Rambling from the North

The news announcement that everyone knew was coming, has come.

Al Franken has sort of declared that he will run against Norm Coleman for US Senate. The AP has the full story.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.
I like Al, but at the same time, I'm not sure he's the best candidate. I think there could be some benefits to his candidacy, but some significant downsides too. I already know a few people have been offered jobs with him, so we'll see how he does, and at this point, all I can do is wish him luck.
If you want to know some of the downsides, please check out my friend's blog, where he provides a greater Minnesota perspective on politics.

AP has just reported that beloved liberal columnist Molly Ivins has passed away from Cancer earlier today. More as the story develops.

Update:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/obit.ivins.ap/index.html

What a shame. We here at Rambling, will always remember her and her witty humor and send our best wishes to her family.

This is the best thing I've seen all year.

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) "returned to Capitol Hill this week with a prominent gash on his forehead after he was knocked nearly unconscious back home in St. Paul while -- of all things -- dumpster diving," reports the Washington Post.

This is just too precious. I know people who have done it for food, or furniture, but they were all college students, not a Senator. Reportedly, he was "looking for something that my wife accidentally threw in the dumpster."

Ok, is anyone else watching this? Speaker Pelosi is blinking every 3 second, its driving me nuts... I like her but I think she's either got something in her eye, or is trying to kill the president with her mind... I wish her luck!

Whether you like them or not, the Minn delegation was on the aisle tonight. Both Michelle Bachmann and Keith Ellison were both on the aisle to great the President. Bachmann got a handshake and said hi, but Ellison got snubbed. Norm Coleman was also prominently placed to get some good camera angles, so was Amy Klobuchar. Minnesota is on top tonight I guess.

Oh and the vice president looks unhappy, very unhappy.

Labels: State of the Union

Some of you may have noticed the significant decrease in my posts in recent months, as well as a lack of well... controversy on my page. I've stayed safe, haven't even challenged MDE in months now, ect.
There is a reason for this, and its not just because I'm lazy (which I am). I am currently writing a scholarly paper on blogging, specifically political blogging. This paper has taken up a lot of my time and now I'm moving into a harder part- interviewing. I'm going to be trying to interview many of the big Minnesota bloggers (not myself) and reporters, political consultants, and media specialists in the upcoming months.
Why am I telling you this? Well mostly because I like you. Thats right I do. I know you read me because I can post interesting information, some witty banter, and hard hitting reports. But, I have to watch out for them... yes, them. If I want them to answer my calls for an interview, i ahve to play it safe. And so, for the next few months, most of what I post will be safer, Presidential analysis, trying to revive dead stories, ect... maybe not the most exciting, but there is a reason for it. I wanted to make sure you knew why this was happening.
Now that we're on the same page- Something I want everyone to think about-
What has happened with Rep Olson? No updates, no news, he's still a member of the Republican caucus... think about, analyze, then throw up a little in your mouth.

Hillary Clinton announced today that she is forming an exploratory committee and is "in to win". How this will pan out I'm not sure, but she's taking the steps to make it happen and no one was surprised.

I can't get her video copied over (for some reason blogger doesn't like videos) but here's a link to her official announcement... http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/video/?sc=1098

She is taking a very interesting approach to the exploratory committee, instead of having the committee and then turning inwards like so many Presidential candidates do (like Obama for instance) she is attempting to start a "conversation" with America to fix the problems. I don't know if it'll work, but you've got to give her props for trying something different. This week to begin that conversation, starting Monday, with video chats on her website. It'll be interesting to see what she does with this.

Labels: 08, Hillary Clinton, Obama

After a very successful march on Saturday in Minnesota, led by Mayor R.T. Rybak and the movement DraftObama (Draftobama.org) Senator Barack Obama has taken the first steps to run for President by filing a Presidential exploratory committee.

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Sen. Barack Obama said Tuesday he is taking the initial step in a presidential bid that could make him the nation's first black to occupy the White House.

Obama announced on his Web site, http://www.barackobama.com, that he was filing a presidential exploratory committee. He said he would announce more about his plans in his home state of Illinois on Feb. 10.

This comes as no surprise- Obama's student organization has already hired one field organizer in Minnesota, and is looking to hire a second. This is reminiscent of the Howard Dean campaign, who had staff already in Minnesota, in order to use them in Iowa, and then beyond. Students rallied around Dean back in 2004, and Obama is hoping to capitalize in on that in Minnesota.
While this blogger has not officially taken a position on any of the candidates (I originally was behind Gov. Mark Warner, but with his withdrawal, no decision has been made) Obama is one of the front runners in his mind already coming out of the gate. Later this week I will provide a break down on the Presidential campaigns and how I see it breaking down.

Update: MN Campaign Report has the video announcement up.

Labels: 2008 Pres Campaign, Obama

There are a lot of big names being touted for the Republican presidential nomination- John McCain, Rudy, Frist, ect... but someone else has just quietly filed for an exploratory committee. Representative Ron Paul.
For those of you who don't know, Paul (R/L-Tx14) is a libertarian who caucuses with the Republican. He is very fiscally conservative and socially moderate. He has moved to oppose the troop escalation, and is just an all around odd guy. His speeches are some of the most entertaining on the floor, because he makes everyone uncomfortable with many of the positions he takes. I can't wait to see his campaign speeches if he officially announces beyond the committee.

Today by a vote of 280 to 152 the House passed the pay as they go rule, meaning that bills passed that require funds must show where the funds are going to come from. We watched this debate from the House gallery. The debate was interesting, but very few representatives were there watching or participating until the vote was called. Representative Ellison was there for a short period of time, but he let midway through the debate, none of the other Minnesota Congresspeople were there.

When the time for the vote came and everyone filed in, it was interesting to watch the place fill up. Ellison and Representative Tim Walz met on the democratic side of the aisle and talked in a very energetic way, I wish I could have gone down there to speak with them. Rep. Oberstar spent time hugging and then speaking with Representative Michelle Bachmann. It was good to see the Minnesota delegation spending time talking with each other.

Finally, the vote was finished. Democrats had won once again on getting the necessary reforms in place. it was just disappointing to see the lack of participation or interest in the debate but I suppose that is pretty typical of Congress.

Inauguration day is upon us, and i am lucky enough to be spending it in DC. Let me give you a few of the highlights of the day so far-

To begin the day we started at Amy Klobuchar's open house in the Russel Office Building. It was well attended. Former Vice President Walter Mondale and his wife Joan were there. Now Former Senator Mark Dayton was also there and gave a nice speech introducing Senator-elect Klobuchar. She spoke for 10 minutes or so, and then proceeded to be joined by Vice-President Mondale, Sen. Mark Dayton, and Sen. Norm Coleman (In a surprising show of bipartisanship) to walk down to the capital.


Her swearing in was met with many cheers from the Minnesota delegation, gathered together in one of the House office buildings.

After Senator Amy Klobuchar was sworn in, we turned our attention to the House. Many of Keith Ellison's family members were at the partying, and much cheering went up when each of the Minnesota Democratic Senators in turn voted for now Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

My group moved then to the Longworth building and Tim Walz's office. It was a proud day to see his name on the office plaque. We spoke with members of Tim's new staff, and his campaign,as we waited for the official swearing in, which took place at 3 p.m. local time.

We're about to leave for Representative Keith Ellison's open house, then spend a few minutes at Arlington National Cemetery, and wind up at Senator Klobuchar's evening party in Georgetown.
So far, its been a blast and the new Democratically controlled Congress is making DC look very bright today.

As people were counting down tonight in Times Square, a different kind of counter moved in the opposite direction. The victory in Iraq remains unfinished, and getting worse every day. Today marked the 3,000 death in Iraq. I milestone that shouldn't have been reached. A day where people were too busy making phony resolutions, and getting drunk, a day when they were too busy to thank a troop or pray to whichever deity they might believe in, for the safe return of our boys.

Last week I was at a local bar and ran into a guy I went to high school with. He was nothing special in high school. A year older than me and we had a few of the same friends so we knew eachother, but only in a casual manner. He came up to me and said hi. That was when I noticed the USMC tattoo on his arm, and I asked him. This guy--John, told me that he didn't really feel like he had anywhere to go after high school, so he enlisted.

His platoon was sent to Fallujah after he finished boot camp. He spent 6 months over there and still has shrapnel in his hand from it. He told me how he had decided to get out when his term was over, and that he had thought about going back in, but his close friends persuaded him not to. His toon wasn't so lucky. On the squad's first day back they had 10 casualties. The man who slept above him at basic was one of them. He died quickly, this soldier said. There was a tremble in his voice. He was physically upset. But he told me how lucky he was that he had friends that helped make sure he didn't go back. I wonder about the other members of his squad, and why they weren't so lucky.

As we move into the new year, we cannot forget these kinds of people. That night, I bought this man a beer. I didn't have enough money to do much, but I bought him a round, to show him that I appreciate his sacrifice. That it is important for us to hear his story and to retell it to our friends.

Today, as we all lift champagne flutes and make our resolutions to eat less, exercise more, waste less money, and generally to be better people, let us not forget those brave boys over there. The 3000 that have died. It doesn't matter what side you were on when this thing started, all that matters, is their lives and making sure that they come home safely, so we have a few less 20 somethings, in a bar, drinking away their lost friends some lonely December night.