KSTP

If you have ever watched the Minnesota State Legislature on television, you have probably witnessed an off-color comment or an amazingly laughable one-liner only to want to witness them again. Thankfully, the people at KSTP's At Issue, hosted by Tom Hauser, have the best of the best At Issue clips compiled on their website from 2000 to 2008.

The clips range widely: then-Rep. Pawlenty says, "I thought Austin Powers had mojo, but after watching Rep. [Ted] Winter at the Iron Range party last night, he’s got the mojo;" Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia) makes the startling observation that "Zero percent of zero is zero..."; to a clip of then-Gov. Jesse Ventura almost breaking out into tears... and that’s just in 2000.

One recurring motif from At Issue's Greatest Hits are the Animal House clips. The scene where John Belushi screams "FOOD FIGHT!" works as a metaphor for floor debates. Belushi saying "Have a beer, it don't cost nothing," and then spilling his beer on the floor juxtaposes with clips of the Legislature's endless ventures into liquor laws and booze in general. In the 2008 Greatest Hits the topic of the 4 a.m. bar close was debated on the floor. Sen. Julianne Ortman (R-Chanhassen) wondered, "What are they doing in St. Paul?" A fair question since only one bar in the metro area has paid the $2500 fee to stay open until 4 a.m., Sheik's Palace Royal. [First Avenue may also obtain a license.]

If one experienced all these moments watching Channel 17, legislators' remarks would merely range from the banal to the absurd; thanks to the excellent editing, rearranged and shorn of their context, even the most boring clips become entertaining and frequently, laugh-out-loud funny.

Our local ABC affiliate, KSTP News, has struggled the past few decades, consistently coming in third and sometimes fourth (gasp) in local ratings.

One of the station's repeated blunders is a series of mystifying choices about who sits in the anchor chairs. The next chapter in the mystery was written, yesterday, when KSTP announced that current Morning Show host Tom Hauser would be vacating the anchor desk to return to the political beat. That's both good and bad news for Minnesota politicos. The good news is we're glad to have him back in politics full-time. Hauser is one of the finest reporters who is highly respected on both sides of the aisle. For example, the last few years, Hauser has been asked to MC one of our state's biggest public affairs evenings, the annual Minnesota Chamber of Commerce dinner at which the Governor and all four legislative leaders participate in the program.

Hauser also created and hosts "At Issue," one of only two local government affairs news shows. Confession: I have been part of that show since its inception. Over the years, I've had the opportunity to witness firsthand what a true pro Hauser is. The teleprompter breaks down, and Tom wings it without the audience ever having a clue. Taping snafus are frequent and Tom will do the third take on a segment with the same enthusiasm as the third. That guest is a no-show? Tom works around it.

Perhaps more important is Tom's sixth sense about what content to choose for the show. This is not always an easy feat on a program about the political events du jour that is taped days in advance of airing.

So, while it's great to have Tom back full-time focusing on politics, the bad news is that it's always comforting to those working in public affairs to have someone anchor a newscast who knows how the Minnesota political process works. Tom does -- and like dearly departed "Anchor God" Paul Magers on KARE-11 -- that's a big draw when news breaks calling for Minnesota institutional knowledge. [Tom was born here, educated here (St. Thomas) and stays busy with his wife and four children living in Eden Prairie.]

What's most mystifying about Hauser's change in status at KSTP is that by all the traditional measures, Hauser, as an anchor, has been one of KSTP's few success stories. For the last 14 months that Hauser has anchored the Morning Show, ratings have increased every month, bringing it to number two in its time slot. And, the show won an Emmy last October.

The Hauser announcement was made yesterday afternoon in the newsroom. The buzz after the meeting, was, justifiably, "what kind of place is KSTP to build a career when you do everything right and this is what happens?"

What kind of place, indeed.