the popular gardening plant/unpopular South American hallucinogen Salvia Divinorum. The finance hearing, like the policy hearing, was yet "another classic episode of the sordid policy show known as the 'Failed American War on Drugs,'" as we noted before. Once again, Atkins declined to offer any epidemiological evidence that Salvia is a public health or law enforcement problem in Minnesota, and instead referenced the inherent legislative wisdom of YouTube.

Much more appalling, this time, was the fiscal impact Atkins proclaimed: creating a new class of drug criminals won't cost the Minnesota taxpayers a single penny! The whole war on drugs is certainly defined by its endless financial effects and perpetual government expense, so one would think that making another plant a crime would also cost some money somewhere. Not the case, according to Atkins: no one would likely go to prison, and apparently time in the county jail, plus the judicial overhead, amounts to precisely nil in the halls of the Legislature.

Seemingly appalled by the unmeasured waste of government resources on the way, Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia) took exception to the fiscal shell game. He compared it to how the Legislature had once claimed that making a driver's third DUI a felony offense would also have zero fiscal impact: Rukavina said millions of dollars were getting burned off to "babysit" DUI alcoholics in prison, a foolish waste since it was a disease requiring treatment, not a crime. This Salvia measure was much the same, another unfunded mandate to be shouldered by the counties, he stated. And wasn't Salvia a "mildly hallucinogenic drug...like being in the Legislature?" Rukavina finished with a condemnation of the whole discussion, declaring that it was "time to start killing these stupid bills." Atkins had no real rejoinder to Rukavina's argument, so committee chair Rep. Lyn Carlson (DFL-Crystal) took a voice vote. As we heard it, the nays were louder than the ayes, but Carlson ruled it approved. And thus did another expansion of government power slide by, claiming to put no further burden upon the exhausted taxpayers of Minnesota.

Ron Paul Revolution Everlasting!

On Sunday, Micah Sifry observed in the Washington Post that U.S. Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) campaign is having some trouble within the libertarian flank of the Republican Party. Within many Republican Party units across the country, tides of libertarian U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (TX-14) supporters have showed up, attempting to run the board and nominate their own delegates at every level. (Paul himself still enjoys messaging success: his new book is at #9 on Amazon.com.) On Super Tuesday here in Minnesota, the GOP vote splintered, with Mitt Romney earning 41% and Paul 16%. A stronger finish than expected, but Paul still only earned a small slice of the GOP voting public. However, just before the Iowa caucus, we were advised to expect surprises because Paul's people "always show up," and indeed they always do.

The Romney revolution sputtered soon after Super Tuesday, and perhaps because that big bloc of disenchanted Romney fans failed to show up at basic party organizing unit (BPOU) conventions, Paul supporters were able to gather a surprisingly large number of delegates for the congressional district conventions. State party officials and GOP bloggers were shocked by the sudden wave of activists who managed to get their own "rebel" delegates on the slate for the Republican National Convention. We heard from one young Paul backer (also a first-time GOP voter) who attended the infamous CD6 convention that the Ron Paul Revolution was rolling full-steam ahead, regardless of Paul's failure to pick up a big vote total nationwide. At CD6, they managed to select two of the three delegates (Ron Baert of Benton County and Bob Swinehart of SD52), and all three alternates (Steve Hackbarth, Scott Anderson and Dean Mahlstedt). The CD6 convention significantly boosted Paul's national delegate total, and gave rise to heated emails plotting some kind of confrontation at the RNC in St. Paul. (We get a lot of these emails at the office).

The divide between the GOP regulars and the Paul people is perhaps narrower than it appears on the surface: despite initial skepticism, our young source at CD6 came out singing the praises for U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN6), after she gave a speech railing on big government and other libertarian-style laments. [Of course, recording devices got kicked out by nervous GOP-CD6 officials, much to the displeasure of the blogging community.]

Bachmann was very well-received by the Paul crowd, and our source thought of her as "one of us." Despite the drama, the two camps really aren't that far apart: they want small government, lower taxes and less interference in their lives. These are messages that the GOP can run with, and it's no surprise that the savvy Bachmann tilted that way, off her usual focus on social conservatism. There are lots of these folks out there, and they've used the Paul campaign as an umbrella to build up a statewide activist network: check out their groups at RonPaulMinnesota.com. 44 activists in Chaska alone is enough to impact the GOP's local BPOU decisions, especially in a year when the Republican rank-and-file is generally feeling depressed.

Confirmation of the Bachmann-libertarian connection arrived this week, as the likely Libertarian Party candidate for President, former Georgia GOP congressman Bob Barr, bragged in a letter to his supporters that he had helped get Bachmann elected in 2006 through "critical funding" from his Bob Barr Leadership Fund PAC. Barr's fund, which has already given $12,000 to the Libertarian National Committee, was criticized for spending about 78% of its $4.3 million raised since 2003 on fundraising, rather than contributions to conservative Republicans. Bachmann only received $1,500 from Barr's fund, but it seems clear he sees her as a "fellow traveler." While Barr might give McCain's people a little heartburn, the Bachmann response reflects the great American tradition of mainstream parties co-opting the concerns of third parties and bringing them back into the fold. The revolution continues, but the result becomes a stronger, motivated MN-GOP grassroots base, even if it's an extra boisterous one.

Third Congressional District, Continued...

Over the weekend, Diane Goldman, campaign manager for the Independence Party of Minnesota's (IPM) David Dillon congressional campaign (website), got back to us. As we mentioned last week, the Third is going to be hard fought: Goldman and Dillon hope his independent stance will play well in a district that becomes more and more centrist with each election cycle. Goldman started in politics back in 1990-1991 when she began working with Minnesota Women's Political Caucus. This experience led her to the 1992 Ross Perot campaign where she began the IP experience that would see her work with former U.S. Sen. Dean Barkley, former Gov. Jesse Ventura, and Tammy Lee. Goldman is a "strong third party advocate," she says.

Goldman sees Dillon as "perfect for the district" because "he is on the same page as U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad (MN-3) policy-wise." She realizes the national party attention Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Eden Prairie) and Ashwin Madia will receive is going be huge, but with help from the Independence Party of America (IPOA), she is confident Dillon can compete. [For a firsthand account of the IPOA-IPM merger and its MySpace-powered chairman, Frank MacKay, see our story in the February 1st PIM Weekly Report.]

"Neither of the two parties are capable of doing the work of the people," she told me, then acknowledging that Dillon lacks the funds of either Paulsen and Madia, stated, "Dave will be able to raise the amount of money needed."

The Third will certainly be the state's most interesting Congressional race, and the demographics of the district may result in a race where a third party can make some political waves.

Bits & Pieces

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) campaign got a double-whammy last week as the national NARAL organization endorsed U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) candidacy, on the same day as former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards joined Obama's supporters. Unexpectedly, as reported in the Politico, numerous NARAL members (and donors) are upset that the national organization chose to throw in their choice at that time. Many state-level chapters, including Minnesota's NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota, have announced that they do not support the endorsement. On their website, the state's chapter said: "This decision was made internally by NARAL Pro-Choice America, based in Washington, D.C., independent of the affiliates across the country. NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota will not be issuing a presidential endorsement at this time." Maybe they should try a nationwide conference call next time?

With the session completed, the fiscal analysts at the Senate Counsel, Research and Fiscal Analysis Office have issued spreadsheets detailing everything about the approved budget deals. You can find all the spreadsheets on the Senate website here. Choice PDF items include:

• General Fund Budget -- Total Appropriations & Revenues
• HF 1812 -- Combined Spreadsheets
• HF 1812 -- Omnibus Supplemental Budget
• Overall General Fund Budget

Have fun among the cells!

Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) appointed six to the Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board. The new appointees are Elizabeth Consie, a firefighter with the Duluth Fire Department, Dr. Paula Kocken, co-medical director of Emergency Medical Services for Children in Minnesota, Dr. Paul Satterlee, physician at Abbott Northwestern, and Paul Stelter, director of South Central Minnesota EMS Regional Program. The two re-appointees are Brenda Brown, a firefighter with the Tyler Fire Department and Kevin Miller, director of operations at Allina Medical Transportation. All appointments will last until January 2012.

"Green Chemistry in Minnesota: Opportunities and Challenges for Leadership," a conference focused on developing sustainable energy in Minnesota, is May 28th at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. It features a video conversation with Terry Collins, Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, Paul Anastas Ph.D. from Yale University, and John Warner, Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. The event is $25; those interested can register here.

DFL Communications Director Kelly Schwinghammer announced she is stepping down from her position effective June 8th. Schwinghammer has accepted a job as National Communications Director for the Blue Green Alliance, a partnership between the Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers dedicated to raising awareness of global warming and building a green national economy. The staff of PIM wish Kelly the very best of luck in her new endeavor and we look forward to continuing to work with her.

The latest edition of the Rothenberg Report has the U.S. Senate race analysis and it's currently ranked a toss-up. With the DFL State Convention looming both Al Franken and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer are hoping that their case to the state's delegates has been strong enough to win an endorsement and take on the first-term Senator.

This is shaping up to be a big summer for Saint Paul. Not only is the GOP National Convention due in September, (we love mentioning this) but so will the 2008 Star of the North Games. Held over two weekends, (June 20-22 and June 27-29) these games will feature over 6,000 athletes competing in over 22 sports; eat your heart out, Beijing! Minnesota residents, student and service people are encouraged to compete but registration only goes until June 5th so hurry. For more information or to register visit starofthenorthgames.org.

Lobbyist Watch

From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board:

• Recently Registered Lobbyists
• Recently Terminated Lobbyists