Inside Minnesota Politics

Rybak "Very Likely" To Run For Governor

2009-07-31T10:35:00.002-05:00

Repya's View: Winning In Iraq Is About Avenging Vietnam

2008-03-22T09:22:00.008-05:00

Say it ain't so Joe.

All those U.S. soldiers who died in Vietnam, died in vain.

So says Joe Repya, the man who wanted to be Minnesota's Republican Party Chair and in the past has tried to quiet any questioning of the occupation in Iraq by questioning the questioners' patriotism.

Thursday on WCCO's Don Shelby show, Repya said:

"I want to see victory for the Iraqi people. I want to see a safe nation. Because there's 4,000 of my brothers and sisters who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. And I don't want to see them die in vain , much like the 58,000 that served with me in Vietnam died in vain."

Listen here

Really? Giving your life for your country is dying in vain?

For the moment, let's take Joe at his word and accept that in his mind, this is true.

That means his argument for staying in Iraq is somehow tied to avenging the deaths of US soldiers in Iraq and Vietnam.

Joe, I can understand your anger over having lost friends in that war. But your anger clouds your logic. Those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat the mistakes. Vietnam taught us you can't fight for a country where its people are against you. Every poll in Iraq shows that the general population doesn't want us there. When the people are against you, the enemy is given shelter and can easily blend in. It's hard to fight a force you can't see.

In the same WCCO interview, Joe admits mistakes were made in how the Iraq war was conceived and executed. Why did those mistakes happen? Because "patriotism" was used as a rhetorical shield against serious questioning of what the Bush administration was doing. It's a tactic Joe and his party has employed liberally in the past. I witnessed this myself when Joe questioned the patriotism of peace supporters for not applauding when the mother of a fallen soldier she said her son would have died in vain if we do not win the "war" in Iraq.

What are we fighting for in Iraq? There's no consensus on what that is. Is it to find those elusive WMDs, bring democracy or for the sake of those who have already died?

It's hard to have "victory," which Joe has said "there is no substitute for," when you don't know what victory looks like. But I know what defeat looks like. Defeat is when our US Constitution is shredded, our liberties curtailed, and our economy collapses under a huge war debt.

If we're looking for a clear-cut definition of victory, returning our constitution, our liberties and our good economic (and diplomatic) standing in the world would seem to be something we can all agree on. As Will Rodgers once said, the first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging. I suggest we do it before we reach 58,000 lives lost.

NTSB Dissent Reveals Multiple Possible Causes Of 35W Bridge Collapse

2008-03-18T19:40:00.009-05:00

Politics, just like rust, never sleeps. Both may be factors in the collapse of the 35W bridge. But there's a chance you'll never get the full story on either of those factors, thanks to the National Transportation Safety Board's decision not to hold an interim public hearing on the disaster that took 13 lives. The NTSB recently voted 3-2 to not hold the public hearing, angering Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar — who has frequently been critical of the NTSB's handling of the investigation.

Inside Minnesota Politics and The UpTake have obtained the written dissenting opinions from NTSB Commissioners Deborah Hersman and Katheryn O'Leary Higgins. The dissent reveals not only displeasure with the other commissioners' decision not to hold a public hearing on one of the worst bridge collapse disasters in U.S. history, but the document also gives us a glimpse into likely factors of the collapse.

The dissent mentions the design flaw that NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker touted as the "critical factor" at a January press conference, and then quietly backed away from after Congressman Oberstar took him to task. But it also details other factors that should be aired in the public hearing. The two dissenting commissioners wrote:

"The public hearing can then focus on other relevant issues, such as the design approval process at the time the bridge was built and its evolution into the process that exists today; national bridge collapse or failure history; inspection criteria and procedures; corrosion standards; records retention requirements; national, state and local oversight; and other areas that could help us learn how to prevent a similar collapse."

There's that word "corrosion" again. Rust is an unavoidable reality for bridges unless you paint and maintain them regularly. The frequency of that maintenance (not just inspection) is where politics comes in. Democrats in Minnesota have been pointing fingers at Republican Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's administration, which has been strangling the budget so the dollars to do maintenance properly have not been there.

More political factors: NTSB Chairman Rosenker has spent a career in Republican politics starting with CREEP, the Nixon Re-Election group, where he was deputy director for radio and TV. He has worked in nearly every Republican campaign from the 1970s to the present. If funding for bridge maintenance turns out to be a factor in the collapse, Republican Governor Pawlenty could end up taking the political fall for it.

According to the dissent, NTSB staff are concerned that politics will make it difficult to hold a public hearing. The dissenting commissioners argue that the political charged environment make a public hearing necessary to maintain the public's trust in the process:

"The downside of not holding a hearing is significant not only for this accident and for the transportation community, but also for the Board. We believe we would be abandoning our important duty to educate and reassure the traveling public of an independent, transparent, credible investigation after a tragic accident of national scope. And, after our decision not to hold a public hearing on the Comair flight 5191 accident in Lexington, Kentucky - for which the Board was roundly criticized - we believe our reputation for independence and transparency would suffer further.

"This is one of the rare accident investigations the Board has undertaken that has involved the total collapse of a major interstate highway bridge. Given the number of interstate bridges that exist in this country, the age of those bridges, and the use of those bridges, there is a significant need to explore whether this accident is likely to remain rare in the future."

Congressman Oberstar will ask the NTSB to reconsider its decision not to hold the public hearing:

“I am disappointed in Chairman Rosenker’s decision to not hold public hearings as part of the investigation of the I-35w bridge collapse, I believe the board is making a mistake. There has not been a bridge collapse in the United States in decades and it deserves a hearing. For NTSB it is both a teaching and learning opportunity. The board can teach the public how it investigates a tragedy of this magnitude and the discussion of the data that was gathered may yield new information that will help explain how this tragedy occurred. No investigation has ever suffered from a thorough discussion of the evidence.”

Franken wins big in Eagan/Burnsville

2008-03-03T18:06:00.002-06:00

US Senate Candidate Al Franken won the lion's share of delegates at this Saturday's SD 38 DFL Convention. Subcaucuses that named Franken as a candidate were awarded 10 of SD 38's 17 state delegates. Subcauses that named the other two candidates in the race Mike Ciresi and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer were awarded 1 delegate each. The remaining five delegates were awarded to subcaucuses that were uncommitted (3) or named a presidential candidate (Clinton-1, Obama-1.)

Here is the list of subcaucuses, the number of votes each one got and the resulting number of state delegates.

Subcaucus	Votes	State Delegates
Uncommitted, Environment, Education	55	3
Franken, Health Care, Veterans	39	2
Franken, Obamaesque Issues	31	2
Franken, Education	23	2
Obama, End The War	21	1
Ciresi Victory '08	19	1
Clinton, Climate Change, Care	19	1
Franken, First Timers	18	1
Franken, Energy & Environment	18	1
Franken, Labor	18	1
Franken, Peace, Domestic Partnership	18	1
Nelson Pallmeyer, Stop Global Warming	18	1

Disclosure: I was a delegate to the SD 38 Convention and was in the "uncommitted" caucus.

Is Franken really the "Front Runner" for the DFL US Senate endorsement?

2008-02-14T13:51:00.007-06:00

This fall it's Al Franken vs. Norm Coleman -- Mike Ciresi and Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer just doesn't have the support to win the DFL US Senate endorsement. That appears to be the proclamation from the legacy media based upon Survey USA's KSTP sponsored poll and the TV station's online post about the poll. According to KSTP Franken is the "front runner" But if you take some time to dig into the numbers, and know a little bit about the political process, you know that outcome is far from certain.

First, the poll was done among Republicans, Independents and Democrats. Republicans and Independent voters don't determine the DFL endorsement, Democrats do. And when you look at just the Democratic voters numbers, Al Franken pulls 79%, and Mike Ciresi 75%. That's closer than the margin of error in the poll (when you narrow the sample to just Democrats).

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer polls just 58% among Democrats, but there are nearly twice as many undecideds (18%) as there are in matchups between Franken/Ciresi and Colman. That's not surprising since Nelson-Pallmeyer's campaign is not very well known in the general public. Adding in just half of those undecideds puts Nelson-Pallmeyer just a few percentage points behind Franken and Ciresi.

Second, it is now delegates, not voters, who are going to determine who the DFL US Senate nominee is going to be. All three candidates have agreed to abide by the endorsement, which means there's only going to be one major candidate running in the DFL primary this September. This poll was done among the general public not delegates.

The three DFL candidates are better known to the delegates than the general public. And as noted above, even among the general population of Democrats, the race is too close to call or even a three-way race.

So for KSTP to use this poll to call Franken the "front runner" is not based on fact, not based on their own poll, and takes a real stretch of the imagination... or just a lack of attention to detail to do. KSTP should stick to the facts on this one -- that is Franken does better in this poll in a head-to-head matchup with Coleman than Ciresi or Nelson-Pallmeyer do -- and leave deciding who the DFL "front runner" is to the delegates.

NTSB Chair Backs Off Assertion That Design Flaw Was "Critical Factor" in 35W Bridge Collapse

2008-01-29T10:31:00.000-06:00

Whoops. That rust on bridge and lack of maintenance might have had something to do with the 35W bridge collapse after all. NTSB Chair Mark Rosenker is backing off from his earlier statement that a design flaw in the gusset plates was the "critical factor" in the collapse of the bridge. As reported here earlier, Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar took him to task for that statement.

Rosenker writes back to Oberstar in an apologetic tone, saying

"Please be assured that it was not my intent to get ahead of the ongoing NTSB investigation or to hypothesize about the root and contributing causes of the bridge collapse.

"It was not my intent to characterize this single conclusion as the possible probable cause determination of the Board."

What he MEANT to say was corrosion was not found on the gusset plates where the collapse likely started. So while the gusset plate design flaw may not have stopped the bridge from collapsing, it may not be in Rosenker's words "the straw or straws that broke the camels back."

You can read a pdf of Rosenker's letter here.

Oberstar Blasts NTSB Chair For 35W Bridge Comments

2008-01-23T11:25:00.000-06:00

The National Transportation Safety Board usually follows a strict policy of not announcing the cause of an accident until the investigation is completed. Yet last week even though the NTSB reported it had not determined the probable cause of the 35W bridge collapse, NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said a design flaw in the bridge's gusset plates "tells us why the bridge collapsed."

Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar is taking Rosenker to task for his remarks, calling them "unfortunate" and suggesting that they could compromise the NTSB's investigation.

In a letter sent to Rosenker today, Oberstar writes:

"I consider it highly inappropriate for you to have stated as you did in the press conference, that the poor design of the plates 'tells us why the bridge collapsed.' Although you admitted you do not have complete information on corrosion, you nonetheless insisted that poor design was the 'critical factor.'
"Such announcements undermine the process and create the potential for committing the board to conclusions that will be difficult to change if the subsequent investigation suggests other conclusions.
"I strongly urge you to adhere to the Board's established process of not announcing the cause of an accident until the investigation is completed."

In the letter Oberstar indicated that holding the press conference was the right thing to do since other bridges may have the same design flaw. A pdf of the letter is here

Minnesota Video Journalism Project Goes National

2007-12-14T16:12:00.000-06:00

The UpTake, a Minnesota based video journalism project I work with is going to be getting a lot more national attention. Next New Network’s Veracifier will be promoting and showcasing video produced by The UpTake's correspondents. Most of those correspondents are in Minnesota, but with Veracifier's help The UpTake will soon have correspondents all over the U.S. to cover the 2008 campaign and election.

The first video from that partnership -- "New Orleans: From Evacuation To Eviction" went online today at both organizations' web sites. Watch it on The UpTake or on Veracifier.

The joint project is called Ground Hounds and will be on the ground at political events, giving individual reports on the local unique angles that are often lost in the spectacle of an election year.

The UpTake is a nonprofit media startup created by a diverse team of Minnesota-based political, business and media activists, including leading video blogger Chuck Olsen. The UpTake blurs the line between citizen and traditional journalism by training citizen correspondents in the practice and principles of journalism, sharing editorial responsibility with the public through an evolving interactive editorial calendar, then publishing a product that meets standards of fairness and accuracy. Correspondents who consistently produce the most compelling stories will become Veracifier’s Ground Hounds.

The UpTake will focus specifically on the 2008 elections, including the RNC in Minnesota and the DNC in Colorado.

Ground Hounds’ video reports will run every week on the Veracifier network. ‘Hounds’ will have profile pages where people can follow their personal blogs and videos. Veracifier and Next New Networks will work with The UpTake to harness its array of talented network producers and stars to support training sessions for aspiring independent journalists. With a little help, anyone can commit an act of journalism.

Watch The UpTake-O-Meter Measure The DFL U.S. Senate Debate

2007-11-28T09:04:00.000-06:00

Also posted at TheUpTake.org
Probably the most significant aspect of Tuesday's US Senate DFL debate at Minneapolis Roosevelt High School was not the candidates, but the audience. With the election still nearly a year away, the debate drew enough people to fill the auditorium's lower level. A good portion of those in the audience were there to back Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. His campaign volunteers and supporters had packed the auditorium.

Nelson-Pallmeyer does not have as much name recognition or money as Mike Ciresi and Al Franken. But he is apparently strongly organized in Minneapolis where he unsuccessfully ran for the 5th Congressional District DFL endorsement in 2006.

By now, if you've watched a couple of DFL U.S. Senate debates you can recite the candidate's stump speeches from memory. For those who want substance on last Tuesday's debate please check out an excellent text summary from DJ at www.idonthateamerica.com

If you want style, we give you something different. A few quick jokes from moderator and DFL State Chair Brian Melendez and then The UpTake-O-Meter (patent pending) on the response each candidate got when introduced to a crowd of about 700 people.

This is Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer's backyard and "Back Jack Pack" which jammed the auditorium let everyone know that.
Video: Greg Skog Text, editing and photos: Michael McIntee

The UpTake: Knocking down the barriers to Video Citizen Journalism

2007-10-24T17:14:00.000-05:00

One by one the barriers to creating your own mass media have been coming down. First blogs let anyone publish their own newspaper, then podcasts let anyone publish their own radio show, now online videos let anyone put out a TV show…if you have the equipment and technical know how.

Cameras and editing software have become less expensive and easier to operate. But creating and distributing your own video news story can still be a complicated and frustrating proposition.

The UpTake, a Minnesota based non-profit group, which I am the Executive Producer for, is stepping in to get rid of that last barrier. Here's a video about that.

Link to Quicktime/podcast file
This weekend The UpTake has scheduled its first video citizen journalism class. It’s free and open to the public (registration is required ahead of time through Wellstone Action). The class will cover the impact video citizen journalism has had and can have, cover story telling techniques and some of the nuts and bolts of shooting and editing video.

As any journalist will tell you, covering news is really a team sport. This is especially true in video citizen journalism. It takes people who can shoot video, contribute story ideas, research, and coordinate other volunteers. This weekend’s class will give you the blue print of how to work as a team.

Everyone has their own reasons to do video. For some it’s a cause, for others they want to be famous. For The UpTake, it’s to preserve that First Amendment right to free speech in what can be its most potent form –television. The power of TV has long been reserved for the few. And with media consolidation, those few are becoming fewer.

The revolution will not be televised, but it will be uploaded.

The Video class for Citizen Journalists is on Saturday October 27, 2007 at the Galaxie Library in Apple Valley, Minnesota, 11am to 3pm. Free registration for the class here.

Republicans apparently worried about CD2 - Distortions and lies already starting

2007-10-05T12:41:00.000-05:00

How does supporting the University of Minnesota with a paid email account equal using taxpayer funds for a Congressional campaign? It doesn't. But reality has very little to do with anything when it comes to Republican smear campaigns in Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District.

Paid Republican operative Michael Brodkorb launched the smear campaign only a few hours after Iraq War Veteran Steve Sarvi filed to run against one of Brodkorb's former employer's clients -- Congressman John Kline.

Brodkorb, who continues to assert to the media that he is a reliable news source, assumed that since Sarvi's campaign manager Eileen Weber had used her U of M alumni email address to send out a press release that some campaign law must have been violated. However, it turns out tax payer dollars are not involved. Weber pays for the account because she believes in supporting the University of Minnesota.

Brodkorb, who has never let facts get in the way of a good smear, apparently did not check on this before publishing his story. Weber says Brodkorb has been contacted about the error, but as of now he has not corrected or updated the post.

We've grown accustomed to the lies and distortions coming out of Brodkorb's media enticing rumor mill. Thank goodness the media has learned its lessons and doesn't take what he says as gospel. Star Tribune reporter Mark Brunswick was smart enough to check out this latest distortion with Sarvi's campaign first and left Brodkorb's smear out of his printed story. Brunswick knows what a lot of other media folks now know, Brodkorb's intent is to misinform for political gain.

Update: Mr. Brodkorb claims no one from the Sarvi campaign has contacted him about his error. Yet he apparently has read about it and has not corrected it. He's posted again insisting this was a "taxpayer-funded e-mail account". Silly Michael, when you pay $60 a year for an email address at the U of M (as I did for years) that's not a tax-payer funded email account. That's an alum funding the University account. The dollars are going the wrong way for it to be taxpayer funded.

Face it Michael, you goofed. That's why the media doesn't take you seriously anymore.

Soldier Sarvi Files To Run Against Rep. Kline

2007-10-04T16:59:00.000-05:00

Steve Sarvi filed the papers today to run for Congressman John Kline's seat in the 2nd Congressional District. Sarvi is seeking the DFL endorsement. If he runs again, Kline , a Republican, will be seeking his 4th house term.

For new listeners and readers I'm repeating an interview I did in May with Steve Sarvi while he was still in Iraq.

Listen to the podcast here. Runs 10:27
Just as it takes courage to jump out of a plane or serve in Iraq, it takes courage to leap into politics. Steve Sarvi has done both and has been mentioned as a possible DFL candidate to face Congressman John Kline (R- MN02) in 2008. Steve has been in the Army for nearly 20 years and is on track to be part of the longest deployed Minnesota National Guard unit in Iraq. He's been there since March of 2006 and is hoping to return home in late July or early August. He's also the former Mayor of Watertown, MN.

Inside Minnesota Politics has an exclusive audio interview with Steve you can listen to here. Since he's on active duty in Iraq, he really can't talk much about running for office, but we did get to talk about how he's helping local governments get started in Iraq and how the City of Victoria, Minnesota (his employer) has been very supportive of him and his family while he's been in Iraq.

On his website, Steve describes his political leanings.

"Simply put, I am a Democrat. That my ideas and values spread from center to left of center, speaks to the strength of the Party. I appreciate the willingness of Democrats to embrace the things that bind us together, rather than focus on that which sets us apart".

Here are some text excerpts from the interview. The entire interview is in the podcast audio.

Why are you in the military? Why do you take this type of dangerous work to do?
Steve Sarvi: I've been in the military since I was 17, other than a break in service when I got off of active duty. I felt like I needed to give something to my country at a young age and found I was good at it. I guess I've really never had that question asked of me... why do you do it? I guess someone needs to do it. I'm good at it. I'm good at working with my soldiers and I get a lot of satisfaction for the work that I do. It certainly is not an easy thing to do, obviously, to volunteer for something like this. To say good bye to my family, my friends, to work... and have to come over to an environment like this. But I don't think I could have looked my soldiers in the eye and watched them go off and stayed behind. That's just not the kind of person I am.

What are you doing in Iraq?

Steve Sarvi: I'm what's called a Civil Military Affairs Officer. And what we're doing is helping the local Iraqis with reconstruction projects. My main focus is in rural villages ...they're in some very bad shape as you can imagine. Infrastructure wise they're in need of just about everything. So what we do is we go into these areas and we do an assessment. We meet the people. Find out what their needs are. And then we work through with the local leaders either the Sheik or the village Mayor. And we work through with them the process of doing projects for them. But what we really want them to do is learn how to do it themselves. So it's a real mentorship process to get the locals to figure out ways to identify projects that are needed and then go to their own government and get approval.

What the military does then is come in with funding for smaller level projects. So we're able to provide the funding while they end up doing all the heavy lifting and getting approvals through their government.

It sounds like you're helping people learn how to run a local government.
Steve Sarvi: Yes, to a certain extent. It's different than the work I was doing in Kosovo, where I was actually working and helping to mentor a small village government. Here the local governments are almost non-existent. So we're not really doing much as far as that goes with setting up a government and talking through process and procedures. It's much more "we need a school in this village" so how do we engage the minister of education. How do we insure that we're going to have teachers come here. How do we get the approvals through them.

And then as we provide the funding we like to use the local workers because unemployment is so very high. We like to hire locals to actually build the facilities that go into their own villages.

As you can imagine it's a very complex environment. There's inter-tribal conflicts. There's conflicts between individuals. You've got construction workers. You've got contractors who are all basically tottering on the edge and they need jobs and it's a life or death matter to them. So there's a lot of emotion. There's a lot of pent up demand. This is four plus years since the invasion. They thought their lives were going to improve immediately. So there's a lot of expectations we have to knock down as well.

It's a growing process. They get infrastructure needs identified and some taken care of. And on our side we gain security by becoming friends to them, in some sense. And they look out for us. It's working out well in the areas we operate in.

How has your work in local government helped you out with the work you do now in the Army?
Steve Sarvi: It seems like I gravitate towards these positions. Same with in Kosovo. I'm an infantry soldier. And as a platoon Sergeant, my job is to train my soldiers for combat. And I did that at Camp Shelby when we were going through training and for the first three months that we were here. But we quickly learned that we needed to do civil-military projects even in the remote areas. My battalion reached out to me because of my background in the city government. I've been a city administrator for the City of Lanesburo, City Administrator in Watertown and currently in Victoria. And plus six years as the Mayor of the City of Watertown. So a lot of the issues, as far as infrastructure goes, a lot of those things apply. Learning how to engage people, talk to them, figure out what their needs are, work around issues... interpersonnel issues. A lot of those skills I think directly reflect on how we do it.

Plus of course we got to bid projects. The bidding process, as you can imagine it's a far different environment than what you have to deal with in the United States. But I understand the basics of it from the work that I do in the US and I've learned an awful lot being over here about the way that they work.

You gravitate towards these positions no matter where you are in life. And for some reason whether it was in Kosovo or here, I just end up doing these types of projects. Maybe it's my strong suit. And I get to see a different side of the war than most people get to see.

What kind of support have you received from home to get through these months, these years that add up when you're overseas?
Steve Sarvi: I'll tell you, without a family, without friends, I can't imagine getting through this. So my wife, my kids have been just wonderful about it. It's difficult of course, but they understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. And they've been fully supportive. My family has been completely supportive. Work (City of Victoria) has been just marvelous. The City of Victoria has time and again been called to be true patriots. What they've been doing is maintaining my current salary and I just give them my guard pay. So I'm not losing any money by being over here. And that's a huge financial burden for many soldiers that come on active duty from the guard. The end up taking quite a large pay cut. But the City of Victoria in my case, and many employers in Minnesota are doing the same thing, and it's very encouraging for us. Without that support system, you take your eye off of what you're doing over here. You're worried about what's going on at home. You have to stay focus obviously when you're here.

We wish you the safest travel from Iraq back to the United States.
Steve Sarvi: Thank you. And I hope everyone pauses for a moment on Memorial Day and thinks of the soldiers that we've lost not only in this war, but in other wars.

Photos courtesy of SteveSarvi.com

Showdown time: Legislators invite Governor to show up and explain where the money went

2007-09-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has a tough choice to make on Monday. Legislators have sent him a letter indicating he can either show up to tell a legislative committee how the money he said he had for the 35W bridge disappeared just as suddenly as the bridge did, or he faces delaying other transportation projects.

The "Transportation Contingent Appropriations Group" is the legislative commission that must approve Governor Pawlenty's request to use money from the state's reserves to cover costs for the 35W bridge rebuilding. Earlier this month, Governor Pawlenty convinced legislative leaders that a special session on transportation was not needed because the Federal Government was paying for the 35W bridge reconstruction and the state had plenty of funds to cover its obligations.

Since then, President George Bush has threatened to veto the legislation that contains the funding for the 35W bridge. Also, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has said it needs to use the state's reserve funds to pay for the 35W bridge or it will need to delay other construction projects.

Before the special session Lt. Governor Carol Molnau, who is also the head of the Department of Transportation testified that the funds were there. This is a portion of her testimony to the Joint House and Senate Transportation Committee:

Senator Steve Murphy: Lt. Governor, I believe the question is: are there going to be other projects delayed because of this delay in payments from the Federal government?

Molnau: I’m hoping that there will not be. I don’t believe so. I think we do have some resources that we can, can move to if we have a project we’re going to let, we can bond rather than pay out in full right now, if we have to do that, and then reimburse the bonds using those Federal dollars. So, I think we can pretty much take care of what we need to take care of on this project, if that’s what you’re asking for, with not, hopefully not a lot of negative impact to other projects or delays.

Murphy: The bonding authority that you’re talking about, where is that from?

Molnau: I’m assuming… now I think we can bond for something, that we do have some authority to do some additional bonding. So I think we can do that…ah... on some of it. Knowing that it would be short term, or we can do short-term borrowing from other accounts, and we can do that.

Murphy: the (undecipherable) funds?

Molnau – We could use some of those, yes but we also have opportunities, at least from what we’ve heard …as we’ve talked to the department of finance of being able to… and we’ve done this before knowing there are dollars coming in behind it to do some short term borrowing.

The commission has sent the Governor a letter asking him to appear before it on Monday to explain why the financial information he and the Lt. Governor gave lawmakers last month turned out to be wrong.

Because of the unprecedented nature of the request, we believe it will be to the public’s benefit for a full discussion of the request made by your administration. It is our hope that you, and your representatives, will attend the meeting to provide insight into the reasons behind the request and the delay in federal funding promised to the state to meet the reconstruction needs of the I-35W bridge.

We look forward to the opportunity to discuss this matter during this important public meeting.

The commission meets Monday at 11 AM in room 15 of the State Capitol. If Governor Pawlenty shows up, he will face some rather pointed questions such as, "how did the money you said we had disappear?". If he doesn't show up, it is very likely the Department of Transportation will need to delay construction projects, which will cost taxpayers even more money.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar on condemning moveon.org ad

2007-09-29T12:27:00.000-05:00

US Senator Amy Klobachar (D - Minnesota) has made a couple a votes that have upset some progressives. In this interview I did for AM950, she talks about her vote on the Foreign Intelligence Security Act also known as FISA and a resolution condemning a newspaper ad that said General Petraeus was “cooking the books for the white house” when he gave his report on Iraq.

We also talk with her about the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan that she supported, but President Bush has threatened to veto and legislation she sponsoring to protect consumers against questionable cell phone charges.

Listen here.

Analysis Video: Which Party Can Win Ramstad's Seat in 2008?

2007-09-17T23:06:00.000-05:00

After 17 years in Congress, Republican Jim Ramstad of Minnesota says he is not going to run again. He won his last election by a huge margin. You might think that means the Republicans have the edge in this district for 2008. I have been crunching the numbers and that might not be so. Watch the video for more details (Cross posted from The Uptake)

iPod video file
It’s been 17 years since anyone other than Jim Ramstad has represented Minnesota’s Third Congressional District. Now that he’s decided not to run in 2008, the question is which party is more likely to win the seat.

Ramstad has won his seat by huge margins. So on the surface it seems like a safe bet that any other Republican would have the same advantage in the third district. But a look at voting trends from the last several elections indicates it may not be that easy.

Let’s look at how the Third District has voted in recent races that Jim Ramstad was not in.

First there’s last year’s US Senate race. DFLer Amy Klobuchar won the third district by 15 percentage points. Hardly a close race.

But those same voters also backed Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty by a larger margin than he got statewide.

In the other statewide races, which tend to be less partisan the Republican Attorney General candidate was just 311 votes better than the statewide winner DFLer Lori Swanson.

The DFL won the State Auditor’s race in Ramstad’s district, but lost the Secretary of State’s race.

So the Third District has a lot of ticket-splitters. It’s not a shoe-in for a Republican candidate.

But trends indicate this may be a Congressional seat the DFL could take in 2008. The DFL has picked up a total of seven state legislative seats in Ramstad’s district since 2004, indicating the area may be trending Blue.

Video: Pro-Peace, Pro-Occupation and Confrontation at Norm Coleman's doorstep

2007-09-17T08:35:00.003-05:00

This weekend hundreds of people marched to the State Capitol building to call for an end to the occupation in Iraq.

A much smaller group gathered for a counter-protest to support the occupation.

Later some of the peace group marchers went to US Senator Norm Coleman's home in St. Paul and found him in the ally behind the house.

He then came out and talked to the group for about 20 minutes.

The legacy media had some coverage of the events, but The UpTake's team coverage probably had the best, including the only video of the confrontation between Senator Coleman and the peace group. (Disclosure: I am also Executive Producer for The Uptake)

Together these videos provide an excellent overview of the issues and what happened on Saturday.

There's the face-to-face discussion with Norm Coleman at his house (3 Minutes)
There's an interview with Keith Ellison (3 Minutes)
And then there's coverage of the pro-occupation counter-protest (5 minutes)

If you like what you see, the videos are also in YouTube. Rate, comment and share them with others. It will help raise the visibility of what happened Saturday.

Still photos courtesy of Chuck Olsen, Greg Skog, Ken Avidor

Election Eve Conversion For Drazkowski-Sort Of

2007-08-07T07:38:00.000-05:00

Some people are faster than others when it comes to sensing the world is collapsing underneath them. Governor Tim Pawlenty changed his tune on the gas tax within a day or so of the I-35W bridge collapse and now says he's open to a tax increase to make our roads and bridges safe.

Fellow Republican Steve Drazkowski, who would like to be the one who succeeds Steve Sviggum in the legislature, apparently is not as in tune with what is going on around him. Indisputable evidence that the state's transportation infrastructure is crumbling apparently took about a week to sink in on him. On the eve of the special election of Sviggum's 28B seat, Drazkowski finally said he might be open to a gas tax increase.

Unlike Pawlenty and Drazkowski, DFLer Linda Pfielsticker didn't need a bridge falling down to figure out that Minnesota's roads and bridges needed more funding. Her campaign for the 28B seat has been consistent: more funding for transportation is needed and all possibilities, even (gasp) a gas tax increase needs to be considered.

And while consistency in a position is the expected norm in politics, I remember Winston Churchill who said "I'd rather be right than consistent" and realize that ideally politics should be about pursuing the best solution instead of an ideological solution.

And I might have some hope that Drazkowski has come around to the Churchill way of thinking except for a few things.

1) If you're going to have the courage to change your mind, shout it from the rooftops and show your conviction. Drazkowski has done little on this front. His website still touts his draconian position on transportation: "A gas tax increase would cripple the economy in House District 28B. "

2)Even the usually conservative Winona Daily News realizes that Drazkowski is a fanatic. In it's endorsement of Pfeilsticker, it notes that Drazkowski's platform is focused on wedge issues.

"We believe his campaign focused entirely too much on wedge issues, aimed at pandering to small but vocal segments of the GOP. Abortion and immigration are federal hot-button topics meant to polarize voters. Right now in this politically charged environment, we need to talk about what issues really matter, not what issues really raise our blood pressure."

So to borrow another phrase, a leopard may be able to change its mind, but not its spots. Drazkowski has been a fanatic on his stance that no additional funding is needed for just about anything government does. While Drazkowski's election eve conversion should be applauded, Pfeilsticker has shown herself to be the more thoughtful candidate and doesn't need to be hit on the head with a falling bridge to have an open mind.

Drazkowski: There is enough money for transportation projects

2007-08-06T08:32:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow voters in 28B will have a pretty clear choice on how to fix the state's crumbling transportation infrastructure. One candidate favors more funding, the other thinks current funding is enough. Here's the side by side comparison of the Republican Steve Drazkowski and DFLer Linda Pfeilsticker's responses to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce's questionnaire.

In order to strengthen Minnesota's economy, strategic investment in transportation infrastructure is necessary. How do you propose to fund Minnesota's transportation infrastructure to assure the safest, most cost effective transportation system that will meet the economic and quality-of-life needs of our state?
Steve Drazkowski: There is enough money for transportation projects in Minnesota, we just need be more efficient and prioritize our spending on transportation projects.,	Linda Pfeilsticker: Transportation is vital to the economic stablity of our region and state. We have to look at all forms of funding to determine what can be most effective and fair to improve and maintain our transportation system.

It appears Drazkowski is ignoring the reality even his fellow Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has now recognized. Minnesota simply does not have enough money to keep its bridges in shape and needs to raise taxes.

A hat tip to Ollie at Bluestem Prairie for pointing out the MN Chamber of Commerce questionnaire.

Tuesday's Vote May Remove One More Safe Bridge Roadblock

2007-08-05T09:45:00.000-05:00

One big roadblock to increased transportation funding has crumbled in the wake of the I-35W bridge collapse. On Tuesday voters in portions of Goodhue, Wabasha and Winona counties will have a chance to clear out another roadblock.

The biggest roadblock to increased transportation funding, Governor Tim Pawlenty, is finally open to increasing the gas tax after vetoing transportation bills two years in a row that contained a gas tax increase. Too bad it took an highway bridge falling down during rush hour to change his mind.

The question is: have the other roadblocks to safer roads and bridges changed their minds? If you remember, the last transportation bill passed with enough votes to overcome a Pawlenty veto. But when it was time to override that veto, several (mostly Republican) legislators bailed. The DFL is still several votes short of a veto-proof majority in the House. On Tuesday voters in House District 28B will decide if they want a vote for or against future transportation funding bills.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of need, Republican 28B candidate Steve Drazkowski continues to indicate on his website that he is against a gas tax:

Transportation: A gas tax increase would cripple the economy in House District 28B. Families and businesses are struggling with today’s high gas prices, and raising the gas tax would exacerbate the problem. Steve supports the Governor’s plan to bond for $1.7 Billion in road improvements and to pay the bonds back with the constitutionally-dedicated motor vehicle sales taxes that are currently collected from Minnesotans.

Steve favors using the $250 million surplus to help counties repair and improve roads. He would move to devote all road- related state fees to road projects. Steve will work for transportation funding that keeps locally generated transportation taxes working on projects right here, rather than exporting them to the metro area.

The bonding plan that Drazkowski cites is actually more expensive than just raising the gas tax because bonded money is borrowed money. And borrowed money comes with an interest rate. As far as keeping transportation money local, if every county did that our rural counties would have incredibly poor transportation infrastructure since most of that money is raised from taxes in the metro areas.

His opponent in Tuesday's special election, DFLer Linda Pfeilsticker, says she is open to a gas tax increase. She writes:

"My stance on transportation funding has been very constant. We need to look at all funding options. Bonding, a gas tax, and other sources of revenue all must be explored so we can pass a quality transportation bill that addresses our transportation issues and is financially responsible."

Note that Pfeilsticker leaves all funding options open. That's probably a good idea since even Minnesota's Transportation Commissioner/ Lt. Governor Carol Molnau admits that the gas tax her boss Governor Pawlenty vetoed would need to be at least three times as high to fix the problem. The gas tax, like all sales taxes is a regressive tax and unfairly burdens the poor. Fixing the problem will mean looking to taxes based on the ability to pay such as the income tax. Drazkowski is against any type of tax increase.

On Tuesday, it appears 28B voters have a pretty clear choice on safe bridges, Pfeilsticker's open mind or Drazkowski's roadblock. Wise voters pick the path to safety with the fewest roadblocks.

Video: Congressman Oberstar on Bridge Collapse

2007-08-02T17:13:00.000-05:00

Click To Play

Congressman Jim Oberstar talks about how he has introduced a bill to fund rebuilding the I-35W bridge that collapsed. Currently the cap on emergency funding is $100 Million. Oberstar's bill would increase that to $350 Million. Congress made a similar exception earlier this year when a bridge in California was destroyed in a tanker fire. Video provided by Congressman Jim Oberstar's office.

Governor Pawlenty Says Special Session Possible On Transportation And Infrastructure

2007-08-02T14:19:00.000-05:00

Governor Tim Pawlenty today said he is is open to all options to solve Minnesota's transportation and infrastructure problems including a special session of the legislature. Previously the Governor had been very cool to the idea of calling lawmakers back into session. He vetoed the transportation bill the legislature passed because it included a 5 cent a gallon gas tax.

Pawlenty indicated that even if he had signed the 2007 transportation bill or the 2006 transportation bill which he also vetoed the I-35W bridge would not have been replaced.

451 Minnesota Bridges Functionally Obsolete

2007-08-02T13:54:00.001-05:00

Conrad deFiebre, who covered transportation for many years, has the figures on the safety status of Minnesota bridges.

The Interstate Hwy. 35W bridge that tragically collapsed into the Mississippi River Wednesday evening was one of 1,135 road spans in Minnesota rated as “structurally deficient” by the federal government.

That’s 8.7 percent of the state’s 13,008 bridges, 20 feet or longer, that are subject to annual inspections. Another 451 spans are considered “functionally obsolete.” Included in the total are 65 bridges that are more than a century old.

Full story from Minnesota 2020 here

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty says there are three bridges in Minnesota that of the same design as the I-35W bridge that collapsed (click to see maps)
Highway 23 in St. Cloud
Highway 123 in Sandstone
Highway 243 in Osceola

Governor Pawlenty says those bridges will be inspected immediately. He says all bridges in Minnesota that fall into the "structurally deficient" category will be inspected as soon as possible.

451 Minnesota Bridges Functionally Obsolete

2007-08-02T13:54:00.000-05:00

Conrad deFiebre, who covered transportation for many years, has the figures on the safety status of Minnesota bridges.

The Interstate Hwy. 35W bridge that tragically collapsed into the Mississippi River Wednesday evening was one of 1,135 road spans in Minnesota rated as “structurally deficient” by the federal government.

That’s 8.7 percent of the state’s 13,008 bridges, 20 feet or longer, that are subject to annual inspections. Another 451 spans are considered “functionally obsolete.” Included in the total are 65 bridges that are more than a century old.

Full story from Minnesota 2020 here

Video of Bridge Collapse Exists

2007-08-02T11:02:00.000-05:00

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Mark Rosenker revealed this morning that a video of the I-35W bridge collapse is being examined by investigators. Rosenker said the video would be taken back to Minneapolis and digitally enhanced. The video was shot from a nearby dam on the Mississippi river.

Other highlights below:

Minnesota Governor Pawlenty responds to questions about a 2005 inspection that showed the bridge was "structurally deficient".
His pledge to immediately inspect other bridges of this type in Minnesota.
Emergency federal funding for cleanup, traffic control and rebuilding.
Former MN Transportation Director says we're starting to see the effects of budget shortfalls on infrastructure.

Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters has announced the federal government has made $5 million available immediately to deal with traffic problems and start rebuilding.

Senators Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota say they are working to get more federal funding freed up for the rebuilding.

"This is a reminder that we need funding to keep our bridges safe", said Klobuchar.

"A bridge in America just shouldn't fall down", said Klobuchar "[this] investigation will take time. We need to get to the bottom of this"

"This investigation has already begun" said National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker. "This will be a complex investigation." Rosenker said the NTSB will want to recover pieces and reassemble them so they can understand what caused the bridge to collapse.

Reporters asked Peters and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty about the bridges "structurally deficient" rating of 50. Peters said the rating was "no means an indication this bridge is not safe" and that if it was unsafe Governor Pawlenty would have shut it down. Pawlenty said when the inspections that were done in 2005 and 2006 there was "no call by anyone" to close the bridge. Pawlenty also said there was a partial inspection of the bridge done in 2007 and it was scheduled to be completed in September after the construction was finished.

Pawlenty said the state will "immediately check all bridges of this design". He was not how many bridges that might be.

NTSB Chair Mark Rosenker also revealed that a video of the collapse exists and was shot from the nearby dam. The video will be taken back to Washington, DC and digitally enhanced. He said they are also asking for any one else with video of the collapse to contact the NTSB.

After the news conference former Minnesota Transportation Director Elwyn Tinklenberg said "We're starting to see the effects of shortfalls in our budgets" and noted there was a "tremendous demand" for highway and other infrastructure dollars.

Congressman Jim Oberstar will introduce legislation today to direct at least $250 million to the State of Minnesota to deal with the replacement of the I-35W bridge that collapsed yesterday. More here about today's mark up hearing. News conference is now scheduled for 1pm EDT/ Noon CDT

After today's mark up the Oberstar will attempt to bring the bill to the House Floor for passage today. "I am hopeful we can get this to the Senate in time for them to pass it before the August recess begins," said Oberstar.

Oberstar says this tragedy underscores the critical need to continue aggressively investing in our nation's transportation infrastructure. There are 585,000 federal highway aid bridges in the United States. Up to 30 percent of them are structurally deficient to some degree. However, 70% of the nation's traffic travels over just 547 bridges across the country every day.

Collapsed Bridge Repairs Were Delayed From 2006 to 2007

2007-08-01T22:59:00.000-05:00

Crews were still looking for the injured from the collapse of bridge 9340 when the finger pointing of who might be to blame began. Former Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg, a Democrat, was on WCCO-AM saying that budget cuts had curtailed the DOT's ability to do complete bridge inspections. A few hours later Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, a Republican who had vetoed the transportation bill two years in a row, was telling the media that the bridge had checked out just fine when inspected in 2005 and 2006.

A MN DOT document from March 2006 indicated that the bridge was scheduled for repairs in 2006, but it was removed from the schedule because it would be more efficient to do the work in 2007. One of the questions that needs to be answered is if budget constraints were the cause of delaying the repairs.

If the lack of funding for bridge repairs and inspections had anything to do with the collapse of the 35W bridge and the loss of life it caused, it has the potential to be a political landmine for Governor Pawlenty and those legislators who voted to support his transportation bill veto.

The cause of the collapse and the answer to the question "could this have been avoided" make take some time to determine. The National Transportation Safety Board has been called in. There is likely to be investigations on the state level as well.

Inside Minnesota Politics has obtained the 89-page report of bridge 9340's inspection in 2001. In it, there are perhaps some hints of what may have brought the bridge down.

The report recommended inspecting certain parts of the bridge every two years as was the custom. But it specified the parts that had "high stress ranges" should be inspected every six months.

What's not known tonight is if those inspections were carried out as planned, or if budget cuts prevented them.

The 2001 inspection also noted that "The bridge's deck truss has not experienced any fatigue cracking, but it has many poor fatigue details on the main truss and the floor truss system. The research helped determine that the fatigue cracking of the deck truss is not likely, which means the bridge should not have any problems with fatigue cracking in the foreseeable future."

Video: Al Franken Blasts Sen Norm Coleman For Lack Of Iraq Oversight

2007-07-26T13:20:00.000-05:00

“This is Norm Coleman’s war as much as it is George Bush’s” — US Senate Candidate Al Franken.

In this video,Al Franken connects the dots between Senator Norm Coleman’s campaign contributions from defense contractor Halliburton to Coleman’s lack of oversight in the Iraq war and ultimately the deaths of US military personnel. This was shot on Wednesday as Franken stumped for support at the DFL SD 38 Family Picnic in Eagan, MN

Republican Exposer Exposed

2007-07-25T09:07:00.000-05:00

The Star Tribune revealed today that Republican Blogger and GOP SD 38B Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb was MN GOP Party Chair Ron Carey's Campaign Manager in 2007. Carey won re-election as chair in a close race against Joe Repya, who like Brodkorb is active in GOP SD 38.

Brodkorb, who devotes an entire rambling page of his blog to "disclosing" his ties to campaigns neglects to mention that he has been working for Ron Carey. Whether this is paid or volunteer work is unclear from the Star Tribune.

Brodkorb's page says his life "is one big disclosure" and he "has nothing to hide". So why is this rather important disclosure missing from his site? Brodkorb's "disclosures" only go through 2006. One has to wonder what other disclosures for 2007 are missing.

A quick check of Brodkorb's "tagged" archives finds that he has apparently not posted any stories about Ron Carey during 2007, nor has he posted any stories about Carey's opponent Joe Repya.

UPDATE
While Brodkorb has avoided "tagging" any of his stories with "Ron Carey" while he was Carey's campaign manager, he has posted many press releases for Carey on his blog without revealing he was working as Carey's Campaign Manager at the same time. Brodkorb also had Carey on as a guest during his May 26, 2007 radio show on AM 1280. That's just 9 days before the MN GOP Chair election. While I don't have an archive recording of the show, Brodkorb's blog promoting the show makes no mention of him working for Carey election. A tip of the hat to Flash for digging up that detail.

Returning Guardsman, Potential Congressional Candidate Earns Bronze Star

2007-07-17T21:24:00.001-05:00

This Friday, Sargeant First Class Steve Sarvi of Watertown, MN will be reunited with his wife Barb, his daughter Mary-Kate and his sons Daniel and Nathan. It's been nearly 15 months since he last saw them.

He's coming home from Iraq a hero.

Just before he left Iraq, the Army presented him the Bronze Star which is given out for "heroic or meritorious achievement or service". Not only is the Bronze Star a capstone for a very distinguished 20-year military career, but the award recognizes a strength that could serve Sarvi and Minnesota well in the coming years.

Sarvi won the Bronze Star for his work in helping build local governments in Iraq. When you think about the chaos that shakes Iraq on a daily basis, creating a local government that people believe in, participate in and actually works is a huge achievement.

As Mayor of Watertown, making government work is exactly what Sarvi was doing before he left for Iraq. As he returns, he's setting his sights higher. This war hero's goal is to make the US Government work better. Sarvi is considering a run for Congress against another military man, Representative John Kline of Minnesota's second congressional district.

On his website, Sarvi hints at why he's contemplating running against Rep. Kline.
"While I am troubled by the direction our country has taken in recent years, both in foreign and domestic policy, I remain optimistic that the great experiment known as America will only continue to flourish. As a society we must rise to that age-old challenge to make our future better than our past".

Unlike Rep. Kline, Sarvi is a Democrat. He writes
"I appreciate the willingness of Democrats to embrace the things that bind us together, rather than focus on that which sets us apart".

Sarvi certainly knows the pain of being apart. For the last 15 months Sarvi has been separated from his family as part of the longest continuously deployed National Guard unit in Iraq. As he returns it's good to hear that he wants America to be reunited as well.

You can read and/or listen to an interview with Sarvi here.

Franken Outraises Ciresi and Coleman

2007-07-09T09:57:00.001-05:00

If fund raising is the measure of how a candidate is doing, Al Franken wins the second quarter. He out raised both incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman and his DFL rival Mike Ciresi. Here are the initial numbers from Franken press secretary Jess McIntosh:

Total raised: $1,914,351
Avg. donation: $65.10
Total contributors (cycle to date): 36,297

By contrast Coleman raised $1.5 million and Ciresi $735,000 according to preliminary reports from their campaign

Coleman still leads in one important figure. Total cash on hand. He has nearly a $4 million war chest to wage his campaign. Franken and Ciresi who have not been fund raising as long have about $2,000,000 and $625,000 respectively.

Franken's campaign emphasized that there have been many donors and 95.7% of them under $100. There has been at least one donation from every county in Minnesota and from each of the 50 States.

In a prepared statement Franken Communications Director Andy Barr said "We made a conscious decision early on to rely on grassroots support to fund our campaign. Today, we've shown that when people come together, they can be even more powerful than the special interests and corporate PACs backing Norm Coleman. And we've shown that Al is a candidate who can bring people together around the progressive values we share."

Other notes about the fund raising from the Franken campaign:
• The average contribution to the campaign in the second quarter was $65.10.
• Nearly 2,000 people who contributed to the campaign in the first quarter, or nearly 20%, made another contribution in the second quarter.
• The campaign received only $5,500 from PACs in the second quarter, including $5,000 from Sen. Dick Durbin's (D-Ill.) Prairie PAC and $500 from GMP Political Education League, the PAC of the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics, & Allied Workers International Union. In the first quarter, Al received just $15,000 from PACs (including $5,000 from his own Midwest Values PAC), while Sen. Coleman received nearly a third of his total ($450,000) from PACs.

Mr President, Resign Now

2007-07-05T11:04:00.000-05:00

I don't usually post links to other media, but I have not heard a better case made for a President to resign (ever) than what Keith Obermann of MSNBC delivered on the eve of Independence Day. Take a few moments to watch, listen or read what he has to say.

Barack Obama Minneapolis Stump Speech

2007-06-29T20:28:00.000-05:00

Listen to the audio here.
Presidential candidate Barack Obama invoked the names of Paul Wellstone and Hubert Humphrey on his campaign stop in Minneapolis today.
"All across the country, people are ready for a change, " Obama told the crowd of about 3,000 supporters.
He said they should stop accepting things the way they are and start making things they way they should be.

Joe Repya mulls run against Norm Coleman

2007-06-13T21:35:00.000-05:00

Still smarting from his loss less than a week ago in the GOP State Chair race, Joe Repya is reportedly thinking about running against the man he helped elect to the U.S. Senate. Repya was one of Senator Norm Coleman's advisers on veteran issues in his 2002 campaign for Senate. Repya seems to have the ear of the divisive elements in the Minnesota GOP. He says he's been asked by "a number of people" to mount a campaign against Coleman.

More on the story here.

Minnesota Says Thank You

2007-06-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

It's taken more than 60 years, but Minnesota finally has a memorial to those who fought in World War II. Some of the most touching moments were not part of the grand ceremony, but off to the side where each veteran who attended was personally thanked and given a medal. Congressman Keith Ellison narrates. Download video here (runs 1:36). Please watch.

If you'd like to share the video or post it elsewhere, you have my permission to do so. Just click here to get the sharing information.

Soldier-Possible DFL Congressional Candidate Steve Sarvi Interview

2007-05-27T11:44:00.000-05:00

Listen to the podcast here. Runs 10:27
Just as it takes courage to jump out of a plane or serve in Iraq, it takes courage to leap into politics. Steve Sarvi has done both and has been mentioned as a possible DFL candidate to face Congressman John Kline (R- MN02) in 2008. Steve has been in the Army for nearly 20 years and is on track to be part of the longest deployed Minnesota National Guard unit in Iraq. He's been there since March of 2006 and is hoping to return home in late July or early August. He's also the former Mayor of Watertown, MN.

Inside Minnesota Politics has an exclusive audio interview with Steve you can listen to here. Since he's on active duty in Iraq, he really can't talk much about running for office, but we did get to talk about how he's helping local governments get started in Iraq and how the City of Victoria, Minnesota (his employer) has been very supportive of him and his family while he's been in Iraq.

On his website, Steve describes his political leanings.

"Simply put, I am a Democrat. That my ideas and values spread from center to left of center, speaks to the strength of the Party. I appreciate the willingness of Democrats to embrace the things that bind us together, rather than focus on that which sets us apart".

Wardlow votes against health care for kids because "it was passing anyway"

2007-05-23T16:17:00.000-05:00

As reported here earlier, Rep. Lynn Wardlow (Repubican 38B-Eagan) was captured on tape voting against the Health and Human Services bill after his fellow Republican House Minority Leader Marty Seifert told him "Vote No Wardlow". The vote came in the last hours of the legislative session.

Rep. Wardlow tells Inside Minnesota Politics that when this all happened, he was answering email on a computer and hadn't been paying attention during a "bunch of different votes that pertained to procedure" that preceded the final vote.

"He was not telling me how to vote". Rep. Wardlow said the House Minority Leader was just reminding him that he had agreed earlier to vote against the bill.

Asked why he voted against providing health care to more than 30,000 children, Rep. Wardlow said "the bill was passing anyway" and his vote was a protest vote because the bill was too costly. Rep. Wardlow says he supports health care for kids.

It's not strange that Rep. Wardlow would vote against something he says he supports because it contains something House Minority Leader Marty Seifert opposes (increased spending). Why?? Because Rep. Wardlow consistently puts the Republican agenda ahead of his own personal principles such as health care for kids.

He's also not above taking partisan potshots at the State Senator who has been pushing for the health care for kids. He said bill author Sen. Linda Berglin was "less than honorable" in how she got the bill passed.

Rep Wardlow gets his marching orders

2007-05-23T13:30:00.001-05:00

Rep. Lynn Wardlow may push the voting button, but listen to this video and you'll hear House Minority Leader Marty Seifert telling him what to do and when during the last hours of the legislative session.

It could be that Rep. Wardlow (Republican-38B-Eagan) was inattentive and didn't realize he hadn't voted. I've contacted Rep. Wardlow for his side of the story and haven't heard back from him yet.

For the moment, let's give Rep. Wardlow the benefit of the doubt and say he was just asleep at the switch. If this is just a case of being inattentive, I can only hope he knew what he was voting against.

The vote was on the Health and Human Services bill. As you can see from the tally board, Rep. Wardlow voted no... which was a vote against health insurance for more than 30,000 kids, a vote against critical funding for nursing homes and mental health programs as well as a vote against important reforms to lower skyrocketing costs for the 93% of Minnesotans who already have health insurance.

Why would someone be against health care coverage for kids? If Rep. Wardlow calls me back (and I hope he does, since I'm a consituent in his district) I'll ask him that. But it sure appears that he voted no because he was told to do so. If that's the case, perhaps Marty Seifert is really my State Representative. I don't remember him being on the 38B ballot last November, but perhaps just like Rep. Wardlow I wasn't paying attention when I voted.

Radio K funding intact, Pawlenty veto still possible

2007-05-21T21:32:00.000-05:00

Funding for University of Minnesota student-run Radio K and several other independent public radio stations is still in the budget bills being voted on tonight in the legislature. This weekend a lobbyist for the stations (known as the AMPERS network) said Governor Tim Pawlenty was insisting the funding be dropped from the spending bills. Lawmakers resisted the Governor's pressure and the State Government Finance bill moved out of committee this morning with $500,000 in equipment grants and $350,000 in community service grants for the 13 AMPERS stations.

The funding is still not a slam-dunk. The legislature drew up the final spending bill without Governor Pawlenty's complete agreement and the funding could be subject to a line item veto.

AMPERS is comprised of nearly all of the non-commercial radio stations that are not owned by Minnesota Public Radio. Those stations are KAXE-FM (Grand Rapids), KBEM-FM (Twin Cities), KFAI-FM (Twin Cities), KMOJ-FM (Twin Cities), KMSU-FM and KMSK-FM (Mankato/Austin), KQAL-FM (Winona), KSRQ-FM (Thief River Falls), KUMD-FM (Duluth), KUMM-FM (Morris), KUOM-AM & FM (Radio K) (Twin Cities), KVSC-FM (St. Cloud), and WTIP-FM (Grand Marais)

Radio K on Pawlenty's budget chopping block

2007-05-19T21:43:00.000-05:00

Radio K, the student-run radio station at the University of Minnesota has apparently become a bargaining chip in the final days of budget negotiations between Governor Tim Pawlenty and the legislature. According to a Radio K staff member, Governor Pawlenty has demanded the legislature cut $11 Million in funding for public radio.

That will certainly hurt all public radio stations in Minnesota, but the independent non-commercial radio stations that are not affiliated with Minnesota Public Radio could feel the pich the worst. Those stations known as the AMPERS network are KAXE-FM (Grand Rapids), KBEM-FM (Twin Cities), KFAI-FM (Twin Cities), KMOJ-FM (Twin Cities), KMSU-FM and KMSK-FM (Mankato/Austin), KQAL-FM (Winona), KSRQ-FM (Thief River Falls), KUMD-FM (Duluth), KUMM-FM (Morris), KUOM-AM & FM (Radio K) (Twin Cities), KVSC-FM (St. Cloud), and WTIP-FM (Grand Marais).

This isn't the first time the Governor has targeted AMPERS for budget cuts. In Pawlenty's 2003 budget he proposed cutting funding by 15%. In 2000, Governor Jesse Ventura proposed cutting Public Radio funding by more than $600,000.

UPDATE -- Monday
The State Government Finance bill was finalized in the wee hours of the morning. So far, none of the AMPERS money was cut. AMPERS stations are in line for $500,000 in equipment grants and an increase of $126,000 to its community service grants to bring them to $350,000 per year.

Public TV digital conversion grants got cut by $3,100,000 and MPR digital conversion grants got cut by $1,000,000.

However, Radio K's funding could still be a victim of a line item veto from Governor Pawlenty.

Spiderman 3-Action Thriller And Political Morality Play

2007-05-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

Do what's right. You always have a choice. It may sound simple, but it isn't always easy. That's the closing thought in Spiderman 3 which I had the good luck to see a preview tonight at the Minnesota Zoo's Imax theater.

If Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and President George Bush watch this movie, they may identify deeply with Spidey. Power can be addictive. In the short term it's a lot easier to say "my way or the highway" than to wrestle with the real problem which may be your view of the world. But in the long term, using power just because you can (such as invading a country or vetoing bills) can come back and haunt you (such as thousands dieing in a war, a state's infrastructure and quality of life crumbling away).

Don't get me wrong, Spiderman 3 is a great action flick and I highly recommend it, even to those who aren't into the action genre. (I put myself in that group) But like all good science fiction, there's an underlying morality play that reflects the current times. For example, stoking rage to achieve a result that ultimately hurts the people you've enraged.

Right wing talk show hosts such as Jason Lewis are good at that. A few weeks ago, Lewis had a decent sized crowed of enraged people show up at the State Capitol to protest taxes. The protest started with an invocation, not for peace or love of fellow man, but with the purpose of stirring anger and hate against elected leaders who had the audacity to ask people to pay taxes. The irony of doing this at a facility paid for by tax payers was probably lost on most of this crowd. The fact that very few of them (if any) would pay more income tax under the proposed DFL tax fairness package and that all of them benefit from the services those taxes pay for is just as lost. Because of a deep hatred stoked by a third party, they seek to kill what helps them most.

In the movie, hate consumes Spiderman and he doesn't do what is right. Instead he does what is expedient and it comes back to haunt him where it hurts most. In the end, Spidey understands that seeking revenge is short-sighted, that adhering to a code that is more about yourself than helping others ultimately does nothing to help you or others.

Tim and George, when you grab that bag of popcorn and nestle in to that comfy theater seat, if you feel a pang of guilt watching this movie --that's the real you trying to get out. The part that does care about the truth. The part that does want to leave this world and Minnesota a better place than you found it. Toss off the darkness of policies that hurt others just to support the hubris of your false pride.

For once, do what is right instead of just what is right wing. It's not easy, but you always have a choice.

A funny political music video

2007-04-27T18:03:00.000-05:00

We haven't had some good funny political videos since last November. I ran across one today that I think you'd enjoy.

Ellison gets vote of confidence following Iraq vote

2007-04-10T08:15:00.000-05:00

Voting for the Iraq military appropriation bill has apparently not undermined Congressman Keith Ellison's core support. Last night The MN 5th District DFL Central Committee passed the following resolution:

Be it resolved that we give to Rep. Keith Ellison a very strong vote of confidence for performance in office to date.

The resolution was approved by overwhelming voice vote.

Rep. Ellison's support for the bill that appropriated money for the US military in Iraq and set out a timetable for withdrawal was not assured. The Congressman had reservations about voting for war spending. Despite those reservations he voted for the bill because the withdrawal timetable was part of the package. At the time Ellison was loudly criticized by several DFL party activists.

Video:Kline asks us to check his record-Conclusion:Republican agenda ahead of Veterans

2007-04-06T11:10:00.000-05:00

Congressman John Kline, R-MN likes to say he is a big supporters of military veterans. At a recent town meeting he avoided talking about specific votes a constituent asked about. He said to check the Congressional Record. So we did.

Now Congressman Kline may object to someone saying he doesn’t always support veterans… and he’ll point out that many of these votes were “procedural votes”. Meaning they were votes to send a bill back to committee with instructions to make some changes in the bill. But in each case, the changes in the bill were for the benefit of military veterans. Kline could have sided with them, but he decided instead to side with whatever the Republican agenda was at that moment. Kline is correct that he supports veterans. They just come after the Republican agenda.

Rate this video at YouTube

5/25/05
Kline votes against an amendment to add $185 Million to provide health care coverage for National guard and reservists in exchange for cutting the Base Relocation and Closing funding by the same amount See page H4044

5/26/2005
Kline votes against an amendment to add $53 Million to Veterans affairs programs in exchange for cutting Base Relocation and Closing funding by $169 Million. Roll call vote

4/14/05
Kline votes against debt protection for returning National Guard and reservists. See page H2074

3/16/05
Kline votes against providing $100 million in health and $50 million in job training transitional assistance to help active duty forces make the transition to the veterans benefits system. See Page H1524 Roll call vote

11/7/03
Kline votes against expanding full retirement and disability benefits to all veterans. See page H11007

Kline's ratings on veterans' issues from Project Vote Smart.

Student takes on John Kline

2007-04-04T01:03:00.000-05:00

I'll have more video coverage from Congressman John Kline's Town Hall meeting later, but I did want to pass along this short video. In response to a question from a college student about tuition costs, Congressman Kline said he was looking for ways to bring college costs down, but he didn't have any solutions and would welcome some. Be careful what you ask for, the student offered a solution.

Kline takes cue from Bush. He is the decider.

2007-03-22T16:17:00.000-05:00

Paranoia runs deep at Rep. John Kline's office. Instead of reaching out for a neutral moderator for his first large-scale face-to-face meeting with his constituents in years, Kline has decided he will be the decider on what questions he has to answer.

According to constituents who have been pushing for Kline's "Town Hall meeting", Kline Chief of Staff Steven Sutton says Kline doesn't trust the League of Women Voters to moderate such an event. Sutton also said he doesn't trust the group that has gathered 700 signatures asking for a dialog on Iraq, calling them "liberal ideologues". In the past, Kline's office has revealed that it maintains files on constituents (sometimes called an "enemies list" ). One can only assume that Sutton's assessment was based upon comparing that list to the petition signatures.

Kline has been distrustful of "neutral" moderation of any public discussion he's had on Iraq. In one of the few radio broadcast debates he had last election, he had conservative talk show host-"Mr. Right" Jason Lewis moderate. Lewis spent most of the time debating Kline's opponent instead of moderating.

For this forum, Sutton said Kline was worried that the microphones would be monopolized by people who were critical of his positions. So instead, Kline will pick who talks and what questions will be asked. Sutton said Kline promised to not to only call on his supporters.

Of course, Kline's office is already working hard to make sure he has a lot of supporters there. As previously noted, he is recruiting members of military families who are on his supporter list to come to the 7pm April 3 meeting at Lakeville South High School. Some Republican groups are already blogging about how they will be there early, presumably to have seats next to the microphones.

More paranoia
Sutton also refused to answer in writing any of the questions the group had submitted to Kline's office. Instead, Sutton would only give verbal answers, limiting the ability of anyone to document where Kline stands on the issues.

Sutton's rationalization was that if they replied in writing to these questions, they'd have to do the same for other questions they get. This could explain the large number of constituents who complain that they write Congressman Kline, but don't even get a form letter response. Of course it was Kline's office who asked for the questions to be submitted in writing as a way of shooing the group out of its district office.

Sutton himself is apparently paranoid as well, refusing to give his email address to the group's leaders.

Since the group asking for the meeting has some members that would like to see Rep. Kline defeated in 2008, there is some rational for Kline not trusting the group. However, it appears Kline also does not trust a time-honored democratic tradition of open discussion about the issues. That distrust of open, frank, conversation is very disturbing.

Kline rounds up troops for town hall meeting

2007-03-22T09:30:00.000-05:00

Rep. John Kline is apparently concerned about how things will go in his first large scale public face-to-face meeting with constituents in many years. He has been sending out messages to military families on his supporter list asking them to show up for the scheduled town hall meeting on April 3. The agenda of the meeting is wide open, but Iraq and Kline's unwavering support for the Bush administration is sure to be one of the topics. Kline's recruitment of military folks who might be sympathetic to his position indicates he expects trouble on this issue.

If you object to the war, the escalation or the continuing occupation of Iraq by the US, this is as good of time as any to let Congressman Kline know his actions do not represent your views. The meeting starts at 7PM April 3, Lakeville South High School. Some Republican organizations have already indicated on their blogs that they will get there early, presumably to be closer to the microphones.

DFL Blasts Kline, thanks his patriotic constituents

2007-03-20T04:13:00.000-05:00

KLINE FINALLY AGREES TO TOWN HALL MEETING; ESCALATING IRAQ WAR TO BE DISCUSSED

Constituents pushing for an end to the escalating Iraq war finally secured an open public forum with Rep. John Kline to discuss the issue after negotiating for six weeks.

"It's unfortunate that it took such a monumental effort for Representative Kline to finally agree to this forum," Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez said. "It took six weeks and a 700-signature petition but Second District residents will finally hear from their representative on the issue.

"Representative Kline's continued lockstep support of the Bush administration's failed Iraq policy is out of step with his constituents. Democracy functions best when it's open to the public. I thank those patriotic citizens in Representative Kline's district who brought this issue into the daylight."

The public forum on Iraq and other topics is Tuesday, April 3, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Lakeville South High School.
(The above is a press release from the Minnesota DFL)

MN GOP admits it doesn't have to be accurate

2007-03-15T18:27:00.000-05:00

A hate-site put up by SD 37 Republicans (no, I don't link to hate-sites) has some interesting stuff buried in it's legal disclaimer. In it, the SD37 GOP says

"Whilst we endeavour to ensure that the information on this website is correct, we do not warrant its completeness or accuracy; nor do we not commit to ensuring that the website remains available or that the material on this website is kept up-to-date.

That's right. This group of Republicans is telling you up front that if they lie or distort, they're not responsible. (Hmmm... perhaps they're taking a cue from the White House?) That disclaimer wouldn't hold water in a US Court because of US libel laws and libel law Supreme Court rulings.

Now it could be that Republicans are planning to put out inaccurate information on their hate-site. But the more likely reason for the disclaimer's oddness is it is a template from a British legal site. How un-American...outsourcing your legal work to England! Unfortunately for the SD 37 Republicans, British laws on libel are different from US laws.

Evil or just stupid? You be the judge. In either case, the credibility and believability factor of any information on the site is very suspect. The SD 37 Republicans must feel the same way. They don't even link to the hate-site from their official site.

Another GOP web folly

For months SD 38 Republicans chaired by Michael Brodkorb (who also doesn't get a link) had a site promising "a real agenda and some good ideas and solutions of our own". Not surprisingly, the site had neither. And after two out of three of Brodkorb's incumbent legislative candidates went down to defeat in November the site went dormant.

Earlier this year when other bloggers began making fun of the outdated site, most information was removed from it and replaced with a promise of a new site "coming soon".

Now the site is completely gone.

Perhaps the SD38 Republicans have decided that Brodkorb's blog is their official voice and they don't need a website. Perhaps they're moving back to the site hosted at the MN GOP. Oops! That one hasn't been updated for years!

Tammy Lee not running

2007-02-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

You won't have Tammy Lee to kick around anymore. At least not between now and 2008. The former Independence Party candidate for Congress who lost to Keith Ellison says she is not seeking a rematch against Ellison in '08 or running for U.S. Senate. Here's her statement:

I want to state unequivocally, that I am NOT running for the U.S. House or U.S. Senate in 2008.

I am returning my focus to the business world and am very pleased to have accepted a position with Bernstein Global Wealth Management. I have joined Bernstein’s Private Client Practice located in Minneapolis as Vice President and Financial Advisor. The majority of my work will be devoted to investment management services for individuals and families.

Franken Runs-Kline and Walz Contrast

2007-02-14T21:07:00.000-06:00

On today's podcast - audio of Al Franken's announcement that' he's running for U.S. Senate and a contrast between Minnesota's two military Congressmen. One reaches out for public opinion, the other apparently is not that fond of constituent input.

Newly elected Democratic Congressman Tim Walz is calling for a policy in Iraq based on fact and not ideology. (Audio in the podcast) Republican John Kline calls the proposal Walz supports “micromanagement”.

In response to public concern about deepening US involvement in Iraq Walz sets up a “Mobile Office” touring his congressional district seeking constituent input. In response to constituents for a dialog about the war Kline’s District Manager Mike Osskopp calls the police. Only after the Star Tribune reports on Kline’s arrogance does Osskopp sit down to meet with constituents and then says the earliest Kline can meet his constituents is April.

Its evident Kline is not a fan of facts and debates. Neither is Republican Chair Ron Carey who wrote that the constituents arrived at Kline’s office unannounced. If that’s so, why did Kline’s office call the Burnsville police the night before? It appears Kline’s office was aware and ready for the meeting. What Kline wasn’t ready for was the media scrutiny of his rude treatment of constituents and the uproar that followed.

Having a dialog about policy should be as simple as Walz makes it. Not as hard as Kline forces it to be.

Bad Publicity Forces Kline's Office To Change Tactics

2007-02-13T17:26:00.000-06:00

It's amazing what a little daylight will do to the process at Congressman John Kline's Burnsville office. Last week Inside Minnesota Politics and the Star Tribune reported how Kline's District Director Mike OssKopp had called the cops on constituents who wanted Kline to hold an open town meeting about escalating the war in Iraq. Groups of like-minded constituents visited nearly every other Minnesota Congressional office on the same day and were warmly welcomed. Osskopp must have taken some heat. This week when the constituents returned to again ask for a town meeting, Osskopp followed Congressman Jim Ramstad's lead and not only invited the group in, but offered them coffee and donuts.

Osskopp then took them to a conference room and proceeded to tell them at length how busy Rep. Kline is, working everyday from 7 a.m. until late at night. He’s all booked up for another two months or so and the soonest any public meeting could be held would be April. Kline could maybe meet with any constituent who flies to Washington DC but otherwise he’s booked up until April.

Contrast this to Rep. Tim Walz who has opened a "mobile office" to visit and talk with constituents about Iraq and other issues.

I may have an audio podcast update on this later.

Two years later-a different DFL party

2007-02-10T17:03:00.000-06:00

Two years ago the DFL party was very divided in trying to select a successor to DFL chair Mike Erlandson. What a difference two years and winning a bunch of elections can do. This time the DFL unanimously re-elected Brian Melendez. In our podcast you'll hear from Melendez (download here runs 7:54) as well as a few other items that came out of today’s DFL business meeting in North Branch Minnesota.

First Presidential politics: John Edward’s campaign appears to be already well-organized. Ted Mondale, that’s former Vice President Walter Mondale’s son, was manning the Edward’s booth and is one of Edward’s main organizers in Minnesota. The campaign is already handing out buttons and signing up volunteers.

Senator Barack Obama also had a table, but only had post cards to hand out with a list of Obama campaign websites.

While we’re on the topic of presidential politics, newly re-elected DFL associate chair Donna Cassutt says the DFL will be doing more outreach to groups that want to get involved in the process of picking a presidential candidate. Cassutt told me that there are so many new people involved in the DFL she’s going to work on doing education about how the caucus process works. So look for more information on that soon.

Next: US Senate Politics –two candidates who have indicated an interest in running against Norm Coleman were there. Attorney Mike Ciresi and his wife were meeting and greeting DFLers, several who said they hope he runs. Ciresi of course wouldn’t tell me if he is going to run or not. But he did say he was evaluating such a run and indicated he’ll talk to our Inside Minnesota Politics audience when he reaches that decision. So keep listening.

Another potential US Senate hopeful is State Representative Joe Atkins of Inver Grove Heights. He’s coming off of a 44-point victory this past November. Atkins has ruled out running for Congress against Republican John Kline, but is considering making a run against Coleman. While the legislature is in session, Atkins says running for Senate is on the back burner. But you can expect to see him make a decision sometime after the session ends.

Notably missing from this DFL fest was Al Franken who has indicated he’ll make his political intentions known on February 14th when he signs off from his Air America Radio show. Franken has been in contact with DFL officials. He was at DFL headquarters a couple of weeks ago.

DFL alleges anti-Hatch contributions illegal

2007-02-07T17:34:00.000-06:00

The DFL has filed a Campaign Finance Board complaint against “Stronger America- Minnesota”. This is the group that financed many last minute attack ads against DFL candidate for Governor Mike Hatch. The actual wording of the complaint is complex, but the basic issues are pretty simple. In our podcast (download here) DFL Chair Brian Melendez explains the issues and how this complaint puts groups on notice that in the future they can't operate like that in Minnesota.

According to the DFL, corporations that may have made illegal contributions include Badger Liquor Company. Tex Par Energy LLC, Builders Supply Corporation, North American Mechanical Inc and Capital Consultants inc.

If I remember correctly, a corporation that contributes to a Minnesota campaign can be fined up to $10,000.

Here is a link to the DFL’s official complaint.

Now a follow up to yesterday’s big story.
It turns out Congressman John Kline’s office was the only congressional office in Minnesota that kicked out constituents who showed up to express their displeasure with president Bush’s proposal to deepen our involvement in Iraq.

Republican Congressman Jim Ramstad staff greeted the constituents with water and coffee. Even Representative Michele Bachmann’s staff was civil and gave the constituents a room to stage their sit-in.

The satellite office for Democratic Congressman Colin Peterson in Marshall was closed for the day, so the peace group was not able to go in.

So only John Kline’s staff was rude to constituents. That shouldn’t be surprising. Kline has a pattern of constituent abuse… particularly to those who don’t agree with him. If you want to see his district director Mike Osskopp yelling racial slurs at Kline’s constituents , the video is on the IMP website. I’ve documented that constituents that don’t agree with Kline often don’t get responses their phone calls , emails or letters.

Surging against the Bush plan

2007-02-06T14:09:00.000-06:00

Download podcast here
Today on the Senate Floor Minnesota US Senator Amy Klobuchar asked for a surge of diplomacy instead of a surge of troops in Iraq. In our podcast you'll hear from her as well as an organizer of a peace group that's staging a peaceful sit-in at all of Minnesota's Congressional offices today to express its displeasure with the Bush proposal.

Twin Cities Peace Campaign organizer, Marie Braun, tells us the sit-ins have been going without any problems with one notable exception. (As this podcast was published she had yet to hear from CD 6- Rep. Michelle Bachmann's office) Representative John Kline's staff booted the group from its Burnsville office after an hour. Kline's office had called police even before the group arrived. Kline spokesperson Mike Osskopp (who has been featured here before on video shouting racial slurs) met with the group of about 17 CD 2 residents for about an hour. He abruptly ended the meeting when the group gave him a petition asking Congressman Kline to hold a town hall meeting on Iraq and potential military action against Iraq.

RELATED COVERAGE: Nick Coleman Column
Lakeville Dad:Kline calls cops on constituents

Osskopp then asked Burnsville Police to remove the group. Police officers found no need to do so because the group was peaceful. Group members were allowed to fill out "comment cards" to Congressman Kline and then heeded Osskopp's order that they leave.

Franken Running for U.S Senate Against Coleman

2007-01-31T20:38:00.000-06:00

Last Friday Al Franken was at the DFL office in St. Paul shaking hands and talking with the party staff. It's very likely he told DFL party chair Brian Melendez on Friday that he is running for U.S. Senate against Norm Coleman. Word that Franken is going to run leaked out today when he called some other Democratic leaders to break the news.

Earlier this week, Franken promised his Air America listeners they would hear his decision on running before he leaves the network on February 14th. That fact that he's running won't come as a surprise to anyone since Franken has done everything but say he's going to run. Franken has been toying with the idea of running ever since Coleman won the seat after Senator Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash. Franken has spent the last election cycle doing fundraiser after fundraiser for nearly every Democratic candidate in Minnesota. He'll certainly be calling in those chits as he makes his run over the next two years.

Godfather Of Soul dies at 73

2006-12-25T11:05:00.000-06:00

This has nothing to do with politics and is one of the very few off topic posts I have made. James Brown's music has moved me, grooved me and inspired some of the greatest musicians in the world.

Off stage James Brown was far from a saint. His history of drug abuse and lawlessness is well documented. But his life reminds us that innovation doesn't always come from those who stick to the straight and narrow in life. Could the world have done without James Brown the drug user and criminal? Yes. Could I imagine the world without the innovative music James Brown brought us? No. Unfortunately you can't separate the two. People come as a package.

So I guess this is a little political. Don't let the blemishes of some of what a person does eliminate them from bringing you a greater good. It's a lesson we can apply in politics.

More on James Brown here.

Last Minute Dirty Tricks

2006-11-06T18:04:00.000-06:00

Several dirty tricks to report on election eve.

In CD 2, elderly Eagan residents are receiving phone calls asking if they support Coleen Rowley or John Kline. If they support Rowley, those residents are given misinformation about their polling place. Basically the wrong place and the wrong times.

In CD 1, someone is pretending to be with moveon.org and telling people to vote for Gil Gutknecht. Moveon supports Gutknecht's challenger Tim Walz.

I hope both Congressman Kline and Gutknecht do not remain silent on these frauds and condemn them.

Exclusive Video-White House Apparently Caught Doctoring "Mission Accomplished" Speech

2006-11-06T13:40:00.000-06:00

Podcast video here.
Apparently the Bush administration has taken the Winston Churchill quote "History is written by the victors" into the video age. The official White House website is now sporting a very different version of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech. In this exclusive video, Inside Minnesota Politics' Mike McIntee shows how the "Mission Accomplished" banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln has apparently been crudely cropped out of the video.

For those visiting the website, here is the flash version that's been posted in YouTube.

Private Citizens Backing Rowley "Truth Matters" Campaign

2006-11-04T10:11:00.000-06:00

This website -www.kline-exposed.com sprung up on the internet overnight inspired by Coleen Rowley's press conference yesterday. I have nothing to do with it, but the content is good. It has a flyer it's encouraging people to print out and distribute.

In short it outlines the ridiculous claims Congressman Kline has made about Coleen Rowley. If this were Saturday Night Live, I'd think Kline's claims were a parody of a negative ad. Unfortunately not a laughing matter that a member of Congress would stoop to this kind of stuff...and then have his staff call it normal "campaigning".

If you're mad about these kinds of distortions and think truth matters, I'd suggest printing out a dozen or so of these and distributing them strategically.

Video-Rowley Unveils The "Truth Matters" Ad

2006-11-03T20:51:00.000-06:00

Video podcast is here.
Coleen Rowley unveiled this ad today that will be running in Monday's Star Tribune. In it she debunks the rather scummy lies Congressman John Kline has told about her.

For our blog vistors, here is the the flash version of the video.

Rowley Blows The Whistle On Kline

2006-11-02T22:03:00.000-06:00

I've started collecting the negative mailers Congressman John Kline has been sending out about Coleen Rowley. They're sort of like freak show banner art. Outrageous claims that just make you laugh because they're so ridiculous. If there were another week in this election season Kline would claim Rowley was the bearded lady.

I would find it easier to laugh at the juvenile playground bully type tricks Kline has been pulling if there weren't so much at stake this election.

After 9/11 the FBI had one brave agent --Coleen Rowley who wasn't afraid to speak the truth about 9/11. According to a press release tomorrow (Friday) at the State Capitol she is going to tell the truth about how Congressman John Kline has distorted and lied about her positions. This should be pretty good. Inside Minnesota Politics will be there with camera ready. Check in here later in the day for coverage.

Letter From Disabled Vet Refutes Claims in Pioneer Press Endorsement of Kline

2006-11-02T10:56:00.000-06:00

From a listener/reader: A letter to the Pioneer Press

I read with great interest the article in today's edition about Rowley and Kline. This paragraph "Kline said he played a key role in ending the long-standing practice of reducing military pension payments by subtracting a retiree's disability benefits." Because I have been in the category to which he referred for more than 34 years, I am keenly aware of how long we fought for this and have followed for years those in Congress who have tried to get it corrected and those who have opposed it. Following is a letter I wrote to Kline almost 3 years ago:

December 12, 2003

Congressman John Kline
101 West Burnsville Parkway
Suite 201
Burnsville, MN 55337

Congressman Kline:

I am in receipt of your letter of November 2003, addressed to “Dear Veteran” in which you seem to be taking some credit for the recent passage of the Concurrent Receipt legislation. In my opinion it is disingenuous on your part to claim any credit for the successful enactment of this legislation. I don’t doubt that you voted in favor of the Defense Appropriation Bill that included the Concurrent Receipt provisions, but it is my opinion if HR 303 had been voted on as a stand-alone provision you would have voted against it.

I base my opinion on your refusal to co-sponsor HR 303. A failure to co-sponsor a bill in my opinion is the same as no vote for its enactment. Further, Rep Jim Marshall of Georgia introduced House Resolution 251, a Discharge Petition to force HR 303 from committee to a full house hearing. Here again, you refused to co-sponsor that Resolution.

The Bush Administration, including President Bush and Def Sec Rumsfeld, was opposed to Concurrent Receipt and in my opinion you were in lock step with the Administration’s opposition. It was only because of pressure brought by Veterans Service Organizations and other members of Congress that the Administration relented in its opposition and agreed to the compromise legislation. The compromise is a step in the right direction but is unfair to those retirees with an under 50% disability rating who will see no relief.

I will appreciate your personal reply addressing my opinions stated above and will retain the possibility that I may have misinterpreted your intentions. However I will require an explanation for your thinking and reasoning for failure to co-sponsor the legislation.

Yours truly,
Sidney Paul Beck

As can be seen by my comments I don't believe Kline did anything to get this done. Interestingly, I have never received a reply from Kline. One of his assistants who identified himself as a retired Army NCO contacted my via phone and tried to assure me that Kline had "worked in the background" to get the legislation enacted. I asked the individual to write me a letter outlining what Kline had done and with whom he had worked. I have never received any correspondence from either Kline or his assistant, therefore I still believe Kline is falsely taking credit for something he actually opposed.

Sidney Paul Beck
Eagan, MN

More Embarrassment: Pioneer Press Endorsement Guidelines Cite Kline As Bad Example

2006-10-31T08:38:00.000-06:00

The Pioneer Press has published its endorsement guidelines. They contain more evidence that the newspaper's endorsement process may have been manipulated. It lists seven areas that the Pioneer Press Editorial Board would consider when awarding an endorsement. One of those areas is titled "Respect".

Respect. We like vigorous debate. We are in the free-speech business and are loath to tone things down. Sometimes, personal issues are important. Candidates have to fight — otherwise, why would they be running against each other? But as with partisanship, there is a line. Candidates who flood the airwaves with incessant personal attacks or lame, emotional appeals disrespect the voters.

How much, for example, did 2nd district U.S. Rep. John Kline spend on mailings designed to link his opponent, FBI whistleblower Colleen Rowley, to an unpaid advisor's personal views on illegal drugs — views that Rowley does not agree with?

I found it particularly strange that Kline's negative mailers were specifically mentioned in the Pioneer Press' guidelines as an example of what they consider disrespectful. In other words, if you look up negative campaigning or disrespect in the Pioneer Press' dictionary you'll find John Kline's picture.

Listener/Reader Chad P. has a similar assessment:

"... consider the paper's own endorsement guidelines - independence, integrity, respect, creativity, fiscal responsibility, discernment, and unity. I honestly can't see how they can rate Kline ahead of Rowley on ANY of those factors, yet he still wins the overall endorsement?"

Chad P. has a few other good points about Republican blogger Craig Westover's involvement in authoring the endorsement without having the Editorial Board check his facts:

One additional confusing aspect of the endorsement is the level of credence given to Kline's "behind-the-scenes" work. Does Mr. Westover have a basis for this claim? It sounds more like an apologist talking-point to deflect criticisms about his actual record.

They claim consensus was reached before the video was introduced, but certainly Mr. Westover was in those discusions and no doubt lobbied for endorsing Kline using similar claims to those that ended up in the writeup. How much influence did his false claims of Rowley campaign nastiness (or any other issues, for that matter) have on the other board members? Would they reach the same consensus if they had more accurate information?

I truly believe this endorsement deserves a "do-over", although I doubt such a radical step would ever be taken. Still, I plan to write the editor and bring up these issues and others, as you and others have doubtless already done.

Upset? Outraged? Want to see more transparancy and verification in the Pioneer Press endorsement process? Then contact Pioneer Press Editorial Editor Mike Burbach mburbach@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5544. I've written responses for publication but they have yet to be published. You can submit your own at letters@pioneerpress.com. Or mail them to:
Pioneer Press,
345 Cedar Street,
St. Paul, Minnesota 55101

Or fax them to:(651) 228-5564
Be sure to read the letters guidelines.

The more Pioneer Press Reveals About Kline Endorsement, The Worse It Gets

2006-10-30T20:36:00.000-06:00

Getting facts wrong like the Pioneer Press did with its endorsement of Congressman John Kline is bad enough. But now we learn the Pioneer Press Editorial board makes up its mind and then goes to look for specific facts to support its already predetermined conclusion.

Republican blogger Craig Westover who authored the Kline endorsement has now revealed this about the process:

The original draft, written after the endorsement decision was made in a meeting of the editorial board of the Pioneer Press, had a general statement about campaign nastiness, (the Col. Klink ad and the like, but not mentioned specifically). The suggestion was made to ad (sic) a specific, and I didn't want to replay the Nazi card. I'd just seen the film in question with the official Rowley graphics and made a bad assumption the use of the graphics indicated the campaign had a hand it its production. Bad decision on my part.

More than a bad decision. It's a bad process. If you're going to make a reasoned argument you start with the specifics and then build on that to make your conclusion. Not the other way around.

When Westover and the Pioneer Press decided to use my independently produced video as an illustration of the campaign's nastiness, it was because they couldn't find any substantial evidence of nastiness by Rowley herself.

Westover alludes to the Kline/Klink photoshop incident. Note that Rowley immediately dealt with the intern who did it. The Kline campaign also keeps bringing up that one person greeted Kline with at a parade with an "Oil Soars/Kline Snores" sign, but this again was the work of non-campaign staff.

Kline's staff took a comment Rowley made on one of my podcasts that Kline suffered from "good soldier syndrome", meaning he did as he was told and did not question orders. Kline twisted that statement to infer she meant no one in uniform was fit to serve in Congress. She said nothing of the kind and I have the transcript and the tape to prove it.

Kline's campaign has been grasping at straws to paint Rowley has a negative campaigner because Rowley herself has not been the source of any of nasty campaigning or personal attacks. She's stuck to the issues, demanding that Kline be accountable for his record of supporting President Bush 94% of the time including rubber stamping Republican cuts of body armor for troops and cuts in veterans benefits. If Kline consider that dirty, he doesn't belong in politics.

Meanwhile, Kline has signed off on thousands of dollars of expenditures on negative mailers and TV ads. He has tolerated a campaign staffer or volunteer who made pseudo-threats against a blogger supporting Rowley until blog visit logs showed those harassing posts were coming from the Kline campaign office. The posts then stopped, but Kline took no action.

Kline continues to have the Federal Government pay the $90,000 plus salary of his District manager who acted like a thug outside of a Rowley campaign event and only apologized for it because he was caught on camera shouting racial slurs.

Rowley was gracious enough to immediately accept the apology. Kline never accepted Rowley's apology for what her intern did. It's the only issue he has this campaign and it's a damn weak one, so bravo to Westover and the Pioneer Press for not making that part of the editorial.

But just like Westover cited the video without checking the source, Westover bought the bill of goods John Kline has been peddling about Rowley running a "nasty campaign" without really checking the facts.

Any nastiness against Kline in this campaign has been pushback from ordinary people like me who get tired of Kline bullying his opposition with personal attacks and negative ads. He did it in 2004 and he's done it in 2006.

Instead of just issuing mea culpas, Westover should write the truth. It's Kline's constituents, not Rowley, who are getting nasty with him because he's been disrespectful of them with his constant negative barrage.

Error shows Pioneer Press endorsement process flawed, open to manipulation.

2006-10-30T10:34:00.000-06:00

Listen to podcast runs 7:13
When the St. Paul Pioneer Press passed on giving its endorsement to Coleen Rowley last week, one of the reasons cited was that her campaign had “spliced (Rep. John) Kline into a video that attempts to personally tie him to Washington scandals without any evidence.”

The Pioneer Press Editorial Board says it does not want to endorse candidates that do negative campaigning. So its decision makes perfect sense, except for one thing.

Rowley’s campaign didn’t produce the video. I did. I did it with my own time, and my own personal equipment totally independent of the campaign.

After I produced the video and posted it on You Tube, I offered it to the Rowley campaign. Coleen Rowley personally rejected using it because it was “too negative.”

The Pioneer Press got it wrong. Very wrong. And to its credit issued a prominent correction on the editorial page the next day. I can’t remember the last time a major Twin Cities newspaper issued a correction on its own endorsement.

Errors happen. But how did such a large one happen on something as important as a Congressional endorsement? The answer : the Pioneer Press has a flawed system where it trusts partisan non-employees to write editorials for the paper, but does not verify what they write.

The writer of this editorial was Craig Westover, author of a Republican/Conservative blog, and an occasional contributor to the Pioneer Press’ editorial pages. Let me make it clear, there is nothing wrong with including people with strong political viewpoints on an editorial board. I trust that the Pioneer Press has people on the board who have strong Democratic leanings as well. But the mistake the paper made was to trust Westover’s reporting without verifying his facts.

Mr. Westover said the endorsement was written by “consensus” of the editorial board and that everyone on the board had seen the video.

When I called the editor for the editorial page, Mike Burbach, I asked him if he or anyone else on the editorial board had seen the video. Burbach said that only Westover had seen it.

When confronted with that fact, Westover paused for a time and then said he thought he had forwarded the video to the rest of editorial board.

To his credit, Mr. Westover took responsibility for the mistake, saying he had “screwed up.” Given his constant contact with all things political, he should have been very familiar with the Federal law requiring candidates to say they approved the message if their campaign was putting it out. He has been a writer long enough to know that you need to verify sources. Westover ignored both of those obvious red flags. Worse yet, the Pioneer Press Editorial Board didn’t question what Westover wrote.

After talking with Mr. Westover I am convinced he characterized the video based upon his own personal political leanings and not on what was in front of him in black and white. In other words he watched it with prejudice. He had made up his mind without even vetting the basic facts.

Westover was the main writer and gatherer of facts for this endorsement, so one has to wonder what else did he not bother to check? Burbach told me the video was not the deciding factor in the endorsement. But if the endorsement is written without checking facts that brings into question the validity of the endorsement’s conclusion that Rep. Kline begrudgingly deserves another term in Congress.

One of the reasons cited for endorsing Kline was that he does “not line up blindly behind all of the administration’s tactical decisions.” Yet Congressional Quarterly reports Kline has voted for the Bush administration’s positions 94% of the time this year and backed the House Republican leadership 98% of the time.

A theme repeated several times in the endorsement was Kline’s support of the military. It said “Our expectation that he will continue to be a voice for the front-line American soldier – especially when doing so requires standing up to his own party.”

Yet Kline’s voting record indicates otherwise. First, Kline voted to send our troops into harms way. Second, when his party voted to cut funds for body armor for the troops, for veterans' health care and job assistance, for full retirement and disability benefits for disabled vets, John Kline was there with his rubber stamp at the ready. No questions asked. That hardly qualifies as “standing up to his own party”.

The Pioneer Press endorsement process appears to work in very much the same way. No questions are asked when suspicious “facts” are written into the endorsement by a known partisan. Even Westover admits his basic characterization of the video, as “without ANY evidence” was “not the best.” And that he “regrets the sentence.” He could not dispute any of the facts in the video, but said it made Kline look corrupt.

Westover once wrote:
“Journalists and bloggers both have biases that we bring to stories. ‘Objectivity’ is not writing without bias. An ‘objective journalist’ is one that subjects his bias to the facts he’s presented with and looks for the truth, not some homogenized “balance” that is neither true nor false.

“A ‘hack’ is a writer that ignores the facts in favor of bias.”

By his own definition, Mr. Westover has crossed over from being an “objective journalist” to being a “hack.” Political hacks should not be authoring or manipulating endorsements for the Pioneer Press.

Update:Paid Republican writer tries to have it both ways

2006-10-26T21:16:00.000-05:00

Earlier I posted about how hypocritical it was that Republican-paid blogger Michael Brodkorb is complaining about vandalism to Republican candidate lawn signs in the Eagan/Apple Valley area.

That's because earlier this year he didn't respond to an opportunity to prevent vandalism and theft to lawn signs in his home Senate District. Vandalism is a crime and shouldn't be tolerated, but Brodkorb would rather complain after the fact than try to prevent it. Brodkorb is the chair of the SD 38 Republicans and turned down a bipartisan offer from his DFL counterpart to work on preventing lawn sign theft and vandalism.

Now we've learned that his own Republican Senate District 38 website (yes the SD that he is in charge of) is criticizing DFLers for reporting lawn sign violations. Brodkorb is for decrying illegal activity when he thinks he can score some partisan points. But when it comes to enforcing the law, his officially authorized Senate District site suggests it's a bad idea. And when it comes to preventing crime he won't even return emails or phone calls.

Unfortunately this is what much of the Republican Party leadership is about these days. Finding ways to make issues partisan so they can win elections instead of trying to solve the problems.

Republican paid writer turns vandalism into partisan issue

2006-10-26T11:03:00.000-05:00

Recently, Republican-paid blogger Michael Brodkorb has been posting about vandalism to Republican candidate lawn signs in the Eagan/Apple Valley area. He's correct that this sort of vandalism shouldn't be tolerated, but he's also hypocritical in his stance.

Brodkorb is the chair of the Republican Party in Senate District 38 (Eagan/Burnsville area). Inside Minnesota Politics has learned that earlier this year he was approached by his counterpart in the DFL about promoting a bipartisan neighborhood watch to prevent lawn sign theft and vandalism. Brodkorb repeatedly did not return emails or phone calls.

The bipartisan effort could have PREVENTED the vandalism by asking people to report vandals and thefts. Instead Brodkorb decided to spend his time writing personal attacks on candidates and passively ignoring the lawn sign vandalism/theft problem until it was convenient to complain about it (when Republican signs were damaged).

Theft and vandalism is not a partisan issue. Both parties endure it. But instead of being pro-active and looking for a solution, Brodkorb abdicates responsibility and then looks for opportunities to use the resulting mess for partisan purposes.

This method of operation may sound familiar. The Republican party has been practicing this at the national level for about six years now.

John Kline-Schoolyard Bully

2006-10-23T20:39:00.000-05:00

When someone trys to scare you, sometimes the best remedy is to laugh at them.
Here's the podcast video

And for those without itunes here is the flash version.

John Kline's "Surprising" Policy

2006-10-21T15:20:00.000-05:00

I was inspired to make this video after watching Rep. John Kline on Almanac attack Coleen Rowley on immigration and then reading that Kline really has no policy on immigration.

For those of you without iTunes, the flash version is here on the website:

Hatch Leads Pawlenty by 9 points

2006-10-14T00:30:00.000-05:00

A new Star Tribune poll finds Governor Pawlenty's lead over Mike Hatch has dwindled to a deficit. Here are the latest numbers:

Hatch 46%
Pawlenty 37%
Hutchinson 7%

The reasons for Pawlenty's drop and Hatch's gain are many. The Foley scandal is dragging down Minnesota Republicans in general (Michele Bachmann saw a similar drop and now lags behind Patty Wetterling in the polls). Those polled said Hatch was more sympathetic to the poor than Pawlenty. Hatch has picked up most of his new support among women and affluent voters.

Republicans are counting on a rebound before the election. But given that the Foley scandal hearings are going to drag on for weeks and little good news is coming out of Iraq, it's possible that the anti-Republican sentiment may spill over into even "safe" Republican seats such as the Second Congressional District where Rep. John Kline is facing a serious challenge from Coleen Rowley.

Stay tuned.

Michele Bachmann - Global warming not "a fact"

2006-10-12T17:50:00.000-05:00

Perhaps if you wish real hard, it will go away. You have to see this to believe it. This is a debate involving Republican Congressional Candidate Michele Bachmann and Democrat Congressional Candidate Patty Wetterling. When Bachmann tries to tell the crowd that global warming isn't real, they start laughing. I don't think they're laughing with her.

As Al Gore pointed out in his movie "An Inconvenient Truth", this is what politicians, Republicans mostly, have been saying to cast doubt on global warming because it doesn't fit well with their political goals. A study of media reports found that nearly half of them said global warming was a "theory". A study of every scientific paper written on the topic finds that it is not a theory, but a fact.

I suspect more people have seen the movie than Michele Bachmann would like.

Congressional Quarterly: Klobuchar now favored in US Senate race

2006-10-09T08:20:00.000-05:00

Congressional Quarterly this morning confirms what the polls have been telling us for weeks, Amy Klobuchar is leading in her race against Mark Kennedy for US Senate. This morning CQ officially changed its rating of the race from "No Clear Favorite" to "Democrat Favored".

CQ says Kennedy's perceived alignment with the Bush administration is dragging Kennedy down.

CQ interviewed Lawrence R. Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Government at the University of Minnesota, which released a poll a few weeks ago showing Klobuchar with 52% to 36% lead.

“Minnesotans, in thinking about the Senate race, are thinking about what’s going on nationally, and they’re really upset with the president and the direction the country’s heading, and it’s really just hammering Mark Kennedy,” Jacobs said. “He just cannot get out from this hail of anger and disappointment.”

Right now CQ says the balance of power in the Senate for 2007 looks like this:
Democrats 45
Republicans 49
No Clear Favorite 6
(CQ counts the Independents in Vermont as Democrats)

Tim Walz Talks Issues

2006-10-01T12:18:00.000-05:00

Download podcast 41:12
Tim Walz was one of the first candidates interviewed on Inside Minnesota Politics about 18 months ago. Back then, very few people knew who he was and even fewer gave him any chance of unseating incumbent Gil Gutknecht in Minnesota's First Congressional District. Now by anybody polls, this is a close race with the most recent polls showing Walz ahead.

Tim was nice enough to take the time to stop by the Inside Minnesota Politics studios and catch us up on the events of the last 18 months. Listen as Tim talks about the stark differences between him and his opponent on the Iraq war and many other issues. A very inspiring discussion.

Brodkorb's House Candidate Trys To Distance Self From Brodkorb's Smear Tactics

2006-09-26T18:22:00.000-05:00

Since the Minnesota political blogs are abuzz with how several campaigns are now paying Republican blogger Michael Brodkorb, I thought it was timely to offer up this recently videotaped interview with Rep. Lynn Wardlow.

One of the things Mr. Brodkorb doesn't disclose when he launches his attacks is that he is the Republican Party Chair of Senate District 38 in Eagan/Burnsville. Rep. Wardlow is one of the campaigns Mr. Brodkorb oversees. So listen and watch. Is Brodkorb so non-involved in his local races that even his candidates don't know what he really does. Or does Rep. Wardlow not even read the newspaper?

One thing we do know is the SD38 organization that Brodkorb chairs has given Rep. Wardlow $2,750 in the last nine months, which is a significant chunk of (12.6%) of all the money Wardlow has raised this election cycle. For that reason alone, you'd think he'd be a little interested in what Mr. Brodkorb does. (2006 Report Here) (2005 Report Here)

Rep. Wardlow's "no comment" on Brodkorb is also interesting. Hit the play button to watch.

Congratulations To Award Winning Daily Planet

2006-09-25T11:24:00.000-05:00

Inside Minnesota Politics is proud to play a small part in the Daily Planet's award winning coverage as one of it's media partners.

*Twin Cities Daily Planet Wins “Wild Card” Knight-Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism*

MINNEAPOLIS— The Twin Cities Daily Planet has won the Wild Card Award at the 2006 Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism.

The annual awards, administered by The Institute for Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, honor news organizations that are pioneering new ways to connect people with news. Winners were formally announced September 18 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

“We are delighted and honored to receive such a prestigious award,” said Daily Planet managing editor Craig Cox. “It’s a wonderful way to recognize the hard work of our media partners, our volunteer editors, and our citizen-journalists. And it’s a credit to the vision of those who created the Daily Planet barely a year ago.”

Global Voices Online, a web site about how news affects daily life and conversations in more than 130 countries, won this year's $10,000 Grand Prize. TC Daily Planet and five other organizations - Transparent Newsroom (Spokane, Washington), HealthNewsReview.org (University of Minnesota), IBISEYE.com (Sarasota, Florida), U.S. Congress Votes Database (Washington, D.C.), and the Bakersfield Californian’s Social Media Platform (Bakersfield, California)— all garnered $1,000 awards.

These organizations, said Jan Schaffer of the Institute for Interactive Journalism, go beyond packaging the news to offering a real service to readers. “The hallmark of this year’s entries was the use of basic technology to add value to the process of journalism and not just the packaging,” Schaffer said. “News organizations are getting beyond the veneer of pretty production and are letting citizens into the inner working of news, helping them navigate through it, participate in it and react to it.”

The press release from J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, is available here.

The Twin Cities Daily Planet, a project of the nonprofit Twin Cities Media Alliance, is a community newswire and syndication service showcasing the best work of the neighborhood and community press, as well as work by Twin Cities independent journalists and the voices of engaged citizens.

Masin Shocks Wilkin At 38A Debate (Video)

2006-09-21T00:40:00.000-05:00

Podcast video here.
When I first met Sandra Masin I thought she was the quiet, shy, retiring type. Boy was I wrong. She spits fire when it comes to issues. Wednesday, she shocked Republican Rep. Tim Wilkin at the end of debate. Masin, Wilkin's DFL opponent launched into a list of how Wilkin was not honest with how he represents himself and really didn't honor his "no tax increase" pledge.

Hit play and watch as Wilkin shakes his head and looks stunned. Masin hits it right on the head when she describes Wilkin's policies as "thinly veiled extremism".

After the debate ended I asked Wilkin to respond to what Masin had said. He hadn't had a chance to do so during the debate because he gave his closing statement first. Wilkin refused to say anything more.

Ramstad spokesperson calls Kline's tracking of constituent blog posts "improper and inappropriate"

2006-09-20T14:12:00.000-05:00

A quick survey of the Minnesota US House and Senate delegation shows that Rep. John Kline's tracking blog posts made by constituents is a very uncommon practice.

Spokesperson for Republican Congressman Jim Ramstad’s office Lance Olsen said he was “unaware” of anybody searching and filing information from blogs in Congressman Ramstad’s constituent records. He said such activity would be “improper and inappropriate”. He said Ramstad’s office is respectful of constituents and only keeps correspondence that the constituent initiates.

Ed Skala of Republican Congressman Mark Kennedy’s office says the searching of blogs for posts by individuals is “nothing our office does” Skala said his office keeps records of emails, letters and phone calls from constituents, but does not seek outside information for its records and “can’t imagine” the circumstances when they would do so.

The person who answered the phone at Democratic Congressman Collin Peterson’s office said “I know we don’t do that” referring to searching blogs and recording information. She referred and further comment to Peterson’s Chief of Staff Mark Brownell

Bill Richards of Democratic Congressman Jim Oberstar’s office said the practice “surprises me”. He said “with all of the other things we have to do” such as answering email, phone calls and preparing briefing memos “ we don’t have time to read the blogs”. He said it was not for him to judge if the practice was appropriate.

A spokesperson for Republican Senator Norm Coleman's office Heidi Kraus says Coleman's office does not pull in information from blogs and include them with case files or constituent files. Any information Coleman's office collects is NOT shared with others.

Calls to the staffs of Democrats Sen. Mark Dayton, Rep. Betty McCollum, Rep Martin Sabo and Republican Rep Gil Gutknecht have not been returned as of yet.

Representative John Kline's Communication Director Troy Young has not returned any calls about the blog post tracking issue.

Kline's Congressional Office Apparently Maintains An Enemies List

2006-09-20T08:49:00.000-05:00

You'd expect your Congressman to keep track of emails and letters you send him. Feedback from constituents is important. But would you expect your Congressman to search and record posts you make on a blog and then file them away for some future use?

That's what has been going on at Congressman John Kline's office. A Government employee has been paid to find blog posts from at least one citizen and then file them away on what appears to be a modern version of a Nixon "enemies list".

The Star Tribune's Kevin Diaz reports that Kline's office had been gathering blog posts from Paul Bartlett, a DFL activist who has written unfavorable things about Kline in the past.

Today Bartlett responded to the revelation:

Kline's staff exposed their dark underbelly during their Diaz interview, revealing that they have maintained "a lengthy file of his e-mails and blog entries." I would expect that they would maintain my e-mails, after all, I was a constituent and had every right to contact my congressman, but to admit that they search the blogs looking for my postings is disturbingly paranoid.

Following the Rove playbook, the Kline campaign has employed a singular strategy: citizen intimidation. Their relentless attack on David Bailey exposed their meanness; their attempt to disrupt the Murtha event showed their desperation; I knew they'd get around to me.

John Kline has joined some fine company: J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon. Like them, Kline maintains an "enemies list."

Kline's Communication Director Troy Young has been contacted to verify the Star Tribune story and to find out how many other citizens are being monitored. So far no response.

Rep. Kline calls racial slurs from his District Director "Unacceptable"

2006-09-19T23:15:00.000-05:00

John Kline's Congressional District Director Mike Osskopp has issued an apology for a racial slur that he repeatedly used at an event for Kline's DFL opponent, Coleen Rowley. Osskopp's outbursts were captured on video at the Sunday event and then posted on Inside Minnesota Politics. Representative Kline called the use of the slur "unacceptable".

The story in Wednesday's Star Tribune is here

Kline's Director Expected To Apologize For Racial Slurs

2006-09-19T17:18:00.000-05:00

According to a Star Tribune reporter, the man Representative John Kline has entrusted to run his Congressional District office is expected to issue an apology soon for shouting racial slurs at a Coleen Rowley campaign event.

Rep. Kline's District Director Mike Osskopp apparently decided to make the apology after being contacted by the Star Tribune's Kevin Diaz about video posted on Inside Minnesota Politics. That video shows Osskopp repeatedly yelling a racial slur at cars entering a VFW parking lot.

Paul Bartlett, who was at the event has filed a complaint with the US Civil Rights Commission. (Osskopp is a Federal employee.) Bartlett's complaint says in part:

Michael Osskopp speaks for a United States congressman. His behavior and language was clearly racist. At a minimum, Mr. Osskopp and Congressman Kline owe our Japanese community an apology, a promise to undergo sensitivity training, and a real effort to eradicate the racial animosity that seems evident in John Kline's office. Politics aside, we expect more from a high level federal employee and his boss, a U.S. Congressman.

Kline's Communication Director Troy Young issued a "no comment" when asked about the incident or apology.

Inside Minnesota Politics has obtained additional video from that same Sunday event that shows Osskopp and others harrassing Rowley volunteers. One man who identified himself only as "David" is pictured here. He was using a megaphone to yell at Rowley volunteers who were helping to direct traffic into the VFW parking lot.

Weirdness in CD2-Kline's Director becomes unhinged (video)

2006-09-17T22:10:00.000-05:00

This video is just darn bizarre. It's the Director of John Kline's District, Mike Osskopp, office yelling a racial slur at cars arriving for a Coleen Rowley campaign event. What could be causing such strange and offensive behavior? Could it be that Kline's campaign has been reading the poll numbers?

Poll Shocker: Rowley within striking distance of Kline

2006-09-13T15:43:00.000-05:00

Not one, but two polls show that challenger Coleen Rowley has closed to almost "margin of error" distance of Congressman John Kline in Minnesota's 2nd District.

Kline: 48%
Rowley: 42%
Undecided: 13%

The above poll was done by statewide DFL candidates. The numbers here are from Senate District 38 (Eagan/Burnsville) but reportedly the numbers are similar in other SD's across Kline's district.

Another poll, done by the Rowley campaign, reportedly shows a slightly larger lead for Kline, but the difference is still in the single digits. Reportedly the poll shows that a significant number of Republicans who plan to go to the polls will not vote for Kline.

Kline is in trouble, which would explain the glossy attack ads he has been mailing and running in the local newspapers.

A special note: the only SD that has "hard" poll numbers available, SD 38, is the home of Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty. The Republican Party Chair in that district is Michael Brodkorb who runs the blog "Minnesota Democrats Exposed". Brodkorb has devoted considerable time and energy to posting half-truths about candidates in MN 5th Congressional District. His latest attempts to smear Congressional Candidates Keith Ellison and Tim Walz were so lacking in credibility that most media in Minnesota has stopped quoting his blog.

I've heard reports that Republicans in SD 38 have not been happy with Brodkorb's limelight seeking. These latest poll results give them even more reason to be unhappy with Mr. Brodkorb's performance as Republican Party Chair. Perhaps a little more time running the party and a little less time spent mudslinging would be beneficial to the Republican locals.

Primary Election Results

2006-09-12T17:59:00.000-05:00

Results of Tuesday's primary Statewide races (US Senate, Governor, Lt. Gov, Secretary of State, Attorney General) can be found here.

Contested Congressional Primaries:

I Voted

2006-09-12T16:57:00.000-05:00

Did You?
I know, the day is busy. The traffic is tough. Think of how fragile Democracy is. Isn't a few minutes of your day worth what Democracy brings? Participate. Vote.

Sue Jeffers Makes Case Against Pawlenty

2006-09-05T22:15:00.000-05:00

Listen to the podcast- runs 40:55
Sue Jeffers used to be a big Tim Pawlenty supporter. She helped him in his campaign to be elected Governor. But since he's been elected, Jeffers says Pawlenty has disappointed her again and again. So much so that she's running against him in the September 12 Republican Primary. The winner will face the winner of the DFL Primary between Mike Hatch and Becky Lourey.

Listen in as Jeffers explains why she was not allowed to speak at the Republican State Convention even though she was the only declared candidate for Governor up until a few days before the convention. Jeffers finds fault with Pawlenty's budget balancing using shifts and ultimately raising the tax burden on property owners while claiming he hasn't raised taxes at all.

She's upset that on Pawlenty's watch Minnesota has spent millions of dollars on light rail, but roads have been allowed to fall apart.

This is one of the more entertaining interviews we've done on Inside Minnesota Politics. No matter what your political leanings, I think you'll enjoy the discussion.

Mark Kennedy caught in "CPA-gate"

2006-08-18T17:21:00.000-05:00

Republican Mark Kennedy's campaign has a new problem. Not only are polls showing him behind Democrat Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race, but now he's been caught using the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) designation in violation of an agreement he signed last December with the Minnesota Board of Accountancy.

Kennedy's latest television campaign ad says that he were elected, he would be the only CPA in the U.S. Senate. That appears to directly contradict the affidavit he signed saying he would "not use the CPA designation in a way that may lead a person to believe I hold an active certificate in Minnesota."

Today when asked about how long his CPA license had been inactive, Kennedy said "I'd have to go back and look for you."

Kennedy touted his CPA credentials at the Minnesota GOP convention in June saying "As a CPA, I can assure you, there is no good news in the tax code."

In A New Ad, Kennedy Said “I’d be [. . .] the only CPA in the Senate.” In his latest television ad, Kennedy said, “I’d be one of the few businesspeople, and the only CPA in the Senate. And I think you need to just take one look at the budget to know, we need at least one CPA in the Senate.”

DFL can't wait until September, unifies behind Steve Kelley

2006-08-12T18:16:00.000-05:00

(Sauk Rapids, MN) Those who showed up wanting to watch a DFL party endorsement fist fight were very disappointed on Saturday. With very little dissent, the DFL State Central Committee endorsed State Senator Steve Kelley for Attorney General.

Kelley made teamwork, party unity and defeating Republicans the theme of his endorsement speech. Listen to Steve Kelley's speech here (Runs 8:09)

Here is the text of that speech:

I'm Steve Kelley and I'm here to ask for your endorsement to be the next Attorney General of Minnesota.

And I want to thank all of you for driving here today. I thank you for your service to the party and to our state. We appreciate everything that you do.
I'm seeking your endorsement today because I can't wait to get out there and campaign with the DFL team this November.

With your endorsement today we can complete that team and take our party's message to Minnesotans. And that message is clear. We know the right things to do to make Minnesota great again. Invest in public schools. Make college tuition affordable and make sure every Minnesotan has universal access to health care coverage.

Build a transportation system that works and make sure that we're creating good jobs at fair wages. And here's what I'm going to bring to this team. As Attorney General I will work with Governor Mike Hatch and a DFL Legislature to make sure we have universal health care coverage.

Now I'm going to continue the good work that Mike has done -- holding health care companies and their executives accountable. No Minnesotan should worry that her hard earned dollars are going wrongly into the pockets of health care executives instead of into bedside care.

And with your help I'm going to work to improve the health care quality and patient safety. Every Minnesotan deserves the best care available. As Attorney General I'll work to protect individual privacy. As a legislator I've worked hard to protect our privacy. I was the chief author of the first Internet privacy bill in the country. And I'll continue to do that work as your Attorney General.

And I'll work with our county attorneys and our Attorneys General around the country to prosecute and prevent identity theft.

Now we have a new scourge in Minnesota today -- methamphetamine. It is threatening our kids. I'll work with police and sheriffs departments across the state to keep our communities safe -- cracking down on gangs and meth dealers, Internet predators targeting our kids and violent criminals.

I'm asking for your support today because I am ready to take this battle to the Republicans. They've got a State Auditor who thinks that public libraries are not essential services. They've got a Secretary of State who tries to make it harder to vote. They've got an Attorney General Candidate who wants to actually reduce regulations on big corporations. And they've got a Governor who wont' trust a woman to make her own health care decisions.

Mike Hatch and Judi Dutcher will get us to universal health care and affordable college tuition. Mark Ritchie will make sure people can vote and that every vote counts. And Rebecca Otto will strengthen communities and help lower property taxes.

As your Attorney General I promise to strengthen justice in Minnesota by standing up for those without power against those who misuse power.

We'll stand up for our children against the bureaucrats in Washington who think they know more than Minnesota teachers. We'll fight "No Child Left Behind".

We will stand against companies who are trying to victimize our vulnerable seniors. We'll stand up for working families by going after companies that wrongly classify employees as contractors. And we'll stand up against bigotry in all its forms.

Minnesotans and all Americans are looking to Democrats to lead us back to the principles on which our country was founded -- liberty, equality, and opportunity for everybody.

We need courage to stand up for the things we believe in. Now is not the time to let self-doubt and fear guide our actions. To be the leaders our state and country need we have to be united. Only by working together can we unify our nation and lead the way back to our basic values.

Now is the time to unite against the right-wing agenda, unite against divisive politics, unite for a better future for each and every one of us.

Now let's go out and win in November!

Listen to the voice vote- Kelley wins DFL AG Endorsement

2006-08-12T17:54:00.000-05:00

No contest. There was barely any dissent. Listen for yourself here. The speaker is DFL Party Chair Brian Melendez.

MN 6th District Now Rated A Toss Up

2006-08-11T07:50:00.000-05:00

Congressional Quarterly has changed its ratings on 18 races reflecting what it calls a "Democratic Breeze" blowing across the country. In Minnesota's 6th District CQ's rating has gone from "leans Republican" to "No Clear Favorite"

Minnesota 6
• New rating: No Clear Favorite
• Old rating: Leans Republican
The political history and demographics of this district, which three-term Republican Rep. Mark Kennedy left open to run for the Senate, do not exactly lend themselves to a Democratic takeover. Voters in the 6th, which bridges suburbs of the Twin Cities with the city of St. Cloud, gave President Bush 57 percent in 2004. Yet Kennedy himself ran 3 percentage points behind Bush in his 2004 race against well-known child safety advocate Patty Wetterling — who is back for another try after flirting with a Senate bid this year. Wetterling has a powerful personal presence that makes her a formidable candidate. So is state Sen. Michele Bachmann, though Democrats think they have an angle in her image as a social conservative activist — which contrasts with Kennedy’s more business-oriented image.

Interview with DFL Attorney General Candidate Bill Luther

2006-08-10T09:40:00.000-05:00

Former Congressman Bill Luther says he is NOT actively seeking the endorsement of the DFL State Central Commitee in the Attorney General's race. That's why he won't be at the SCC meeting this Saturday (August 12). Neither will Solicitor General Lori Swanson who is also running in the DFL Attorney General Primary. Both candidates are encouraging the SCC to give no endorsement. That leaves State Senator Steve Kelley the only candidate actively seeking the DFL SCC's endorsement. We've already interviewed Steve Kelley and Lori Swanson. Today we talk with Bill Luther

Download podcast here (Runs 24:18)

Welcome to this Edition of Inside Minnesota Politics. I’m Mike McIntee. Our guest today is no stranger to politics. He’s been elected to Congress four times and the Minnesota Senate five times. And now he wants to be Minnesota’s Attorney General. Welcome Bill Luther.

Bill Luther: Thanks Mike

MM: Bill you’re one of three candidates vying for the DFL slot on the November ballot. That’s all going to be decided in September. The other two are State Senator Steve Kelley and Solicitor General Lori Swanson.

Now I know when you were in the state Senate you had the job Bill, you had the job of overseeing the Attorney General’s finances and you were also involved in writing many of the laws the Attorney General is called to enforce. So you’ve got a good idea of what the does. Can you give me in your own words what the Attorney General’s job is?

Bill Luther: Sure. Be glad to Mike. It really is a multi-faceted job you might say. First of all you're the chief legal officer for the state. And what that means is that you serve in the role of chief legal officer, which means offering opinions on various things, different levels of government and to different agencies within the state government. In addition to that the Attorney General would initiate and defend lawsuits when it’s in the interest of the state. Often times it in the nature of the defense of cases that are being brought. But there are other instances as well. And so just handling a lot of legal matters in the courtroom for the state and its various agencies is a big part of the job.

In addition to that, the Attorney General is really what you might call the watchdog or the advocate for all Minnesotans. In a number of areas the Attorney General has authority to work on behalf of all Minnesotans. In the area of consumer law. It might be when it comes to charities, anti-trust work. A number of statutes allow the Attorney General to take aggressive action on behalf of the citizens of the state. That's where you hear people refer to it as the people's attorney-- the Attorney General-- because that is... that often times can be the attorney for individual citizens.

And then I think I would call the third role really an area of advocacy where the Attorney General might feel that certain laws should be changed. He's entitled to come into the legislature to ask that the legislature change them. Or he might feel that by teaming up with other Attorney Generals around the country they can approach Congress or can take on a case that's bigger than one Attorney General alone. So there's this area where an Attorney General can exercise a lot of leadership in advocacy. And that's what I kind of call the third area. So you really got three areas. One is the chief legal person for the state. The second is where you represent the people of the state individually as the people's attorney. And the third is where you are an advocate for change or leadership on important issues of the day.

MM: Now you've had to go out and find people to work for you before and you'd have to consider what are the necessary qualifications for the job. So, if you were going to go out and hire somebody to be the Attorney General of Minnesota what qualifications would you be looking for?

BL: Well first of all, of course you'd want to hire a good lawyer.

MM: Good lawyer, OK.

BL: You'd want somebody with very good credentials both from an education standpoint and from an experience standpoint. And I think from the materials I've put out you can probably tell that I feel that I fill the bill in that regard.

MM: I got your email today that you sent out to a lot of folks and it has an extensive history on what you've done an attorney.

BL: Right and my legal education is from the University of Minnesota law school after I went to undergraduate there. I graduated with honors. After that I clerked for the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and after that practiced law both in a firm and on my own. And primarily representing what you might call the underdog, the powerless in society. It's just a role that I chose and that's basically been my life's work.

MM: So if you're going to hire the Attorney General you're looking for somebody who is going to be a good attorney. Anything beyond that?

BL: I think in addition to being a good attorney you want to hire somebody that can exercise good judgment. I think there are a lot of areas where you simply have to have good judgment because you can't take on every matter that comes just as you can in a law firm or when you serve in the legislature or in Congress. So exercising good judgment. I think the third thing I would say is you have to be very tough and strong because of what you're dealing with. It's similar to when you're handling cases like the cases I handled in my private practice. You'll often times be up against the corporate attorneys and maybe a battery of them. And you might be the only person on your side of the council table. You have to have that. It's something about the resilience in a person. You have to be able to take on those tough fights and not be dissuaded by the amount of power or wealth or pressure brought by the other side.

MM: Now you've mentioned how you've been a lawyer and how you meet those qualifications and how you're tough. Can you tell me a little bit about your judgment-- how you have good judgment?

BL: Well I think that comes down to the work. Obviously some of it in the law practice in terms of having a successful law practice and succeeding on the cases. I have a good track record in that respect. But I think it also comes down to the work that I've done in the legislature and in Congress. On the legislature I was chosen to be the Senate Assistant Majority Leader and I served in that role for 12 years. And in that role as Senate Assistant Majority Leader basically what you do is exercise judgment every day working with your collegues, working with legislation and trying to get things moving forward for the state on behalf of other members of the body. You serve in a leadership role like that.

In Congress I had the same experience. I was asked to serve on one of the most powerful committees in Congress, which is the Energy and Commerce Committee. And I served on that committee and in that role in that committee I had to exercise good judgment every day because of the importance of that committee to the affairs of the people of the country.

MM: Now being a candidate for Attorney General is a little bit different than being the Attorney General. It's not a totally different set of skills, but as you know from being a candidate that you're required to do a lot different things. Can you tell me how you would make a good candidate as well as a good Attorney General?

BL: I think in terms of being a candidate one has to just look at one's track record when it comes to winning elections. I have a strong track record of winning elections in tough districts. It's one thing to win an election in a district that's of your own party's political persuasion.

MM: Like Minneapolis with the fifth.

BL: That's right. But it's another thing to win in those tough districts. When I went into the legislature, both the House and the Senate I did beat Republican incumbents in both instances. But even more importantly than that when I ran for Congress I ran in very difficult district in a very difficult year. It was 1994 when Newt Gingrich was taking...

MM: The "Contract with America".

BL: Exactly.

MM: Or some called it the "Contract on America".

BL: That's right. And that was a very tough district, suburban district and it was a very tough year. And I was one of the few Democrats in the country that was able to pick up a seat for our party that year. And then in succeeding years the district actually got more difficult. And yet I was able to be re-elected three additional times in that very, very difficult district. And so I think when it comes to electablity, the fact that I was able to accomplish that, and I became know throughout the state as somebody who did a good job, I believe, in my service in Congress and the legislature. I think that makes me the most electable candidate.

MM: Now last election you ran was I believe in the second against John Kline.

BL: That's correct.

MM: And he did win that. That was a redistricted second congressional district. How come you lost that race?

BL: Well there were a lot of reasons, but I would say the fact that the district was in effect split in half. My district was split in half and both sides of the district were actually more difficult than the district I had run in --even though I had run in a difficult district. I would say that would probably be the biggest factor. The other factor of course that affected former Vice President (Walter) Mondale and Senators across the country and certainly our ticket here in Minnesota was the fallout from the (Senator Paul) Wellstone memorial. It was just a tragedy to see that occurring following the tragedy of the loss of Senator Wellstone. And so that was definitely a big factor as well.

MM: That's very symptomatic about what we've seen over the last several years where the opposition will take and turn some events against you and use it to attack you. Are you prepared for an Attorney General's race that you may be the target of the Republican attack machine?

BL: Well I've been the target of that for many years. What generally happens in this business is if you are successful, and if you are able to successfully compete against Republicans in a variety of offices, you do become the target of the other side. And so I have been the target in the past and I would expect that to be the case in the future. I've stood up to it well in the past, I believe and that would be my intention.

MM: What's the key in standing up to it and turning back that mud that they might throw?

BL: Well, I think staying on the positive, on the offense and just simply not letting yourself get mired down in all of the kind of politics today that people find so offensive. I think staying on the positive. Always, always attempting to look for the bright spots rather than the negatives I think that that's what I've tried to do in my political career and it's worked well.

MM: Let's think back here to actually just a few weeks ago. Matt Entenza suddenly pulled out of the race and everybody had literally just a few hours to decide if they were going to file. Tell me what went through your mind that day and why you came to the conclusion you did.

BL: Well I felt that we needed a strong candidate in the race. And I had been encouraged by many people and I just felt that this office is so important for the people of Minnesota that one had to look beyond themselves. It was not a job that I needed. In fact I often times say it's good to get some people into government that don't need the job. If you know what I mean. People who want to do the job....

MM: It's not the pay that attracts people.

BL: Right. In this case it was just a feeling that we've had a terrific Attorney General in Minnesota for a long time. We've had 40 years actually of Democratic control in the Attorney General's office. It would be a tragedy to let that slip away in a year where we had all this political difficulty as we saw with the Entenza race. And so I just felt that I needed to step forward for the people of Minnesota.

MM: You said people encouraged you. Were any of those people the current Attorney General Mike Hatch?

BL: Yes and many others. But that would be something that's occurred over time. Ever since I left office in 2002 I've had people encouraging me to get back into office again.

MM: Because I heard your name circulating, as rumors circulate on blogs and other things, well before Entenza stepped aside when his troubles surfaced. Had you thought about it then or didn't really think about it until the day of?

BL: Yes, not really. Not until the day of. I had been called by reporters before but Matt Entenza is a friend of mine. Matt and I worked together when he was with the Attorney General's office and I was serving in the legislature. And I know that Matt would do an excellent job on many, many issues serving in the Attorney General's office because I've worked with him. And so I knew that he had that capability. And so I really didn't give it any kind of thought until the point in time where he did decide to withdraw.

MM: Here's an interesting question because you've had the experience of being on the other end of that attack machine we were talking about. If you were in Matt Entenza's shoes when this whole thing kind of happened, what would you have done?

BL: I really can't say. Those things sometimes just get out of control. Which I think occurred in this case and through a variety of perhaps missteps and the handling of everything. So it's hard to now look back and say that he could have done one thing or another. I'm sure that he's doing a lot of second-guessing right now. But the important thing I think is to move forward and I certainly hope Matt does move forward in public service. I think he has a lot to offer.

MM: Let's talk about the endorsement process. Because you and Lori (Swanson) and Steve Kelley are all going to appear on the primary ballot. But between now and the primary the (DFL) State Central Committee is going to meet. In fact it's this Saturday as we speak. Are you actively seeking the endorsement from the State Central Committee, the DFL State Central Committee?

BL: No I'm not. I sent a letter to the Central Committee members today asking for their support, but asking them to support the candidate that wins the primary. I think under the unusual circumstances that we find ourselves in this year; it would just be a very healthy thing to open the process up and let the rank and file Democrats pick the candidate that they feel would be the best candidate to go into the General election.

MM: Now we have a very limited amount of time between now and the September primary and even when you look at it in terms of an election, less than 100 days to the November election. The DFL endorsement carries some perks with it. Obviously the media attention, the fundraising ability that goes with it. Should the State Central Committee not give that to any of the three candidates right now and hold off or would it make sense for them to grant that and give that person a head start?

BL: Well I'm sure that will be debated on Saturday but I think with the short period of time between now and the primary and really the other demands on the party in other races, I think it would be really welcome by the public if the party would allow more rank and file people to be involved in this decision. And that's not taking anything away from the people in the party who work so hard day in and day out -- the Central Committee members the Executive Committee members. I work within the party my entire political life. I have great respect for the people. And so this is not taking anything away from them, but I just think this is an opportunity. I view this as an opportunity to say to the rank and file Democrats in Minnesota "you know in this case we think we'd like to have you involved in this decision. We trust you to help us in this decision with these candidates because I think most people that look at the candidates would say we've got three qualified candidates here. So let's just ask the people in the party to assist us in that process.

MM: Now this is almost a side issue since there is no real convention or anything with this endorsement, but the DFL of lately has had of habit of endorsing people who don’t' win elections. Either somebody else wins in the primary or the person they endorse doesn't win in the November elections. Is the endorsement process broken with in the DFL? Does it need adjustment?

BL: Well I don't know if I would say that it's broken. The primary is a check on the endorsement process. The whole system is setup that way. So if the party ever veers off too far and doesn't do something that fits within the general feelings of the rank and file democratic voters, the true check on the party is the primary. And so I have always viewed the primary as just an appropriate check on the party. I think the party does good work and I think that there are instances where they can be very helpful to rank and file voters by selecting one candidate versus another. But I think there are also instances where that's not necessarily the case. And I think this under the unique circumstances here is one where the party could actually go out and get the assistance of rank and file democrats.

MM: Let's talk about the November elections then. Mike Erlandson, who was the former chair of the party, had a saying that "we didn't need Democrats who can beat Democrats, we needed Democrats who could beat Republicans". Tell me how you are going to be able to beat Republican Jeff Johnson who is running for this?

BL: Well I like that quote of Mike Erlandson's because I think it says a lot. I think that it also is something that applies directly to this race. I think that I have a track record of winning races by appealing not just to Democrats, but appealing to independents and even Republicans. And I think that is what I would be able to do in this race. The kinds of issues I'll be talking about will be issues that won't necessarily be party oriented, if you will. For example the press release I put out today making it clear that my number one issue would be rising gas prices in Minnesota. I don’t' think that's an issue that necessarily cuts across party lines. I think it’s affecting every family, every business, every farmer in Minnesota. And that's going to be my number one issue in this campaign. Because I don't believe enough attention is being spent on it. I believe much more can be done on that issue. And we need true leadership on the issue to carry it forwards. That's an example of what I can do, I believe, to show Minnesotans that I'm going to be an Attorney General for all Minnesotans, not just for a small segment or a special interest group here.

MM: Four years from now, if you are Attorney General of Minnesota and we look back, how is Minnesota going to be different? How are our lives going to be different?

BL: Well I think that in the next four years there will be a number of opportunities to take the side of what you call the powerless or people who are just kind of seems like they don't have the ability to work their way through the system. And there will be many of those instances where as Attorney General I will have the opportunity to work with them, help them, and make their quality of life a lot better in Minnesota. In addition to that, I think that there will be the instances where I will be able to change the laws so that we're not just dealing with the way laws are today but the laws will be improved, will be better. The laws will be fairer for those individuals in the future. And then I believe that there will be some big-ticket issues-- gas prices and other areas -- where my serving as Attorney General has truly made a difference in this country. And that will mean that over the next four years I'll be working with other Attorney Generals, with Congress, with other leaders that want to do something on some of those big ticket issues. But I truly believe that we need an Attorney General with vision and leadership in order to move us in the right direction in this country and in this state. And so I would be someone who would do that and I think that will be reflected in four years.

MM: Bill Luther, former Congressman, I thank you so much for stopping in and talking to us today. Are you planning to go to the State Central Committee meeting this...

BL: I'm not planning to go. I have sent everyone a letter and stated my position.

MM: OK, but we'll be interested to see what happens. Are you asking your... I haven't read through all of your material... are you asking your supporters to vote for no endorsement at this point?

BL: I'm asking them not to endorse a candidate at this point so that they're able to support whoever wins the primary.

MM: OK. Well Bill I thank you so much for taking time to come in here today because I know the campaign takes up a lot of time that's the most valuable resource you have as a candidate is your time. Thank you for joining us and folks if you want to send us a comment about this podcast you can do so at insidemnpolitics@mac.com. And I'm Mike McIntee and this is Inside Minnesota Politics.

BL: Thank you.

Interview with DFL Attorney General Candidate Lori Swanson

2006-08-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend, DFL State Central Committee members will be asked to endorse one of three candidates who are running for Minnesota Attorney General. Inside Minnesota Politics has already interviewed Senator Steve Kelley and will speak with former Congressman Bill Luther later this week. Today we talk with Solicitor General Lori Swanson.
Download podcast here (runs 30:23)

Welcome to this Edition of Inside Minnesota Politics. I’m Mike McIntee. Would you want your boss’s job? For today’s guest I’m going to assume the answer to that question is yes since she’s running to replace Attorney General Mike Hatch. We’re honored today to have Solicitor General Lori Swanson in our studio. Lori, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to our audience today.

Lori Swanson: Well thank you for having me, I appreciate it.

MM: Lori is one of three candidates vying for the DFL slot on the November ballot. The other two are State Senator Steve Kelley and former Congressman Bill Luther. Lori, you’ve been with the Attorney General’s office ever since Mike Hatch took office seven years ago…

LS: Correct. 1999.

MM: 1999, so you’ve certainly had time to take a close look at the job. Can you tell me what is the job of the Attorney General?

LS: Sure. The Attorney General wears a number of different hats. The Attorney General really is the state's chief legal officer, which means that the Attorney General represents the state of Minnesota in court on legal affairs that can range from the state being sued and the Attorney General defends the state in court. Those lawsuits can range from constitutional challenges over school funding to more routine cases if somebody is walking down the capitol steps. It's snowy. The capitol security didn't shovel well enough. They fall down. The State of Minnesota is the one who would defend that kind of lawsuit. The Attorney General would defend that lawsuit.

The Attorney General is better known for however its consumer advocacy, its plaintiff advocacy. The Attorney General is the chief one to enforce the consumer protection laws, charity laws, anti-trust laws, and really is, I believe, should be the people's lawyer in terms of advocating for the public, being the people's champion, standing up for people when there have been corporate abuses.

MM: So you've had a good chance... you've been involved in many of the lawsuits as the Solicitor General. In fact, I think the Solicitor General kind of does a lot of the heavy lifting, as one would say, in the office...getting these things done?

LS: I've been very involved in many of the more high profile cases of the office ranging from HMO reform to financial services reform. Cases where HMOs have broken the law by not properly paying benefits. Cases where banks have broken the law by selling social security numbers and account balances to telemarketers who then use that information to go out and slam consumers with products they never ordered and never wanted. Cases involving equity strippers who stole the home equity out from under consumers in foreclosure. Literally ripping away from the American dream of home ownership. And so I think the Attorney General serves an incredibly important role for the State and for its people.

We're in an era where many people feel like, I think rightfully so, that the government doesn't always represent them. That the government doesn't care, doesn't hear, doesn't listen to what their concerns are. The Attorney General's office has been the one office in government at all levels that the people have been able to count on to listen to them, to be their advocate, to be their champion and that's the kind of work I would like to continue as Attorney General.

MM: I know I've always had great response from the Attorney General's office when I've called up and I've had telemarketer problems or what not. I always get a call returned. I always get a letter filed. So the office does very good work. Now I have to ask you, what do you think are the qualities that an Attorney General should have?

LS: I think there are many qualities an Attorney General should have. One is the Attorney General needs to be tough. These cases that I'm talking about are not easy cases to bring. They're not easy cases to litigate. When you sue a major national corporation for ripping off your state's citizens, you get an army of lawyers on the other side. Sometimes they're not Minnesota lawyers. They ship them in from some of the biggest law firms in southern Manhattan. And they litigate them very aggressively. Often times will pull out all the stops and take a, not just a kind of a heavy litigation strategy but we've had cases where HMOs for example have formed war rooms to fight back the Attorney General's office --conducting polling and focus groups and opposition research.

So it's very important that the Attorney General have a backbone. Be very strong and tough. Not worry about alienating powerful interests. And be willing to stand up to those powerful interests and not back down. Because they do put an enormous amount of pressure on the Attorney General when you bring those kinds of cases. Mounting kind of this whole overall litigation strategy plus other strategies that really try to get the Attorney General to cave in. So it's incredibly important that the AG be strong, tough, vigilant. Know what's right. Do what's right. Take strong action on behalf of the public.

I think the Attorney General should also be a good lawyer. I think it's very important that the Attorney General have a strong legal skills and be a good lawyer. You are the head of essentially a very large law firm. What I've been doing in the Attorney General's office is in addition to being involved in some of the cases we've talked about myself is essentially manage the state's litigation. I'm responsible for the lawsuits filed by the Attorney General. Managing the professional staff of the office because with a big law firm at any given time we have hundreds and hundreds of lawsuits pending and it's important that the Attorney General know what those lawsuits are. Be able to help drive the legal strategy and participate in the setting of the legal strategy because the AG is the chief legal officer for the state.

And then I would also say it's really important for the Attorney General to exercise what's called prosecutorial discretion. And that is what cases do you bring. What issues do you push forward? At any given time with the hundreds of complaints that are coming in, the Attorney General has to make judgment calls what areas to focus in. And it's important that the Attorney General have that right balance and you know exercise the appropriate judgment to take the kind of cases that I think should be brought.

And in terms of the plaintiff’s cases that I think are important are going to be health care and HMO reform. It's been an area I've spent a very large amount of time in. Whether its filing lawsuits against HMOs that deny claims for kids who at risk and they need treatment and the HMO is saying "too bad, we're not going to give you your chemical dependency treatment" or your mental health treatment. Or whether it's some of the audits that I've been involved in where we've looked at how the non-profit health care companies are spending the "charitable dollar" and have found that rather than either using that money to lower premiums or improve patient care they've squandered the money with excessive executive compensation, you know junkets for around the world and trips to the Venetian Inn for $90,000 to study health care reform. Literally in one case found a health care company that was getting -- having masseuses come in the board meetings and give directors massages at company expense-- at non-profit expense.

So health care reform is an area that the Attorney General's office has been very active in and I want to continue to be incredibly active in. It's an issue that I think is going to get worse not better for the public in terms of problems that we see in the marketplace. You see for instance attempts to preempt the ability of states to regulate health care. There's a bill --Senate File 1955 sponsored by a Republican of Wyoming--Senator Enzi who coincidentally if you look at where he gets his money-- it comes from HMOs and insurance companies

MM: It's always interesting to see where the money comes from.

LS: It is. It is. And he got an inordinate amount from HMOs and insurance companies and financial interests. He sponsored this bill in the US Senate saying that essentially that the Congress would pre-empt the states' ability to regulate health insurance rates, claims handling practices and I think that's wrong.

I think if the Federal government wants to try to set some minimums in a particular area we can talk about that. But states tend to be laboratories of democracy. A lot of times its the states who lead the way. And I think it’s highly arrogant for the Federal Government to try to regulate the states by telling them "you can't do better for your people. You can't do better for your citizens” That we're going to have some Federal bottom line. I think there will be more attempts like that at the Federal level to try to rip power away from the states and state Attorneys General.

In terms of the health care area another problem area is going to be Medicare Part D where we've essentially passed this Medicare Prescription Part D plan. But there are going to be a lot of problems because the Federal Government and Congress have essentially turned over the implementation of Part D to private insurance companies and HMOs and we have started to see some problems. Through the Attorney General's office one where these dual eligibles-- people who are on Medicaid and Medicare -- fell through the cracks and weren't signed up and we had to get involved there. Another one where one insurance company "forgot" or didn't bill people for their Medicare Part-D premiums for a number of months and then what happened was they wanted to debit their social security account for the entire ...essentially entire balance at once.

MM: I saw that in the paper the other day.

LS: Exactly. And that was a case where we had to jump in and say no, you're not going to take somebody's entire social security check and leave them with no food for you know, no room for groceries or rent and what not. So health care is going to be a very, very high priority of mine. It's an area I've spent a lot of time on in the past. And is only going to get more problematic. Not to mention prescription drug companies too, which we've spent a lot of time litigating against them and the abuses that they bring to bear on behalf of consumers.

MM: Now you mentioned three qualities that an Attorney General should have. You said an Attorney General should be tough. An Attorney General should be a good lawyer and a good decision maker-- to paraphrase everything. Tell me how you fit those qualities?

LS: Sure. Well in terms of the "tough" part I've been involved in a lot of these efforts. Going to court and representing the public. And again they're not easy cases. People think, "oh the government has a ton of resources" and that the government has a lot of power. It is true that the Attorney General does have a lot of authority to get involved in areas. But I tell you, these companies when you file these suits they will put a lot more lawyers typically on the case than the government can put on. So I've stood my ground whether it's taking action against HMOs for denying benefits. Whether it's taking action against banks for selling private data. Whether it's taking action predatory lenders, equity strippers, utility companies. I have been involved in those cases and have stood my ground and not backed down and have been strong for the public.

I think that the public deserves an Attorney General who will stand up for them. Because people contact the Attorney General's office typically as somewhat of a last resort. It's not their first option. But they contact the office because they've been ripped off or they feel aggrieved. And I think that the Attorney General works for the taxpayers, works for the people and that the public deserves an Attorney General who will be their lawyer and their champion and who will stand up for them and not back down. And that's my track record and why I'm a lawyer, what I believe in. I've spent my legal career standing up for people and certainly will continue to do that.

On the other qualifications, I think being a good lawyer for the public is -- I think I alluded to that -- just the work that I've done in the Attorney General's office whether it's participating in these cases or managing the state's litigation. I'm very proud of the Attorney General's office and the work that I've done.

And then three is the issue of judgment and having your head screwed on straight. Knowing how to apply judgment appropriately. That you want to be tough, but you also want to be fair. And the rule that we followed over the last seven and a half years in the Attorney General's office is a simple one and that's that no interest should be so powerful that they're above the law, nor should any person be so powerless that they don't deserve the protection of the government. And that's what I'm talking about when I'm talking about judgment. And I think I've applied that judgment pretty well in the Attorney General's office. It's a difficult thing to do. You can't file every lawsuit that comes in the door. So you have to separate the wheat from the chaff and know which cases to push and which ones not to.

MM: Sounds like a good Democratic ideal as well as a good ideal for the Attorney General's office. Now let's talk about being a candidate. Really there are two sets of skills here or at least there's two jobs going on here. The (DFL) State Central Committee is trying to find somebody who is going to be a good Attorney General, but they're also trying to find somebody who is going to be a good Attorney General CANDIDATE. Sometime those skills differ. Tell me how you're going to be a good Attorney General Candidate. What are the qualifications? What should a good Attorney General Candidate do and how do you fit that?

LS: Sure, well I think if you look throughout the country at some... I think if you look at all the Attorney Generals, there are probably about a dozen and maybe more who have backgrounds similar to mine in that they've been either assistant Attorney Generals, Deputy Attorney Generals, Solicitor Generals --that they come out of that kind of role. And if you also look around at some of the better Attorney Generals this country has had, you'll see a lot of them who have had background more similar to mine. Elliot Spitzer of New York probably one of the more recognizable Attorney Generals in the country has a background where he had not been an elected official. Before he became Attorney General he had been in the US Attorney's office as an assistant in that office but had not been an elected official. Mike Hatch had run for office before but hadn't held office before becoming Attorney General. He had had a background as a commerce commissioner and through the commerce commissioner role had been very aggressively involved in enforcing the banking laws and insurance laws.

In terms of the candidacy, it's a natural fit for me because I think that the public wants an Attorney General who will be their champion and who will be their watchdog. And my strategy is to talk the public about the kind of issues I've been involved in and the public will have to make a decision about what kind of Attorney General do they want to have, what do they want their Attorney General to be.

But I've been out there talking to people. And very much engaged at the grass roots level and I think the public is very happy with the Attorney General's office in this state. They like the work that the office does. They want to see an Attorney General who will be a watchdog, not a lapdog for private industry for private corporations. So, my political strategy, if you will, is really very similar to the reasons that I'm running for Attorney General, and that's getting out there, talking about the work of the office.

I had the opportunity to meet the Republican candidate for Attorney General (Jeff Johnson) at a debate a few weeks ago and his philosophy is clearly very different than mine. It's quite a contrast. He, I think, has a certainly more market-based kind of a laissez-faire approach to a lot of these issues. And I think engaging him on those issues I think the public would see, will see the contrast. In addition to that I'm doing the things that I need to do. I'm out there raising money. You know, doing the lawn signs. Trying you know to get the name ID up there and....

MM: Doing interviews like this.

LS: Doing interviews like this and doing debates and cable shows and what not and trying to get the word out. I also think in light of kind of how circumstances developed there's a lot more visibility to the Attorney General's race this time than there has been in past years. It's not a top of the ticket in terms of like a Governor's race or Senate race. But this year in light of all the publicity with the Democratic candidate's withdrawal, people know there's an Attorney General's race. They know who the candidates are. So having interviews and getting out there is the strategy.

MM: Now at the (DFL) Feminist Caucus Forum, which I saw you at, you said that you were going to actively campaign in the primary even if you didn't get the DFL endorsement. Let's talk about the endorsement process. Are you actively seeking the DFL State Central Committee's endorsement?

LS: You know I have... I am going to be in the Primary regardless of what happens at the Central Committee Meeting (August 12th). And if I could explain why that's going to be the case.

I have a lot of respect for the people who play roles on the Central Committee and who participate in party politics. I think its incredibly important work that people be involved in. It's the people who participate in the Central Committee and the Executive Committee are the people who keep the party running, who do the fundraising and really do all of the grass roots work necessary to have an active vibrant political parties. So I very much respect that and had circumstances been different where I had been in the race for a year, you know I certainly would have taken a look at perhaps a different strategy.

Here however, with the withdrawal of the Democratic nominee being so sudden and candidates jumping into the race, it really presents a different type of picture. And first of all nobody can get off the ballot, so the Central Committee Meeting and potential endorsement comes after the filing and withdrawal deadlines. So I'm on the ballot, the others are on the ballot. An endorsement will typically serve kind of a winnowing function where you narrow down the field and here that's not going to occur and really can't occur because we're all on the ballot.

Second is in terms of the timing, you're going from zero to sixty in a very few weeks. I did a rough calculation. Usually these campaigns they would be yearlong campaigns. Here you're talking a seven-week campaign. So every week in this campaign essentially amounts to two months in a normal campaign. Meaning that time is precious and it's very difficult to do all of the raising of the money and the outreach and the shows like this one and interviews and try to mount any effort in terms of an endorsement. So that was my thought process. It's the reason I'll be in the Primary regardless of the outcome at the Central Committee.

MM: But are you seeking the Central Committee's endorsement?

LS: You know I have not... I'll be kind of figuring out where things stand. I actually haven’t even talked to the party yet about what the plans are for Saturday and hopefully will be doing that here in the next little while.

MM: Your supporters. I assume you have supporters within the party. Do they have a strategy of asking for no endorsement or are you encouraging that or do you think the endorsement process should go through?

LS: You know, I, I um... Ultimately the Central Committee is going to need to make up its mind as what to do. I know there is a lot of discussion that I've heard of and seen about whether it even makes sense to endorse. Ultimately the Central Committee is going to have to make a decision about whether to endorse. I can see where it makes sense not to endorse given that you have three Democrats who all believe in what they're doing and that the primary will resolve things.

MM: Just taking your logic on it though that every week here is worth a couple months. If somebody's given an endorsement, not only does it carry more press visibility with it but it also carries the strength of the DFL's fundraising machine and all the things that go with that. Is that something we not be doing for a couple weeks and waiting to see if the primary determines a winner or should somebody be privy to those resources right now?

LS: Well, you know again I'm not exactly sure what would come with an endorsement. I'm not exactly sure, I mean given that essentially that Primary comes four weeks after any Central Committee meeting in any event and I'm not sure what that would mean. We all have our strategies in terms of how we're going to reach out to the voters in terms of money what not.

MM: This has all been a very impromptu race. When (Representative) Matt Entenza decided he was not going to run you had to make a decision relatively quickly. Did you consult with your boss Mike Hatch about this before deciding to run?

LS: I did. I talked to a number of different people. People started calling me that morning indicating that kind of rumors were circulating that Matt Entenza may be dropping out of the race and I didn't make a whole lot of them.

MM: Most rumors aren't worth anything.

LS: Most rumors aren't. I don't pay a lot of attention to them. And I didn't then. Of course Matt Entenza withdrew the day that filings closed. So it was a ..kind of a ... real quick decision-making. I did talk to the Attorney General (Mike Hatch). He indicated, you know, at that point, Mr. Entenza had withdrawn and if I wanted to run for Attorney General I should take a look at it and file. And I thought about it and made a decision that I would like to throw my hat in the ring.

At that point the Democratic Party was without a candidate and I very much feel strongly that this is an incredibly important office. It's an office that's been in Democratic hands for 40-years now. And I think there's a reason for that. I think that people tend to think that Democrats will represent people and I very much want to continue...continue that tradition of representing people through the Attorney General's office. I think that there's a lot of powerful interests out there who have plenty of ability to do their own advocacy. But the people don't always have that ability. The deck is often times stacked against them. So that's why I'm running.

MM: Speaking of rumors, before Matt Entenza left the race, there were rumors, I can't remember if anything was confirmed but that Mike Hatch was trying to solicit other people to run against Matt Entenza. Did he ever talk to you about something like that?

LS: You know you're... he's been...going back several years he's been very complementary about, about my legal work and has said even going back several years to the 2002 election that you know, if I ever wanted to run for Attorney General he was complementary about that but those weren't active discussions.

I've seen him encourage you know, younger Republicans to get into public service, younger Democrats to get into public service and he's very good that way regardless of what side of the aisle you're on. Public service is a noble thing. And he certainly told me that if I ever, you know, wanted to run that it's a worthwhile noble endeavor and I, I believe that it is.

MM: With the demands of your current job, I mean you are doing a lot, and I know Mike Hatch does a lot when he's working as the Attorney General. How are you going to be able to campaign between now and the Primary? How much time are you going to have to be able to do that?

LS: Well I actually have taken a leave. So I am on leave in terms of being able to campaign. For the reason I mentioned, we're going from zero to sixty very very quickly, I obviously will not be able to aggressively campaign so I did take a leave in order to do that and put the time into the campaign.

MM: That's why you could get here during office hours today.

LS: Exactly. Exactly. Exactly.

MM: Former DFL Chair Mike Erlandson had a saying. He always said that "we don’t' need Democrats that can beat Democrats. We need Democrats who can beat Republicans." So how do you plan to beat Republican Jeff Johnson?

LS: Sure. I plan to beat him by again talking about these issues. I think that fundamentally the General Election going to come down to what kind of Attorney General does Minnesota want to have. And in the end I think they want an Attorney General who will be a champion for the people, who will stand up for the people, who will give people without a voice, a voice in their government. And the way I plan to beat him is talking about those issues and showing what my record is on those issues. And he'll talk about why he's running. But in the end I think by far the better view of what kind of role the Attorney General ought to play on behalf of the public.

MM: I know the Republicans, by reputation, have a habit of slinging mud and bringing out the dogs. The Karl Roves or whatever it may be. Are you concerned that you may be under attack once you are in the race here?

LS: You know there is a movement around the country... there's something called the Republican Attorney General Association or RAGA. It's a fairly new body. And essentially what it is is the oil companies and the prescription drug companies and the health insurance companies and they fund this organization, which in turns funnels money into Attorney General races -- particularly open Attorney General races.

MM: I think we have one in Minnesota.

LS: And we have one in Minnesota. So is that kind of money going to flow Minnesota? I don't know. I don't have any evidence that it has. Is it possible that it will? Yes. Do some of these corporate interests want to elect Republican Attorney Generals so they can have what they view as a more friendly audience? Absolutely. We've seen that going around the country. Might it happen here? It could.

MM: Four years from now, if Lori Swanson is Attorney General, elected Attorney General in November, how is Minnesota going to be different four years from now than it is right now?

LS: I think that some of the issues that I see coming down the horizon are going to be health care and HMO reform. It’s...we have a health care system that's undergoing a lot of change and that will continue to undergo a lot of change. The job of the Attorney General is to try to make sure that people don't fall through the cracks while that change happens. So as...over the next four years I very much want to be an advocate for patients and people who participate in the health care system to try to make sure that the playing field is level for them.

There are other issues coming down the horizon. I alluded to the notion of Federal preemption. We have a federal government controlled by people who for years never wanted to pass federal legislation in important areas such as Civil Rights and others. They would basically say "well let's leave it up to the states to take action". Well now the same crew that's in charge of Washington, DC, starting with (President) George Bush and going to members of Congress wants to preempt the states ability to regulate the health insurance industry -- the employment rights. The prescription drug industry. The banking industry. They have been very, very vigorous about attempting to preempt the state's ability to protect their workers, their patients, and their consumers. And I very much want to lead the fight against that kind of federal preemption. I've been involved in efforts to do that in the Attorney General's office and I want to continue to do that. I think it's incredibly important that states have the ability to protect their patients, their consumers, and their workers.

And it's interesting the same Republicans who are controlling so many branches of our government in Washington, DC want to preempt the state's ability not because they want to regulate these industries -- they don't--they want to preempt and then deregulate and get out of the way so the markets can have...run roughshod over people, over workers, over patients. So that's an area I want to be involved in.

In addition to that I think other new areas are going to come down the pipeline over the coming years. We have a whole bunch of homeowners who have gotten involved in these option ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages), interest only ARMs where they are literally engaged in what's called negative amortization where you pay your monthly bill every month and your principle increases. There's going to be a lot of people who face sticker shock where the payment jumps $800 a month to $1,400 a month. They're not going to be able to afford that. When they can't afford it, they're going to go into foreclosure and that's going to bring a host of problems ranging from damage to credit scores to people losing their homes.

And I'm on the.. I'm chairing the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Advisory Council. I was appointed to that council by the Allan Greenspan board. And essentially advise the Federal Reserve Board on consumer protection matters in the financial services industry. And so get involved a lot in issues relating to predatory lending, fair lending, and anti-discriminatory issues. And that's an area we spend a lot of time talking about is what happens when people face that sticker shock and start falling through the cracks.

Predatory lending in general is a big problem as well for Minnesota. We see not only people put into mortgage products they can't afford but, oftentimes companies through the guise of the American Dream of home ownership, putting people into fraudulent mortgage products. Products that they can't afford that have false appraisals attached to them.

And so I think it’s... in terms of the Attorney General's work I'm going to spend a lot of time on the bread and butter. Basic things that effect lives. Your health care, your mortgage, your cars. Things that are big ticket items for consumers and where the playing field is not level for consumers.

MM: That's Lori Swanson we just heard from. Lori is running for Attorney General for the DFL nomination on the September Primary. We have heard from Steve Kelley already, State Senator Steve Kelley. If you haven't listened to that podcast we invite you to do so and we'll be talking to Bill Luther, the third candidate for the DFL nomination later on this week. Lori, thank you so much for taking time out of your very busy schedule today.

LS: Well thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

MM: We'll see you folks who are listening probably at the State Central Committee meeting. This is Inside Minnesota Politics. I'm Mike McIntee.

Update on AG Interviews

2006-08-03T23:31:00.000-05:00

Bill Luther will not be able to interview this week, but has promised to record a podcast next Wednesday. Lori Swanson has scheduled her interview for next Tuesday. Podcasts of both interviews will be released as soon as possible.

Stay tuned...

DFL AG Candidates Forum Audio

2006-08-03T10:09:00.000-05:00

Listen to the forum here (runs 1 hour 29 minutes)
It’s a short campaign. Only a few days until the DFL State Central Committee meets to endorse a candidate and only a few weeks until the primary. That’s what the three impromptu DFL candidates for Minnesota Attorney General are facing in the wake of DFL endorsed candidate Matt Entenza abruptly leaving the race.

Wednesday night the DFL Feminist Caucus sponsored a candidates forum. Two of the candidates, Senator Steve Kelley and Solicitor General Lori Swanson were there. The third candidate, former congressman Bill Luther was unable to attend because of a prior commitment. (The Luther campaign apparently does not have a campaign website yet. Here is a link to a blog supporting Luther that has information about him.)

Our podcast contains the forum in its entirety.

UPDATE: Luther's campaign now has a website

AG Candidate Lori Swanson will not abide by DFL endorsement

2006-08-02T21:51:00.000-05:00

Attorney General candidate Lori Swanson tonight said she would NOT abide by the DFL endorsement. The DFL State Central Committee will meet on August 12th to consider endorsing Swanson, former Congressman Bill Luther or Senator Steve Kelley for Attorney General.

At tonight's DFL Feminist Caucus candidates' forum, Kelley sidestepped the endorsement question, saying he is confident he is going to get it. He pointed out that he abided by the DFL's endorsement in the Governor's race. Kelley was the only DFL candidate for Governor who said he would abide by the DFL endorsement, which eventually went to Attorney General Mike Hatch.

Bill Luther was not at tonight's forum. He had a prior personal commitment.

The organizers of tonight's forum stressed the need for the State Central Committee to make an endorsement. Kelley concurred saying the DFL needs a team and he would like to unite the party before September's primary.

Update: I've been informed by the Feminist Caucus that the statement from forum moderator Jackie Stevenson on needing an endorsement was her opinion only and not an official position of the Feminist Caucus.

Swanson and Kelley did manage to get in some shots at Republican AG candidate Jeff Johnson and Governor Tim Pawlenty. Swanson said Johnson would rather negotiate with companies than enforce the law. Kelley noted that Pawlenty's recently announced "Meth Registry" proposal was another example of Republican "Government by gimmick".

Inside Minnesota Politics recorded the entire forum and will make much of it available in the coming days.

Swanson also told Inside Minnesota Politics tonight that she WOULD do a podcast interview, however she declined to set a time and date.

Interview with DFL Attorney General Candidate Steve Kelley

2006-08-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

Later this month DFL State Central Committee members will be asked to endorse one of three candidates who are running for Minnesota Attorney General. Inside Minnesota Politics has offered all three candidates an opportunity to talk about their campaign. Today we talk with Senator Steve Kelley.
Download podcast here runs 25:35.

Mike McIntee: As DFL delegates, I’m an alternate; we have to make a decision. We're really trying to fill two positions here. We're trying to find somebody who is going to be a good Attorney General. And we're also trying to find someone who is going to be a good Attorney General candidate. Because they may not absolutely always be the same thing. So that's what I first wanted to start with, what do you think is the job of Attorney General?

Steve Kelley: Well the main job of the Attorney General is to be the state's chief legal officer. And that has a lot of implications. I think in the recent years, certainly with Attorney General (Mike) Hatch, as well as with his predecessors we know that the Attorney General's office has responsibility to stand up for consumers in Minnesota and to be a voice for protecting consumers whether it is respect to health care, identity theft, privacy, or a variety of concerns consumers may have. And certainly as Attorney General I would want to continue Attorney General Hatch's efforts on protecting consumers and patients. In the health care field especially with respect to cost. But I also think there are some other things that we need to pay attention to that I've worked on as a State Senator. Health care quality and patient safety has been important to me in my past public service and would want to make sure that the Attorney General is providing support and assisting other agencies in ensuring improvement in quality and protecting patient safety.

I also believe that we ought to be cooperating with local law enforcement agencies with county attorneys, police departments and sheriff departments to address the increase in violent crime that we've seen recently. I think that's an issue in Minneapolis as well as greater Minnesota. I think we have gangs that operate across multiple jurisdictions and the AG's office along with the bureau of criminal apprehension can play a coordinating role in assisting local agencies. And then I think overall it's very important that we do high quality legal work for the state, that we have high expectations for the office and that deal with everybody fairly.

MM: Well tell me since this is sort of a job interview, what do you think are the three most important qualifications that an Attorney General should have and also an Attorney General candidate should have?

SK: Well first with respect to the Attorney General, I certainly think experience with the law and having some courtroom experience is important because you're supervising lawyers who frequently are in the courtroom. There are also responsibilities with respect to contracting and so forth that the Attorney General's staff is involved in on behalf of the agencies. But I've been a private practicing lawyer for 27 years have represented both plaintiffs and defendants in the courtroom, Federal and state courts. So I have the experience with our legal system to supervise the work of lawyers who are representing Minnesotans as their Attorney General.

I think another key area of the Attorney General's office is the policy work that the office does. During my 14-years as a state legislator I've been involved in a variety of policy areas that have overlapped with the Attorney General's office including as I mentioned earlier, health care quality issues. But also privacy and identity security -- things that I thing will continue to be important issues for the Attorney General's office.

And then I also think that the Attorney General a responsibility as a constitutional officer to provide leadership on a range of issues in the state. And I'm interested in a variety of things that as a State Senator I've been concerned about -- improving civic participation, encouraging young people to get involved. And I think as Attorney General that would continue to be an interest of mine as how as public leaders we encourage more people to get involved in the political process.

As a candidate, I think one of the benefits that I bring to this is recent experience campaigning all over Minnesota.

MM: Real recent experience, yes.

SK: Exactly. And a network of supporters who are prepared to volunteer to help out to win both the primary and General Election. I also bring a commitment. The Attorney General is not the top of the ticket. It's a ... but the Attorney General candidate can be an important contributor to the team of candidates that we put forward and I'm a firm believer in the team work aspect of political campaigns. That we are more likely to win if we are working together. It was a commitment I made in the Governor's race and I stood by that commitment and it's a commitment I still bring; continue to bring to the Attorney General's campaign.

So I think that's very important and the third thing is that I think we have an opportunity to win this race as Democrats, but we do have to bring out Democrats in some new areas. And it's areas where I think my experience and the breadth of things that I've worked on will have broad appeal, especially in the third congressional district in places like Rochester and St. Cloud where I demonstrated I had a political strength during the Governor's race.

MM: So to sum that up, to be an Attorney General you say the experience, the policy background, the leadership. And as a candidate the recent experience, the support network, the new Democrats that you may be able to bring in to this race.

Now I have to ask. This is a change from shooting to be Governor. Can you be as enthusiastic about being Attorney General as you could be running for Governor?

SK: Certainly the Governor's office has a broad range of responsibilities and areas that I continue to have a passion about including education and some of the other issues that I've worked on. But on the Tuesday when Representative Entenza made the announcement that he was withdrawing I talked to a lot of people and the more I talked about it, it was clear that my getting into the race was the right thing to do for a variety of reasons. But as I've thought about it my experience representing people in a courtroom, I know how important it is for individuals without power to have an advocate standing by their side, to stand up for them and represent their views. And that what Minnesotans need in an Attorney General. And I am certainly passionate about that way of achieving justice.

I think along with our other branch of government -- the courts -- the Attorney General is responsible for the overall quality of our justice system in Minnesota. And part of that, it seems to me is standing with people who don't have power against people who do. But also ensuring that everyone is treated fairly. And during my 14 years in the State Legislature that's what I've been committed to doing is treating people fairly. I've been fighting for the causes that I believe in and that's what I'd continue to do as the Attorney General.

MM: Talk to me a little bit about the decision process you went through on that Tuesday because it had to be a hectic day and you had to make a decision real fast.

SK: Well certainly it took me by surprise. I had not had any advance notice of Representative Entenza's decision to withdraw. So we had about, especially if you think about the logistics of getting to the courthouse to withdraw and then to the Secretary of State's office, I really had about five hours in which to make a decision. And I talked to a lot of people. I received phone calls from supporters in different parts of the state urging me to run. And that was very helpful in the thought process. And I did have an opportunity to talk to my wife and to some of my former campaign team from the Governor's race. And one of the things that came clear to me was that if I was in the race I could really play a role in helping to unify the party. That there likely would be enough support for me, that would reduce the period of contention and disarray that we might see. Now that hasn't proved to be entirely true. But I think with the kind of support I've gotten already from State Central Committee members and leaders in the party and the unions, that I'm well on the way to achieving the goal of trying to unify the party, bring us back together as rapidly as possible.

MM: Speaking of contention and disarray, the discussion among the state central committee members or some of them is "well it's too close to the primary. We really shouldn't give an endorsement, we should just let the voters decide in the primary." What are your thoughts on that?

SK: Certainly in contrast to the state convention where an endorsement decision by the delegates could effect who is on the ballot and who is not, because of the realities of filing, all three of the candidates will be on the ballot in the primary. So, an endorsement does not affect that in the way that it would in a state convention setting. But I still think it's important for the party to endorse. I've been a member of the party since 1980. Actively going to caucuses and engaged in other things. And my reason for doing that is not simply to be part of the DFL party, but to effect change by effecting the choices of who runs for office. And so I do think that is a critical role of political parties. And that it is important for members of the party, people who are elected to be representatives in the party to play that role. To be responsible about it, certainly. But it’s important to say that we stand for something and we stand for some people who represent those values of the party.

MM: Now one of the things you made a good point of when you were running for Governor is that you said "I'm going to abide by the endorsement” I the party says that they want somebody else -- in this particular case it was Mike Hatch -- you were not going to stand in the way. If the party when it meets in August decides that somebody else --either one of the other two candidates -- should be endorsed, would you still continue to run? I know you can't take your name off the ballot, but would you continue to run?

SK: Well I think that's a relatively low-level of likelihood. So I'm not too worried about that at this point. And I don't think that the question of who is going to abide and so forth should be the critical issue this time. We don't have a lot of time to make a decision and our names will be on the primary ballot anyway. So, the issue here is does the party want to get united and build a strong team, and if so, they gotta make a choice. And it would be better to make that choice on August 12th rather than wait until after the primary.

MM: Now I asked some of the delegates to send in questions. And I did get one. And somebody wanted to know ... "the AG's office is the legal arm to prosecute wrongdoers. What I'd like to know is which wrongdoers the candidates think need the most watch dogging?

SK: Well, as I said earlier, I believe the Attorney General's office has a range of responsibility including the consumer protection and watching for those wrongdoers and having both an investigative staff and a legal staff capable of taking effective action. And I also mentioned earlier that I do believe that it's important in the health care area. I said during the Governor's race I'm committed to working towards universal health care for Minnesotans. I don't think the Federal Government is going to get around to it and I think we ought to be looking at it at the state level. So as Attorney General I would be interested in working with the Governor and with the Legislature to try to reform our system, to move to universal health care. And I don't think we can get there just through regulation. But if that isn't going forward, then I think the Attorney General does have an on going responsibility to ensure that health plans and health care providers and pharmaceutical companies aren't gouging patients. Aren't taking advantage of them. And are not lining their pockets. And as the Attorney General I would continue to stand up for consumers and follow in the Mike Hatch tradition with respect to that. And then as I mentioned, patient safety is important. Just a few days ago there was a report from the Institutes of Medicine on the number of preventable prescription errors. And I think an Attorney General who is standing up for people is going to be looking for not just prosecutorial ways to stop people from those kinds of errors that harm patients, but helping to assist in systemic change to prevent errors that are harmful to patients and add cost to the system. I also think that we have to... I was noticing an increase in the newspapers in reporting on insurance fraud. People who had taken money from consumers on false pretenses that they were legitimate insurance agents....

MM: I think there was something in the Star Tribune today talking about motor insurance.

SK: And I think it's really important to pay attention to that. I think there will be trends. Folks who will try to rip off consumers find new areas, new methods to do it. And I think the Attorney General has a responsibility to adjust to those changes in criminal behavior.

MM: Now Mike Erlandson (former DFL party chair) had a favorite saying that "we don't need Democrats who can beat Democrats. We need Democrats who can beat Republicans." Let's turn our attention here to the November election. Tell me how you would be able to beat Jeff Johnson who is the Republican nominee?

SK: I think the critical addition I can bring to it is this commitment to working with the team. You know the Attorney General doesn't have in campaign terms compared to the Governor or certainly the US Senate race the same kind of budget for a campaign. We'll certainly raise the money we need to run an effective campaign, but we are going to be working with local candidates and building on their work and I think it's that team based approach that will enable me to beat Jeff Johnson. I think we'll be able to cost-effectively build up my name recognition, get the word out about my accomplishments and my commitments to people in Minnesota as well as use the media effectively in order to let people know more about who I am and what I can do on their behalf. I also think that a responsible DFL Attorney General candidate does have an edge because Minnesotans tend to think that the DFL will be more of a watchdog for them and act on their behalf. And certainly Representative Johnson has made clear in the one plank of his platform that he intends to cut red tape, reduce regulation and promote jobs. And to me that sounds like he wants to cut corporations a break and is not going to be as vigilant about wrongdoing by companies. And I think that’s not what Minnesotans want to hear from their Attorney General. So we'll be describing aggressively the alternative agenda.

MM: I think there's definitely a perception that the DFL has more the concern of fairness when you start getting down to these issues, than just being concerned about the dollars. So that people are treated equal as opposed to treating people who have the dollars the best.

SK: That's really important Mike. I mean we've seen what's happened over the last several years, certainly with Republican control in Washington is that they in a way have been using their political power to plunder and take advantage of the United States. And with the corruption by various members of Congress and you know I was just listening today to a report on the sort of "walking the line" that Secretary Levitt has done with their family foundation, recycling money that's benefited from tax deductions, tax exemptions, back into their private interests. I think we have a good case to make that the Democrats are going to be responsible to the people and that we are going to be on the side of the folks who don't have power against the people who do have wealth and power.

MM: Speaking of wealth, coming out of the Governor's race I believe you had a deficit or at least a campaign debt. Now is that going to make running for Attorney General a little bit harder?

SK: The debt is not a significant factor with respect to the Attorney General's race. That can sit there for a little while. We'd like to collect a little bit more money in that account and pay off some bills. That would be a good thing to do. But the real issue that's come up with respect to financing is that there's a little known provision of state law that says if you run for more than one statewide office in the same year, then what you spent in one race counts against any spending limit that might exist in the other race. So that means that I would be severely handicapped in the Attorney General's race if I signed the public financing agreement in which the candidate agrees to limit the spending. And so it's very clear that I can't sign the public financing agreement. What that means instead of ... if I had just started in the AG's race and hadn't run in the Governor's race I would have had to raise $400,000 and then the rest of the budget would have come from the public subsidy. So instead of raising $400,000, I have to raise $500,000. And that's a doable increment. I'm not worried about that piece. And so we're working rapidly as possible right now to get that fundraising going.

MM: So on the matching on the dollars it's not a dollar for dollar match that comes from the state on something like that.

SK: No. The state public subsidy is about $108,000. At least that was the most recent estimate.

MM: So the worst that you could do is say you might have to have a $108,000 more of fundraising than any of your other opponents in this race.

SK: That's exactly right. And the other consequence, you mentioned running against a Republican. I think Representative Johnson, the likely Republican candidate, was not planning... he may have signed the public subsidy agreement, but I think their planning was that Representative Entenza was going to spend more than the limit in any event. Because that's the other consequence of not signing the public subsidy agreement and spending more than the spending limit is that you release the opponent from the spending limit as well.

MM: So after September, Jeff Johnson, if you should win, he could spend as much money as he could raise then too?

SK: That would be one of the consequences that if my spending report shows that I have spent more than the limit than that would free him from the spending limit.

MM: OK, let's talk just a little bit about the little time that we have between now and the State Central Committee meeting. What are you doing and how are you going to win this endorsement from the State Central Committee?

SK: Well it's pretty much the way we ran the campaign for Governor is by relying on volunteers to make phone calls on my behalf. But also making a lot of phone calls myself. So I have been talking to the Executive Committee and State Central Committee members. I've also been visiting with representatives of unions and other groups that are active in the party to talk about why I should be the candidate. So I'm going to continue to do that for the next two weeks. For example on Saturday the 29th I'm traveling up to the 8th Congressional District meeting in Coleraine to visit with State Central Committee and DFL activists to talk about the campaign and hear what their concerns are. So I think it's just active campaigning. We're also though, we're not... I think it's important not to wait for the State Central Committee. The primary is only about six weeks away. So we're starting to do the groundwork in contacting a broader group of Democrats to talk about my candidacy and elicit support. And so we're going to continue to do that work during the next two weeks as well.

MM: Last question here. To be a successful Attorney General. If you were the Attorney General and four years from now, if you look back how is Minnesota going to be different than it is right now?

SK: I think the primary; the first-level difference that I would ask people to evaluate would be "is the Attorney General's office doing a high-quality professional job on behalf of the people of Minnesota and the agencies of state government that it is our responsibility to represent?" Secondly, have we made a difference on behalf of consumers. Have we prevented losses, whether it's through fraud or wrongful conduct or breach of fiduciary duty that our non-profits owe to the citizens of Minnesota. And I would expect that we'll have demonstrated that Minnesotans have been better off. That we've avoided fraudulent conduct or prevented losses by being active advocates on behalf of consumers. And then I hope that people will say that we have worked well with other agencies of state government and with local citizens to reduce crime and to make people feel safer in their homes and on the streets. Those are three really important measures that I ask people to look at.

Mattson drops from AG race

2006-07-20T17:24:00.000-05:00

Only three candidates remain in the DFL endorsement race for Attorney General. Senator Steve Kelley, former Congressman Bill Luther and Solicitor General Lori Swanson. Jennifer Mattson entered the race on Sunday when it appeared no one was going to run against Matt Entenza. Since Entenza dropped out, she has now withdrawn her candidacy and is endorsing Swanson. A fifth candidate Patrick Cotter has also reportedly withdrawn.

Here is Mattson's statement:

Last Sunday I announced my candidacy for attorney general and delivered a personal letter to Representative Matt Entenza at his home asking him to withdraw for the good of the people of Minnesota. I filed for office on Monday and on Tuesday Representative Entenza withdrew. This was a major victory for my campaign, the DFL party and all Minnesotans who deserve a lawyer without a conflict.

My second goal was to ensure that the investigations into the healthcare industry started by Attorney General Hatch be vigorously pursued by the next attorney general.

There is no doubt in my mind that the lawyer best qualified to fulfill that goal is Solicitor General Lori Swanson. She has had primary responsibility for the managed health care litigation and has performed with admiration and distinction. She is tough-minded, legally-skilled and knows this area of the law better than anyone in our state. Using today’s political lingo, in my judgment, Lori is the only heavy hitter still in the race. She has been slugging away at corporate defendants and winning for the people of Minnesota.

Therefore, I am whole-heartedly endorsing her candidacy. I will work tirelessly and do whatever I can to support her effort to be the people’s lawyer. My first effort will be to notify all the hundreds of people who offered their support to my campaign and encourage them to get behind Lori’s candidacy.

DFL reaction to Enteza dropping out of AG race

2006-07-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

STATEMENT OF MINNESOTA DFL CHAIR BRIAN MELENDEZ ON MATT ENTENZA

ST. PAUL (7/18/06) – “For twelve years, Matt Entenza has been a tireless advocate for Minnesota families and for the DFL Party’s progressive values. As a legislator, he fought the Republican leadership for the health care reforms that we desperately need, for the schools that our children deserve and for the consumer protections that Minnesotans demand. As House DFL Leader, he began the march to win back the House of Representatives, recapturing 14 seats in the last election. He has consistently stood up to the failures of Governor Pawlenty, Speaker Sviggum and the Republican machine.

“When the filing deadline passes today, I expect that several excellent candidates will be seeking the DFL nomination, especially when the Republican Party is pushing a known corporate minion. The State Party will meet in mid-August to endorse one of these fine Minnesotans for the office of Attorney General.”

Entenza drops out of AG race

2006-07-18T11:31:00.000-05:00

Statement from Matt Entenza:

For the past 12 years, I’ve been a public servant fighting for Minnesotans. We have had a lot of successes during that time bringing better health care, better schools and better consumer protection, including implementing the first Do Not Call List in the State.
I got into the race for Attorney General to continue fighting for Minnesotans; to keep them safe, to protect them and their families, to protect their healthcare and to help them fight the challenges they face everyday.

Fighting for important public issues is one thing, and fighting in politics is quite another.

While I’m confident that I can win the race for attorney general, obviously in this environment staying in this race would hurt the Democratic Party and the progressive issues we care about so deeply.

I have seen this before. And I have fought this fight before and won – in 2004. I know now as I did then that with enough time, I can fight my way through this and prevail.

But with so little time and so many attacks, from anonymous faxes to attacks on my family, it is impossible to fight these attacks and win this race without it taking a serious toll on the people and the party we care about the most.

It has been my honor to serve the people of this state. I am proud of my record in public service and even more proud of my wife. I am confident the voters of Minnesota would see these attacks for what they are: politics pure and simple.

So today I am ending my campaign for attorney general. I believe public service and politics is bigger than any one person, any one problem or any one party. And I am hopeful that despite what has happened today, the future for Minnesota and Democrats is brighter today and will be even brighter tomorrow.

This decision will not change my desire to fight on behalf of the people of this wonderful state. This decision is the best thing for Minnesota and the best thing for Democrats.

Thank you.

DFL says Entenza challenger has losing record

2006-07-17T10:11:00.000-05:00

DFL PARTY CHAIR STATEMENT ON MATTSON FILING

ST. PAUL (7/17/06) – Jennifer Mattson, a 29 year-old challenger to DFL-endorsed Attorney General candidate Matt Entenza filed for candidacy today. Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez released the following statement:

“Jennifer Mattson has a history of challenging – and losing to – DFL-endorsed candidates for statewide office. She has nothing approximating the record and experience of Representative Entenza. She has been a lawyer for two and a half years, while Matt Entenza has been a prosecutor, a legislator, an assistant attorney general and the House Minority Leader.”

Audio Interview-Jennifer Mattson to challenge Matt Entenza in DFL Primary

2006-07-16T23:00:00.000-05:00

Download podcast ! (runs 19:43)

Attorney Jennifer Mattson says she's been hoping someone in the DFL would step up to run against Matt Entenza for Attorney General. She says if elected, Entenza would have a conflict of interest since the Attorney General's office is currently investigating UnitedHealth Group -- a company that has granted stock options to Entenza's wife.

Mattson said she was spurred on to run when the media began reporting that Entenza had paid a private investigation firm to obtain information about current Attorney General Mike Hatch.

In this podcast I ask Mattson some tough questions, such as if she knew about the conflict of interest before the DFL convention, why did she wait until a month after the convention ended to run?

Is running against a DFL endorsed candidate in the primary a good thing for the DFL party?

And how is she going to get a statewide campaign up and running in the two months we have between now and the September primary.

Listen to the podcast for the answers to those and other questions.

Here is the transcript of the interview

McIntee--Joining me now is Jennifer Mattson who announced today that she is going to be running for the DFL endorsement for Attorney General against the DFL endorsed candidate Matt Entenza. Jennifer joins me now on the line. Can you tell me why you've decided to do that?

Mattson-As I made clear in my press release I've decided to get involved in this race because I believe Matt Entenza is not able to serve effectively as Attorney General. He has an inherent conflict with the ongoing investigation into UnitedHealth. The stock options they've awarded and the 30.8 Million in stock options that have been granted to his wife. As well .... the issue of his research and investigation of Mike Hatch and his response to any questions that have come up raise very important and grave concerns about whether or not he has a flawed candidacy. And if that flawed candidacy is going to take down the entire ticket.

The focus has been for the past week on why did he really do it, how much did it really cost to do the investigation, the direction of the investigation and the purpose. Those answers have not been forthcoming and I been very disappointed at his response and I don't think that in the short time he has left in the campaign he can bring the members of the DFL party back to a position of trust.

Had this investigation been disclosed to the DFL convention I don't think they would have put him on the ticket with Mike Hatch. And Mike Hatch has already raised the issue of the conflict of interest between Matt Entenza investigating his wife over 30.8 Million dollars in UnitedHealth stock options. That conflict is not going away.

McIntee-- I notice that was one of the very first things you mentioned in your letter here -- I have a copy of it -- that you sent to Matt Entenza. By the way, first off -- have you talked to Matt Entenza?

Mattson -- Just briefly. I did hand deliver the letter to Matt earlier this evening he lives less than a half a mile from my home. And I made a point as a courtesy and a former supporter to allow him to know this announcement was coming.

When I dropped by his office --excuse me-- his house to leave it we did have a brief exchange. We shook hands. It was very amicable and arguably I will be seeing lots of him this summer on the campaign trail.

McIntee- Now let's start with that very first point-- that Matt Entenza's wife is somebody who has received stock options from a company that the Attorney General's office is currently involved in investigating. That's something that's been known for quite some time. Why now is this suddenly something for you to run against Entenza on?

Mattson-- Well, I had been hoping that somebody else would step forward. I have been lobbying other attorneys. I understand that people expect a candidate to be older than me. But it became clear to me that 30 or older-- it really doesn't matter at this point what my age is. The bottom line is we don't have a candidate who can actually serve. No one else will step forward. And I have to. I have to give the DFL party a choice.

McIntee -- But why when this was information that was available before the DFL convention did you not decide to throw your hat in the ring then?

Mattson--I fully expected somebody to come forward. I have a busy practice. I have family commitments. I certainly won't be going on the family vacation that I've been planning for over a year this summer. You know, I did not expect to spend the summer, nor did I really pursue spending the summer campaigning. I really until the last moment believed that someone would throw their hat in and that I would fully support them. I would back them in any way that I could. And in absence of that happening I've submitted my name for consideration.

McIntee-- OK, but the convention was about a month ago I think at this point. Why when you saw immediately a month ago that nobody was running against him, why did you wait so long?

Mattson-- Well I make it clear that there are two issues that prompt my decision to run. The conflict and the issue of the past week. I expected someone else to run -- that's really the honest truth. You can ask it anyway you'd like but it became clear to me that I had to run when no one else would and the filing deadline is Tuesday.

McIntee -- OK, let's talk a little bit about the revelations of the past week. Now one of the issues you brought up here is that you don't think that candidates such as running for Attorney General should be involved with the kind of opposition research that Matt Entenza was apparently doing. Can you kind of give me your thoughts on that?

Mattson-- Well, first of all I want to talk a little bit about the term "opposition research".

McIntee -- Sure, define that for us.

Mattson -- To me, the top of your ticket when you're the DFL endorsed candidate for Attorney General is not your opponent. So the idea that this is opposition research is thin to me as a defense. But I believe in opposition research on the issues. Not on somebody's personal life, on where a car was parked, on personal matters. And this-- he expanded the scope by hiring an outside private investigator to come in and sleuth around Minnesota over Mike Hatch's activities. He says that he did that because he wanted to know what the office functions were and how the office operated. He had many avenues to take in finding that out. And first of all, he worked there. So arguably he learned something in his service -- arguably.

If he did not learn enough in his service as an assistant Attorney General he could have reviewed Minnesota statutes. Chapter eight is very though in explaining the duties of the Attorney General. He could have walked down the hall and had a meeting with Attorney General Hatch -- a man who has been in the same party with him for decades. He could also have held a legislative hearing. He could have reviewed the office budget. He could have pursued other ways of finding out what it was he was gaining.

He now said that it was opposition research. I don't think opposition research goes into private lives. I don't think this was --- had anything to do with what Mike Hatch was doing in office. It was a way to find out what was going on in his personal life and that's one of the reasons that people are so disgusted with politics. The voters are really getting tired of mud being thrown back and forth. And this opposition research was aimed at mud throwing. I talk with young people every day about why it is they don't participate in the legislative process by getting out to the polls. And the number one reason they cite to me is disgust with everybody involved. And the reason they're disgusted is this mudslinging that’s only possible when you do opposition research on somebody's personal life.

McIntee -- Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe most of the revelations here of the past week were initiated by opposition research done by the Republicans. Notably I think Michael Brodkorb of Minnesota Democrats Exposed.

Mattson -- That's true.

McIntee -- Now is there any -- If indeed it's opposition research by the Republicans that triggers turmoil within the DFL party, is this the appropriate way to respond to that?

Mattson --Well you have to respond to what's out there. I mean-- we cannot ignore what's now in the public realm. This is not about Matt Entenza's private life. This is about Matt Entenza's ability to be the next Attorney General of the State of Minnesota. And to protect you and me when he operates the largest law firm in the state of Minnesota-- the peoples' law firm -- that's what this is about.

McIntee -- I agree with you totally on the mudslinging thing. I mean especially with the Keith Ellison incidents that we've had and there are a lot of people out there who are practicing what I call the politics of personal destruction. I think Mike Erlandson used that phrase the other night on Almanac and absolutely hit it right nail on the head. But do you see what's going on here as approaching Matt Entenza "you are not fit because of what you've done" not your stand on the issues but because of what you've done -- is that kind of the same thing-- saying "hey you are not personally fit for office because of some of the things you've done outside of the office"?

Mattson -- This is not about what he's done outside of the office. This is about his campaign tactics in pursuing the office. This is about his ability to serve if he gets the office. This is directly on point. And I haven't done some sort of behind the scenes sleuthing. I haven't paid anyone to circumvent a very public process. What I'm doing is announcing why I'm running and the first person I gave that information to was Matt Entenza. Matt Entenza is not being attacked by me because of his personal life. He is being attacked by me because of his inability to remedy a conflict which prohibits him from effectively serving. He's being attacked because of his actions on the campaign trail. He's being attacked because if somebody doesn't step forward and run for the DFL endorsement he has the possibility that his actions will affect the entire ticket come November.

McIntee -- I've asked this question of Mike Erlandson and other people who have decided to run against DFL endorsed candidates. Is that a good thing for the DFL party?

Mattson -- Well, the best thing for the DFL party is to put the strongest candidate on the ballot in November. In an ideal world the party would do that at the convention. The convention didn't have all of the information here. Let's face it. I'm a lawyer. The opinion I'm giving about the unresolvable conflict is a legal opinion. Not every participant at the convention knew that this was and inherent conflict. They may have heard Mike Hatch comment that it was a conflict. But it may or may not have been a deciding factor. Arguably if they knew that the candidate that they were considering endorsing for Attorney General had been researching their candidate for Governor, they may have made a different decision. What I'm saying is because there is a flawed candidate running unopposed; I am going to oppose him.

McIntee -- Let's talk about what the issues are then in this race. Beyond Matt Entenza and your belief that he is not fit or has a conflict of interest here. Are there other issues in this race that we should be hearing about?

Mattson -- Well, the conflict is someone larger than just the issue with United Health. Mike Hatch has done an amazing job taking on the health care companies and that needs to continue. His legacy cannot end when he takes over the Governor's office. His work at the AG's office needs to be completed. One of the other issues is that we as a state deserve a highly functioning law office. The Attorney General's office duties are outlined very extensively in chapter eight and they discuss how an Attorney General can both be the people's lawyer in a civil context and in a criminal context. I plan on following the rule of law and applying it within my office so that we can be effective as I believe we have been for 48 of the last 52 years the people of Minnesota have entrusted the Attorney General's office to DFLers. Now integrity has never been questioned whether it be Lord, Mondale, my grandfather Robert Mattson , Warren Spanus, Humphrey, Hatch-- integrity has not been the issue. My campaign is focusing on the fact that the person who gets into that office needs to be able to be a lawyer for the people.

McIntee-- Let's talk about being a lawyer, because I think to a lot of people your name is not a name that they know -- but they probably know Matt Entenza's name from his years of being in the public eye. Can you give us a little bit about your background and why that makes you qualified for this office?

Mattson--Sure, I am a practicing attorney. I appear in court almost every day on behalf of my clients. I study the law. I love the law. I am a ... I was born and raised in St. Paul. I am a Minnesotan who believes in public service. I am from a family of public servants. My grandfather, as I mentioned, was Attorney General. My father was both State Auditor and State Treasurer. I believe that every person should sacrifice the good of their state and their country and this is a summer that I will devote to discussing how I will run the people's law office of Minnesota.

McIntee-- Now we have a little less than two months between now and the primary in September. How are you going to get your campaign off the ground and win that September primary? What's your tactics, what are your strategies here?

Mattson -- Well, I'll be coming out with various press releases over the summer as I did last time I ran for statewide office. But at this point what I'm focusing on not September but getting the groundwork up -- getting the framework up as soon as possible.

My plan tomorrow, I do have court obligations but after I am done with them, my plan is to go over to the capitol and file. My statement of candidacy is already in my briefcase. My plan then in terms of infrastructure is to install the phone lines, get the website up, solicit donations from the people as to whether or not they would like to help me in my efforts to become the people's law firm -- the head of the people's law firm. Because that's what the Attorney General is. But I will lay the groundwork.

This isn't my first campaign. This is not the first campaign that I've worked on-- that's not even been my campaign I've worked on. Dayton's campaign I was the sixth staff member to sign up for that campaign. So I know what it is to network, get your field ready, get your policy ready and circle the state talking to people about what it is that you'll do if you're entrusted with the vote that you ask them for.

McIntee-- Sounds like you're going to be putting in a lot of miles between now and September.

Mattson -- Arguably I will be. But as a lawyer I put many miles on my car and this is really just a continuation of what I'm already doing. I look forward to the drive. I look forward to talking to people about issues. I look forward to talking to them about what it is that they think I can do to improve upon the already stellar reputation of they Attorney General whom I follow.

McIntee -- Last question here. Should you win the September primary you would be facing Jeff Johnson. How do you stack up against him and what do see the issues there in that match up?

Mattson -- Well, I've looked at his releases. I believe he and I will have a constructive dialog on the issues. But I'm focusing right now on why I am a qualified DFL candidate to go forward in November. After the primary, I will focus on Johnson. For now I'm focused on getting my message out to as many DFLers as possible.

McIntee-- Jennifer Mattson, thank you very much for joining us on Inside Minnesota Politics and folks if you have questions you'd like us to forward on to her or you have questions for us you can always email us at insidemnpolitics@mac.com. Jennifer, thank you again for joining us.

Mattson-- Thank you.

You can subscribe to our podcast in iTunes with just one click.
Comments or questions please call our hotline (yes it is now working!!!) 206-33-TALKS or email us at insidemnpolitcs@mac.com.

Politics of Personal Destruction

2006-07-15T07:57:00.000-05:00

Mike Erlandson hit the nail on the head last night on Almanac. He said "I think there is too much politics of personal destruction".

In the past few weeks we found out that DFL endorsed Congressional Candidate Keith Ellison had the bad judgment to marry a woman who would come down with MS and then the gall to trust his loving wife to run his campaign and personal finances . (For those of you who like to misquote...note the above is meant to be sarcastic)

Remember the tale of the blindfolded men who were asked to describe what they were touching? All came up with very different descriptions because they only were touching a small part of the elephant. From their small amount of information they seemed to be absolutely correct in their analysis. But they were dead wrong on the big picture.

That is what the politics of personal destruction is about. It focuses on small things. It puts the blindfolds on people so they don't see the big picture. Some people by choice decide to be myopic and only focus on one issue. Others have the blindfolds thrust upon them by irresponsible reporting that selectively reports "facts". Traditionally we blame the big media for this as it trys to sensationalize a story to garner more attention.

We'd like to think the "new media" is above that. Unfortunately that is not so. Bloggers- notably Michael Brodkorb- like to practice the politics of personal destruction saying they are just revealing "facts". But as we've seen, "facts" without context can be very misleading.

Spiderman's Uncle Ben said "With great power comes great responsibility". New media is finding its power. That power can be used for good or evil. What we've seen over the past few weeks from Mr. Brodkorb and the newspapers that have repeated his stories is not responsible journalism any stretch of the imagination.

If the media (big and new) are the watchdogs--whose job is it to watch them? The answer is you. Pick up your pen, fire up your computer and complain. Loudly. Demand they invest the time and resources to report the big picture. Mr. Brodkorb's excuse is he has an agenda and is deliberately trying to slant the news with selective reporting. Our major newspapers don't have a similar excuse.