MinnPost - MinnPost.com: Politics

D.C. group asks Senate ethics panel to review Coleman's housing arrangement

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:22:00 -0500

A Washington-based organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, today asked that the Senate Ethics Committee review Sen. Norm Coleman's rental arrangement for his $600-a month housing near the Capitol. Read more...

By Doug Grow

Who should be VP? Pundits' picks for Obama

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:53:00 -0500

Who should be VP? Pundits' picks for Obama

REUTERS/Richard ClementGov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Barack Obama

By Susan Albright

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Here's one way to spend your Fourth of July: Mulling over who Barack Obama should pick as his runningmate. That's what a lot of pundits are doing. Part one of two essays.

What a mess: Can Congress bring order to presidential primary chaos?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:18:00 -0500

What a mess: Can Congress bring order to presidential primary chaos?

By Catharine Richert | Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Sen. Amy Klobuchar thinks our system of picking presidential candidates is a mess. And so do many other members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who are mulling over changes of the presidential primary system. But there may be a big obstacle to Congress jumping in: The Constitution.

Despite Minneapolis' 'weak mayor' system, Rybak emerging strongly as national spokesman

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:12:00 -0500

Minneapolis has what is known as a "weak mayor system,'' but R.T. Rybak is suddenly positioned as one of the country's strongest mayors. Read more...

By Doug Grow

DFL head homes in on Coleman's D.C. housing arrangement

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:28:00 -0500

Depending on your point of view, U.S. Senator Norm Coleman is paying $600 a month to be squeezed into a 10-by-10 room in the basement of a house in Washington, D.C. Or, the Minnesota Republican is living in a lavish, garden-level apartment at a rate far below market value. Read more...

By Doug Grow

New Obama ad targets 18 states, but not Minnesota

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:46:00 -0500

Another new Obama for Pres ad begins airing in 18 states (but not Minnesota). This is a small blur of biography (he passed up the big bucks on Wall Street to work as a community organizer), things he has supported legislatively and things he wants to do as president. Read more...

By Eric Black

Holiday festival to offer a 'Taste' of voting, too

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:59:00 -0500

The Taste of Minnesota festival — which runs Thursday through Sunday at Harriet Island across from downtown St. Paul — hopes to persuade some of its music and food lovers to become informed voters. Read more...

By Joe Kimball

Coleman's latest ad offers same tone, same theme, same shirt

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:40:00 -0500

Norm Coleman's Senate campaign has rolled out another new ad. It's a continuation of his first ad: same tone, same shirt, same background music and same theme — that you have to work together to get things done, in this case, on energy prices and a couple of other things. Read more...

By Eric Black

Peterson nixes Cabinet role; Oberstar a bit less firm

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:29:00 -0500

Minnesota's most powerful Democratic congressman aren't much interested in a Barack Obama administration role.

By David Brauer

Ventura speaks! To a wine rag?

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:13:00 -0500

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura's animus toward the Minnesota press corps is so well known by now, nobody in town much bothers to try to talk to The Body these days. Read more...

By G.R. Anderson Jr.

Some still prefer a loop for St. Paul light-rail route

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:19:00 -0500

Unhappiness about the proposed Central Corridor light-rail route through downtown St. Paul is emerging from several quarters: two churches on Cedar Avenue are complaining that the clattering trains could disrupt weddings and funerals, even cause architectural problems. And Minnesota Public Radio, just down the block, thinks the rail rumblings could affect its transmissions. Read more...

By Joe Kimball

Observations on the latest Obama-McCain poll numbers for Minnesota

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:58:00 -0500

Barack Obama leads John McCain in Minnesota by a whopping 54-37 percent margin in a new Quinnipiac University poll done for the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, while Norm Coleman leads Al Franken in the Senate race by 51-41 percent. Read more...

By Eric Black

Mayor heartened by report that St. Paul's Ford Plant could get two-year extension

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:25:00 -0500

News reports today that the Ford Ranger plant in St. Paul might stay open for another two years brought a statement of relief from Mayor Chris Coleman today. Read more...

By Joe Kimball

McCain state campaign taps veteran Tom Steward as communications director

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:58:00 -0500

Veteran political spokesman and former local television reporter Tom Steward will be the communications director for Sen. John McCain in Minnesota. Read more...

By Joe Kimball

British magazine ranks Minneapolis in its Top 20 livable cities worldwide

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:48:00 -0500

Never heard of Monocle, that British magazine that covers global politics, current affairs and fashion? That doesn't matter. Monocle has heard of us. Read more...

By Doug Grow

Peterson flips on FISA, gets zilch

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:17:00 -0500

A media release from MAPlight.org takes to task several congressional Democrats who changed their votes on the Foreign Intelligence Survelliance Act of 1978, commonly known as FISA. Read more...

By G.R. Anderson Jr.

Electoral College Watch I: Obama 317, McCain 221

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:29:00 -0500

You can look at national popular vote polls if you choose to. (They generally show Barack Obama with a consistent but certainly not insurmountable lead; the current average of polls maintained by Real Clear Politics has it Obama 48.3 to John McCain's 40.8). Read more...

By Eric Black

With Obama's message clear, GOP worries about McCain's shifting slogans

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:52:00 -0500

REUTERS/Jason ReedSupporters cheer Sen. Barack Obama in St. Paul.

With Obama's message clear, GOP worries about McCain's shifting slogans

By Doug Stone

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

While voters readily associate Sen. Barack Obama with "change," they're less sure of Sen. John McCain's message, which veers between selling him as a committed conservative and as an independent thinker.

State campaign leaders for Obama and McCain taking different tacks

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:23:00 -0500

State campaign leaders for Obama and McCain taking different tacks

By Doug Grow | Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Jeff Blodgett, the Wellstone veteran, and Ben Golnik, the relative Republican "youth," agree on Minnesota's importance on the presidential electoral map. The two campaigns, however, are starting off with very different styles, structures and energy levels.

House committee holds meeting to find state government too full of committees, meetings

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:24:00 -0500

The House Governmental Operations, Reform, Technology and Elections Committee heard testimony from Geoff Bartsh, president of the Minnesota Governmental Relations Council. Bartsh, who considers himself an experienced lobbyist, has reached one conclusion about how things run at the Capitol: They're screwed up. Read more...

By G.R. Anderson Jr.

Obama campaign announces state communication director

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:46:00 -0500

Just announced: The communications director for the Barack Obama campaign in Minnesota is Nick Kimball. Good choice. He's my nephew. Read more....

By Joe Kimball

Local pols to visit bridge site Tuesday morning

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:47:00 -0500

Though it likely will bring out less self-congratulatory rhetoric than when U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters came to Bloomington earlier this month to re-announce plans for $133 million in fed money to refurbish the I-35W corridor, state lawmakers are gearing up for a little dog-and-pony event at the bridge site Tuesday morning. Read more...

By G.R. Anderson Jr.

Coleman campaign zings back at critics with tongue-in-cheek Franken 'ad'

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:26:00 -0500

Last week, left-tilting blogs were having a field day speculating that a new Norm Coleman ad, featuring his spouse, Laurie, was a little deceptive in trying to show the closeness of the couple. Read more...

By Doug Grow

Mayors seeking to help for GOP convention

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:53:00 -0500

The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul will hold a news conference and pep rally Monday morning, hoping to inspire more people to volunteer for the Republican National Convention. Read more...

By Doug Grow

McCain comes to town: The Humble Warrior's subdued campaign visit

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:46:00 -0500

McCain comes to town: The Humble Warrior's subdued campaign visit

Analysis by G.R. Anderson Jr. | Friday, June 20, 2008

John McCain came to town Thursday, displaying a moderate, almost quiet, tone and demeanor. His modest and intimate "town hall" setting in St. Paul was a far cry from Barack Obama's packed arena appearance in the same city, lending an air of humility to McCain's presidential bid. The contrast is no accident.

This year, a fractured nation yearns for unity

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:25:00 -0500

This year, a fractured nation yearns for unity

By Steve Berg | Thursday, June 12, 2008

Today each person gets to have his or her own version of reality, and voters have sorted themselves into like-minded geographical enclaves. Yet the underlying theme to the John McCain-Barack Obama contest now unfolding is a national longing for some kind of glue that can bind us together during difficult times.

Some DFLers leaving party convention fearful of a Franken 'hangover'

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:00:00 -0500

Some DFLers leaving party convention fearful of a Franken 'hangover'

Analysis by Doug Grow | Monday, June 9, 2008

State delegates partied hearty after Saturday's quick endorsement of Al Franken to take on incumbent Norm Coleman this fall. But some party faithful are sobered by the potential fallout that the comedian's controversial past writings may create in his race — and in those of other DFLers on the ballot.

Four-hour momentum swing boosts Franken to first-ballot DFL endorsement

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:30:00 -0500

Four-hour momentum swing boosts Franken to first-ballot DFL endorsement

By Doug Grow | Saturday, June 7, 2008

What a difference four hours can make at the DFL convention. At 9 a.m., many delegates had resigned themselves to a multiple-ballot free-for-all in the Senate endorsement race between embattled Al Franken and challenger Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer. But by 1 p.m., the political winds had shifted, and Franken breezed to a first-ballot victory.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's Remarks in Washington, D.C.

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:00:00 -0500

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's Remarks in Washington, D.C.

I want to start today by saying how grateful I am to all of you — to everyone who poured your hearts and your hopes into this campaign, who drove for miles and lined the streets waving homemade signs, who scrimped and saved to raise money, who knocked on doors and made calls, who talked and sometimes argued with your friends and neighbors, who emailed and contributed online, who invested so much in our common enterprise, to the moms and dads who came to our events, who lifted their little girls and little boys on their shoulders and whispered in their ears, "See, you can be anything you want to be."

Franken's campaign veering out of control, rumors fly and Ciresi considers jumping back in the race

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:52:00 -0500

Franken's campaign veering out of control, rumors fly and Ciresi considers jumping back in the race

By Doug Grow | Friday, June 6, 2008

Al Franken's bandwagon is veering out of control as it approaches Rochester and the DFL state convention. As disclosures about Franken's controversial writings and past activities roll out, Mike Ciresi is considering reviving his U.S. Senate candidacy, maybe even running in a September primary against a DFL endorsed candidate. And there are all sorts of rumors floating around that other DFLers also are ready to leap into a primary if Franken continues to stumble.