Sarvi and CD 2 boosted

From CQ story on key House races shifting towards Democrats.

Minnesota’s 2nd(New Rating: Republican Favored. Previous Rating: Safe Republican). Steve Sarvi is an Iraq War veteran and the former mayor of Watertown whose biography and experience make him a strong recruit for Democratic efforts to take over the 2nd District from three-term Rep. John Kline . CQ Politics is changing its rating on the race to Republican Favored from Safe Republican, indicating it is a race to watch. The DCCC has categorized the race similarly. It lists the 2nd District race as one of its 20 “Emerging Races,” which means the party is keeping an eye on the race and will get involved if Sarvi meets certain criteria to prove the strength of his campaign. However, weak fundraising for Sarvi and overall demographics give Kline the advantage in holding the district, which covers the southern Twin Cities suburbs. Sarvi reported raising $262,000 and had $98,000 on hand by June 30 while Kline raised $1.1 million and had $647,000 on hand by the same date. Voters in Minnesota do not register by party, but results from the presidential race indicate Republicans hold the advantage in the 2nd — President Bush carried the district with 51 percent of the vote in 2000 and increased his take in 2004 to 54 percent of the vote. Kline easily defeated FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley 56 percent to 40 percent in 2006.

One big fundraising quarter by Sarvi and he will really make Kline shake in his boots. This is great news for the Sarvi camp!

Kline distorts record on National Guard "Yellow Ribbon Rintegration Act"

"That's why I introduced and helped pass the bi-partisan Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Act. This legislation provides special training events at 30-, 60-, and 90 day intervals, after their return.

Interesting.

Recall the antics House Republicans played this past May on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (HR 2642).

Within HR 2642 was an amendment for $65.4 million for the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program. The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program helps members of the National Guard and Reserve transition from combat to civilian life.

Congressman Kline didn't vote nay.

Didn't vote aye.

Congressman Kline (and Bachmann) voted PRESENT.

Veterans do not need political leaders playing games with these issues. Kline eventually voted for the legislation but his May vote of Present disrespects Veterans and these important issues.

More to follow on Kline's bad record on Veterans issues.

Kline abusing franking privilege on Veterans?

Two Putt Tommy has put together a great story over at Mn Blue on the issue.

Part 1

Part 2

Review of 1 and 2

Part 3

The Freedom Of Information Act request I submitted to the VA has been filed and approved; any day I'm expecting a hardcopy list of zip codes that John Kline requested for sending his personal propaganda to veterans - at government expense.

I know that Kline shouldn't have "franked" me, at taxpayer expense - the VA already told me that. You see, I'm not in Kline's district; I'm in CD-03 and it's against the law for a Member of Congress to do a franked, unsolicted, mass-mailing to addresses outside of the Member's district.

Part 4

Two Putt is right to be ticked off here. There is a difference between constituent outreach, which for Kline, Veterans ought to be at the top of his list, and campaign propoganda.

Two Putt puts together a pretty compelling argument that Kline uses his privilege to create a false sense of support to Veterans outside of CD 2.

Now that I have a copy of Kline's letter, we'll put together an analysis of his votes on the key issues he touts. I've already found at least one issue he listed that he recently voted against...

More to follow, but go check out Two Putt's story!

Coleman Ad Implies Brian Davis Unfit For Congress

Coleman's latest bowling ad says that and a lot more.



With the revelation yesterday that Brian Davis was fined $1,237.05 for late property taxes every year between 2003 and 2007, Davis continues his downward spiral in the 1st Congressional "race".

"It's something that has come in the mail, and between my wife and it's taken a while to pay it," said Davis.

Perhaps Davis or Biers ought to call the Bachmann people. Instead of wasting her time on postage stamp analogies of ANWR, she could actually send him some postage stamps to pay his property taxes.

Let's also recall that he is a serial exaggerator, inflating his credentials to make himself appear more qualified than he really is.

Of course we have his time as the treasurer of the Olmstead County Republican Party, where somehow, the treasurer or someone was so inept at...well, being a treasurer, that their campaign finance board report was missing more than $13,000 in contributions.

We're working to confirm Davis's previous enrollment in the Enron school of bookkeeping.

Finally, we have Brian Davis being convicted of operating a vehicle with expired registration and having his drivers license suspended.

Having viewed the Coleman ad several times now, I've come to see it in a different light. While mocking some of Franken's problems, what Coleman's ad really says to me is that unless you have already been elected to office before, you are unqualified for higher office. The ad has an aura of entitlement that beyond the satire, ticks me off.

But I do agree with Norm Coleman on one thing...

Brian Davis is unfit to be a member of Congress.

Coleman's Disrespect For The "F Word"?

Not that one!

Nope, not fundraising.

Not freeloader either, although that's debatable.

Progressive talk show host Ed Schultz has used the radio waves to call out Norm Coleman for his "skirt chasing".

Conservative blogger Mitch Berg labeled the Senator's marriage as an "unconventional marriage" a little more than a month ago.

It’s been an open secret forever in Saint Paul and Minnesota politics; Norm and his wife have a rather unconventional marriage. Schultz is being disingenuous if he claims this is some big revelation (or, equally likely, the dim little bulb inside his thick little head hasn’t quite quite figured it out yet, and his prime directive, “blow hard first, ask questions later”, is in control).

Traffic looking for Norm Coleman marriage information in the past month has skyrocketed since Berg revealed this to the world. Seems like it was not the open secret he thought it was.

So, does Senator Coleman's "unconventional marriage" show disrespect to the "f word"?

Fidelity?

I've got to say, based on the the right wing blog traffic I've seen over the last several weeks, the last thing anyone wants to talk about in the US Senate race are the issues.

So, Norm Coleman's "unconventional marriage".

I'll say this. Having been to literally every gas station in SD 18, you won't find a Playboy anywhere.

However, Coleman's "unconventional marriage" will hurt him in our small rural communities where faith and fidelity are everyday values, not once every 6 years campaign slogans.

Coleman launches negative ad

I laughed when I saw this on KARE 11 this morning.

Bachmann contributor and sexual enhancers!

Oh man...Political Muse hit this one right out of the park!

Better yet...William Hudlow gave to Senator Coleman's campaign back in 2002 and has given more than $15,000 in contributions to the Minnesota GOP.

We'll be following the happenings over at Liberal in the Land of Conservative on this breaking story.

More Mark Olson for Senate Stuff

A new slogan for Olson?

Mark Olson for State Senate

"Because my insanity grew bigger than the B side could contain."

Sorry, I just cannot see how he's going to win this primary fight. His domestic violence problems alone make him unelectable and a man without honor. Kiffmeyer easily won endorsement in the 16B race and Olson's firebrand speeches and tactics will not happen in a Senate that is...well...much tamer than the House where his antics draw laughter.

Lisa Fobbe (SD 16) Announces Senate Campaign

Mark Olson in on the GOP side...Lisa Fobbe is in as a DFLer!

ZIMMERMAN—Lisa Fobbe, the chairwoman of the Princeton Public School District Board and the Oakland Cooperative School Board, announced her candidacy for the Senate District 16 seat being vacated by incumbent Betsy Wergin.

A DFLer, Fobbe said she’ll work hard to continue the bipartisan approach Wergin, a Republican, championed during her six years in office.

"The political bomb-throwers are the ones who get all the attention," Fobbe said. "But they’re not getting anything done for Minnesota. I will continue to reach across the isle and look beyond party labels. Minnesotans don’t care who’s a Republican and who’s a Democrat. They’re looking for leaders willing to do the hard work to get things done and that’s the approach I’ll bring to the Capitol."

Fobbe also serves on the Minnesota State High School League Board and is a director on the Minnesota School Board Association. She has worked as director of youth ministry and religious education for the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and as a child care counselor for an Amhurst Wilder Foundation residential treatment center.

In 2006, Fobbe won the Princeton Rotary Club distinguished service award and in 2007 was a candidate for the Princeton Chamber of Commerce’s volunteer of the year award.

"In serving the community, I know people have real concerns about Minnesota’s future," Fobbe said. "But we can accomplish anything if our political leaders are willing to empower the people who make our state great."

Fobbe has a degree in social work from the College of St. Benedict and lives in Zimmerman with her husband, Americo Fraboni, and their three children, Angelo (18), Domenic (15), and Gino (12).

We'll have more on the campaign later. Nothing up at the Campaign Finance Board as of yet, although I am sure a commenter will leave info in the comments when we get contribution information!

Franken War Analogy No Big Deal

I will never be construed as a Franken apologist.

I am also hyper sensitive to politicians taking advantage of the military and Veterans and using them as campaign fodder.

MDE posted about Franken Spokesperson Andy Barr's comments in the Startribune.

“‘We’re entering the phase of the campaign where it’s hand-to-hand, day-to-day combat,’ said Franken spokesman Andy Barr.”

As someone hyper sensitive here, no big deal. Coleman's record on Iraq alone loses him credibility. Franken has been to Iraq several times on USO tours and has met face to face with our troops.

I saw him talking to Veterans at the Monticello VFW nearly 18 months ago. He's genuine. He gets it.

Attacking the Franken campaign for the use of a popular campaign euphemism when the campaigns are starting to "ramp it up" (another military euphemism) is weak.

Move along now, nothing to see here...this dust up by Brodkorb and the right is no big deal at all, just another attempt to refrain from talking issues.

Mark Olson for State Senate?

As my Grandpa Burnham used to say, "Good Night!" As an Old Norwegian farmer, he'd say this at something that would make him mad or surprise him.

Good Night!

Just when we were basking in the glow of retirement of the "Dump Mark Olson" blog, we get hit with this news today from Larry Schumacher.

Fresh after not filing for the 16B seat he lost the GOP endorsement for, Olson joins a crowded field left running in the GOP primary for Betsy Wergin's seat.

Wergin is leaving the Senate to fill a position on the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, a position held by her brother.

Gotta love nepotism!

Back to Olson...

Olson's entry into the SD 16 Senate race makes it a very interesting race. Olson's endorsement loss to Kiffmeyer caused wide speculation that he would run for the House seat as an Independent. He would have lost too...

His decision to run for the State Senate brings along his vast amount of political baggage as well. Highway 169 through Princeton may not be wide enough for the Mark Olson baggage cart.

We all know about Olson's marital problems and we honestly hope they are making the necessary steps to continue their lives together. A contentious Senate race will not make things easier.

Lisa Fobbe, Chair of the Princeton School Board filed today as well as Assistant Mille Lacs County Attorney Mark Joseph Herzing.

I'll be checking Political Muse's work over at LiLoC for more info on SC 16!

Sarvi on WCCO this morning! Update

You Tubes will be up shortly.

He did a very good job!

*Two Putt Tommy over at MnBlue has a post up about the show, as well as other poignant commentary.

As soon as the YouTubes are ready, we'll post them. Can't believe it's taking this long today.

Better yet, go to the link at WCCO.com.

McCain stumbles on women's issues

Bluewoman saw this one this morning. She was not impressed.



So, while John McCain supports health insurance plans that pay for Viagra, he has voted against legislation that would have called for birth control to be covered by health insurance.

Bill O'Reilly came to McCain's defense and shows once again just how out of touch with reality he is...

Brian Davis joins Bachmann and Kline in disregard of oil prices

Jeff Rosenberg, writing at Minnesota Campaign Report, has quickly become one of my favorite bloggers!

He writes about Bachmann and Kline's hypocrisy on oil prices. Simply put, Michele Bachmann and John Kline will only support their solution to the energy crisis in America. Their solution, drill everywhere and drill now.

Brian Davis continues to ride Bachmann and Kline's coattails on this issue while continuing in his failure to provide a reasonable bi-partisan solution.

Ollie provides insight into the latest Brian Davis attack release.

She provides the Walz press release on the Davis attack and the DRILL Act.

As usual, millionaire Dr. Brian Davis is distorting the facts. In today’s negative attack, Dr. Davis accuses Walz of voting against new oil drilling. But his facts are wrong. Tim Walz proudly co-sponsored H.R. 6515, the DRILL Act, which would increase our domestic oil supply by speeding the development of the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska, fast-tracking completion of its oil pipeline so we can bring that oil to market, stopping Alaskan oil from being sold to the Chinese and other foreign nations, and passing ‘Use It or Lose It’ which makes oil companies drill on the leases they have or give them up to another company. Republicans in Congress stopped the bill because it didn’t include enough favors for their friends and contributors at Big Oil. Once again, the Davis plan favors Big Oil and partisan politics, while Tim Walz’ plan helps middle-class families through common sense solutions." Chris Schmitter, Campaign Manager, Tim Walz for U.S. Congress

Isn't it common sense to make the oil companies drill on land they already have a lease on?

Another look at CD 6 fundraising

I was having a conversation with an old friend yesterday when we began to talk about FEC reports and fundraising. I know, I have some pretty wild friends.

We were talking about the CD 6 fundraising numbers for Elwyn Tinklenberg this past quarter. This past quarter Tinklenberg raised nearly $272,000.

Itemized: $109,223.35

Unitemized: $53,843.93 (At least 269 individuals under $200).

Total individual contributions: $163,067.28

Political Party Committee's: $6500

PAC's: $102,350

Total so far...

Almost $324,000 in individual contributions and $201,550 in PAC money, or about $532,000 total thus far.

She asked, how did Patty Wetterling do in the quarter of the endorsement fight in 2006? The 2006 CD 6 DFL endorsement fight was at least as fierce as the 2008 endorsement and exponentially more competitive.

Wetterling's July 2006 FEC report lays out some pretty staggering numbers.

$309,030 in itemized contributions.

$239,315.63 in unitemized contributions. (At least 1466 individual contributions)

$548,345.63 in total individual contributions.

$6000.00 from Political Party Committee's.

$64,500.00 from PAC's.

About $619,000 raised in the quarter of the endorsement.

Granted, CD 6 was an open seat in 2006 which could explain a portion of the increase in donations. However, Minnesota also had a very expensive US Senate race, and every seat in the Minnesota Legislature was up for grabs. More candidates to send our hard earned money to.

In addition, Michele Bachmann is a more well known commodity across the 6th now than she was in 2006.

Has Elwyn bought Patty's contribution list or asked for it?

The purpose of this post? It's not to take a shot at Elwyn's fundraising. Quite the contrary, this past quarter was a respectable quarter for his fundraising.

However we really need to step it up! We've done it before and we can do it again.

Donate to Elwyn's campaign here.

The choice is ours. We endorsed Elwyn Tinklenberg to defeat Michele Bachmann.

It's time for Democrats, Independents, and sane Republicans across the 6th to help Elwyn out to send Bachmann packing...

Ron Carey Owes Madia An Apology

Last week, Minnesota Republican Party Chairman and press release addict, Ron Carey attacked Ashwin Madia for having a position on Iran, which is more than we can say about Madia's opponent Erik Paulsen.

From MDE

Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey today released the
following statement regarding 3rd District DFL-endorsed candidate Ashwin Madia’s
position on Iran.

“After the second day in a row of Iran test-firing missiles and
boasting that their ‘hands are always on the trigger,’ we face a stark reminder
Iran remains a serious threat to U.S. allies and U.S. interests.

Disturbingly, Ashwin Madia appears to disagree with the consensus of so
many when he says ‘Iran is not a threat.’ This serious lack of judgment is just
one reason he lacks the qualities necessary to serve in the U.S.
Congress.”

As we all know now, the Bush Administration has followed Madia's diplomatic lead and will sit down for talks with Iran.

Carey and Republicans also overhyped the Iran missile launch mess.

According to several sources, including Drudge, the missiles Iran tested were older versions of that has a range of 750 miles, meaning Israel is out of range. Photos from the event were doctored as well.

Our government has decided on diplomacy for now.

Surely we expect Carey to issue a press release today condemning the Bush administration for their cowardice in pursuing diplomacy.

While Erik Paulsen continues to have no opinion on Iran or Iraq, no solutions, Ashwin Madia continues to lead.

Brian Davis Is A Mathematician Too? Who Knew!

Honestly...this is a Blueman first.

I have no idea where to begin here.

The trainwreck that is the Brian Davis for Congress campaign sent out a press release earlier today announcing their lead in "net fundraising" last quarter.

Today, the Brian Davis for Congress campaign announces that their second quarter net fundraising was the strongest of all candidates seeking election to Minnesota's First District in 2008. During the second quarter - April 1 to June 30 - Brian Davis for Congress had $391,601 in total receipts and a net gain in cash-on-hand of $326,273, compared to $186,584 for Congressman Walz.

Total contributions from individuals to the Davis campaign were over $268,000 with a net of $376,718 cash-on-hand. This difference in net fundraising is due to campaign expenses with the Davis campaign reporting $65,330 in disbursements compared to $251,502 for the Walz campaign.

So, if you don't spend money campaigning...you can CLAIM that you lead in "net fundraising"? Is this the philosophy of "he who dies with the most toys wins"?

Seriously, why issue a press release on this?

Ollie over at Bluestem took the first swipe at this idiotic press release.

Did we mention that Tim Walz's $97,617.24 from small itemized individual contributions nearly equals Davis's loan to his own ambition?

Even if everyone in that unitemized pool gave $199, that's still 490 individuals. We're guessing there were a lot more $25, $50, or $100 dollar contributors. Davis only had $29,709.55 in small unitemized individual contributions. As a percentage of their total fundraising (including loans) for the quarter, Walz's small contributions equal 22 percent of the swag, while Davis's small donors add up to a mere 7.6 percent of his haul. Subtract Davis's loan, and it's still only 10.2 percent of his new cash for the quarter.

Ollie is 100% correct. Davis has quickly become the biggest exaggerator in Minnesota politics. Perhaps he honed his awesome math skills over that vast amount of time he was a "nuclear engineer".

Lovely. I just can't wait for Brian Davis to exaggerate his phenomenal driving record...(hint look at #8.)

CD 6 Fundraising Numbers: A Quick Look

With Congresswoman Bachmann's numbers out now, we can start to decipher the fundraising the the 6th.

While Congresswoman Bachmann raised over $382,000 this quarter more than $193,000 came from PAC's and political party committees. More than half of Bachmann's contributions this quarter came from special interest groups.

Bachmann spent about $22,000 this quarter raising $189,000 in individual contributions and more than $12,000 to a Washington DC based PAC fundraising group.

Also of note...she paid Luke Hellier $200 this quarter as well.

Bachmann has nearly $1.3 million cash on hand at this point.

Tinklenberg hauled in about $163,000 in individual contributions this past quarter and about $109,000 from PAC's and political party committees.

Two days ago I talked about Elwyn's good fundraising numbers, they were good not great.

I had a conversation last night with my political Yoda, my mentor.

We had a good long talk about FEC reports and the fundraising trend or mirage activities across the state.

Ashwin Madia killed it this quarter. Anyone who has ever doubted whether or not he's the real deal or not knows better now. I knew it the first time I saw him.

Going into his endorsement in April, he had the support of one sitting Congressman and a strong grassroots support. Madia prevailed and has been running ever since. The endorsement in CD 3 was a tough fight.

Tinklenberg had a relatively easy endorsement fight in CD 6. Other than bloggers like myself asking some difficult questions and supporting "the other guy" for most of the race, the party was unified behind Elwyn with nearly every sitting member of Minnesota's Congressional delegation supporting him.

Why didn't their support bring more money in? Peterson and Oberstar don't have fights on their hands. Neither do Ellison and McCollum. Congressman Walz has significantly outraised his opponent and has a strong cash on hand advantage to go along with a record of constituent outreach that is unparalleled in Minnesota politics.

This is a big quarter for Elwyn Tinklenberg and Steve Sarvi. The incumbents in both races, especially John Kline, experienced lackluster fundraising this past quarter. One big quarter for Tinklenberg will close the cash on hand advantage and build some great momentum in the final days before the election.

But at this point, sadly enough, it's always about the Benjamins...

Ventura is a punk

Well that was a waste of time...

Elwyn has good fundraising numbers too!

On the heels of Ashwin Madia blowing Erik Paulsen's $600k fundraising figure out of the water today, DFL endorsed CD 6 candidate Elwyn Tinklenberg filed his FEC report today, showing he raised about $272,000 last quarter and has about $225,000 cash on hand.

The billboards up near Buffalo are looking good too!

Larry Schumacher at the SC Times, back after a nice vacation, has the scoop!

Welcome back Larry! I don't think we caused too much trouble while you were gone...

The Ticket Is Complete

SD 19 has had endorsed candidates for quite some time now.

Jim Bakula is challenging Bruce Anderson in 19A and is off to a rousing start.

Chris Brazelton is running hard against Tom Emmer again in 19B.

With last nights endorsement of Eric Angvall in 18A and Dr. David Detert in 18B, the ticket for our area is complete.

Angvall v. Shimanski will be an interesting race. Shimanski has shown zero ability to advocate for the interests of his district, siding with an extreme partisan agenda, which earned him a 100% rating from the Taxpayers League.

Dr. David Detert is back for his third run at Dean Urdahl. Urdahl won by a wide margin in 2004 and Detert closed this gap significantly in 2006. With Urdahl's ineffectiveness at the capitol, combined with a strong year for Democrats, Detert stands poised to defeat Urdahl in 2008.

Coverage at Blueman will now shift into working to promote the great candidates we have in Wright, Meeker, and McLeod Counties.

We're poised to have a great year in the coming elections. It sure would be nice running for State Senate in 2010 with two DFL House Reps in the district!

Angvall Endorsed in 18A!

One of the joys of running political races is the opportunity to meet neat people. Nolan, Nichole and I made our first trek to Lester Prairire shortly after I was endorsed to run against Steve Dille. The first store we went into was the hardware store. My grandpa worked in hardware stores in Mayville for decades after he was retired. He loved telling the stories and getting peoples problems solved.

That was the conversation Eric Angvall and his wife had with me when we entered their store.

A moderate, commonsense candidate will go far against Right wing flamer thrower Ron Shimanski. Shimanski, a first term Rep from Silver Lake, has held to a very ultra conservative voting record, a 100 rating by the Tax Enforcers League is a badge of honor for some, but shows no courage in solving budget and tax problems.

Shimanski also earned a 0 rating from the Children's Defense Fund. Urdahl was not much better topping out at a 33.

Angvall has a shot here. Despite a late start, as former mayor of Lester Prairie he understands the impact of no new taxes and cuts to LGA. He sees firsthand how crap rolls downhill.

As a small business owner, he can speak effectively on what government can do to ensure that our small businesses grow and prosper.

As a former Biology teacher, he gets whats wrong in our schools and will strive to fix them, not sit on a party label and hurl rhetoric back and forth.

Shimanski is in some trouble here. It will be an interesting race! We'll report more later!

BREAKING!! DR DAVID DETERT Endorsed in 18B: Urdahl cries a bit....:)

Tonight delegates from across Wright, Meeker, and McLeod counties endorsed candidate for House seats.

Dr. David Detert, from Litchfield, has ran against Dean Urdahl a few times and while being defeated, Dr. Detert has been able to secure Meeker County as a democratic stronghold.

Urdahl ought to be very scared right now. Detert is a campaign professional and will run a well thought out campaign plan. Constituents in Wright County are excited to door knock for Dave!

We'll be working closely with the Deterts to ensure we can coordinate doorknocks all throughout Wright County.

Deterts calm cool and collected demeanor and experience as a physician make him a great candidate to defeat Urdahl.

We'll post more on the Detert Urdahl race in the coming days.

Everyone needs to thank Sharon for being so generous with Davids time for the race!

Dean Urdahl has been poking his stick into a lions cage for quite some time now...he's about to get bit!

Chainsaws and pictures!

Saturday was a fun filled day of chainsaws and polesaws, getting a pretty good sized branch out of the backyard of Bluewoman's parents.

Here the sky's northwest of Cokato start to get pretty dark.

The clouds become a little nastier looking!

This is the cloud we saw the "little finger" start forming and some rotation in the clouds. While this set was moving northwest of Cokato, we decided shortly after to head inside.


Tornado sirens went off, I was watching on the main level as the storms came in. Then, a tree fell a few feet from the house.

That's actually a playhouse near the house. The tree took out a clothesline as well.

Seeing Bluewoman with a polesaw or a mini-chainsaw cutting stuff up was fun. 4+ hours later we were done cutting everything up and moving the branches to a compost pile.

Brunch with Madia

Several of us had a great opportunity to sit down and chat with CD 3 DFL endorsed candidate Ashwin Madia this morning in Maple Grove.

For about an hour several bloggers posed questions to Madia and listened intently to his responses. Topics ranged from his position on Iran, media outreach, FISA, the economy, education, campaign strategy, fiscal responsibility, and other fun topics.

Stu Rosenberg, Madia's campaign manager, was also in attendance. The session was very informal with bloggers posing questions over OJ, coffee and omelets.

A question on Iran kicked things off this morning. Madia has a common sense position in Iran, supporting "aggressive diplomacy" and "leaving no options off the table, including diplomacy". Unlike Erik Paulsen, Madia does not avoid the political landmines of Iraq and Iran.

The rhetoric on Iran matches the pre-Iraq war build up. Ron Carey, right wing blogger, and Minnesota Republican Party attacks on Madia's service to this nation are absurd. One such chickenhawk on the right attacked Madia for his service in Iraq. Despite this individuals constant touting of military history, this Admiral appears to have no concept of what Marines are.

Attacking Madia's honorable service to this nation is a serious misstep by the GOP and their cronies. Carey's attack on Madia's Iran position, when Paulsen has no position, shows desperation. Madia's service is a great strength and Republicans will do everything they can to "swift boat" Madia.

Madia spoke passionately about FISA. He shares the disappointment with most Democrats and points out two significant reasons he would not have supported the legislation.

1. It diminishes the standard of probable cause, which has been the standard in the United States for 200 years.

2. Providing "telecom immunity" without actually knowing what really happened equates to having a verdict without a trial. Under what circumstances did telecoms violate our civil liberties? We'll probably never know...

A lot more was covered at the brunch, we'll try to post more in it later.

It was good seeing the crew from Mn Blue (Eric, Two Putt and Grace), Joe from Campaign Report, Chris Truscott, and Gavin Sullivan again.

Thanks go out to Ashwin, Stu and the rest of the Madia crew! Thanks for being so open and accessible!

We're not used to that up here in the 6th with Congresswoman Bachmann!

Holy Crap That Was A Storm

Not that Blueman will become a weather blog anytime soon but...

Wow, that was a pretty nasty little storm that came through Cokato and Wright County tonight. I'll have pictures and video up tomorrow.

Bluewoman and I were over at her parents house when the storms started to roll in. We went outside to check it all out before it hit.

Looking northwest from Cokato we could see some pretty nasty stuff. Standing in her parents front yard, we witnessed a small bump in one cloud start rotating and begin to grow larger. It looked like the beginning of a funnel cloud that probably ended up going north through Cokato Township, French Lake and Albion.

Storms hit soon after, lots of wind and rain. Tornado sirens went off in Cokato, while we were getting ready to head towards the basement, a very large branch came down in the backyard. It took out a clothesline and missed the garage by a few feet.

For nearly 45 minutes, we could hear the constant rumble of what sounded like tornadoes on the ground. It was pretty eerie.

As much as I want to be a storm chaser, there is no way Bluewoman will let me do that...

Photos and video will be up in the morning. Thank goodness, everyone is alright in our neck of the woods!

Ventura Leading Random KFAN Poll (Updated)

Over on "Rube Chat" a thread was posted asking whether one would support Al Franken, Jesse Ventura, or Norm Coleman.

As of 5:30 am today, Jesse Ventura is kicking everyone's hind end in a very unscientific poll.

Ventura 23
Coleman 6
Franken 1

It's interesting to see how it's playing out. Oftentimes, as avid political wonks, we spend a lot of time amongst ourselves figuring this stuff out. While it's a very random poll/survey, Ventura's lead speaks to the dissatisfaction with both Coleman and Franken.

I think Ventura gets into this race full steam come next Tuesday.

Newest Urdahl Mailer Filled With Distortions

I got the newest Dean Urdahl mailer yesterday. Nicely disguised as an official piece of legislative mail.

We'll have a couple of posts up later picking the piece apart, with some lovely screenshots as well.

Here's the teaser...

I swear this picture of Dean Urdahl was taken in Hutchinson where he was still a little agitated over his transportation bill flip flop. The scowl on his face and the finger pointing in my face bring back great memories.

"You don't have a clue what I do down in St Paul. My wife doesn't even understand what I do".

Arrogance like that cannot be rewarded!

His words, not mine...but I'll never forget the scowl and finger wag...

Awesome Coleman Ad!

I'm anxioulsy awaiting for the Coleman campaign to release the edits!

Erik Paulsen the "Centrist"

CD 3 GOP candidate Erik Paulsen has been engaged in a campaign to rebrand his political leaning. The 3rd CD is a rather moderate district which has been well represented by Jim Ramstad for many years. Paulsen, in a feeble attempt to lure Ramstad supporters and other moderates, has been working hard to rebrand himself from being a staunch Bush Conservative to being a Centrist.

The rebranding is full of crap.

Paulsen's voting record makes him out of touch with voters across the 3rd Congressional District.

Whether it's his votes against higher education and the significant tuition increases that have hindered working and middle class Minnesotans from higher education opportunities, voting against emergency nursing home funding, covering all kids with healthcare, or voting with big business and voting against a bill that would prohibit expiration dates and user fees on gift cards, Paulsen is out of tough with working and middle class Minnesotans.

As Paulsen and his right wing blogger friends work to lessen the impact of some of these key votes, take a look at Paulsen's record as a whole, including after he filed to run for Congress.

You'll quickly see that Paulsen is truly a Bush Conservative and not the independent centrist his campaign is desperately trying to rebrand the candidate as.

Erik Paulsen on Iran

It's very similar to his Iraq policy.

A search of his website shows no mention of Iran either.

Ron Carey continues his strong of idiotic press releases with one issued yesterday. Glad to see he's following the format!

Madia speaks eloquently about Iran, his words are measured.

Iran is not a threat. It is a concern to be dealt with diplomatically.

What's wrong with that? Remember the last time we ramped things up because Iraq was a threat? More than 4,000 of our soldiers have perished in this quagmire in Iraq.

Madia has a plan. He has experience.

Paulsen can't even summon the testicular fortitude to mention either on his website.

Now that's leadership.

Bruce Anderson Skirting Minnesota Campaign Rules?

The story was broken by the Politcal Animal of the Pioneer Press.

Three Minnesota House members -- Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, Rep. Linda Slocum,
R-Bloomington, and Rep. Bruce Anderson, R-Buffalo -- have registered their
campaigns with the Minnesota Secretary of State's office and given their
official house email addresses on their candidate filings.

Big deal? Maybe not. If Anderson is using his official state email address to campaign, solicit donors and other campaign activities, this would be a significant problem.

Perhaps we should play the games the righties like to play with Mark Ritchie and others. Let's FOIA the email accounts of these legislators.

Retroactive Immunity Question of the Day

Republicans love the "rule of law". John Kline ran some nasty campaign ads a few years ago on granting citizenship for illegal immigrants.

"John Kline believes those who play by the rules and follow our laws should be welcomed to America. But millions enter our country illegally, their first act, to break our laws."



Yet, telecom companies and other corporate entities that violate our nations laws are granted "retroactive immunity".

Wonderful. Here's the question of the day:

If illegal immigrants lined the pockets of these Republicans and spineless Democrats, would they get retroactive immunity or citizenship?

How can upholding the rule of law be so completely necessary when it comes to immigration, an issue the right tries to ram down the throats of working and middle class Americans? Especially that the right along with some Bluedog Democrats decide that the rule of law doesn't matter when telecom companies and other entities break the law and violate our citizens rights under the 4th Amendment to the Constitution.

It's very disappointing. The House passed this crappy bill a month ago and the Senate could have made some substantive changes to help America. Instead, they gave Bush what he wanted, a "signable FISA Bill".

Great job! Love it!

Can I get some retroactive immunity for an old speeding ticket please? How about for an old hospital bill?

Get to work Congress, millions of Americans need some retroactive immunity on their foreclosed homes and other domestic problems brought on by 8 years of Bush.

Frickin lovely....just lovely.

The government and our elected leaders ought to fear the people, instead of the people fearing the government.

Since the original FISA Bill came into full effect in 1980, 22,990 applications for warrants were made. In 16 years, only 5 warrants were not granted. The system was not broke.

We've lost accountability under President Bush and a Democratically controlled Congress simply rolled over and have allowed Americans to lose civil liberties.

It's incredible the lack of courage by many Democrats today and

Feingold on FISA: Is Klobuchar Listening?

I sure hope so!

Ashwin Madia on MTV!

H/T Chris Turscott

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Annandale on the 4th

What a great day!

We got to the parade route around 8:30 ish, set up the chairs in the shade, had a few doughnuts, some drinks and anxiously awaited the parade.

Someone apparently had too much of a good time the night before. There car was still parked on the parade route and our day started by watching the Annandale PD in action. The car was towed, although I secretly wanted Homeland Security to blow it up, as a prelude to the great fireworks that would appear later.

We caught Jim Bakula riding the parade route on a segway scooter. He was working the parade crowds well, getting around to a lot of people on this neat machine.

Jim was the only candidate working the parade route before the parade. We handed out some stickers on my side of the street and promoted him as best as we could. We're anxiously awaiting walking in the Monticello parade with Jim!

Dean Urdahl made an appearance. Bluewoman's family was pleased that I had no reaction to Urdahl's presence, although I think he was avoiding us.

Urdahl didn't have the large contingent he usually has. Hmmm.

Bruce Anderson followed Urdahl in the parade and was pretty blah as well. Slapped hands with a few kids and shouted to a guy named "Dick" in the crowd. I confirmed for Bluewoman's family that Representative Anderson was not referring to me.

Eleven units into the parade and with all the politicians done, I announced I was ready to go. My plea was met with an immediate veto

The Oslo Norway band was great, as were the rest of the bands that participated. Bands are my favorite part of parades!

Bluewoman caught me taking a cat nap during the parade.

It was a short nap...

Because...Da Band showed up! In case you have never heard of Da Band, they are a group of highly talented musicians who provide a great deal of entertainment at local parades.

Post parade and burger nap over at Miah's.Catching my second wind and dominating at Big Buck Hunter at Tootsies in Annandale!

A few pork chops and corn cobs later, we were getting ready to watch the fireworks in Annandale. It was a spectacular show once again. It's always fun going back to Annandale, especially on the 4th!

Live from Annandale 4th of July Parade

Via Bluewomans Blackberry!

Huge crowd thus far. Jim Bakula is the only politician / candidate working the crowd early.

We'll have more later on Jim's state of the art parade / door knock tool.

It's pretty awesome.

No sign of Urdahl or Bruce Anderson though...

Happy Independence Day

Unlike Congresswoman Bachmann, we spelled it right.

We'll be in Annandale for most of the day...

BTW, if you are reading this...get back outside and enjoy this beautiful day.


(This post was set on a timer for July 4th)

The CD 2 Race Is Getting More Competitive

Hence Mr Brodkorb's lamest attack piece to date. It's a tough bar to get under, but MDE may have just done it.

Why attack Sarvi now?

It's simple. On the heels of positive polling for Sarvi in the district, the Cook Political Report has elevated the CD 2 race from Solid Republican to Likely Republican. The CPR reflects the DFL growth in CD 2, pushing Brodkorb and his cronies to attack Sarvi on the most mundane subjects out there.

It's good news for Sarvi though. Brodkorb and the right wing blogosphere did a great job taking down Keith Ellison and Tim Walz last cycle.

Ventura on Fox and Friends

Saw him on the show this morning. I'd have to say, Ventura sure sounds like a candidate for US Senate. He would definitely make a lot of people uncomfortable in this race, which, in my opinion, is a good thing.

With the filing deadline looming, we'll soon find out for certain. His appearance this morning on Fox and Friends simply fuels the fire.

I think he's in the race.

John Kline's CD 2 No Constituent Tour

If you're reading this...you're probably not important enough to attend.

Steve Sarvi held a public press conference this past week to talk about energy issues.

John Kline will go on a secret tour of energy facilities.

The saga in CD 2 continues. Kline's constituent outreach is pathetic. So, in order to smooth things over with a disgruntled electorate, Kline decides that he must embark upon a super secret energy tour.

Now, I understand the security measures needed for nuclear power plants and a refinery. The measures are pretty high, and should be. Kline will surely emerge from from the tour and issue a press release that says...

"Offshore drilling is a must."

"We must drill in ANWR."

"We must increase the number of refineries in America."

He'll probably puppet a few points Congresswoman Bachmann made in her infamous gas station press conference a few weeks ago.

Although, the constituents of CD 2 are not invited. Kline does not want to meet with the electorate that is growing more and more disenfranchised by Kline's embodiment of Bush Cheney energy policy. In fact, his secret meetings are consistent with Cheney's secret energy policy meetings.

"I have a specific itinerary, not for public consumption, which is why I’m not issuing a press release." Troy Young, Congressman Kline's Communications Director.

Seems like John Kline's day to day activities are never for public consumption for his constituents in the second. Unfortunately for Congressman Kline, people are beginning to wake up to Kline's lackluster Congressional record and shoddy constituent services.

Tinklenberg Challenges Bachmann to a Series of Rumbles

Ok, maybe not actual "rumbles", but to a series of forums.

Publius has the scoop.

Apparently, Bachmann has already accepted an invite to a forum in Monticello. Wright County will be a very key area for Tinklenberg. Drawing the IP endorsement will certainly help him out here.

I've been very critical of Tinklenberg in the past. I do not apologize for that. Questions needed to be asked and answered. Tinklenberg would serve the constituents of the 6th much better than Bachmann. While Tinklenberg is not as liberal as I would like, I'll support him in the election.

I like the campaign pushing for more forums and debates. Bachmann has had very weak constituent outreach across the district, her appearances have been closely contained and guarded. Bachmann is a masterful politician. Tinklenberg is very good in forums and debates. It will be very interesting seeing these two go at it.

We know Bachmann's voting record in Washington leaves her very vulnerable this fall.

Good job El, I love that you challenged Bachmann to more forums and debates!

SC Times Calls Out Bachmann on Subsidies

Good Op Ed this morning in the SC Times.

Bachmann must either return her share of the money or explain how she can accept
it and still portray herself as a champion of ending government waste.

Indeed. Opposing "pork projects" but then dipping her own head into the trough makes Bachmann a hypocrite, something we've known for quite some time actually.

The acceptance of subsidies is in direct contradiction to a fundamental principle around which she is wrapping much of her image, not to mention re-election bid.

Having long described herself as a “tax-cutting fiscal conservative," this past year she has ramped up her opposition to wasteful federal spending.

The best example of that was her pledge — in the wake of the DeSoto Bridge closure and eventual reconstruction plan — to avoid using federal “earmarks" to ascertain aid for the new bridge. More recently, she opposed the latest federal farm bill because it was “loaded with unbelievable outrageous pork and subsidies for agricultural business and ethanol growers."

So, will Bachmann buck the Ron Carey imposed gag order and answer the question or continue to simply not speak to those who question her?

Did Brian Davis Lose $13,000 While Olmsted County GOP Treasurer?

Ollie Ox has an amazing scoop once again!

It's a pretty interesting story.

Brian Davis is working to "hold Tim Walz accountable" for gas prices and a slew of other things that take more than 18 months to fix.

Ollie uncovered a gold mine. It at least appears that Brian Davis, as treasurer of the Olmsted County Republicans, was...well...incompetent.

A $13,000 discrepancy for the county unit is pretty significant. He was only off by nearly 100%.

If this happened under the Brian Davis reign of terror, it not only serves as a significant disqualifier for Congress, but means Davis will never be the banker in Monopoly ever again.