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Spin, baby, spin
Remember that scene in “Monty Python’s Holy Grail” where King Arthur is dueling with the Black Knight and keeps cutting off the knight’s arms, then legs. Each time he cuts off a limb the knight refuses to admit defeat, saying things like “Oh, it’s just a scratch.” Yeah, Excelsior Energy and their boondoggle Mesaba Energy…
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Old school nomination fight
The more things change, the more they come full circle. By now you may have heard that despite coming up just short in the Nevada caucuses, Barack Obama takes more state delegates out of Nevada because of how delegates are allocated by congressional district. Let’s just use this as a time to remember that this…
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A view of the presidential race from the Iron Range
I have a cold and lost my voice yesterday, so I have to watch the political coverage today in relative silence. My particular throat issues prevent me from saying the words “yeah,” and “uh-huh” without pain. I had never realized how important those words were in my vocabulary, especially at home. Hillary Clinton just won…
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New Al Franken bio ad is pretty good
I normally don’t post political ads on the blog for commentary, but I have decided to break tradition in posting this new Al Franken ad which is set for statewide air time this week. I post it not because I am supporting Franken (which I am), but because I thought it was an exceptionally good…
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Boots on the ground
The Minnesota caucus campaign is on. I’ve gotten calls from representatives of the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns in recent days looking for caucus support and organizers. The Clinton camp had a local activist call me last week. Obama’s people had a field organizer call me tonight. For being only three weeks out of…
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Pawlenty releases 2008 bonding bill
Gov. Tim Pawlenty released his proposal for the 2008 bonding bill in the Minnesota State Legislature. (See MPR’s coverage). This is the plan he would like to see pass, though he will be working with a DFL House and Senate that will have different priorities for borrowing and spending. Two encouraging things for northern Minnesota:…
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Another look at redistricting
I hate to talk about legislative and Congressional redistricting so early, but I caught an AP wire report today and see that there are three potential plans to change how Minnesota will draw its new districts after the 2010 census. It matters because Minnesota may lose one of its Congressional seats and the Iron Range…
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Yes We Can
You know it’s a rough night when the TV makes your beer taste bad. So, Clinton won New Hampshire. I’ll avoid the more cynical thoughts that have been bouncing around my head all day, but sufficed to say we’ve got a battle on our hands. It’s all about Feb. 5 now. One on one. Clinton…
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MPR posts ‘Select a Candidate’ quiz for 2008
Minnesota Public Radio posted their “Select a Candidate” feature for the election year. I wouldn’t recommend using it as your only method of selecting a candidate for Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race or the presidential caucuses, but it will help show you which candidates line up with you on your most important issues. I took the…
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Pawlenty really doesn’t want to be a wallflower in ’08
T-Paw is really hoping for someone to ask him to the prom. He’s got the dress. He’s got the body glitter. He’s ready. Future Republican nominee, just ask him. Get him out of our state for just a while because I’m betting he’ll act like a total bitch if he doesn’t get asked. We’ve got…
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‘West Wing’ in real life?
OK, so this is nerdy but it’s the Internet so you’ve got to expect some of that. IF Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee and IF John McCain is the Republican nominee, then our election this year will be strikingly similar in tone and style to the “West Wing” fake election held during the last…
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New Hampshire speaks tomorrow
The New Hampshire primary is Tuesday. There is a good chance that my “endorsed” candidates, Barack Obama for the Democrats and John McCain for the Republicans, will win on both sides of the aisle. The biggest story of this election so far has been Obama. I feel like his candidacy could be remembered as a…
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No U.S. Senate candidate has Range advantage
The Iron Range doesn’t always line up votes in statewide endorsement battles, but often it will. Not so this year. If you recall some of my earlier posts about Range politics (Part 1 and Part 2) the Range has three basic DFL factions: labor, progressives and opinion leaders. Sometimes they line up and sometimes they…
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Obama wins Iowa
Here I am, in my easy chair. My three young babies are asleep in their beds. I grew up on a family-owned salvage yard in northern Minnesota in a place called the Iron Range. As I grew up, my dad was a diesel mechanic who after being laid off in the 1980s managed the junkyard.…
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News from the Iowa front
I’ve been getting some hilarious e-mails from a friend of mine who lives in Dubuque, Iowa. I wrote her because I was curious about what life was like in Iowa amid the nonstop statewide campaigning going on by the 8 or 9 top presidential candidates. She gave me these hilarious details: 1) She hasn’t had…