SD62 Open Too

MN Senate, 2006 Elections Checks and Balances is reporting [reg. req'd] that Wes Skoglund (DFL-62) will not run for reelection. This the second State Senate seat to be left without an incumbent in a week. Last week Sen. Jane Ranum (DFL-63) announced she was not running also.

The news is good for Alex Eaton, a DFLer, who was seeking to challenge incumbent Senator Wes Skoglund (DFL-62, Minneapolis) for the DFL endorsement. Skoglund has decided not to seek reelection to the seat. Maybe the idea of a party fight was not all that thrilling or possibly the differences between the House and Senate were not as interesting. Skoglund served in the House for 8 terms prior to a redistricting map that placed him and Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL-62B, Minneapolis) in the same legislative district. Skoglund opted for the other body. With an open seat it is not clear whether Eaton, the former head of the MYDFL, will be alone in his bid. In 1998, now Rep. Jim Davnie (DFL-62B, Minneapolis) originally sought the Senate seat before logically removing himself from consideration and allowing Julie Sabo and Lisa Vecoli to battle it out for the seat. Eaton raised and spent the maximum allowable in the off-election year and is moving ahead with a greater level of confidence and commitment with the Skoglund decision. Labor organizations have contacted him to express greater interest in his candidacy, now that the incumbent has made his intentions known.

SD62 is no different than SD63, in fact it probably is "bluer" than SD63, therefore the fight for this seat is always an uphill battle for a Republican even when an incumbent is not running. A note to my friend at KvM, RUN GARY RUN!!!

Alito: 58-42

Judicial It is done, we have a new justice. If you want to see the video of history in the making click here. There were four defectors, Ben Nelson (D-NE), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Kent Conrad (D-ND), who voted Yes for Alito, and Chafee (R-RI), who voted No. In a surprise move Senator Landrieu (D-LA) votes ‘No’ and provides an nice little piece of ammunication for her next Republican opponent in a RED state. The KOSsacks are enraged and using typical language like spineless and words that start with "f". I did pick my favorite comment though, it highlights how they live in the past and have trouble letting go.

There is ample evidence that Ohio was stolen in 2004 and Florida was stolen in 2000. This is not to say that Gore and Kerry shouldn"t have had wider margins that would have allowed them to win even with a stolen state Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. - John F. Kennedy by jpeskoff on Tue Jan 31, 2006 at 09:50:05 AM PDT [ Parent ]

Warm Fuzzies from Martin Sabo

Federal The esteemed Rep. Martin Sabo (CD5) delivered a little questionnaire to my mailbox today and it is also listed on his website. I just wanted to provide a sample of how he is reaching out to his constituents. I feel so appreciated by him now that I filled out my questionnaire. I have no doubt my name and email will be filed under "Wingnut". My biggest problem is with question #4.

4. For 33 years, the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion has been the law of the land, but the country faces uncertainty on this issue as the makeup of the Supreme Court changes. Which statement best reflects your view?: More should be done to protect a woman's right to choose. Laws like the late-term abortion ban are eroding this individual right. I generally support a woman's right to choose, but support some restrictions. I oppose abortion and believe it should be outlawed.

Do you see what that question does to a guy like me? It pigeon holes a conservative into the rigid "should be outlawed." position with zero room for exceptions. Question six is similar, but at least I have four options instead of three.

6. Most people agree that our immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. Which statement best reflects your view?: We should institute a guest worker program to temporarily match willing foreign workers with American companies in need of workers. We should provide a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants already here, but not necessarily citizenship. We should provide a legal path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. if they can pass a background check. We should deport all undocumented immigrants.

The fifth district has suffered through 26+ years of King Sabo, I wonder when he will retire? And will we actually make him spend a nickle for his '06 campaign? Regardless, I feel so much better now that I have been heard.

Questionnaire

Photo: sabo.house.gov

Cloture! Justice Alito!

Judicial C-SPAN, KOS and ConfirmThem were overloaded as the cloture vote was happening. I do not have a link to any final numbers, but according to people watching on C-SPAN 70 or 71 voted for Cloture. The KOSsacks are not happy. Photo: USA Today UPDATE: Senator Kennedy came unhinged on the floor today. (ExposeTheLeft has the WMV file here). Official Senate roll call for cloture.

Body Blow

Judicial Irishlaw at ConfirmThem takes a shot at Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and lands a nice body blow regarding Judge Alito.

And here I thought Supreme Court justices were supposed to be faithfully interpreting the Constitution, not leading marches as part of grand movements towards progress.

Got Opinions?

MN House Rep. Thissen is trying to encourage community debate about two critical issues that will be addressed at the capitol this session.

State Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, is launching two online discussion forums for residents of Richfield and Minneapolis to discuss issues that are likely to be debated this year at the Capitol. One forum will focus on immigration and the other on eminent domain reform. In December, Thissen called on lawmakers to address eminent domain reform during the 2006 session. The forums are intended to allow users to interact and exchange ideas with each other and Thissen.

I would like to encourage my readers to go check out the two forums about eminent domain and immigration at these links. I also added these links on the right sidebar under the SD63 Blogs/Links.

Weird Ciresi Web Stuff

The two domains www.mikeciresi.org and www.ciresiforsenate.org both were pointed at MDE and then changed to a Wikipedia article about Ciresi. Clearly someone has a redirect page set up. If you trace the route to www.mikeciresi.org the last hop is perfora.net [82.165.129.9]. If you do a IPWHOIS of this IP address you it says this IP address is registered by a webhosting company in Germany. Further, if you do a "who is" you get this. Weird!

Friday Fun

Stealing Doug's Friday Fun... here you go. The funny thing is that my nickname growing up was "Butch". My parents actually called me that to avoid confusion because I am a "Junior".

Your Hillbilly Name Is...

Butch Tucker

Hillbilly Name Generator

Its Official, Larson for SD63

2006 Elections, MN Senate Not that I doubted this, but here is more confirmation of Rep. Larson's intent to run for the State Senate seat for SD63. Rep. Thissen is the chair of the committee and I still cannot understand why Thissen did not run for this himself. Why not you Paul?

Please Just Stay Underground

Federal, Judicial Minnesotans in the "Underground" want a filibuster. They are asking people to urge Sen. Dayton to filibuster, this is laughable. They are asking the only Senator who ran from Washington because of a terrorist threat to suddenly grow a backbone. Good luck with that.

Tell Mark to Veto Alito! Dayton is in a unique position to do so as a Democratic senator not up for reelection. He has nothing to lose, and he'd be a hero to millions of Americans for standing up to these Constitutional thugs. This could be Dayton's legacy in what has been a respectable but relatively undistinguished term as senator. He would long be remembered as "that Senator from Minnesota who stood up to the complete takeover of the third branch of government by an extremist and out-of-control Republican regime." Tell Mark Dayton to summon up all the anger he can at this nomination. Let it rip like when he was campaigning on the Iron Range and was accused of wanting to take sportsmen's guns. That's the kind of outrage we need right now before we're mugged of our Constitutional rights in the dark alley of BushCo. Call him at 888-224-9043.

No worries, they claim that Sen. Kerry will answer their call.

CNN has it that Kerry is going to filibuster. We need all the support we can muster because frankly we are running out of time.

My Sympathies to Senator Ranum

2006 Elections, MN Senate The Red Star carries more details about Senator Ranum not seeking re-election. The article states her reason is to return to work as a full-time Hennepin County attorney, however if you read further you will see that her husband has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. This is truly sad news for the Ranum family and I want to extend my deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers as they start down the difficult path that a family faces with this horrendous disease.

State Sen. Jane Ranum, a five-term Minneapolis DFLer, announced Tuesday that she will not seek reelection and will return to work as a full-time assistant Hennepin County attorney. In a letter to supporters and friends, Ranum, 58, said she was making her announcement to allow those interested in succeeding her time to declare before the March 7 precinct caucuses. Her solidly DFL district includes a part of south Minneapolis, Richfield and Bloomington. In addition, her husband, Jim, has been diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease similar to Alzheimer's, and he requires professional caregiving.

On a more trivial matter, it appears the Red Star agrees that I truly am living a red life in a district of blue. UPDATE: I felt Ed's comment was worth moving to the post, instead of being buried in the comments.

I am so sorry to hear about Senator Ranum's husband and the difficulties he is having with illness. I know what it is like to live with and care for a loved one and I wish her well and God's grace as she copes with this illness. I was looking forward to a stimulating campaign with Senator Ranum, but I think we all realize that there are times when our own goals seem trivial when compared to the needs of others. I am confident that the Senator will prove to be an asset to the Hennepin County Attorney's office and a blessing to her husband and family. Godspeed Senator Ed Field 01.25.06 - 11:33 am

Or Maybe Not

2006 Elections, MN House Earlier I speculated that Rep. Thissen may be aspiring for larger things, while that may be true, according to him it will not happen this year. I asked him in an email earlier today and he replied within a few hours.

From: Paul Thissen Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 7:47 PM To: Jerome Plagge, Jr. Subject: Re: Your plans for '06 elections Good to hear from you Jerry. I am running for reelection to the Minnesota House. I enjoy that job thoroughly and feel like my work over the last three years (and hopefully my reputation) has left me in a good position to make an ever larger impact in the next few years. I am fairly certain that Rep. Sabo is running for reelection as well.

Ranum Out, More Changes Coming?

2006 Elections, MN Senate, MN House Jane Ranum is not running for re-election for SD63.

Sen. Jane Ranum, DFL-Minneapolis, is the latest Minnesota legislator to announce she won't run for re-election. (Update 10 a.,m.) Rep. Dan Larson, DFL-Bloomington, says he'll run for Ranum's seat. Taht [sic] could put the House 63B seat in play, but Larson is holding open the possibility of a re-election campaign to the seat if he doesn't get the DFL endorsement in his bid for Ranum's seat.

As you can imagine, this is a significant reshuffling of the deck for SD63 for the '06 roster. A while back I hinted that Senator Ranum may not run for re-election, but that was because I suspected she would be running for Amy Klobuchar's current position. The announcement does not indicate any future plans for Ranum which is interesting because even though I disagree strongly with her positions, I have heard nothing but good things about her work ethic and demeanor.

Rep. Larson is a whole different story. He has done very little for the people of east Richfield/Bloomington or the state of Minnesota. I will post more on these matters as we move towards November.

I suspect there may be more changes in SD63 and CD-5. Do not be surprised if Rep. Paul Thissen (63A) announces he is running for Congressman Sabo's seat for CD-5. Why? Of the two reps for SD63, Thissen is clearly the strongest candidate to replace Ranum, but Larson is the one stepping out so far. If Thissen had designs on this seat it would have been announced today. Furthermore, Thissen appeared at an event a few weeks back with Rep Sabo. It was interesting that he was the only one there, not Ranum or anyone else. Maybe this is a coincidence, but it sure is intriguing.

Patty Wanted in 6th

2006 Elections This is a day or two old, but it appears there are some who want Patty to go back on her word and run in the 6th. No word on how many attended, but the lack of media attention leads me to think about 12 people showed up. I wonder if Elwyn was there?

Change Up North

World In a first for me, I find myself watching election returns in Canada. It looks very likely that the conservatives will hold the majority and the next Prime Minister of Canada will be a conservative. The CBC feed is on C-SPAN and right now the conservatives are projected to have 100 seats to the liberals 84. It is still early, but I will update this post later. UPDATE: As of 11:50 p.m. the Conservative Party of Canada had 124 seats, Liberal Party of Canada 103, Bloc Québécois 51, New Democratic Party 29 and 1 Independent, so now the new Prime Minister will be a man named Stephen Harper. The last time the Conservatives held this position was in 1993. The Captain has more.

Governor Back On Stride?

2006 Elections Governor Pawlenty has been staggering and off pace most of 2005. He had a difficult legislative session, a government shutdown by democratic legislators and all of this led to a "fee" and a concerned and ireful base. As I mentioned yesterday, it will also lead to a "challenger" from the right when Sue Jeffers announces her run Monday. Pawlenty did a Q & A that appeared in the Saturday Red Star and I believe at least one of them demonstrates that he is getting some good advice and may be back on stride.

Q. How do you respond to critcism that by focusing on gay marriage and immigration you are playing "wedge politics," dividing rather than uniting. A. (Immigration) is not something I dreamed up for this reelection year. I ran on the immigration issue in 2002. In 2003 we had welfare reform with a substantial component being the denial of benefits to illegal immigrants. We've raised the issue of sanctuary laws in Minneapolis and St. Paul. I was in the middle of the opposition last year to a proposal to give illegal immigrants in-state tuition. So to suggest that I haven't been involved and this is just an election-year gimmick defies the fact. Secondly the suggestion that it's not a real issue is offensive. You really have to have very limited exposure to what's going on demographically to not see that it's having a meaningful impact.

Trend Continues

2006 Elections It just wouldn't be a Minnesota Governor's race unless there was a third party candidate from the right. I doubt this one will be nearly as impacting as in '98 and '02 with Ventura and Penny, however with the "fee" debacle and a few other minor issues Governor Pawlenty has definitely brought this on himself. This could definitely spell trouble for Pawlenty, and so '06 just keeps getting more interesting. I should mention, Andy at RF knew this was coming back in December.

She describes herself as a "lifelong Republican" who has grown disaffected with the party's inability to control spending. "I met with so many Republicans who were trying to get me to run as a Republican," she says. "And I was too embarrassed. The Republicans have let us down."

Welcome!

Miscellaneous I just wanted to welcome any new readers that may be here because of this article.

GOP hopefuls meet Internet Web logs, or blogs, will be discussed at the Republican Party's 14th annual Senate District 63 chili dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7, at Southwest Community Church, 1501 W. 54th St., Minneapolis. Local bloggers will share stories about new technology, a spokesman for the party said. Featured speakers will include Jerry Plagge, Andy Aplikowski, Gary Miller and Mitch Berg.

I write SD63, Andy Aplikowski is Residual Forces, Gary Miller Kennedy v Machine and Mitch Berg writes Shot in the Dark plus he can be heard on the Northern Alliance Radio Network on AM 1280 the Patriot.

I have been VERY light on the posting the last two months due to holidays and lack of local news to cover, however with the 2006 session and elections around the corner I should have more coming.

Wetterling Out, Taps Klobuchar

2006 Elections The event everyone saw coming, is official. Wetterling is out and Kennedy has already responded with this nice shot at Klobuchar and Bell.

"I'm surprised at Mrs. Wetterling's withdrawal from the U.S. Senate race. Although all three Democrats are from the liberal wing of their party, Mrs. Wetterling's campaign seemed to be setting the agenda on the DFL side. "Though we disagreed with her, often strongly, we admired the fact that she was willing to take clear cut positions and defend them publicly. "In anointing Ms. Klobuchar, the Democrats have staked themselves to a candidate who has been unwilling to tell voters her position on the key issues facing Minnesotans. "In the weeks and months ahead, it's important that Minnesotans hear specific ideas about how the Senate candidates would address the problems facing our nation and our state, not just poll-tested sound bites."

Lincoln

I never miss a chance to learn more about our greatest President. Assuming the producers do him justice, I urge you watch or set your Tivo, DVR or VCR for this one.

Monday, January 16 @ 8/7c

Perfect Illustration

The recent change by the Hennepin County to allow some exemptions to the smoking ban illustrates the complexity of the situation. You might want a pen and paper to keep track. You still cannot smoke at any bars or restaurants in Bloomington, they have a city ordinance. Same goes in Minneapolis thanks to ordinance passed in 2004. In Richfield it gets more complicated. The exemption provided by Hennepin County is for establishments that sell more liquor than food, however in Richfield we have a nifty ordinance that prevents restaurants and bars that serve wine or strong beer from selling more liquor than food. So that only leaves two categories that can get the exemption, private clubs and restaurants that sell 3.2 beer such as bowling allies. The next problem is that the 3.2 joints generally sell more food than beer. The good news is that our local VFW and Legion club now can choose to [ed.] offer smoking indoors again. These places were hardest hit by the ban. So this should be making charitable gambling interest happy. This situation does illustrate a problem, the uneven playing field. Now the Richfield Legion club has an unfair advantage over the Minneapolis and Bloomington locations. It will be interesting to see if Richfield is content with their unusual ordinance or join the neighbors. UPDATE: A reader took umbrage to one of my statements so I modified my statement slightly to make my point more clear. The italic/bold words were added. The point is a Legion Club is not a public building I am required to enter, therefore I do not go there regularly. (Please do not tell me about about the workers do not choose to work there.)

Precision

Judicial This week you will hear a great deal of untruth in the news. Some of this will be deliberate lying and sadly, much of it will be lack of precision. Here are a couple: 1. "If you thought that Judge Alito, if confirmed, would vote to make abortions illegal, would you favor or oppose his confirmation?" [question in Harris poll - 1/4/06] 2. "He said, for instance, that a 10-year-old girl could be strip-searched even though the warrant did not call for her to be strip-searched." [Senator Chuck Schumer - Meet the Press 1/8/06] The first one points out either laziness or deliberate attempts to confuse the situation by the polling companies and media. Other media outlets have made the similar mistake by saying Alito could make abortion illegal. Of course the Supreme Court could not do that, all they could do is put the question back in the hands of the people, the legislative branch. The second point is just plain disgusting. Senator Schumer completely politicized and distorts an event that happened regarding an event that involved Alito. The case is Doe v. Groody in which Alito wrote a dissenting opinion. [Alito's dissent starts on page 12] Bob Novak wrote a piece on this in November, here are a few highlights.

They thought they hit pay dirt in Doe v. Groody, a 2004 case. But Alito's dissent on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals merely affirmed the right of Pennsylvania police to exceed the scope of a warrant to search all the occupants of a home to prevent "the removal, concealment or destruction" of drugs. While avowing "a visceral dislike" for searching the young, he called it "a sad fact that drug dealers sometimes use children to carry out their business and to avoid prosecution."

and...

While revealing the true nature of Doe v. Groody, the memo says that "the liberals contend that children cannot be searched under the Constitution. This would amount to a 'get out of jail free' card for drug dealers who use young children to stash drugs." The Law Enforcement Alliance of America last week declared that "these shameless attacks on law enforcement officers and Judge Alito would have young children used as drug mules."

It will be interesting to see how this issue is discussed in the hearings as Novak points out here.

Red state Democratic senators have to consider consequences of collaboration by their leaders with architects of the assault on Alito. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid met privately Thursday with Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a sponsor of the strip-search ad, to plot strategy against Alito that may not be popular with all members of Reid's caucus.

MDE Revealed Courtesy of Lawsuit

MDE has revealed that he is Michael Brodkorb because of a lawsuit. Back in October some evidence was revealed that exposed MDE for who he was, but now this confirms it. I have had some history and email exchanges with Michael and it is sad how he is being forced out of anonymity, but I look forward to seeing him at Keegan's for Thursday Trivia. UPDATE: Towles from C&B has an update (registration req'd so I will include all of it below) on the MDE situation posted.

On August 24, 2005 we published the name of Jerome Plagge as a person behind the oft despised, at least by Democrats, weblog Minnesota Democrats Exposed (MDE). http://checksandbalances.com/Default.aspx?tabid=123&mid=725&ctl=Details&ItemID=1172 We were contacted by Plagge who denied his involvement and in turn published his reply to our first story. http://checksandbalances.com/Default.aspx?tabid=123&mid=725&ctl=Details&ItemID=1181 Today, former Minnesota Republican Party Communications and Research Director Michael Brodkorb is coming forward to identify himself as a person behind MDE. The reason for his public pronouncement is a pending lawsuit by Blois Olson of New School Communications. We understand an agent for Olson served a summons citing defamation to Brodkorb at his home last evening to the tune of $50,000 and in response Brodkorb has decided to go public with his involvement in MDE. There has been wide speculation about the people behind MDE for some time and frequently Brodkorb’s name is the first thought of. From our experience with MDE we believe it is not a single person and is likely a committee of people who produce material for the blog. [It includes this post: MDE EXCLUSIVE: COLEEN ROWLEY AND BLOIS OLSON] Expectedly, this story has caused Olson a great deal of frustration, enough to result in legal action. We have heard about the bevy of phone calls Olson has made in Republican circles trying to find out who is behind MDE and trying to get someone to “call the dogs off.” We understand Olson elicited the assistance of former Rep. Mike Osskopp, (R) current spokesman for Congressman John Kline (R-MN2), coincidentally Rowley’s opponent this fall; to help Olson is his quest to stop the stories. Olson and Osskopp have worked together in the past when Olson filled in for Osskopp on his radio show Mike and Maggie. When the story broke we were not all that surprised since we had heard Hubert H. “Buck” Humphrey IV had approached the Rowley Campaign last year to provide fundraising support concurrently with his employment at New School Communications. Checks & Balances has confirmed with our sources within the Rowley Campaign that Humphrey did make the approach, but this is a small portion of the story. It did not strike us as all that strange when we heard of Humphrey’s inquiry because he has past fundraising experience for the Democratic National Committee and the Kerry/Edwards Campaign. The question really is not about Humphrey’s efforts it is more about the negative spin Olson communicated regarding the Rowley campaign and if the bias emanated from the lack of a financial reward. For the record Checks & Balances, especially Publisher Shawn Towle, has never had any respect for Blois Olson politically or personally. It should not come as a shock to anyone that there is a lack of love between Towle and Olson. We expect there will be more forthcoming so stay tuned.

Governor Swann?

Miscellaneous It looks like "those close to him" were correct. Lynn Swann is going to run for Governor of Pennsylvania.

This year, he's at it again, saying he'll formally announce in Pittsburgh Jan. 4.

I heard on the radio today that he did make the announcement. Whether celebrities getting into politics (or not - Reiner not running) is good or bad, I'm not willing to say, but his entrance to the race certainly will make it an interesting one to watch.

I Am One!

Two big events happen in the local MN blogoshphere today, SD63 celebrates its one year anniversary and it looks like MDE will come out today. Gary at KvM predicts MDE will come out from hiding for a reward of sorts.

I will be making a major announcement about the future of Minnesota Democrats Exposed at 12:00 p.m. tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a great day in the history of Minnesota Democrats Exposed. MDE

OK, I guess there is only one big event for me and one for the local blogosphere. I have taken the last two months "off" for a few reasons, but the new year promises to bring more local topics for SD63.