Web tuneup for RNC coverage @ PIM

It's been a little quiet on our front page, but behind the scenes we are working on re-engineering PoliticsInMinnesota.com to handle our coverage of the Republican National Convention.

We'll be joined by the team of our sister publication, the Saint Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report. Reporters from our southwestern counterpart, the Arizona Capitol Times, will also be in St. Paul to cover their hometown guy, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

We've added a new 2008 U.S. Congress Election Directory, which has contact information and websites for every candidate for the U.S. House and Senate. Not every candidate provided contact info to the Secretary of State (our source), so if you have more information, please contact us and it will be added promptly.

We have posted some more Weekly Reports, available for free:

• Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report, Vol. 4, Issue 5 - 7/28/2008 - In this issue: Congratulations, Steve Sviggum; Notes From NCSL; House Race Jeers, Cheers And Website Tips; 8th Congressional District Staff; Bits & Pieces; Politics in Minnesota Blog Interview; Lobbyist Watch.
• Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report, Vol. 4, Issue 4 - 7/18/2008: In this issue: New "Infocenter" Rocks; MCCL Sees Only One Pro-Lifer In The CD6 race... And It's Not Tinklenberg; The Western Fringe: Minnesota's 7th Congressional District; The DFL Field In 2010; Bits & Pieces; Lobbyist Watch; Setting The Record Straight.
• Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 4, Issue 3 - 7/11/2008: In this issue: Jesse Won't Run; RIP: The Political Impact Of The Newspaper Institutional Editorial; DFL Congressional Candidates Have Best Shot In Years; The Ron Paul Revolution Reaches Minnesota's House Races; Top Ten House Races To Watch: Part II; Bit & Pieces; Lobbyist Watch.

Additionally, we have a few new items on the site to check out. We've got a couple new blogs for our Minnesota political blog directory on the left and the right, and they're good reads, with a lot of energy going into the material.

• The Twin Cities Daily Liberal (tcdailyliberal.blogspot.com), by Jeff Rosenberg, who describes himself as a "full-time policy wonk and part-time blogger," has been doing some nifty electoral mapping projects, as well as Twittering away (Twitter is an increasingly popular form of microblogging that's kicked into high gear among many politically engaged Minnesotans as the RNC approaches).
• On the right, Chris Kumpula at What the Republic Can Do (whattherepubliccando.blogspot.com) is closely covering the big dustup in the GOP's Senate District 16 race between recently endorsed Rep. Mark Olson (R-Big Lake) and the party establishment. Kumpula's definitely a partisan for Olson and an advocate of the local party members that backed him.

Thanks for stopping by. We'll have a whole new front page configuration up shortly.