Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 1, Issue 11 - 7/15/2005

In this issue: Special Session Fallout, Rump Group Musings, Another Special Session?, Pawlenty's Next Move: Rebuild his Capital, Why didn't the Governor "Triangulate", Republican Rule Fight, And the 2005 Session Victor is..., Campaign Finance Summaries Online, Bits & Pieces..., Lobbyist Watch, 20 Years Ago, The Coming Week In Other Media, Setting the Record Straight

Special Session Fallout

Hallelujah! The 2005 Special Session of the Legislature has ended. Let the spin begin. For Democrats, it's "We're excited to have all the spending for K-12 education and MinnesotaCare, but Pawlenty had to raise your property taxes." For Republicans, "We increased K-12 education, didn't cut anyone off MinnesotaCare, and didn't increase income or business taxes." For legislative staff and the media, it's no more back-to-back all-nighters at the Capitol. But perhaps most important, for the public, it's finally over.

No more partisan bickering in print and on the screen. But besides being relieved, the public is also disgusted. And, perhaps the most salient aspect of the disgust is how long does it linger? All the way into the November 2006 election? We're guessing that it does. With each of the 201 legislators up for election next year, Minnesota could be poised for another major shift in legislative experience like the retirements and redistricting in the 2002 elections meant sending many new lawmakers to the Capitol.

Witness this week's announcement of a Republican candidate, Steve Drazkowski, who is running against Sen. Steve Murphy (D-Red Wing). The number one issue on his Web site is the state government shutdown: "Upon election to the Minnesota State Sen ate, Steve will author a bill to deny any and all pay and per diems for all 201 state legislators during any special session that is held during a time at which a biennial budget has not been adopted by the Minnesota State Legislature." We bet there are a slew of bills introduced next March relating to how the legislature does its business, and given it's an election year, many of them will pass. And, we bet that the worst thing any legislative candidate can be in 2006 is "incumbent."

Finally, one of the achievements Pawlenty is touting may have some electoral legs. That achievement is "Q Comp," the Governor's proposal to move teachers toward merit pay which the Legislature funded to the tune of $86 million. Just as Democratic Governor Rudy Perpich touted and signed charter schools into law, Pawlenty's merit pay for teachers is also something the education establishment has long opposed. And, in ten years, the move to merit pay, like charter schools, may have become a very big deal. Look for Pawlenty to highlight Q Comp this weekend when he delivers a speech to the National Governors Association in Iowa (Pawlenty is vice chair of the group's education committee).

Rump Group Musings

Some very interesting developments came out of the "Bipartisan Rump Group" that was formed by Rep. Dennis Ozment (R-Rosemount) on July 4th. At some point in time, total lawmaker participation reached over 80 legislators. Of interest to gambling expansion proponents: Several Democrats openly admitted they would vote for a racino under the right situation. These included Rep. Al Juhnke (D-Willmar), Rep. Joe Opatz of St. Cloud and Rep. Denise Dittrich (D-Champlin). After much open discussion, the group was preparing to join together and move a racino and a tobacco tax increase off the House floor to solve the budget impasse. Within 48 hours, DFL leaders and staff scurried to scuttle the deal. By mid-week, all Democrats who had shown any interest in voting for a racino backed off and returned to the fold on opposing changes to existing gaming laws. On the Republican side, the group seemed to have little opposition to a tobacco tax increase, although there was concern expressed by some in terms of the size and scale of the increase.

Another Special Session?

Absolutely not. When Pawlenty's chief of staff, Dan McElroy, hinted earlier this week that there might be a special session on sports stadiums, legislators from both parties got quite angry. With over half the summer destroyed by this special session, lawmakers are hoping to have time with family and their real jobs--and some time to try to do damage control from the session that just ended. Recall that the House Republicans voted NOT to immediately go into special session this year but the Governor called one, anyway.

Pawlenty's Next Move: Rebuild his Capital

Our likable Governor started the year and the legislative session with a high favorable rating. A new poll published by the St. Paul Pioneer Press shows that Pawlenty's job approval rating has dropped from 54% to 43%. Some Republican insiders dismiss this poll, calling the polling firm, SurveyUSA, "robo poll" because of its lack of sophistication (not to mention the poll was conducted over a weekend, a notoriously unreliable time to poll). But these same insiders, and Pawlenty, himself, acknowledge that he has suffered some popularity damage.

Last year, Pawlenty's name was floated on the national stage. He and his capable team must assess the 2006 reelection scene and rebuild some of that spent political capital. Most people we know think that can be done and that Pawlenty is at least V.P. material in 2008.

Democrats and some key conservatives believe Pawlenty made major mistakes in this session. Their litany of complaints:

• He called the special session back right away, without a deal close, which led to a prolonged debate, and distraction for the voters.
• He turned on one of his key funding bases, and political bases, the Minnesota Taxpayers League, by not just signing but proposing the cigarette tax/fee.
• He signed a bonding bill early, meaning he couldn't leverage votes for that bill into major budget deal votes.
• He didn't "Triangulate." [See next story.]
• He resorted to Jesse Ventura-like name calling.

These are all recoverable mistakes, but Pawlenty will have to use the off-session time to make himself visible, and remind voters of the "Smiling Tim" everyone came to know in the first two years of his administration.

Why didn't the Governor "Triangulate"

Every successful politician who had to share power within the past twenty-five years has practiced the art of "Triangulation". Pawlenty didn't, and it became obvious as the special session wore on.

Triangulating is a practice of siding with your opposing party on key issues that are politically popular. Bill Clinton was masterful, as was Ronald Reagan. In Minnesota, Jesse Ventura used it on issues like welfare reform and public safety. For people more interested in Triangulation as a political strategy read Behind the Oval Office by Dic k Morris.

Early on, it looked like House Speaker Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon) and Pawlenty agreed that they were not going to allow bills to get to the Governor's desk that he would have to veto or sign and offend conservatives--either of which could offend swing voters. And Sviggum needed Pawlenty to stay loyal to the conservative base so that Sviggum could remain Speaker.

This strategy prevented them from triangulating on any issue. Pawlenty tried to triangulate on his casino plan, but the problem was no one came along from either body in the legislature. With only a two-seat lead, the DFL only needed two Republicans to leave the caucus position to pass a bill. This meant that the Republicans needed every possible vote when they had a big issue, and since there were plenty of unpredictable Republicans this year, Sviggum chose to just not vote on many bills.

The two major issues that were allowed to get to the floor and pass were the minimum wage and transportation bills. Pawlenty signed the first, and vetoed the other. These are key issues where Pawlenty could have triangulated, instead he was forced to play hands he didn't want to. And despite his veto Pawlenty has floated the idea of a transportation bill as part of another special session.

Had Pawlenty triangulated on key issues and sided with Democrats or built his own coalition by reaching across the aisle and having Democrats on key issues, progress may have been made and Sviggum and Sen. Majority Leader Dean Johnson would have had less leverage in the end because Pawlenty would have had bipartisan votes.

Republican Rule Fight

An inside baseball, but not inconsequential, story from the legislative sessions this year was the strife in the bare majority (68-66) House Republican Caucus. Senior members and key committee chairs didn't vote the House Republican Caucus position on some issues and didn't have to pay any political penalties. For example, when the House was debating the transportation bill (which included the 10-cent gas tax increase and a bill Pawlenty vetoed), and it was becoming clear there were lots of Republican votes to pass it, House leadership moved to recess. That motion failed, and State Government Finance Chair Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) was left to filibuster for 40 minutes, U.S. Sen. style. Those voting not to recess were House Transportation Chair Rep. Ron Erhardt (R-Edina) and Governmental Operations Chair Rep. Kathy Tingelstad (R-Andover). Another example was the motion to adjourn (not the caucus position) made by Capital Invest ment Chair Rep. Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea) and Local Government Chair Rep. Mark Olson (R-Big Lake).

Less senior rank and file House Republican Caucus members think--and rightly so--that some of the slogging through of this session could have been avoided if there was tighter party discipline. They hope to change caucus rules, before the 2006 session, to clearly spell out that committee chairs, vice chairs and the official House Republican leadership team must vote the party line on procedural motions or they automatically get the boot from the leadership team.

And the 2005 Session Victor is...

DFL Attorney Mike Hatch, who mostly avoided the partisan bickering fray. That could give him a leg up on the two other Democrats thinking about running for higher office, House Minority Leader Matt Entenza (D-St. Paul) and Sen. Majority Leader Dean Johnson (D-Willmar). With the public souring on the lack of closure on the last two regular legislative sessions, Johnson and Entenza could be portrayed as "some of the guys who cannot lead and get things done."

The Next Wildcard: Rep. Dan Dorman (Not sure-Albert Lea)

Speculation grows that Rep. Dan Dorman of Albert Lea will be leaving the House Republican Caucus soon--and maybe even the legislature next year. Dorman, who shepherded one of the few noticeable accomplishments of the 2005 session (the bonding bill), has been openly musing with many Capitol insiders all year.

If Dorman decides he's a Democrat, the House would be at a tie, leaving even more uncertainty for the next session. Because bonding is the biggest issue in the 2006 legislative session, Republicans wonder why he would leave his caucus at this time. By the way, the likely heir-apparent to the Capital Invest ment Chairmanship is Rep. Ron Abrams (R-Minnetonka).

Campaign Finance Summaries Online

The Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board recently published on their Web site all of the campaign finance summaries for legislative candidates in the 2004 elections. Diehard political junkies will no doubt pour through the documents and find all kinds of interesting stuff. Meanwhile, some tidbits worth noting:

• Rep. Denise Dittrich (D-Champlin) self-funded her successful race with a cheque of $98,364 to her own campaign, while her Republican opponent, former Rep. Bill Haas, spent a paltry $29,780. Dittrich got 52.1% of the vote to Haas' 47.8.
• Radio entertainer and syndicated newspaper columnist Garrison Keillor gave almost $30,000 in large donations to various Democratic candidates and causes, and he had a surprisingly big losing streak in his choice of legislative candidates. Of the 15 candidates to whom he gave donations, only three won their races. Democrats are hoping Keillor and other big Democratic donors get better political advice and give to candidates who have good shots. For example, Rep. Judy Soderstrom (R-Mora) beat Democrat Tim Faust by less than 100 votes. Faust had room for about another $5,000 to spend, which might have made the difference.
• Rep. Andy Welti (D-Plainview) actually out raised and outspent former Rep. Bill Kuisle (R-Rochester) to triumph, 51.3%-48.7%. Welti tapped a large family and group of supporters to raise over $20,000 in just individual donations--an almost three-to-one advantage over Kuisle in this category.

Politics In Minnesota: Bits & Pieces...
--Tracking people and events--

Al Vogel, one Minnesota's most loved bureaucrats, is retiring from MnDOT after 36 years in the Department. Vogel was the long-time director of the Office of Freight & Commercial Vehicle Operations. As we understand it, Vogel announced his retirement with his usual aplomb. Rather than fill out the paperwork to go on government shutdown furlough, Vogel said, "Screw the shutdown. I'll just retire." Those wanting to celebrate Al's new golfing and boating career, should mark their calendars for noon, July 28, at the American Legion Post 566, 7731 Lino Lakes Drive, Lino Lakes. $10 advance donations for food and beverages are greatly appreciated and should be sent payable to Phyllis Palmer, Minnesota Dept. of Transportation, 1110 Centre Point Curve, MS 420, Mendota Heights, MN 55120.

Rep. Phil Krinkie (R-Shoreview) has put together his U.S. Sixth Congressional District campaign team. His campaign manager is Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah; his political director is attorney and Republican activist Ryan Griffin, who lost a 2004 legislative contest to Rep. Bev Scalze (D-Little Canada); and, his finance director is former Republican Sen. Linda Runbeck.

Krinkie, by the way, found himself in an interesting conundrum this week. He voted against the human services funding bill because it included the cigarette tax increase. But the bill also included the Minnesota Citizens' for Life's (MCCL) so-called "Unborn Child Pain Prevention Act," which will require doctors to tell women terminating pregnancies after 20 weeks that pain meds for the fetus are available. The MCCL will include the vote in its legislative scorecards, which are important to many Sixth District Republican endorsing delegates.

Cheri Yecke, also running as a Republican in the same district, has hired former College Republicans Chair Jake Grassel as finance director.

Sen. Mark Ourada's (R-Buffalo) just announced retirement is a surprise. While this suburban/exurban district is mostly Republican territory, this may be the best chance an Independence Party candidate will ever have to an outright victory in a legislative race. In 1998, Jesse Ventura got 52 % of the vote.

It is widely rumored that, with the session over Dan McElroy, Pawlenty's chief of staff, may leave the job. McElroy, a moderate, has conservatives worried about the issues of gaming and taxes.

Why is it that what was expected to be the hottest Minneapolis city council race isn't even lukewarm yet? Incumbents Don Samuels (D) and Natalie Johnson Lee (Green) oppose each other in a new ward created by redistricting. Neither is raising much moolah or putting up campaign signs.

Our sympathies to former Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton on the loss of her father Art Sayles, St. Paul's first black car salesman.

Democrats find hypocrisy in the Chair of the Sen. Committee on Investigations, Republican U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, telling Democrats to lay off Karl Rove and focus on passing legislation. Wasn't there something about hearings on the United Nations that had nothing to do with legislation a few weeks back?

Last week, The Business Journal had a story about the role of a local PR firm, Carmichael Lynch Spong, in the MinnesotaCare battle. The firm took cre dit for MinnesotaCare staying on the agenda at the Capitol during the special session. As one of your publishers competes in the PR business, we find it amazingly bold for any PR person anywhere to make such a claim, and that it is a disservice to the thousands of activists and the legislative leadership who made MinnesotaCare an issue on day one of the Governor's budget announcement.

One political insider said that if Colleen Rowley can't raise the $2 million quickly, she isn't likely to carry out her campaign.

Unfortunate politically correct observation of the week: the Cookie Monster was eating rice cakes on Sesame Street.

For years, some people have griped about the purported hassle of attending the meetings of the Metropolitan Airports Commission at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. Rep. Dan Larson (D-Bloomington) even had a bill this year to ban meetings at the airport. Opponents should reconsider: It actually takes less time to park a car and walk to the State Capitol than it does to park (for free) at the airport and go to the MAC meetings at the beautiful Sandy Pierson Grieve (former Ecolab CEO) conference center. Any citizen who wants to go to a meeting needs to stop by the Information Booth on the terminal's TRAM level to get a pass (and don't forget to bring your parking ticket to have MAC staff validate it). Even with the new procedure of signing in and having one's name checked against the TSA's "No Fly" list, it takes less time than walking from the State Office Building to the Capitol.

St. Paul incumbent Mayor Randy Kelly will formally kick off his campaign at a rally Monday at 10:30 a.m. at the south end of the "Wabasha Freedom Bridge" across from downtown. Kelly recently scored a coup in getting former NYC and "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani to endorse the St. Paul Mayor. Writes Guiliani in a recent fund-raising letter, "Give him [Kelly] a challenge and he'll meet it. Tell him it can't be done and he'll show you that it can. That's the mark of a leader. President Bush shows those qualities every day and so does Randy Kelly."

Rep. Dennis Ozment (R-Rosemount) has endorsed Democratic Hennepin County Board member and Minneapolis mayoral candidate Peter McLaughlin.

Republican State Auditor Pat Anderson turned several shades of red when Access to Democracy (more about the show in our media section) host Alan Miller introduced her recent appearance by stating, "If you'll excuse my first sexist introduction, Pat is State Auditor, former Mayor of Eagan, and has, without question, the best legs of any elected official in Minnesota." "Well, better than Gov. Pawlenty's," she replied. "No contest," Miller countered.

Second District Republican U.S. Congressman John Kline's son, a major with the 101^st Airborne, is scheduled for deployment in Iraq within weeks.

Three major PACs--3M, American Collectors Association, and Xcel Energy--will host a fund-raiser for U.S. Rep and U.S. Senator wannabe Republican Mark Kennedy at the Vikings Training Camp in Mankato. Event organizers will set up an air-conditioned hospitality tent "stocked with ample food and beverage" and promise that the tent will be "visited periodically by Vikings players and coaches." Democratic football fans will recall that Vikings head coach Mike Tice introduced George Bush at a Minneapolis campaign rally in 2004. [Of course, that was before Tice was busted for scalping Super Bowl tickets.]

For Minneapolis politicos, read this week's Minneapolis Observer's Ballot Box compiled by publisher Craig Cox. The most interesting news he has this week? Long-time moderate Republican activist Terrell Brown has filed to run against his good friend, incumbent 7^th Ward Minneapolis City Council member Lisa Goodman, this fall.

Politics In Minnesota: Lobbyist Watch
--Who is working what issues--

From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board:

• Newly registered lobbyists
• Recently terminated lobbyists

Must be end of the end of the session: No new filings to report this week, although you may want to visit the Board's newly revamped Web site http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us/ which is much more user friendly. Thank you, CFBoard Web master, whoever you are.

Politics In Minnesota: 20 Years Ago
--How political time flies--

Then Third Congressional District Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Frenzel got more than 16,000 of his constituent surveys back. 59.4% of those who responded supported then-President Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars," and 64.8% didn't think a nuclear arms reduction agreement was possible. One view of the nuclear-obsessed mid-1980s.

Politics In Minnesota: The Coming Week In Other Media

[Publishers Note: Please e-mail staff@politicsinminnesota.com to tell us about other media we are missing.]

Access to Democracy: Hosted by Alan Miller and produced by BECT TV (Burnsville/Eagan Community Television; Channel 15 in those areas).

Almanac. Hosted by Erik Eskola and Cathy Wurzer. Find out what's on this week's show. Airs live at 7:00 p.m. Fridays on TPT Channel 2. Rebroadcasts are Saturday mornings at 1:00 a.m. and Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. on Channel 2. You can also watch the current and past shows.

Almanac Highlights - July 15, 2005

• Governor Tim Pawlenty Live - It was a long, ugly special session but the governor says it was worth it. Hear him out.
• A TV Dinner Guest - Former St. Paul Police Chief Bill Finney is J.G.'s dinner companion this week.
• Live Music - Courtesy of bluesman Charlie Parr of Duluth.
• The Sheikh of Baghdad - Hear the remarkable rags to riches to rags story of an Iraqi-born wrestler whom Minnesotans know as Sheik Alkaissy. It's a life that has crossed paths with Andre the Giant and Saddam Hussein.
• State Shutdown: A Different View - We examine the state shutdown from the perspective of a group of politicos who operate at arms length from the capitol. Mitch Pearlstein, David Lillehaug and Sean Kershaw are our guests.

At Issue with Tom Hauser. Broadcast at 7:00 a.m. on Sundays on KSTP Channel 45 and at 9:00 a.m. on KSTP Channel 5. Coming this week:

• A recap of the week's political news.
• Governor Tim Pawlenty on the end of the special session.
• House Speaker Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon) and House Minority Leader Matt Entenza (D-St. Paul) on same.
• Political analysis with former Democratic Governor Wendy Anderson and PIM's Sarah Janecek.
• [Tentatively scheduled.] U.S. Rep. John Kline, Republican from the Second Congressional District, on his recent trip to Guantanamo Bay, his son's soon-to-be deployment in Iraq and his likely Democratic challenger, Colleen Rowley.
• Face-Off with Democrat Ember Reichgott Junge and Republican and the AM 1500's Dave Thompson.

WCCO Radio: The Pat Miles Show. 830 AM. Every Thursday morning about 9:30 a.m., politicsinminnesota.com publishers Blois Olson and Sarah Janecek visit with Pat to discuss the week's hottest political news.

Politics In Minnesota: Setting the Record Straight

A clarification on last week's Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board story: The Park Board didn't build its headquarters on the Mississippi River; it bought a warehouse and rehabbed it. And, your publishers have nothing against governmental units buying buildings as opposed to leasing space. It almost always saves big bucks.