Author Archive for Zack Stephenson

Paulsen to Speak at GOP Convention

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 26, 2008 at 12:26 pm
, filed in General
. 15 Comments

Erik Paulsen will be taking the stage next week at the Republican National Convention, some time just before President Bush (who clocks in at a 32% approval rating in Minnesota) and Vice President Cheney (who clocks in at -147%).  The political chattering class is predicting that the Republican gathering will be a massive Obama bash fest and it will be interesting to see if Paulsen joins in the fun.

I would expect him to for two reasons: First, Paulsen and his allies have already shown a willingness to embrace the darkest side of professional politics.  In fact, just last week it was revealed that Paulsen allies were engaged is the most dispicable of campaign tactics: the push poll.  Will Paulsen encore that preformance with a negative barn-burner at the DNC?  It would be true to form.  Second, all indications are that the GOP wants their convention to be a reprise of the 2004 model: all negative, all the time.  I doubt the Republican big-wigs would allow Paulsen within ten feet of the podium unless he promises at least a few jabs at Democrats.

Paulsen is really making a name for himself as a negative campaigner and I’m not sure that is to his benefit in the 3rd.

Michelle Obama for President

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 25, 2008 at 9:56 pm
, filed in General
. 24 Comments

But seriously, she knocked that one out of the park.

Also, that Ted Kennedy tribute was something special.

It Came Together in Minneapolis

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 25, 2008 at 10:45 am
, filed in General
. 0 Comments

A fun nugget in a WSJ article examining Obama’s selection of Joe Biden…

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate reached a pivotal point in a secret meeting on the night of Aug. 6. Sen. Biden was whisked into a Minneapolis hotel room through a back entrance before Sen. Obama left for his Hawaii vacation. They talked one-on-one for 90 minutes. “It was spirited and pragmatic,” says one adviser who was briefed.

It looks like the Twin Cities had a role to play in the formation of both tickets this year.

Moderates Need Not Apply: The Strib Updates the Status of the Override Six

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 25, 2008 at 10:38 am
, filed in Minnesota House
. 0 Comments

Lori Sturdevant had a must-read article in the Strib over the weekend updating the status of the override six:

In all, six House Republicans dared to part company with Pawlenty and GOP leaders over transportation funding. For voting to raise the gas tax 5 cents by October, the Override Six were vilified by Republican mouthpieces, stripped of caucus leadership positions and advised to brace themselves for rough treatment by Republican voters…

Two of the six chose to end their legislative service. One is running as an independent. (Stay tuned for a wild fall in Edina.) One, Rod Hamilton of Mountain Lake, was embraced by his district’s Republicans. They can’t understand why anyone would take issue with a vote to fix a highway on which too many of their neighbors have needlessly died.

I think there are a lot of people across Minnesota who have difficulty understanding why the MN GOP is hell bent on driving the moderates from their party.

The most interesting part of the story, however, is Sturdevant’s profile of the conservative challengers opposing Neil Peterson and Jim Abeler. Don Huizenga, Abeler’s opponent, is already well-known on this site, but Sturdevant introduces him to a broader audience:

Huizenga allowed last week that he’s known as the “Vote No” guy on school levy referenda in his area, and “that’s given me a bad rap.” He says he’s itching to be elected so he can revamp public schools to employ fewer teachers and put parents in charge. During last year’s levy campaign, he posted a blog item describing the student achievement gap as “evidence of differing intelligence among different races.”

Amy at the DNC Tonight

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 25, 2008 at 10:10 am
, filed in General
. 2 Comments

Minnesota’s soon-to-be-Senior Senator will speak from the podium at the Democratic National Convention tonight.  I don’t know what the exact time will be, but from the looks of the schedule, I’d guess sometime in the early evening or late afternoon.  I’ll update when I know more.

Push Polling in the 3rd

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 20, 2008 at 10:32 am
, filed in CD3
. 17 Comments

Erik Paulsen’s pals are up to no good.

DFL candidate Ashwin Madia’s campaign says it has received numerous reports of so-called “push polling” from voters in the district. Push polls masquerade as scientific polls, but are actually telemarketing efforts designed to disseminate negative messages about a candidate.

In a press release the campaign said the calls “distorted Madia’s position on Iraq and falsely stated that Madia was impeached when he was the president of the University of Minnesota student body.”

Campaign Manager Stu Rosenberg sent a letter to his counterpart at Republican Erik Paulsen’s campaign calling on Paulsen to disavow the tactics.

Push polling is an especially unsavory campaign tactic because it involves several layers of deception.  The first lie involves the identity of the caller.  The person receiving the call is led to believe that the caller is an unbiased source when in fact he is anything but.  Second, as in this case, the “poll” itself usually consists of several lies.  For example, the caller might ask “Would you be less likely to support candidate X if you knew he beat his wife?”  Push polling is the worst of American politics, just ask John McCain.

Unfortunately, push polling is hard to combat.  You can go to the press, but reporters often want to report on the content of the call, which makes the whole effort self-defeating from the push-polling victim’s perspective because the press accounts will just spread the lie (just look at various mainstream stories written about the email rumor campaign against Barack Obama).  Hopefully the Twin Cities media will be more reasonable (as MPR was) and report on the existence of the push poll without insisting on reporting the contents of the call.

One last thing on this subject.  The Paulsen campaign has tried to turn this back on Madia by claiming that AFSCME is push polling against Paulsen on Madia’s behalf.  This is a silly accusation.

Eliot Seide, executive director of Minnesota AFSCME Council 5, says his organization is not push-polling in the 3rd Congressional District. He says AFSCME members are calling other AFSCME members, urging them to support Madia, and he says the phone bank script does not even mention Erik Paulsen.

Not every phone call a voter recieves is a push poll and the AFSCME calls certainly don’t fit the profile.

Brodkorb now a Paulsen “Spokesman”

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 20, 2008 at 10:16 am
, filed in CD3
. 8 Comments

Yesterday, the Madia campaign presented the Paulsen campaign with a letter from Campaign Manager Stu Rosenberg asking  Paulsen to condemn push-polling calls that 3rd District residents have been receiving (more on that later).  MPR wrote a story about the incident that contained a interesting little nugget:

Michael Brodkorb, who’s filling in as a spokesman for the Paulsen campaign, said Paulsen is not behind the calls, and countered that he also has heard reports of anti-Paulsen push polling.

Brodkorb disclosed a while back that he was doing paid work for the Paulsen campaign, but this is the first time I’ve seen him quoted on behalf of the campaign.  My previous understanding of Michael’s role on the Paulsen campaign was that he was working as a research consultant.  Now Michael has been authorized to speak on the record on Erik Paulsen’s behalf.  In my view, there is a big difference between these roles.  Anyone who has ever worked in campaign politics knows that the authorization to speak on the record in not given out to just anyone.  In a typical congressional race only one (and rarely two) staffers are permitted to speak on the record.  Erik Paulsen has entrusted Brodkorb with being the public face of his campaign, and that merits notice.

I called Michael a little while ago and he said that his position as Paulsen spokesman was temporary. He is apparently just filling in while the campaign is in between communications staffers.  And I want to be clear that there is nothing wrong with Michael having this responsibility and I also think that he has properly disclosed his paid work for Paulsen.  I just think that he designation as a Paulsen spokesman, even a temporary spokesman, is worth noting for future consideration.

Blog Day for Ashwin Madia

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 20, 2008 at 9:14 am
, filed in CD3
. 1 Comment

A few weeks ago, we participated in Blog Day for Steve Sarvi.  The event was so successful, the liberal blogging community decided to repeat the effort for Ashwin Madia, the DFL candidate in the 3rd Congressional District.

Unlike Sarvi, who is more of a dark horse candidate, Madia is running in one of the most heavily targeted districts in the nation.  Minnesota’s 3rd has been represented by a Republican for decades, but we’ve really got a chance to pick up this seat this year.

Lucky for us, we’ve got a fantastic candidate.

I feel extraordinarily confident in saying that there is no candidate running for office in Minnesota today that is working as hard as Ashwin Madia.  The guy is just a machine.  We’re not going to lose this race because of any failing on his part.  That means its all the more important that we hold up our end.  So take a moment and make a donation to the Madia campaign. Lord knows he’ll need every penny as he takes on the Paulsen/Big Oil machine.

As an added bonus, today is a particularly great day to make a donation to Madia.  August 20th is the pre-primary FEC filing deadline, which means that in just a few days we’ll be able to compare Madia and Paulsen’s fundraising numbers once again.  If you remember, Madia shocked the Minnesota political world at the end of the 2nd Quarter by raising $700,000.  Help him post another impressive number this quarter and make a donation now.

My Final VP Thoughts and a Call for Your Predictions

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 19, 2008 at 7:27 pm
, filed in General
. 50 Comments

Here’s what I think. Regarding Obama: Kaine and Bayh won’t be the pick. Those were just press games. Indiana and Virginia are two states the Obama campaign thinks they can win and those little boomlets won Obama a couple of days of positive press in each state. On the other hand, I don’t think its going to be a complete surprise either. At this point, I’d put my money on either Joe Biden or Kathleen Sebelius. The variable that remains unknown, however, is Obama’s trust level with each of these candidates. I have no special insight into the mind of Barack Obama, but everything I read suggests that he has a very strong relationship with Sebelius and just an amicable one with Biden. Also, the absolute radio silence coming from team Sebelius is telling in and of itself. I am, therefore, going to go out on a limb and predict that he’ll pick Sebelius, with Biden as my second choice.

As for McCain, I don’t think it’ll be Ridge or Lieberman. I think the McCain campaign’s confidence is high right now, and my guess is that he doesn’t think he needs a Hail Mary pick. He also doesn’t need to pick Lieberman. Like Zell Miller in 2004, Lieberman’s every move will be candy for the press over the next couple of months. His profile will be high enough to rival whoever actually is the VP nominee. There is very little to gain by putting Lieberman on the ticket (other than the scorn of the right). My money is still on Pawlenty, with Lindsay Graham as my crazy, out on a limb, second choice (hey, McCain and Graham are best buddies and I think McCain really wants to pick someone he likes).

Sean adds: On the Democratic side I think that the shortlist contains Bayh, Biden, Kaine and Sebelius.  My affection for Biden is already known.  I think that at his age, 65, Barack Obama knows he can get a team player and not someone looking out for his own future.  There is an increasing amount of chatter on the Republican side about picked Joe Lieberman and I think that Joe Biden is the Democrat best suited to debate Lieberman.  Biden’s tendency to say dumb things arises as unforced errors — in debates he has been forceful, direct and very compelling.  And I think he’s awesome.  So why no Sebelius?  Obama has been very pragmatic in all of the choices he’s made about his campaign so far and Sebelius would offend a great many Clinton supporters by putting a woman on the ticket that isn’t Hilary.  So my pick is Biden with Kaine in second.

On the Republican side I am just agog with the thought that McCain might pick Joe Lieberman.

Please God — if you’re out there, please hear my call and let John McCain pick Joe Lieberman — please.  I promise I’ll never take your name in vain ever again.  Well… at least I’ll try.

Joe Lieberman on the ticket might re-burnish McCain’s maverick and independent credentials, but it would also keep social conservatives at home on election day.  And John McCain cannot win with that key cog of the Conservative machine sitting out.  So my wish is Joe Lieberman, but my gut tells me Tim Pawlenty (who will get massacred by Joe Biden at the VP debate) with Mitt Romney coming in a close, but still no cigar second.

This concludes my largely uninformed, basically guessing opinion.

The Obama-Phelps Connection

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 19, 2008 at 6:37 pm
, filed in General
. 0 Comments

Pretty spooky.

Madia Holding Debate Watching Party

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 18, 2008 at 12:56 pm
, filed in General
. 8 Comments

Ashwin Madia will square off against Erik Paulsen (R-Big Oil) on Thursday during the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce Debate.  The cost of attending the debate is $35 for non-Chamber members, but the Madia campaign has stepped up to the plate and set up a free viewing party.

The party starts at 6:00 pm at Madia’s office at 10200 73rd Avenue, Ste 116 in Maple Grove and the debate starts at 8:00. Jeff has more details at MNCR. I’d encourage everyone to go (in fact, I just might be there myself!)

UPDATE - I misread the information.  The debate is at 8 am, the Madia campaign will be airing a tape of the debate at their office at 6 pm.

Paulsen: Big Oil’s Best Friend

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 14, 2008 at 2:26 pm
, filed in General
. 13 Comments

Joe Bodell has an exhaustive post chronicling the contrast between Ashwin Madia’s energy plan and Erik Paulsen’s plan to cozy up to big oil.  Paulsen, who has accepted money from Exxon Mobile, is trying to camouflage his big oil agenda in the language of renewable energy, but Joe saw through his act…

Paulsen’s platform positions on encouragement of green energy production are inoffensive enough. However, these positions conflict with his voting record on energy issues in the State House:  earlier this year, Paulsen voted against Minnesota’s participation in a regional greenhouse gas reduction program. He has opposed requiring that 20 percent of the state’s energy be produced from renewable sources by 2020, and also voted against requiring that renewable energy make up at least a minimum share of the electricity that utilities sell in Minnesota.

Actions speak louder than words. Paulsen has had many opportunities to take a lead in promoting renewable energy, and he has failed to do so. Now he wants voters to ignore his record and believe his rhetoric.

Ashwin Madia, on the other hand, has a concrete plan to promote renewable energy. And unlike Erik Paulsen, Madia has not accepted a dime from big oil (or any other corporate PAC for that matter).

Deployed Troops Give 6:1 to Obama

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 14, 2008 at 10:42 am
, filed in White House '08
. 4 Comments

I thought the Republicans were supposed to be the party of the military:

According to an analysis of campaign contributions by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrat Barack Obama has received nearly six times as much money from troops deployed overseas at the time of their contributions than has Republican John McCain…

Despite McCain’s status as a decorated veteran and a historically Republican bent among the military, members of the armed services overall — whether stationed overseas or at home — are also favoring Obama with their campaign contributions in 2008, by a $55,000 margin. Although 59 percent of federal contributions by military personnel has gone to Republicans this cycle, of money from the military to the presumed presidential nominees, 57 percent has gone to Obama.

Brodkorb Slams Olson

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 13, 2008 at 10:35 am
, filed in General
. 9 Comments

Minnesota’s most prominent Republican blogger is questioning Mark Olson’s candidacy for the Minnesota Senate. Olson, currently a member of the Minnesota House, was expelled from the House Republican Caucus after being convicted of domestic abuse last year. Olson is also one of the most disliked members of the Minnesota House, known for his long-winded speeches on the floor (no one wastes more of the House’s time than Olson, and that is saying something) and his violent temper (he once throw a telephone at a House staffer). Despite his criminal background and his crazy antics, Republican activists up in Big Lake decided Olson deserves a promotion. They just endorsed him for the open State Senate seat vacated by Sen. Betsy Wergin. Michael Brodkorb is not pleased by this development:

When I heard that Representative Olson had been endorsed, I was sick to my stomach. I immediately wished that I had published my personal concerns about Representative Olson last week….

After being convicted of domestic assault and admitting in a speech the he brought “dishonor and disrepute” to the Minnesota House of Representatives, I didn’t think Representative Olson would be endorsed by the Republican Party of Minnesota. I was wrong.

Sadly, Being Convicted of Domestic Abuse May Help Representative Olson’s Political Career

If Representative Olson had not been arrested, charged, tried and convicted of domestic assault, he would have likely been endorsed for re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives. Due to his legal problems and if he wins in November, Representative Olson will be getting a job promotion. Due to his legal problems, instead of representing just HD 16B, Olson could represent both HD 16A and 16B in the Minnesota Senate. Due to his legal problems, instead of being one of 134 members of the House of Representatives, Olson could become one of 67 members of the Minnesota Senate.

It is a embarrassing and sad fact, but if Representative Olson wins in November, he will become a more influential member of the Minnesota Legislature because he was arrested, charged, tried and convicted of domestic assault.

Frankly, its pretty digusting that a convicted and unrepentant domestic abuser could be endorsed for public office by any political party. If Olson wins his primary battle in September, he will be a weight on the Republican ticket this fall.

Obama Building Huge Minnesota Campaign

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on August 12, 2008 at 2:40 pm
, filed in General
. 5 Comments

The Obama campaign held a conference call earlier today outlining their plans in Minnesota. With former Wellstone Campaign Manager Jeff Blodgett at the helm, a grassroots focused effort was predictable, but the scope of this campaign is truly unprecedented in Minnesota.

Obama has opened nine offices across Minnesota, with plans to open more around Labor Day. Since precinct caucuses, Obama volunteers have organized some 550 events across the state and more are held every day. Obama volunteers are holding house parties, making phone calls and talking to their friends and neighbors each day.

A large focus of their energy is bringing new voters to the polls, not an easy task in a state that leads the nation in voter turnout. But with Congressman Keith Ellison spearheading a registration drive in the 5th District, I have no doubt that voter turnout will be even higher in 2008, which will be very helpful to Al Franken, Ashwin Madia and other DFLers.

All is all, DFLers should be very confident that Obama will carry Minnesota in the fall - extending our blue state streak.