Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 3, Issue 22 - 12/7/2007
Primary Woes For Republicans In SD 25
Wednesday's endorsement process worked smashingly for DFL-endorsed Kevin Dahle, but it sort of smashed Republican-endorsed Ray Cox. It took six ballots for Kevin Dahle to win the DFL endorsement amidst a field of four, but it looks to be smooth sailing until the election on January 3. Cox was unopposed in the Republican endorsement, but is heading for a primary on December 18 against surprise last-minute-filer Keith Swenson (mayor of Henderson), who is running despite party pleas to withdraw.
Shannon Fiecke, reporter for the Jordan Independent (and a former colleague of PIM's Pam Steinle when the two worked as Republican field staff), told PIM that Swenson purposely avoided the endorsement process because he felt Cox was sure to win. He labels himself a party outsider, and Swenson says phone calls from party members have only furthered his resolve to run. (Check out Shannon’s articles on the race here).
Besides Swenson, Rod Tietz, a New Prague real estate agent and former local school board member, also filed to run on the Republican ticket. Fiecke said Tietz claims he would have sought the party endorsement had he known more about the procedure, and as of Thursday night had not yet decided if he would withdraw from the race.
Cox was elected to the House in 2002, and lost in 2006 by a mere 60 votes to Rep. David Bly (D-Northfield).
On the DFL side, 39 delegates turned up to endorse Dahle over Mick McGuire (mayor of Montgomery), Don Sauter (an Arlington teacher), and Anne Miller (Northfield lobbyist) all of whom had previously agreed to abide by the endorsement process. Dahle, a popular social studies teacher at Northfield Senior High School, hopes to benefit from his wife's employment at Carleton College in an effort to get young voters to the polls. Students are back in class on January 3rd.
Just to mix things up, an Independence Party candidate has also filed: Vance Norgaard, an organic farmer from Northfield.
By the end of the work day, the official slate of candidates will be set in stone. Five o'clock marks the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the Senate District 25 race (Thursday was the last day to file).
The Politics Of SD 25
The last few election cycles, PIM has singled out half of Senate District 25, House District 25A, as the state's bellwether district. The "A side" is turf southwest of the Twin Cities metro area including New Prague, Le Seuer and Le Center. This once rural area is increasingly exurban. We've also singled out this district because the last three elections, the same two DFL and GOP candidates have run hard-fought contests. In 2002, in an open seat, GOPer Ray Cox beat DFLer David Bly. Cox beat Bly, again, in 2004. But Bly bested Cox in 2006. [Worth noting also is that we've singled out Ray Cox in the past because he was the first legislative candidate, and then legislator, to start a blog (back when most people didn't know what a blog was) and he has kept it up all these years.]
On the "B side" of SD 25 (south of the Twin Cities including Northfield, Lonsdale and Belle Plaine), incumbent Rep. Laura Brod (R-New Prague) has easily won her elections in this more Republican area.
While we're sticking with House District 25A as the state's bellwether district, it's not a stretch to think of Senate District 25 as one of the nation's bellwether districts. President George Bush's master strategist Karl Rove finely tuned their 2006 campaign to woo suburban/exurban voters in places like SD 25 across the country.
So how did Rove's strategy work for Bush in 2004? Bush beat John Kerry, 50.6% to 48.0%. In 2006, a GOP debacle year, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) beat GOPer Mark Kennedy, 56.9% to 38.8%; GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty beat DFLer Mike Hatch, 49.0% to 43.2%; and the Republican running for Congress (SD 25 is part of three Congressional districts) beat the Democrat, 49.7% to 46.3%.
These numbers would seem to give the edge to the Republicans, but factor in the other conventional wisdom, which includes that as a general rule, Republicans are better at organizing and winning special elections. However, in recent years, Democrats have won a few -- and beating Republicans in special elections is particularly gratifying for the DFL. Plus, the student population in Northfield, home to Carleton and St. Olaf colleges, can be galvanized to be a significant factor for Democrats in a low-turnout special election contest.
Great Judgment
We've congratulated both Gov. Tim Pawlenty and exiting SD 25 Sen. Tom Neuville (R-Northfield) on the former naming the latter to the bench in the Third Judicial District. Now let's pause to summarize Neuville's Senate career. Neville started as a staunch conservative and he stayed that way. He was respected on both sides of the aisle as a sincere and hard-working legislator, which made his conservative record as a legislator a non-issue in his appointment to the bench. Democrats who worked with him respect his knowledge of the law.
General private practice lawyer Neuville first appeared in St. Paul in 1982, having surprisingly knocked off popular DFL Sen. Clarence Purfeerst, who was somewhat of a legend because he hilariously mixed metaphors in speeches. Remember 1994? Neuville was the GOP's endorsed sacrificial lamb AG candidate against DFL incumbent Skip Humphrey. But Neuville got knocked off in the GOP primary by GOP gadfly Sharon Anderson--who demonstrated the power of the Scandinavian surname on the ballot in spades. Neuville won most of his Senate races handily... although with decreasing margins in recent years reflecting the changing demo in SD 25.
A Tale Of Two AFSCMEs: Chapter Two.
Many of our readers may have read our PIM blog post about AFSCME U.S. Senate endorsements. Here it is for those who haven't:
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, on Tuesday. Earlier, Council 5, with 43,000 members in the Twin Cities and Duluth, went for Franken, a comedian. 'I think it's the first time that's happened,' said Steve Giorgi, assistant director for AFSCME Council 65. The decision was a little awkward, he said, because Franken kicked off his campaign at the Council 65 offices in Nisswa."
Sheer member numbers would seem to dictate that Franken got the better end of the AFSCME deal. But not so fast. Union types we talked to yesterday said that AFSCME Council 65 -- make that "Greater Minnesota Council 65" -- might have a larger impact on the endorsing delegate selection process (the only process that matters) because its members don't have to compete with as many other DFL interest groups at precinct caucuses. There's also a sense that the Council 65 Ciresi endorsement came from its members, and wasn't dictated by leadership as much as the endorsement of Franken by Council 5.
Franken has acquired a number of union endorsements, although none of these matter as much as AFSCME. Picking up Council 65 was big for Ciresi.
Still to weigh in are the two other heavy hitters in DFL endorsing circles: Education Minnesota and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Not surprisingly AFSCME Council Council 5 disagrees--make that vehemently disagrees--with this assessment. Check our website this weekend where we'll post more on this developing and important story in the DFL Senate endorsing contest.
Staggering Changes For The Met Council
Some of us vividly remember the days when then former DFL Minneapolis Representative, then Senator, Myron Orfield would give his yearly desk-pounding speech about "No Taxation Without Representation," referring to the unelected Metropolitan Council. His proposal to elect the Met Council never went anywhere except entertainment value. But there's no questions that the problem then--a politically appointed body making major decisions--persists today. The issue was raised again last session and made it to a vote, to no avail. However, hope is on the way: there now does finally appear to be some movement towards resurrecting some positive change in the form of staggered terms for Met Council members.
Prior to 1994 the Met Council did have staggered terms. According to Judd Schetnan, the Council's director of government affairs, staggered terms were eliminated during Gov. Arne Carlson's tenure.
Last June, at the Met Council's "Stakeholder" meeting, the issue of electeds versus non-electeds was debated again, and some consensus emerged around making an incremental change--staggered terms--in order to help move stalled regional transportation planning forward. The reason: currently the Council cannot advocate for transit/transportation improvements like they should. As political appointees of the Governor they are tied to the administration. By allowing staggered terms there would be more independence from the Council as members serve from administration to administration.
Though some still believe that the best way is an elected Met Council, others argue that the result would make members more parochial in their views tying them to local constituents' demands and deterring them from embracing a broad regional perspective. Concerns last session swirled around the Central Corridor LRT planning as folks worried that an elected Met Council would cause delay of this project costing millions more in the process.
Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope) has taken a strong liking to the staggered terms notion and is working with Sen. Kathy Saltzman (DFL-Woodbury), chief author of a bill, to make the change. A companion bill will be carried by Rep. Sandra Peterson (DFL-New Hope) in the House. In the House it must go through two committees: Local Government, chaired by Rep. Debra Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center), and Government Operations, chaired by Rep. Gene Pelowski (DFL-Winona). The idea is gaining momentum as we find ourselves in a transportation quagmire unrivalled in most states.
The bill would have the effect of eliminating the perception that the Met Council serves at the whim of a particular governor and would allow members to serve out their terms regardless of who is in the governor's office. (Perception is perhaps the least of the Met Council's worries, as the Metropolitan Area continues to burgeon around the perimeters of its territory, sprawling into more counties, causing major growth issues that demand regional planning beyond reach of its authority.)
This would not solve the niggling fact that the Met Council does tax citizens without the public's ability to "throw the bums out." But it would go a long way toward allowing councilmembers to disagree with the governor and take steps to improve our antiquated transportation system. Governor Tim Pawlenty and the Met Council have not yet officially weighed in on the issue of staggered terms.
All Roads Lead To Transportation Funding
The St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce has had a change of heart regarding funding solutions for the transportation knot we're in. The group unveiled new transportation principles in a luncheon featuring the Senate Transportation Committee at the Union Depot - the epicenter of the region's high-speed & commuter & buses proposal.
Here's what the Chamber says: "Sales tax: To support a sales tax, which the Chamber has historically opposed, a base reform exempting business inputs should be established. In addition, a broader geographic base for a sales tax should be considered."
In 2007, the statewide Minnesota Chamber advocated for long-term sustainable funding sources for transportation and transit solutions that included a 5-cent gas tax, partially restoring tab fees cut during the Ventura Administration, and some bonding money. But at the end of session the deal-breaker in the final bill for the Chamber was a 1/2-cent metro sales tax increase that was not acceptable because of the impact on Minnesota businesses. The 1/2-cent sales tax, to be added to the current sales tax rate for the 7-county metro area only, was for funding road projects, improving interchanges, alleviating congestion, and transit solutions. The Chamber argued that 45% of the sales tax is paid by businesses that would be adversely affected by the increase. Yet, more and more, members of the Chamber are looking to the impact of transportation on the success of businesses and to their ability to create new jobs, get goods to market, and move the workforce to and from jobs.
Enter The St. Paul Chamber - Stage Left. Its new principles, to guide the board in decision-making when forming the 2008 Legislative Platform, have parameters built in for a sales tax increase, although they are fairly tight in scope: ensuring breaks for businesses and widening the geographical range of the tax. That could mean an 11-county or statewide tax.
Even the League of Minnesota Cities agrees with the increase in sales tax. The cities, however, have not spelled out what that increase should look be according to a report in the Pioneer Press, signaling that the whole notion is gaining speed to help solve critical transportation needs. Then Thursday's editorial in the Star Tribune piled on with great detail into the challenges the state currently faces with our lagging transportation funding.
This is a break-away position for the St. Paul Area Chamber as the group takes a more regional approach to transportation needs. Sen. Kathy Saltzman (DFL-Woodbury), a member of the Senate Transportation Budget and Policy Division, praised the St. Paul Area Chamber. "This announcement is significant as the business community is acknowledging that a sales tax in some form and with certain conditions can be on the table as a comprehensive transportation funding package is put together. I applaud the St. Paul Chamber for their leadership in developing what are very reasonable and responsible funding principles," said Saltzman. "The support of the business community is incredibly important on this issue and key to moving the state forward."
Though principles are not a sea change in opinion for businesses, at least they're thinking about it. The St. Paul Area Chamber's top priority in this matter is to get funding for the Central Corridor this year in order to leverage federal funding. Of course this will have to be balanced with the 35W Bridge reconstruction costs and other competing infrastructure needs across the state during a year that forecasts a $373 million deficit.
Behind-the-scenes folks at other governmental bodies are pondering a 1/4-cent sales tax increase with necessary cushions in place.
Will the Minnesota Chamber follow suit? Vice President of Government Affairs for the Minnesota Chamber Tom Hesse says, "We continue to have concerns about use of the metro sales tax to fund transportation and transit."
Will all this alter our no-new-taxes Gov. Tim Pawlenty's thinking? The suspense is killing us.
Subsurface Nautilus Torpedoing GOP
Democrats loved the piece on Captain Nemo (a.k.a. Mike Wigley) and his Taxpayers League in the Strib this week, written by none other than former Republican Representative from Rochester Dave Bishop about the havoc "extreme Conservatives" have reeked on the Grand Old Party. No stranger to controversy, this 20-year veteran legislator said what a lot of what some Republicans are thinking: Using fuzzy math to wish away inflation doesn't make it happen; and that starving government by grossly underinvesting in Minnesota's infrastructure and educational system actually causes a decline in the quality of life of the citizens of this state. Go get'um Dave!
Who's On First For The GOP?
State Republicans think their best shot at ousting a DFL U.S. House incumbent is in the First Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Tim Walz (D) is serving his first term. Most state Capitol insiders know that Sen. Dick Day (R-Owatonna) and Rep. Randy Demmer (R-Hayfield) have been running for months. But most Capitol insiders haven't been following another candidate in the race, political novice Dr. Brian Davis. Davis, a doctor at the Mayo Clinic for 11 years, is now co-director of the Prostate Cancer Program at Mayo.
Davis was recruited by one of his patients. This particular patient turned out to be the perfect patient for a Congressional candidate. A patient who likes to raise money, and perhaps more importantly, has a successful track record in the raising money department.
The patient is former GOP U.S. Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, who first met Davis when, in Rudy's words, his "prostate misbehaved." [Boschwitz is successfully managing prostate cancer.] Writes Boschwitz in an email to friends asking them to "take a $250 flyer with me on a new man in politics," he touts Davis' impressive credentials: BS, Nuclear Engineering, University of Illinois; MS, Mechanical Engineering, MIT; Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, MIT.......and then he went to medical school. According to Boschwitz, "There has just never been a person with these qualifications in the Congress Before. Certainly not in my time."
PIM talked to several GOPers who are knowledgeable about this race, and it appears that it's a wide open contest. If any of our subscribers have news or thoughts about this race, we'd love to hear them at staff@politicsinminnesota.com. [For the record, there is another candidate in the GOP race, Mark Meyer from New Ulm.]
Bits & Pieces
'Wikipolitics?' What is a "wiki?" Wikipedia (the web’s free encyclopedia) defines a wiki as, "a type of computer software that allows users to easily create, edit and link web pages." Well then, what is "wikinomics?" Anthony Williams, a co-author with Don Tapscott of the book, "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything," explains wikinomics as the economic concept that the more you share, the more you win. He will be speaking at the University of Minnesota Law School on December 10th, describing how the rise of organized, online networks (think YouTube, or Facebook) can impact public policy. For more information on this event sponsored by the Citizens League, Hennepin County, the Center for Science, Technology and Public Policy, and the Digital Technology Center go here.
We couldn't make it up if we tried: Interstate 35 may be a 'holy road' to a new evangelical movement who believe it is referenced in Isaiah 35:8, "And a highway will be there; it will be called the way of holiness." The bridge collapse becomes somehow more portentous, and 24-hour prayer rooms have apparently been set up in Duluth, Minneapolis and Albert Lea, according to Andy Birkey at the Minnesota Monitor. Check out Pat Robertson's coverage of it, and the Daily Mole's snarky take on it. The former U.S. Route 666 ominously served the Four Corners area of Utah/New Mexico/Colorado/Arizona. Mystic numerology should rule MnDOT!
Times are tight, Stock the Shelves: help the hungry this holiday season. Food shelves across Minnesota's Arrowhead region have become more bare, as food shelf visits have increased 50% in the last six years. Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) is supporting a food shelf fundraiser for Hunger Solutions Minnesota on December 10th from 4-6 p.m. Thomson West, Flint Hills Resources, Target and Microsoft are sponsoring Stock the Shelves at The Liffey, 175 West 7th Street in St. Paul, in the Holiday Inn by the Xcel Center. Cleveland-Cliffs, Walgreens and Lockridge Grindal Nauen are also helping with the event, and the Liffey is donating space and food.
Putting fun on the map: Sports Illustrated is naming St. Paul as America's new Hockeytown this week, in an attempt to knock Detroit off its pedestal. Bizjournals.com, the online branch of Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, revealed that the Twin Cities comprise the seventh most-fun city in America. Ranking sixth for gambling, ninth for shopping, and seventh for high-impact sports, the Cities notched well for good amenities across the board.
Lynne Osterman, the former GOP House member and now current head of government relations at GSP Consulting, has taken on a new job responsibility: Teaching. As the registered lobbyist for Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs (MAAP) and the Minnesota Association of Charter Schools (MACS), Osterman is planning four statewide training sessions to support her grassroots campaign for the upcoming session. MAAP wants more latitude to measure progress for students enrolled in alternative educational programs instead of traditional testing. Many schools are on the notorious No Child Left Behind AYP list solely due to low test scores in their alternative learning programs. School staff struggle to get alternative learning program students to show up to take the test, much less prepare them for it. The MACS is working defensively to prevent a cap on the number of charter schools in Minnesota. A peek at her syllabus reveals such topics as "Civics Revisited" (think back to ninth grade – how does a bill become a law?) and "Message Management." Her sessions have reportedly caught the attention of Education Commissioner Alice Seagren, who thinks Osterman’s mobilization efforts are "fantastic."
The Center of the American Experiment has been getting modern with podcasts of their major recent events. Download 'em here.
If you hurry you may still grab a couple tickets to TakeAction Minnesota's Progressive Leadership Awards and Celebration Dinner which is happening this Saturday, December 8th at 5 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Riverfront in St. Paul. Last year's shindig hosted over 500 folks, including elected officials, activists and organizational leaders for drinks, dinner, silent auction and dancing. TakeAction has an impressive Board of Directors comprised of well-known, out-there progressive doers, which includes Tim Adams, Minnesota Association for Justice, Rafael Espinosa of UFCW, Local 789, Becky Fink, Gary Fuller from the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, Anne Hunt, Xiongpao Lee, Monica Meyer of Outfront Minnesota, Jim Niland of AFSCME Council 5, Vic Rosenthal from Jewish Community Action, Sara Rummel, Executive Director of Clean Water Action, Mark Schultz of the Land Stewardship Project, Tim Stanley from Planned Parenthood of MN, ND & SD, and Doug Williams of the IUE-CWA. Sounds like the Progressive celebration of the year. Contact Jessica Ward-Denison, TakeAction Development Associate, for tickets or more information.
There's going to be an interesting CD3 debate over Congressman Jim Ramstad's open seat on Tuesday December 11th at the Ridgedale Library in Minnetonka from 7-9 p.m. It's sponsored by The Third Congressional District Peace Campaign and is held in conjunction with Iraq Vets Against the War, Vets for Peace, and Military Families Speak Out. The Library address is 12601 Ridgedale Drive, in the Rohlf Room. All three candidates vying for the seat, Senator Terri Bonoff (D-Minnetonka), Mayor Jim Hovland of Edina, and Ashwin Madia, are scheduled to attend. The discussion will center on Iraq and will include a broader discussion on U.S. military aggression. All are welcome. The trio recently made a more casual stop during the big snowstorm, along with U.S. Senate candidates Mike Ciresi, Al Franken, and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, at the famed DFL SD45 Holiday Party and were warmly welcomed by all, where music, laughter, and frivolity ruled the day, and no speechifying was allowed.
Republicans are holding a State Central Committee meeting, tomorrow. There are no current plans to hold a presidential straw poll (that's too bad...we have no idea how the presidential race is breaking out in Minnesota).
State GOP National Committeeman Brian Sullivan is hosting a fundraiser for presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the Minneapolis Club on December 19.
Congratulations to Nick deJulio, the newest face at Ewald Consulting. Hired on as a government and public Relations assistant, deJulio holds both a bachelor’s and master’s from the Duluth campus of the University of Minnesota. His political experience includes serving as a legislative assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives and working on campaigns.
And more congratulations go to former Vice President Walter Mondale who was just appointed Norway's new honorary consul general for Minnesota.
The USDA's Rural Development program is meeting some success as farmers benefit from renewable energy grant programs, such as improved corn dryers. Free market wonks should cheer: aligning market efficiency with energy efficiency!
Famed folk singer Utah Phillips, now in troubled health, is having a benefit concert on December 15th at the Eagles Club, 2507 E. 25th St. Phillips has done it all: a veteran, pacifist, U.S. Senate candidate, activist, railroad hobo and former host of National Public Radio's "Loafer's Glory: The Hobo Jungle of the Mind." Perhaps the old-timers will recall the times when Phillips played in the hobo jungles at Pigs Eye Landing.
Franken at Macalester: Condescending Carpetbagger or Orientalist Brand of Fetishization?
The staff of Macalester College's Mac Weekly issued a scathing editorial against U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken today. PIM's Web Editor, Dan Feidt, spent many hours writing and laying out the Weekly, and a senior semester as Op/Ed co-editor. Having earned a rebuttal, here goes:
They're ticked off about a long-running spat with Franken, who in an early interview with Matt Stone (a sharp guy) stubbornly denied the possibility that Jack Abramoff's vast web of dirty favors extended to Democrats. They might feel like they're snarking a Hollywood big roller by labeling his style "carpetbagger condescension," but the guy went to high school with my dad at Blake, and has been honestly attempting to corral the staged antics of politicians into the authority-collapsing force of irony before these kids were zygotes. They're too young to remember how awesome "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" really was, as it shattered the symbolic foundations of the then-nascent blustering dittohead revolution. That was the first political satire that ever won me over: it released me from orientalizing fetishizations.
They spend most of their words getting out of the beloved/ironically loathed Macalester Bubble, then accusing Franken of talking down to their Bubble-bound realities. The problem is that this always happens, psychologically, to Mac students when politicians come to pitch on campus. We learn way too deeply about how surface retail politicking is just a kind of inherently deceptive way to self-aggrandize a political figure's own authority, which of course, if successful, will let them play in the Dirty Abramoff Network that offends us so. Any kind of journalistic (or popular) acceptance of retail political messages must take place through the familiar Macalester-ese "orientalist brand of fetishization" filter. I agree that everyone at the Washington Post does that to their whole peer network every day, but I don't see how it applies to Franken, specifically.
MDE shivers with glee that the Mac Lefties are ticked, but I wish those who criticize Orientalist reality filters would acknowledge that accurately tearing down pompous authority is difficult, junkyard dog work. The kernel of the Franken campaign's problem is that even though their man is smart as a tack, and has tackled our filthy political culture from the jugular down for decades, anyone who is trying to pivot into collecting authority seems to be bait-and-switching. The Weekly's official editorial reminds me of many I worked on: assuring the readers of honest awareness they are within layers of privileged reality, and that campus retail politics must somehow convey, reject, and defeat each twisted hall of mirrors. Admit it, Weekly: a hybrid of Che Guevara and Jon Stewart couldn't pull that off.
[Publisher Janecek: Gee, do you think Dan has an opinion on this?!]
Lobbyist Watch
From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board:
Morning Reports
