Rambling from the North

Dump Michelle Bachmann covered this first, but now the Star Tribune has an article about it.

Apparently Michelle Bachmann is trying to get the state to reimburse her for her cable TV at her house. What else should the state be paying for?

Bachmann, a GOP state senator from Stillwater, has sought and received reimbursement from the state for bills from a cable TV company that also provides Internet service. Under Senate rules, members can be reimbursed for up to $125 a month for job-related communication expenses.

Apparently she's been doing this for the last six years and thinks it a very normal thing. Her claim is that she uses it to watch school board meetings and other local government meetings. Yeah Right... Anyone actually tried to sit through and watch one of those things on TV? Your eyes glaze over after 30 seconds and you either fall asleep or change the channel before your head explodes.

This is just another clear example of an anti-spending republican trying to get the state to spend needlessly. Apparently the state can spend on her cable bill, but not on our education. Fantastic.

The Star Tribune updated the story about the sex offender today. They didn't say much except to release two photos of him, hoping it will aid in identifying him if he still is in the state.

I have perused the Tribune, hoping it would say more, but it hasn't. This is a story we can't let die and I ask all the others in the blogosphere to pick up on it. We cannot let our govenor get away with this action. He has repeatedly allowed sex offenders to escape, and done nothing to get them back!

I asked for statements from the DFL Gubenatorial candidates last week. Only one so far has gotten back to me. If the others don't within the next few days I will post the one reply I recieved. Hopefully this will jolt the other two campaigns into submitting responses.

We cannot sit idly by as our govenor does nothing to protect our young women. We must take a stand. Last Thursday was Take Back the Night at Loring park, a rally to take the night back for women everywhere. 1 out of every 3 women has been raped. This is a horrible statistic! What is our Govenor doing? Nothing. Did he show up at Take Back the Night? No. Does he appear to care about our women? Not a bit. Apparently he only cares about women if they are pregnant and thinking about an abortion. Govenor Pawlenty's actions as govenor have proven he only cares about his political career, extreme Christians, and pushing forward an agenda that is harmful to Minnesota.
Call him and urge him to help women take back the night and urge him to get off his lazy butt and do something about this sex offender: (651) 296-3391 or e-mail him at tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

In a recent e-mail from the Steve Kelley campaign, they released numbers that put them in second place, behind Mike Hatch. Becky Lourey's campaign put out an e-mail this afternoon. I find it pretty entertaining. Here's the first paragraph-

There have been many rumors swirling around in the political winds for the last few days about which campaign for Governor has the most accurate count on committed, identified delegates to the state endorsing convention. In fact, the Steve Kelley campaign recently released an email to supporters claiming to have secured a second place position in the overall delegate count based upon a particular calculation of delegates. As you might expect, our numbers are different -significantly different.

This seems questionable to me. I haven't seen a campaign take a pot shot like that. The potshots continue throughout the e-mail, including this gem--

It is obvious to most observers that the Kelley campaign is presenting their numbers to put their candidate in the best light in order to try to build momentum entering the convention. In their carefully worded email, the Kelley campaign qualifies its count by saying;�We are including in our 'committed delegates' count only those people who have been elected in a named sub-caucus, or who have expressed publicly their support for a particular candidate.� Even a casual observer knows that this methodology will provide results that do not reliably compare campaigns.

Those of us who have been working on statewide races and have lived through a number of senate, county unit and state conventions can recognize the inexperience of the Kelley campaign staffers who do not have similar experience in counting delegates

First, as someone who knows staffers on both campaigns, this part horrifies me. I can't believe they would take a shot like this at staff. Some things are off limits. Attacking the volunteers, college students, and hard workers, should be one of them. The e-mail continues--

Flawed Methodology
We believe the Kelley campaign methodology is flawed, and therefore misleading, for the following reasons:

1. Beyond Named Subcaucuses: Simply counting delegates who have been elected in a named subcaucus does not capture all committed delegates. That calculation fails to include committed delegates in issue subcaucuses and subcaucuses called for a candidate in a different race who support a candidate in the governor�s race.
2. Elections at Large: Not all county conventions subcaucused, yet they still elected delegates. For example, the Cook County convention did not subcaucus but elected three Lourey delegates, in Grant County two of the three delegates are committed to Senator Lourey. Leaving out conventions misses that Becky Lourey�s sister and brother in law were elected at their county unit!
3. Assuming Support: Counting a person as a �hard� delegate based upon a public declaration of support is a three fold mistake. First, it will always tilt the count toward the campaign collecting the data. Good campaigns want comparative data, which public declarations of support simply do not provide. Second, there are many reasons a campaign might be provided inaccurate information. Because of friendships or loyalties, the choice of the delegate is often kept private for good reason. Lastly, people change their minds. For example, in its recent email the Kelley campaign quotes Arlene Pierce of Lake of the Woods and identifies her as a Steve Kelley delegate. She is not. As of this morning, she is a committed Becky Lourey delegate.

Eventually the e-mail turns into a message about how Lourey is the most qualified. I've got to say, after this e-mail I feel less confident about her numbers then I did about the Kelley numbers.
The Kelley numbers are suspect. But, rather then just publish their own and let it go at that, the Lourey campaign made a blunder here. They spent their entire e-mail challenging the Kelley campaign, point by point. They give a lot of credence and come off very afraid of Kelley. Lourey's e-mail does not prove she's in a better position- despite colored graphs, all it shows is a gross error made by a campaign staff person in advising her to approve this e-mail.

Perhaps Lourey really is afraid of Kelley? Either way, both confirm that Hatch is significantly in the lead. Not that any of these numbers matter right now- What all confirm is there is a large number of people coming from undecided subcaucuses. These people will be the ones who chose the next govenor of the state of Minnesota, and the campaigns becoming petty isn't going to sway people.

I have just recieved notice that Christian Sande has recieved the Teamsters union endorsement. This is a big thing for the Sande campaign.
This will push Sande's continued momentum over the top-drawing in a larger number of delegates who were on hold waiting for Sande to get a union.

A largely undercovered story this past week concerns Michael Dale Benson, a level three a sex offender, who escaped from a security hospital in St. Peter on April 15. A $10,000 reward has been offered for his capture. Increased security has been ordered at the hospital, including a review of the facilities' security measures. Benson was convicted in 1987 of criminal sexual conduct for breaking into a home in Douglas County, sexually assaulting a woman and threatening to kill her.

But what has our Govenor done? According to the Star Tribune, he's asked for increased security and razor wire to be placed around the hospital. But what else? Nothing!

Our leader has fallen silent when a known sexual predator, who preys on unknown women, is on the lose. This is one of the most dangers types of criminals. But the question must be asked- Where is our govenor? If he cared, he would have ordered the state troopers to be combing the area. He would have been active. But he hasn't been. Why?

Does Tim Pawlenty care about Minnesotan women? This sex offender escaped near 3 or 4 colleges. If he hasn't fled the state already, the govenor has done nothing to ensure our young women are safe. He has not increased security in the local towns, he hasn't taken care to increase patrols on the state borders, he hasn't done a thing.

Is this the kind of leadership we can expect from Pawlenty for the next four years if he is re-elected? I can't understand why anyone would support the Govenor after this kind of behavior. We've seen his lack of concern for our women and children before, especially when it comes to his drive to get rid of Minnesota Care, but this takes the cake. Govenor Pawlenty, Do something or give the office to someone who will.

I will be asking the DFL govenor candidates in the next few days to submit statements on what they would do differently in this situation, and post it on my site. It is important that we, as bloggers and citizens of Minnesota, hold our do nothing Govenor accountable for his lack of actions.

I attended the CD4 convention today. Wow did it go long today!
CD4 itself was done by 12:30, nothing unusual came out of it. The entire Executive committee was re-elected, and a number of other people were elected for various committees and commissions. Oh, and Betty McCollum was re-endorsed for congress, shocker!

The big stuff happened after CD4 at the Ramsey County Convention.
First, there was actually a challenge for Soil and Water board! Joe Carlile, from Betty McCollum's office was endorsed on the first vote for the board however.

Second, Bill Finey was unanimously and loudly endorsed for Sheriff. He rules!

Finally, the Ramsey County Attorney was a very contentious election. Susan Gaertner v. Corey Tennison. Going into the convention, I would have put money down on Tennison winning.
However, he was his own undoing. During the Q&A session, Tennison became nasty. He became sarcastic. He attacted Gaertner repeatedly about her record of being a democrat.
This including passing out a literature piece written by a former candidate, against Gaertner for endorsing a Republican.
Corey lost my vote when, after the Q&A part had ended and they asked them to leave, he quipped, "We don't have to go to the same room do we?"

The balloting went on through five ballots. Tennison was ahead, but barely, often it was 46-54% but, as it inched closer to the fifth ballot, Gaertner was inching up, and Tennison inching down. Before the fifth ballot's results were read, Tennison got to the mic and announced that, this was going to continue going up and down until past midnight, and he conceded it to Gaertner. I'm not sure why he did this. I think it was a bad move in terms of winning (since he's completely out now) but it made sure I could get out of there earlier then 10:00 at night.
It finally adjourned around 5:30. Props to the CD4 team for their good running of the convention!

Today, a dispute that has been brewing at St. Thomas for the past year or so, was finally settled. For those of you who havne't been paying attention to St. Thomas' recent scandal, let me fill you in.

The controversy began a year ago after a lesbian choir director tried to bring her partner on a school trip to France, was told it was inappropriate and was asked to make separate travel arrangements for her. She skipped the trip. Last November, two unmarried professors who have lived together for more than a decade were asked to book separate rooms on a trip to Australia. Rather than do so, they passed on the trip.

What the article doesn't mention, is that originally, the opposite sex couple was going to be allowed to book together, until a few students and parents made a stink about the double standard. That and the choir director threatening to sue.

The administration however, is alone on this one. The article doesn't mention that over 100 professors signed a petition to the school president against this policy. It also doesn't mention that students have been writing editorials against this discriminating policy. Sometimes newspapers just don't cover enough.

Today's Star Tribune has a good article about money in congressional races. There are a few interesting facts there-

Walz's results, which have been covered on other blogs are very strong

Walz, a DFLer and Mankato West High School geography teacher, brought in more money in the first quarter than Republican incumbent Gil Gutknecht in the race for Minnesota's First Congressional District. Walz raised twice the contributions he received all of last year.

In other news, both McCollum and Ramstead have raised close to the same amounts. Perhaps being in such safe districts they are focusing more on helping others then funding htemselves? (I still would like to see Wendy Wilde at least threaten Ramstead... we'll see about that though.)

Another interesting point is the congressional race in CD 5. Unsurprisingly- Mike Erlandson, former DFL Chairman has outraised every other candidate by nearly double. this wasn't a surprise considering he was known as the "fundraising chair" during his 6 years as chairman. The interesting point here however is Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer's funds. It claims he raised over $24,000, yet is down to $5,000. What has he spent his money on? Thats$19,000 for crowns and arm bands? I'm kind of worried about this. It shows a complete lack of knowledge of how to spend money wisely for a campaign. Erlandson is second in spending with $6,000. Thats a huge jump and it does concern me greatly.

In the 6th CD republican race, I was surprised to see Krinkie having done so poorly in the last quarter as he is listed as one of the top contenders for the seat. Bachman and Knoblach seem to be vying for the top seat in terms of money raised. Below is a breakdown of each race.

Overall- the thing that concerns me most with these numbers is how down and out the democrats are when it compares to the republicans. While Tim Walz is doing stellar for a democrat in the first CD, he's been outraised by 6x. How is he going to compete with that? I know he's a great candidate, has a lot of support, people are ready for a change, but every political science text book will tell you, 95% of the time, the candidate with the most money wins. Right now, that seems to be the incumbents. I hope our come-from-behind DFLers are in that 5%

Incumbents in Bold
CD 1st Quarter 2006 Total to Date Cash on Hand
1st CD-
Gil Gutknecht-R $105,101 $578,368 $680,073
Tim Walz- DFL $127,024 $245,160 $124,452
2nd CD
John Kline-R $189,833 $849,527 $552,318
Coleen Rowley-DFL- $98,868 $269,170 $101,778
3rd CD
Jim Ramstad-R $61,060 $460,476 $1,144,290
4th CD
Betty McCollum-DFL $62,208 $250,408 $161,820
5th CD
Gail Dorman-DFL $25,000 $25,000 N/A
Keith Ellison-DFL $17,295 $17,295 $16,000
Mike Erlandson-DFL $58,000 $58,000 $52,000
Ember Reichgott Junge-DFL $33,935 $33,935 $30,689
Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer-DFL $24,556 $24,556 $5,801
Gary Schiff-DFL $3,800 $3,800 $1,200
6th CD
El Tinklenberg- DFL $61,471 $363,994 $145,580
Patty Wetterling-DFL $179,123 $179,123 $168,366
Michele Bachman-R $81,372 $395,154 $196,232
Jay Esmay-R $2,333 $55,797 $15,086
Jim Knoblach-R $83,194 $354,995 $327,853
Phil Krinkie-$ $36,375 $373,467 $255,049
7th CD
Collin Peterson-DFL $113,833 $432,711 $166,911
Michael Barrett-R $5,390 $5,390 $1,863
8th CD
James Oberstar-DFL $97,070 $578,481 $349,317

Figures provided by the Star Tribune on April 18th 2006.

There is an article in Time Magazine about the religious organization Opus Dei. I've always been a religious history nut, so I picked up a copy and read it.

Its a very interesting read and I recommend it. Time has a summary of the article online. One of the more interesting things from the article is this:

For years, Catholics in Washington have kept informal count of possible high-profile Opus people, including Justice Antonin Scalia and almost-Justice Robert Bork, Republican Sens. Rick Santorum and Sam Brownback, columnist Robert Novak and former FBI head Louis Freeh.

I can't say I'm surprised, but I didn't think they were affiliated with this suprareligious organization. This is shocking even for them.

The thing that troubles me most is Justice Scalia. How can you pledge to uphold our constitution fairly, when you are paying into and a member of an elite church sect who's dedicated to preserving and enhancing ultra-conservative values within the chuch? Seems like a major conflict of interest to me.

This was just posted to the Political science mailing list at the University of Minnesota- I thought I would get it out there hoping that some people will apply. Ramsted IS beatable! Seriously! But we need a strong candidate willing to run at least two times in a row, hopefully it'll be Wendy so go support her!

Get in on the beginning stages of a Federal Congressional campaign and help us take back the U.S. Congress in 2006! Can start immediately or after school is out (would prefer immediate). Minimum 4 hours per week per person, can increase hours over summer if interested. Need immediate help with online research, 95% political, 5% other needed information. Any day of the week is fine, working temporarily from candidate's home office with 2 high speed computers / printer / phone, will move into campaign office after endorsement convention May 6. This is going to be an exciting campaign! As the campaign builds, you will be in line for important work that you, with your Poli Sci education, will be ready to handle. Until we build campaign funds, all of our campaign staff positions are volunteer. Likewise, this Internship begins as unpaid volunteer, but as the campaign progresses we want to be able to pay you and other campaign staff for your work. For more information see beginnings of website at www.WildeforCongress.com Wendy Wilde is a former Air America talk host in the Twin Cities, and formerly with WCCO Radio before that. The radio show website is www.WendyWilde.com Please email Wendy@WildeforCongress.com if interested. Send your name and phone number, email address, your interest area, and available hours / first date available. Wendy Wilde, www.wildeforcongress.com.

As I was getting ready to update my blog links (see to the left... very good!) I was looking to include the 5th congressional district candidates. As I am from the fourth, I wish them all luck and don't have to take a side.

However, I noticed an odd thing. When I typed in www.ostrowforcongress.com I was surprised at what happened.
website. I don't want to accuse the Erlandson's camp, and I haven't had time to check who owns Ostrowforcongress, but either way, its not very nice and very dissapointing.
If you click that, you'll see, it goes to Mike Erlandson's website. I don't want to accuse the Erlandson's camp, and I haven't had time to check who owns Ostrowforcongress, but either way, its not very nice and very dissapointing.

I have been way to busy to think about blogging lately. Conventions, the Dinner, and homework. Did I mention homework?

Life is incredibly busy thanks to the time of season known as finals. So I'm going to do a general update post about a bunch of information, so hold your breath.

I attended the HHH Dinner on saturday night. Boy was it nice. The food was sort of decent, (I'm still not sure whether the breaded thing was chicken or fish...) but the speeches! Mike Erlandson was nice enough to keep his time short, even though this was supposed to honor him, Ciresi spoke for awhile and was very elloquent. Once in awhile I wonder why he isn't a US Senator. Then I remember. Senator Dayton also spoke. He did very well, spoke with strength and compassion. Once in awhile I am sad to lose him. But I still can't wait until Amy Klobuchar is the next US Senator.

The best of course was Senator Barak Obama. DFLers.org has the complete text of his speech. He covered everything, from his meeting with a 105 year old woman, to using a quote from Newt Gingrich(GASP!). His speech was inspiring. I was lucky enough to meet him and get a picture!

The awards went out as well. I missed who got one, but the HHH award went to Charlie and Jeanne Thomas. No one deserves an honor for their work building up the second district more then the Thomas'. They have dedicated their lives to the party and they deserve this recognition.

In other news... I met Minnesota Campaign Report this weekend, nice guy. Its good to slowly meet and weed out who exactly the other bloggers are. Hopefully in the future we can all start working together to create a stronger, unified DFL message.

Erin Murphy got endorsed in 64a. Thats big news as well. It was a brutal battle, that hopefully is done now.

According to checks and balances Krinkie and Knobloch have been fighting well into the session for their 6th battle. Hopefully the door will be open for either Patty or El to just walk right into congress, helping give us our majority.

I have more, but I am blanking right now. Just took a huge test and I need a nap. Happy Monday everyone.

Yesterday, I made a post about Senator Dayton. I reviewed the C-span log and indeed, the good senator slurs his words and does stumble as he's trying to get up. Whether this is alcohol or not, it was wrong of me to jump to conclusions about him. I appologize to all about it, Something *Was* wrong with Senator Dayton yesterday. I should not have assumed what it was, but merely observed his curious behavior. So again, I am sorry for my assumptions and hope it was nothing but tiredness or nerves that led to Senator Dayton's odd behavior.

I have just recieved rumors that Senator Mark Dayton gave a speech earlier today while apparently slurring words and a bit of staggering. I have not confirmed this, but could it be our retiring Senator hitting the sauces a little early these days?

Bachman's amendment fails. Oh Happy day. DFLers.org liveblogged it, read more about it here. on a party line vote!

Finaly 62 endorsed a candidate, after what seemed like a million ballots, Patricia Torres was enorsed for State Senate. Congratulations Patricia, now lets see who is going to take this to a primary, hopefully no one and we can actually concentrate on districts that need help (Like every one in the third congressional district!)