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Range connections in AK-SEN race
Minn Post has a story about the Iron Range family ties of Mark Begich, Mayor of Anchorage and Democratic challenger to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Begich’s father, U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, was born and raised on the Iron Range and his uncle, Joe, is a fixture in Range politics. I am ashamed that I didn’t…
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Long, hot summer
Just as in the rest of my life, I deal with multiple audiences on this blog. Some folks come here for politics. Some come here to see what’s up on the Iron Range. Some come here because they read my columns or listen to my radio essays. And some come here because they googled “moonshine”…
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2nd CD DFL challenger Sarvi has Range connection
The conventional wisdom is that the upcoming election features conditions favorable to Democrats. Most of the big analysts are predicting Democratic pickups in the Senate and House. There are pickup opportunities for Democrats here in Minnesota, as well, most notably Sen. Norm Coleman’s seat and the Third Congressional District being vacated by popular Republican incumbent…
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A real good reason to run for president
Hillary Clinton has been offered an “endless” supply of vodka for doing a full page ad for Svedka, which apparently is a kind of vodka (Iron Rangers prefer brown bottled booze). I imagine I’m not the only one writing about this, so kudos to Svedka for lowering the bar. We all know Hils likes the…
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Franken endorsed on first ballot; I was at the dump
DFL delegates endorsed Al Franken on the first ballot in Rochester moments ago. I heard the results on MPR just as I was getting back from taking diapers to the dump in my rural Iron Range township. Later I am going to grill some stuff. The lesson learned? Well, first, we’ve got to potty train…
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Prominent Iron Ranger, Robert Zimmerman, endorses Obama
And that’s how the headline would have looked if Bob Dylan had stayed in Hibbing and run for the state senate. Seriously, in an unusual move Bob Dylan endorsed Barack Obama for president during a London Times interview published Thursday. While some might have assumed that Dylan is a liberal because his fans smoke the…
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Eat at Newt’s
People keep asking, “Hey, MinnesotaBrown (well, usually they say Aaron), are you going to the DFL convention in Rochester this weekend?” The answer is no. I made the conscious choice not to pursue a delegate slot or blogger credentials this year because of my book deadline and the general insanity of our multi-child household. I’ll…
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Fightin’ Eighth’s back bench is deep
Yesterday I gave you my list of potential DFL candidates to consider in the event that Democrats take the White House and longtime Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN8) is offered the position of Secretary of Transportation. As I said, this is not necessarily likely, but worth thinking about in the event that it happens. After all,…
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On deck in the Fightin’ Eighth
Recently I posed the question: “Who might succeed Jim Oberstar if he moves up to Secretary of Transportation in a hypothetical Democratic Administration?” It’s a question full of logistical problems, including the need for Democrats to win the election, Jim Oberstar to be offered the job and Jim Oberstar to take the job. Overall, people…
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Mulling a Post-Oberstar World
According to an item in MinnPost, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) is strongly suggesting that if Barack Obama wins the presidential election this fall that he nominate Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) to be Secretary of Transportation. Oberstar is the longtime ranking Democrat and chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Oberstar has represented Minnesota’s…
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Range project loan payments were extended as favor to company
Another Excelsior Energy audit story ran Sunday in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. This one focused on the decision by Iron Range Resources Commissioner Sandy Layman to unilaterally extend the interest payment deadline for this company a couple different times. The story seems fairly benign, but the bigger story for me is that the DFL dominated…
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Persell endorsed in 4A
John Persell was endorsed over the weekend by the DFL for House District 4A, the seat that will be vacated when Rep. Frank Moe (DFL-Bemidji) leaves office at the end of the year. CASS LAKE — Beneath John Persell’s soft-spoken, low-key approach lies common-sense issues that will woo voters to send him to St. Paul,…
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Obama to declare victory in MINNESOTA
Hell yes! The only better news would be if he did this at Zimmy’s bar in downtown Hibbing. This is the first true 21st century election of our lives. It’s never been a better time in history to be a Minnesota political junkie with limited social skills and a laptop. Get ready! From the Associated…
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Bakk again
OK, one more post on Tom Bakk’s exploration of a gubernatorial run. Then I’m done with this 2010 nonsense for a while. Folks have picked up that I’m skeptical about Bakk’s chances. I’ve been down the old timey Iron Range statewide whistle stop tour before. It’s like trying to occupy Russia in January. There is…
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Bakk is running
Hate to be scooped on a Range story, but here it is from MNPublius (broken by MinnesotaDemocratsExposed I believe): State Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) is running for governor. This is not surprising. Bakk has been hinting at this for a while. He’s getting out early probably to shore up union support and carve his piece…