I Don’t Hate America!

Via press release:

Margaret Anderson Kelliher DFL State Convention Speech

Thank you DFL’ers.
Many thanks to Jeff Hayden, Dave Fredrickson, and Maria Arago.
And to my campaign co-chairs Secretary of State Joan Grow and Vice President Walter Mondale.
My roots in the DFL party go way back.
The first convention I attended was as a college sophomore. I will never forget it. I couldn’t take my eyes off this cute red head from the old 2nd Congressional District.
Well, today that red head is my husband, David.
Let me introduce my family. Dave and our kids - Patrick and Franny.
And, my mom - Elaine.
My mom’s pretty excited to be here. As many of you know I was the Blue Earth County Dairy Princess. Mom always wanted me to win another contest.
She hoped I would be crowned – “Princess Kay of the Milky Way.” Her wish was that my head would be carved in butter and displayed at the state fair.
 Well… I’ve been trying to make it up to her ever since.
Do you realize it has been nearly a quarter century since we elected a DFL governor?
For far, too long the governor’s office has been run by big personalities.
And, individuals with even bigger ambitions.
Well… I’ve got a message for anyone who is resigned to thinking the phrase -

“DFL Governor” is an oxymoron.

It’s time to end the 24 year drought!

Are you ready to end the 24 year drought?

This year we are on the verge of adding a new chapter to our history.
We are strong and ready. As the leader of the House DFL Caucus I’ve been serious about rebuilding our party.
With your help we’ve elected Democrats in places like Rosemount - First DFL’er there in 24 years.
In Rochester. In North Branch.
In six years we’ve gone from a minority in the house to a 30 seat majority.
As I knock on doors in the suburbs and the cities. And visit farms and factories….
I’m reminded of what matters most to Minnesotans.
Too many people are looking for a job or worried about losing their job.
My own family has faced tough times. I remember a night on the farm when I was fourteen. We had just finished supper when my dad pushed his plate away. He put his head down on the table and started to cry.

My dad Carl was a proud man and I had never seen him cry before. I knew something was really wrong. Interest rates had skyrocketed and milk prices had bottomed out. We were in danger of losing the farm.

Today there are families at kitchen tables who face the same fears.
I’ve met people like Scott - an electrician in Shakopee. Scott has been out of work for more than a year. He worries about how he’ll make his next mortgage payment.
Dixie in Thief River Falls - who is afraid she will lose her union because of the airline merger.
And, the teachers struggling in Long Prairie - Grey Eagle who work for health care. Literally. Their entire pay check goes to pay for health care for their family.
In the last eight years we’ve had a governor who put his right wing ideology ahead of improving people’s lives.

We have endured a governor who would rather block and squander, than build and prosper.

We must and can do better. Minnesotans are hungry for a leader who shares their values.

We must and can do better. We need a governor who can connect with all of Minnesota.

That’s why I am running for governor.

And that’s why today I am asking for your endorsement.

I will do better.

I’ve stared down the Republican right. I’ve come out with wins.

The 35W bridge collapse was a time for strong leadership.

Governor Pawlenty ignored the wake up call. He vowed never to sign a comprehensive transportation bill.

I looked him in the eye and told him I would organize an override of his veto. He said go ahead and try. And, that’s exactly what I did.

I forged new partnerships with business, labor. Farmers, environmentalists. Democrats and Republicans.

Together, we won. And, Minnesota won.
Our roads and bridges are safer. And, we put Minnesotans back to work.

There is nothing more important than jobs.

In March, I led the effort to pass a jobs agenda. Economists project it will pull us out of the great recession more quickly. 20,000 Minnesotans will be back to work in the coming months and 10,000 more after that.

As Governor I will go farther.

I have the executive experience to hit the ground running. There is no time to waste. The new governor must deliver a budget in twelve short weeks.

As Speaker of the Minnesota House, I manage a 300 person staff with a multi-million dollar budget.

I have completed three - 34 billion dollar balanced state budgets. Hammering out a budget isn’t glamorous work. It takes more than being a cheerleader.

It matters because the budget touches every, single Minnesotan. Through job training for returning veterans, making college affordable, and insuring 40,000 more kids.

I have already put forward an economic roadmap. As Governor I will ensure economic recovery touches every corner of the state.

From Fergus Falls, where Greg and Jenny Stumbo are expanding their cafe…

To the technical college in Canby where students are learning how to repair wind turbines.

To McQuay International in Plymouth creating jobs for engineers and managers.

We cannot afford to have an opportunity gap between rural and metro Minnesota.

We will seize new possibilities. Like we did with the 2007 Renewable Energy Standard. Standards that Marty Seifert and Tom Emmer want to repeal.
We had the vision to set the strongest standards in the nation. This is good for the environment and good for jobs.
As governor I will position us for the future by setting priorities from day one as we govern together.
Dave and I are proud public school parents. As Governor I will ensure all kids succeed in college and work. It starts with early childhood education.
We will fix our school funding formula so that it is fair, predictable, and sustainable.
As Governor I will ensure every Minnesotan has health care. And, be steadfast in securing civil rights. Including racial justice.
And, marriage equality.
As your next Governor, these are my priorities. In good times and in bad.
My family was fortunate. We saved the farm. My parents scraped together every single penny - their life savings. We worked sun up to sun down. Those difficult days made me who I am today.

A tireless fighter.

This spring my brothers Craig and Ken are preparing for another planting season. As they break ground, they do so with a steady eye on the future.

So, must we. Together we can build a future filled with prosperity and opportunity.

This is the tradition of the DFL party.

Twenty-one years ago Dave and I sat with a college professor from Northfield when he decided to run for statewide office.

Paul Wellstone inspired so many of us.

Paul said “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
It is the DFL party that believes in the dreams of the little guy.

We are the party of Fitz Mondale and Hubert Humphrey. Champions of the people.

The DFL party is the party of pioneering women.
We sent Coya Knutson to Washington fifty years ago.
We are the party of: Alan Spear, Keith Ellison, and Amy Klobuchar.
The DFL party has been breaking ground for nearly a century.
It is time to come together again for one Minnesota.

Together, we can win in November!

I ask for your vote.

Via press release. The Rukavina speech is attached to this post.

Download it here.

Via press release: 

Full Text of Thissen Endorsement Speech

Representative Thissen will thank various people before he begins the speech text, copied below.

Delegates – It. Is. Time.

It is time to stand up for our values.

It is time to STOP playing not to lose and start playing to win!

It is time to shed the mistakes of the past and embrace the future!

It……..is……….time!

For 8 long years, our children have suffered in overcrowded classrooms with outdated materials. Our seniors have lived in fear being forced out of the communities they love because they cannot afford to stay. Parents have worried about how they will keep their jobs, homes, and care for their children.

Minnesota’s just say no governor has closed the door on opportunity for too many of us. He’s used his veto pen as a weapon to assault the most vulnerable among us.

We’ve lived for so long with such poor leadership that we have gotten used to it. We’ve come to accept skyrocketing health care costs as normal. We’ve made due with fewer hours and lower pay. We’ve too readily accepted that we live in a state of scarcity when in fact we live in a state of great abundance.

Our leaders have decided for us that mediocrity is the best we can do.

And as the current governor has slashed and burned the state we love, the response of some Democrats has been little more than a whimper. We confuse caving in with compromise.

Democrats – the challenges we face are too serious to settle for slapping a coat of paint on a building that is collapsing to pretend we’ve fixed something.

It is time we stop nibbling around the edges and start taking on the big challenges of our future again.

Yes, Democrats, it is time!

It is time we stand up and fight the flawed philosophy that says we are better off if just left on our own. We know that Minnesota is at its best when our communities are thriving – that we prosper when our neighbors do.

It is time for a Minnesota where we measure our success by the prosperity of our families and not by our national tax ranking, where we shine once again as a destination state, an oasis that welcomes the world, respects science and revels in great culture.

It is time for a Minnesota where we once again value all of our communities — large and small — and understand that the seeds of the next Minnesota renaissance rest in the hard work of thousands of individual Minnesotans across this state who are rebuilding Main Streets and reclaiming their neighborhoods.

It is time for a Minnesota where we once again lead the country in job creation — where we respect the dignity of a hard day’s work, encourage innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit, take pride in the bounty of our fields and forests and mines, and create a Minnesota that powers itself with homegrown renewable resources.

It is time for a Minnesota where every child has the best education, regardless of family background or where she lives; where doctors and nurses can focus on taking care of people instead of worrying about how much a patient costs the system; where our seniors become not a burden, but an army of volunteers ready to transform our state.

It is time to build a Minnesota we can be proud of again.

Democrats — let’s break out of the trap that tells us that the only job of state government is to cut deals and balance the books. Our democracy demands much more than that. I will be a Governor that looks outside the walls of the Capitol at the reality of people’s lives. I will be a governor that takes action to break down the walls that separate us – walls of race and geography, of disability, gender and sexual orientation. I will tackle discrimination not just on the surface, but at its roots buried deep within our communities and institutions. I will set forth a moral vision for our state and where it needs to go. Together, we can remind Minnesotans that government is not the enemy; INSTEAD POOR LEADERSHIP IS.

That’s why in 2009 – despite a just say no governor and hyper-partisan legislature – I stood up and said that no Minnesota child should go without health care.

The result was ground breaking legislation that covered 40,000 Minnesota kids, cut through the partisanship, and even convinced the just say no governor to do the right thing.

That success proves that we CAN do the people’s work with the right leader — a leader with a clear vision, who has faced down fierce Republican opposition and demonstrated a willingness to break with the conventional wisdom when it is the right thing to do.

It is time to lead again.

But Democrats, it’s also time to be honest with ourselves. We cannot accomplish ANY of the bold objectives we share unless we finally win the governor’s race. We live with the consequences of losing for 20 years every single day.

For too long, we’ve repeated the mistake of running the establishment candidate – the face of the DFL party. We’ve ignored the independent spirit of Minnesota. We’ve shunned the reality that Minnesotans trust the person, not the party. We’ve played it safe, and Minnesota is suffering.

We owe it to ourselves and to Minnesota to break the chains of failure and win this time.

It is time to run a fresh face, tested in a partisan environment but armed with a vision that cuts across partisan bounds and appeals to the independent spirit of Minnesotans. It’s time to grab hold of our DFL values but transcend the DFL brand.

It’s time to stop playing it safe and start playing to win!

That’s why I am asking for your support for the DFL endorsement for Governor. You’ve seen how far our campaign has come through hard work, criss-crossing the state, and sheer determination. There is nothing more Minnesotan than that.

I ask you to join our team - be a part of turning the DFL and Minnesota away from the past and towards a vibrant future. Together, we can build a Minnesota that makes us the envy of the nation again because …

It is time to stop looking back and start looking forward.

It is time to stand up for our vision of a vibrant Minnesota.

It is time to prove to Minnesota that we can win AND govern.

Delegates, the stakes are high and the time is now!

Together, let’s make this the time we take back the governor’s office and build a better future for all of us.

Thank you.

On March 5th, an agreement was made between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DFL leaders to extend the GAMC program that was set to end on March 31st, 2010 and would have transitioned tens of thousands of low-income Minnesotans to a more expensive MinnesotaCare plan. Although the plan will continue coverage for many, the payments are slim from the state, instead shifting much of the costs to hospitals.  According to MPR and Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL), 77% of the program’s funding from the state is being cut.  Hospitals such as HCMC will still need to deal with picking up the cost to ensure all their patients receive the appropriate care.  From an RN that works at HCMC, staff have already been facing cuts that affect patient care.  Patient to nurse ratios have now increased on medical/surgical units up to 8:1 on nights.  With less reimbursement to hospitals and a shifting of costs such as this GAMC deal, patient care will still negatively be affected until legislators pass safe patient handling bills, or increase funding to programs for the uninsured.  This will be an interesting topic to continue following in the coming months.

From Minnesota Public Radio (MPR):

GAMC deal shifts costs to hospitals, health providers

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio, Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio

March 5, 2010

St. Paul, Minn. — Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DFL legislators have reached a deal over funding for a health insurance program for the poor.

The deal will preserve coverage for most current General Assistance Medical Care recipients, but will shift costs onto medical providers.

GAMC provides health insurance for more than 30,000 of the state’s poorest residents. The program was scheduled to end on March 31, after Pawlenty cut its funding last year to balance the state budget.

The new plan will extend GAMC for two months. Starting June 1, a new system, funded with block grants, will replace it.

Instead of paying providers for each service provided, the new plan will provide hospital-based coordinated care systems with capped block grants to provide health care to eligible residents. Most former GAMC recipients will be eligible under the new plan.

“The hope will be this will be a more efficient, comprehensive, and continuous care,” Pawlenty said in a press conference this afternoon.

DFL legislators said they’re glad to have reached an agreement, but said the plan will hurt medical providers. Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, said the plan cuts the program’s funding by 77 percent.

“The health care providers are taking a huge cut,” said Rep. Thomas Huntley, DFL-Duluth. “That makes the state budget look good, but some hospitals may collapse, and other hospitals may just raise their rates to everybody else to make up for the loss of this money, and that will be put on your insurance bill.”

The state’s General Fund will provide $71 million in capped block grants to hospital-based Coordinating Care Organizations in the current 2010-2011 budget, and $131 million in 2012-2013.

The plan also establishes a separate method to reimburse CCOs for prescription drug costs. The deal caps drug reimbursements at $45 million from the General Fund in the 2010-2011 fiscal years, and $83 million in the 2012-2013 fiscal years.

GAMC recipient Robert Fischer expressed relief that he won’t lose his coverage. Fischer, who is 51, has sleep apnea, depression, and a degenerative back condition. His only income is $203 a month from the state’s General Assistance program.

“From what I’ve heard, I’m very, very happy,” Fischer said.

Negotiators have been working on a solution for GAMC for about nine months. The plan was set to expire later this month.

“We knew when we began this endeavor nine months ago that we were going to be putting together legislation that was going to be less than lovely,” said Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul. “We were working very hard to protect the safety net for those who get their care in GAMC, and we’ve protected that commitment.”

Murphy added, “I think the safety net is a little thinner. It may be a little bit more like a lifeboat.”

The state had planned to transfer many current GAMC enrollees into another state health insurance program, called MinnesotaCare, once the program ended.

But many recipients say they would not be able to afford MinnesotaCare’s monthly premiums and higher co-payments.

Issue background:

The General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) fund is a MN healthcare program run by our Minnesota Department of Human Services (MDHS, 2009) that covers “low-income adults, ages 21-64, who have no dependent children under age 18 and who do not qualify for federal healthcare programs” (para. 1). The services offered include a comprehensive benefits package focused on preventative care and one for those who want coverage in case of an emergency hospital visit with a specific co-pay amount. A recent veto and line-item cut from MN’s budget by Gov. Tim Pawlenty took away $381 million from the GAMC (Perry, 2009). According to Share (2009), these “cuts to GAMC will leave 33,000 low-income Minnesotans without healthcare” as the labor review editor quoted the MNA.

One of the major hospitals in the Twin Cities, the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is one of the most affected by the line-item cut to GAMC as they will lose “$43 million in 2010 and $50 million in 2011” (Newmarker, 2009, para. 5). This has forced the one in only four Level 1 trauma center’s in the state to face many program cuts as they deal with a $550 million budget compared to a $600 million one in 2009 (Newmarker, 2009). Protesting nurses do not want to be a part of potential cuts, or see vulnerable patients turned away especially as we already face issues regarding safe staffing. HCMC’s major cuts highlight how payment increases to insurers must happen in order for healthcare organizations to stay afloat. Payment increases to insurers means payment increases to their customers, the ones who pay for health insurance. This is one element of the greater healthcare reform issue that needs to be addressed as the national debate continues.

Minnesota Department of Human Services. (2009). General assistance medical care. Retrieved
on October 15, 2009, from http://www.dhs.state.mn.us/main/idcplg?IdcService
=GET_DYNAMIC_CONVERSION&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&dDocName=id_006257

Newmarker, C. (2009, September 25). HCMC lists programs facing cuts. American City
Business Journals, Inc. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/09/28/story4.html?b=1254110400%5E2162231

Perry, S. (2009, October 1). Employment stimulus will dominate session, as well as bonding bill.
Finance & Commerce, Inc. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://legal-ledger.com/item.cfm?recID=12318

Share, S. (2009, October 12). Nurses march on capitol, call on governor to restore general
assistance medical care. Workday Minnesota. Retrieved on October 15, 2009, from http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4205

By now you may have heard the news that former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman has decided against running for governor in Minnesota.

While I am glad he has decided to finally get the hint from Minnesotans and stay away for a while, I’m quite disappointed as I would have been amused by the rioting that the hardcore conservatives surely would have started had he sought the endorsement at the GOP convention.

While pundits are predicting gloom and doom for Democrats this year, let’s not kid ourselves: the Republican Party of Minnesota is still fighting for its very soul. While I predict the Tom Emmer vs. Marty Seifert floor fight to be brutal, nothing other than perhaps a Jim Ramstad gubernatorial campaign speech would have launched the convention into armageddon quicker than a Coleman candidacy.  I’m sure sentiments from party activists like this one played into Norm’s decision to not take part in a probable blood bath.

This means we need to look to the past to find controversy from a Minnesota GOP convention. Purely for the heckuvit, let’s take a trip WAY back.

Dateline: June 20, 1986 at the old St. Paul Civic Center for the Independent-Republican Party convention.  Betty Wilson in the Strib reported:

The first fight at the Independent-Republican convention in St. Paul was over signs.

On Wednesday, the day before the convention opened, gubernatorial candidate Marion (Mike) Menning’s campaign staff put up what it contends is the largest sign ever hung in the St. Paul Civic Center. It is 84 feet long and 20 feet wide, bears Menning’s name in huge white letters against a blue background and is suspended from the ceiling and facing the delegate seats.

Another Menning sign, 30 feet by 20 feet, was also hanging from the ceiling to greet delegates as they came onto the convention floor. But the Menning people were told Thursday that they would have to take it down as a compromise to placate the other candidates.

After hearing about the Menning coup, representatives of the other candidates, David Jennings and Cal Ludeman, cried foul. The convention  rules prohibited putting up signs until 9 a.m. yesterday, according to the Jennings and Ludeman representatives. Party staff members told the Menning people that one sign would have to come down as the compromise.

Menning spokesmen explained that they had to have help from the Civic Center staff in putting up the signs, and staff members said they had to do it Wednesday. Tom Dahlberg, Menning’s campaign manager, said it took eight people more than two hours to mount the larger sign.

Menning also has about 8,000 balloons in nets above the convention floor, ready to be released today when he is nominated and his supporters stage a demonstration.

As we know, those balloons never needed to leave the nets as Ludeman, now Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s human services commissioner who infamously admitted T-Paw’s veto of General Assistance Medical Care would affect the sickest of the sick and the poorest of the poor, received IR endorsement.  Maybe it was because of his stellar outreach to underrepresented groups?

Not more than 10 of the 2,082 delegates to the Independent-Republican Party convention in St. Paul are minorities, according to IR chairman Leon Oistad.

He estimated that five or six Hispanics and three or four blacks are delegates.

“We have very active black and Hispanic (affiliates) with the party,” Oistad said. “For whatever reason, not a great many of them have been elected as delegates to this convention. We’re actively trying to recruit members of minorities into the party.”

Or maybe it was because of his choice to adopt a strategy of cutting-edge political fashion statements as opposed to cutting-edge political technology?

Menning will track delegate movement between ballots tonight with the help of two personal computers in his war room and one portable computer on the floor. A laser printer is standing by to generate personal letters, five per minute, to key delegates. The computer-generated information will be passed to Menning floor leaders via walkie-talkie.

Jennings plans to use one personal computer to help him make the same effort, said volunteer Vic Ellison. But Ellison downplayed the significance of the service the computer will provide. “A computer can’t help anybody now. We’re down to one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat now,” he said.

All three campaigns have distinctive identifications for their floor leaders. District floor leaders for Jennings are wearing orange cowboy hats, and about 100 unit leaders have orange caps with visors.

Menning workers have painter’s caps with Menning’s name and are wearing pins and carrying walkie-talkies.

Ludeman’s floor leaders have straw hats with Ludeman’s name and large buttons with his picture.

After surviving all of the sign shenanigans to get the party endorsement at the convention as well as the surviving IR primary, Ludeman went on to lose to Gov. Rudy Perpich.  This year I’m confident our DFL endorsed candidate will be able to hold off whichever candidate emerges from the GOP side.  Of course, I have my own idea of who that endorsed candidate should be, but that’s a discussion for another evening: specifically precinct caucus evening, which is approaching soon on February 2nd!

In his reporting of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s deer hunting opener, Bob Von Sternberg unintentionally, perhaps, describes the situation as a perfect analogy of T-Paw’s last seven years in office:

Pawlenty, who has more often than not failed to shoot a deer during the opener, shot a small buck while hunting north of Thief River Falls Saturday morning.

But the deer ran off into the brush, apparently badly wounded.

Hunters who were with Pawlenty started hunting the blood trail the animal had left behind, but Pawlenty had to leave for Iowa, where he was headlining a Republican Party fundraiser.

Yes, this is just like what Gov. Pawlenty did to the state of Minnesota by refusing to negotiate with the legislature in order to craft a balanced solution to the state’s budget woes.  Instead, he eventually took his axe to important programs like General Assistance Medical Care, recklessly.

It’s just like how he  shot this deer, let it slowly bleed, and left it behind as he departed to Iowa for the same reason as he kicked thousands off of health care: to further his own political ambitions.

And just like the deer, Pawlenty won’t be around to have the responsibility of cleaning up the mess he created.

This week, the Georgia gubernatorial race brings us an internet advertisement which is going viral and potentially will end up as the worst political ad of all time.  Currently, the “Willie Horton” ad from the 1988 Presidential election is widely believed to hold that title.  Floyd Brown, the man responsible for this ad which aided in bringing down Michael Dukakis, has been hanging out with our own absentee Gov. Tim Pawlenty, but that is neither here nor there.

This brings me to the ad which I consider to be the worst I have ever seen. Let’s rewind to 1994, when super-mega-ultra right winger Allen Quist was endorsed by the Independent Republican party for governor over incumbent Arne Carlson.   The primary would prove to be a no-holds-barred affair, which featured Quist in his attempt to use his brand of conservativsm to “retake” the party (which would in the not-too-distant future after that shed the word “independent” from its name) by taking down Gov. Carlson, generally judged to be a centrist.

Quist lost to the popular Carlson in a landslide.

I was only the age of 10, however one advertisment from that bloody primary struck me as particularly farcical despite my young age. In fact, I still remember it to this day in all of its inflammatory glory.

Here’s how Dane Smith explained it in a September 3, 1994 story in the Star Tribune:

Video and audio (Ad  1): Throughout this 30-second ad, a man wearing a suit and a President Clinton  mask dances with another suited man, who has his back to the camera and is supposed to be Gov. Arne Carlson.  Their dance opens with children’s voices singing to the tune of “Love and Marriage.”  The lyrics are: Clinton  and Carlson, Carlson and Clinton, go together on a lot of issues.”  As the men dance on, a narrator says: “They’ve raised your taxes.  They support government-run health care that will lead to rationing.  They support gun control as an answer to crime.  They favor legalized abortion into the ninth month.  And neither Clinton nor Carlson has ever been endorsed for governor by the Independent-Republican Party.  On Sept. 13, elect the real Republican.  Vote for Allen Quist.”

Bill Clinton: never endorsed by the IR party for Governor.  That might have been the most obviously absurd assertion in the ad, but Smith’s analysis shows it wasn’t the only one:

But the ad ’s claims on gun control and ninth-month abortions have been criticized as distortions by IR Party chairman Chris Georgacas. Carlson and Clinton did raise taxes, but Carlson also cut spending programs and balanced the state budget. And although Hillary Rodham Clinton lavishly praised the MinnesotaCare program, which Carlson helped initiate, Carlson has been critical of Clinton ’s health care proposal. The ad is supposed to be humorous and light, but the Clinton mask, the shadowy background and the disembodied dancing shoes give this ad a strange and ominous quality. Quist’s campaign manager, Leon Oistad, offered the unsolicited disclaimer that the dancing has nothing to do with the gay rights issue, which has become a symbolic dividing point between Carlson and Quist.

Yes, in perhaps an unprecedented move, the state chair of the IR party publicly criticized his own endorsed candidate in a separate Strib story saying the ad “stretches the truth to the edge of credibility” and could cause the losing side in the primary to “sit on its hands, won’t vote, or worst of all, support Democrats.”

Now it’s developing that, having already registered a domain name, Allen Quist is a likely candidate for congress against Rep. Tim Walz.

If Quist ultimately decides to run, my only hope is that he will run ridiculous, off-the-wall TV ads again.  We can never have enough whacky spots like Quist’s from 1994, especially in this age of YouTube and viral video.

Oh, and seeing Walz win with 70 percent of the vote would be cool too, I suppose.

By the way, does anyone have video of the “Dancing Carlson and Clinton” ad? If so, please upload it to YouTube immediately; the “new generation” must see it!

According to a Rasmussen phone survey, Gov. Tim Pawlenty trails the field of GOP presidential hopefuls with less support than “some other candidate” and “undecided.”

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Republican voters nationwide say former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is their pick to represent the GOP in the 2012 Presidential campaign. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 24% prefer former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney while 18% would cast their vote for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets 14% of the vote while Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty gets 4%. Six percent (6%) of GOP voters prefer some other candidate while 7% remain undecided.

My first thought was “Ah, well. It’s still early and ole’ T-Paw prolly still’s got plenty o time to build name recognition and gain support within the GOP base.”

He did lead the field in one category, though, and it unfortunately doesn’t appear Pawlenty’s problem is name recognition. While obviously not as well known as the rest of the candidates, 28 percent of respondents said T-Paw is the candidate they would least like to see on the the ballot.

The numbers for Huckabee and Romney look even stronger when GOP voters were asked which candidate they would least like to see get the nomination. Pawlenty came on top in that category with 28%. Palin was second at 21% while 20% named Gingrich. Romney and Huckabee were in the single digits with 9% and 8% respectively.

Tim Pawlenty: less popular than, ahem, Sarah Palin? I suppose it is early, but at this stage our lame duck, absentee governor might need to start managing expectations for his presidential ambitions.

Indeed, from his perch utop the Governor’s Mansion on Summit Avenue, perhaps T-Paw should, rather than aspiring to move to Washington, D.C., or even Iowa for the caucuses, look toward moving closer: his home in Eagan.

To think here in Minnesota we just speak about our beloved Gov. Tim Pawlenty being absent from the real work of governing as figurative speech.  Maybe he can take a hint from South Carolina’s Mark Sanford about how to get lost for real:

The governor went missing four days ago and his state is in a tizzy.

Sanford ditched his security detail on Thursday, missed Father’s Day weekend with his family, and didn’t show up at work Monday.

Neither his wife, nor the state’s lieutenant governor, nor police officials know where he is, South Carolina newspapers reported.

But Jenny Sanford told the Associated Press she wasn’t worried.

“He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids,” she said while vacationing with the couple’s four sons.

Cute.  Nothing says “family values” like getting away from the kids on Father’s Day!

Earlier today, when the S.C. legislature overrode ten of his vetoes (ouch!), it was discovered he was somewhere off on the Appalachian Trail.  Hopefully on the trail for the GOP presidential nomination, likely candidate Sanford will eventually give likely candidate Pawlenty advice on how to take a hike. 

Ha Ha! I’ll be here all week.  Be sure to tip your bartender!

Hi everyone.  Remember me?  Well, if you don’t, it’s okay.  I logged into this site for the first time in a about a year-and-a-half a few days ago.  Tonight, I saw something on Facebook which told me “Gosh darnit’ DJ, you should resume blogging.” Especially in an age of “new media” and “Web 2.0″ I had to mention it here.

Inserted below is that image:

Yes, Facebook, via automated suggestion, thinks I should add the man who brought me arguably more fun and enjoyment than any other subject during my time blogging here at IDHA! as a friend.

If you need a refresher, Dr. Brian Davis was the Republican nominee for Congress from Minnesota’s First District in 2008.  He went on a remarkable roller coaster of a race from political neophyte/Olmsted County GOP officer to credible candidate against a supposed vulnerable incumbent to competitive candidate for the GOP endorsement to GOP endorsed candidate to GOP front runner in a heated primary to fledgling nominee following said primary to struggling for dollars and hope to, finally, what I considered him as all along since my first introduction to the man: sacrificial lamb.

After all was said and done, Dr. Davis lost by nearly 30 points to the very capable Congressman Tim Walz.  Throughout the campaign, while recognizing why the CD1 GOP needed to nominate him, I still regarded Dr. Davis as someone who would lose with the incumbent getting 60% of the vote.  I regarded him as a sacrificial lamb running too ineffective of a campaign to beat a very effective federal legislator.

By individuals involved in important campaigns, activists in CD1, and informed, interested observers, I was told I was crazy.  I was told that as a freshman, Rep. Walz had no ability to win by such a large margin.  The district, I was told, was much too conservative.

“Nonsense,” I continued to say.  In response, I would point to very ominous underwhelming performances/mistakes throughout calendar year 2007 Jason B. and I documented on this very blog.  Here are some examples:

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/08/16/dr-brian-davis-candidate-against-walz-is-questioned/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/10/30/do-southern-minnesota-republicans-support-brian-davis/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/03/brian-davis-goes-trick-or-treating/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/05/of-tricks-and-treats-but-mostly-tricks-brian-davis-for-congress-math-struggles-for-the-doc/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/07/breaking-news-davis-shows-chuckle-impressive-chuckle-fourth-quarter-in-state-fundraising/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/08/brian-davis-negative-toward-gop-opponents-already/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2007/11/14/dfl-senate-debate-observations-dj-meets-davis/

http://idonthateamerica.com/2008/01/11/team-3-d-debate-in-rochester-day-demmer-davis-try-to-pull-away-from-pack/

In fact, while trying not to sound too arrogant, Jason and I absolutely destroyed Dr. Davis in this series of political wrestling matches.

Okay, too arrogant?  Sorry, there’s no way to sugarcoat it.  When he engaged us in battle, we destroyed him.

The end of the election would see Walz winning handily on election night with 62.5 percent to Davis’s 32.9 percent, while taking every single county.

The purpose of this post is to say this:

Dr. Davis, if you are in ear shot of this message, I kindly give you the encouragement to run a second time for Congress.  In a midterm cycle with only the constitutional officers as statewide candidates on the ballot, your effort would provide a much needed occasional laugh in the realm of electoral politics.  Please, I beg you: run again.  Also, if you feel the need to engage lefty bloggers for Round 2, Uncle DJ will be right here waiting.

As far a taking up Facebook on the friend suggestion? Ah, shucks, I already hit the X button.  Oh well, there is one politician whos friendship I have requested that has continued to ignore me: