Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 1, Issue 14 - 8/12/2005

In this issue: Fun Fodder for Political Junkies in the Kennedy Web Site Stories, Plain and Simple: Oberstar Delivers, It's a little tense between the Chamber and the Sen...., The St. Paul Mayors Race...quietly getting interesting, Doran Doing His Homework, Reporting the Redress of Grievances, Bits From The Blogosphere, Vblogs & Wikipedia, Bits & Pieces..., Lobbyist Watch, The Coming Week In Other Media

Fun Fodder for Political Junkies in the Kennedy Web Site Stories

There's a whole bunch of "story behind the story" stuff in the major stories both the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press ran this week on Republican Mark Kennedy's U.S. Sen. campaign Web site. The gist? The campaign was heavily doctoring newspaper articles to make their guy look better. Well, duh, that's what campaigns are supposed to do. However, there are some things you just don't do. One egregious example. An original AP headline read, "Kennedy's votes break with GOP. Democrats call change 'election-year' makeover." The Kennedy Web headline made it look like the AP headline read, "Kennedy: A common-sense, get things done guy." In fact, this line was in the AP story, but it was something Kennedy said about himself. That's unacceptable editing of a news story. Clear and simple.

So, who is the creative Kennedy Web editor? At first blush, your publishers thought the editing must have been done by Washington consultant types, people who don't understand we conduct our politics in Minnesota at a much higher standard than most of the country. Not so. Heidi Frederickson, the campaign's press secretary and Web designer/editor, called the shots. Frederickson is a Minnesotan through and through: A Becker native and a U of M -- Morris grad, Frederickson got her start in politics working for then-Republican U.S. Senator Rod Grams. But, then she went to Washington, where she rose to the number two political director job at the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Maybe too much of Washington rubbed off. This was a classic rookie mistake. However, we certainly wouldn't look for any Kennedy demotion of Frederickson. She is a pit bull for her guy. Exactly the kind of person you want on a campaign--and in the highly sensitive press secretary job.

How did the media get the story? From an e-mail sent by PaulGoodman@infionline.net. So, who is Paul Goodman? E-mail him and ask. We did and got no answer. But certainly Goodman knew what he was doing. The e-mail he sent was directed to the AP pointing out the editing distortions and it was cc'ed to major political reporters and to the Star Tribune's political editor, Doug Tice, and to the paper's highly respected political opinion columnist, Lori Sturdevant (ok, Tice is highly respected, too). We called Tice because we wanted to know about the seemingly new twist--anonymous e-mails--in the hullabaloo on anonymous sources. He gets a lot of them. Of the Goodman e-mail, Tice said he found it to be "intrinsically interesting." Given the media hullabaloo over the story, he wasn't only one.

Does the story have legs? Probably not. But for the doldrums of the summer of a non-election year, the story wouldn't have been front page stuff. However, Frederickson was spot on with what she was trying to accomplish. Kennedy's greatest weakness to date is that he's perceived as another Republican male blue suit for Bush. That's not a good place to be for a U.S. Sen. candidate in a purple state.

[Quick digression on anonymous sources. If you haven't read the book, Anonymous Source by Dan Cohen, make haste and email your order for a copy. Cohen richly details his personal travails in thinking he was an anonymous source on behalf of the Wheelock Whitney for Governor campaign in 1982. As PIM publisher Sarah Janecek wrote on the back jacket of the book, "Dan Cohen is a real-life Don Quixote who tilted at big media windmills and ultimately wounded them in the highest of venues, the United States Supreme Court." Or as Steve Dornfeld, currently with the Met Council, but previously a journalist whose last post was as deputy editorial page editor and columnist at the St. Paul Pioneer Press wrote, "Dan Cohen provides us with a case study in dumb mistakes by smart people." Read Cohen's recently published and highly relevant view of the New York Times and its reporter, Judith Miller, who is sitting in a jail cell over her refusal to disclose a source to a grand jury. Cohen nails the NYT's hypocrisy on the subject. (Please note that PIM publisher Blois Olson's PR firm has done work for Dan Cohen's book.)]

Finally, the reaction from the blogosphere. The most compelling view comes from Kennedy V The Machine, a blatantly-partisan-but-honest-about-it blog for Mark Kennedy, sponsored by the Taxpayers League and written by Gary M. Miller and Douglas Williams and two others who wish to remain...anonymous (ain't "anonymous" grand?!). They write about the irony in the MSM (mainstream media) writing about the Kennedy campaign's abuse of linking/quoting other news sources without, themselves, linking to the stories. From their site, "So how come as of today, if both the newspapers and the Kennedy campaign were to cite the same quote or article, it's now easier to examine the source of that quote or article at Mark Kennedy's campaign website than at the websites of Minnesota's two largest newspapers?" No further comment from us needed.

Plain and Simple: Oberstar Delivers

It was no surprise that in his speech in Illinois touting the signing of the federal highway bill, one of the first names mentioned by President George Bush was that of Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar. And rightfully so. Oberstar is the long-time national Democratic House leader (he is the Ranking Democrat on the transportation committee) on transportation issues. But it was also pleasantly jarring: The President was recognizing and applauding bipartisan cooperation on the bill. And, while the bill-signing ceremony was held in the home district of Republican U.S. House Speaker Denny Hastert, the state is also represented by Illinois Democratic Senators Barack Obama and Richard Durbin.

Oberstar deserves a lot of recognition for delivering dollars home to Minnesota. It is quite a feat for a Democrat to deliver those kinds of resources back to a home state when Republicans control both houses of Congress. The $3.5 billion Minnesota will receive is particularly impressive, given we have a population of only 5 million of the nation's 300 million. And, we take no issue with the $121-plus million Oberstar brought home to his district. From Oberstar's perspective (and those living in the Eighth Congressional District), he has the opportunity to bring transportation dollars to a part of the state that arguably isn't getting as much as it used to when Democrats and the Iron Rangers ruled at the Legislature. Most of the transportation dollars the Governor and the state have spent in recent years have been metro-area and transit-based, along with some rural highway projects in Republican districts, like Highway 14 between Rochester and Owatonna.

It's a little tense between the Chamber and the Sen....

Is there a pre-election battle brewing between the Minnesota Chamber and Democrats in the Minnesota Sen.? In a recent letter to the group, Sen. Majority Leader Dean Johnson (D-Willmar) objected to the use of some of the votes chosen by the Chamber in the "Draft "of its 2005 Legislative Session Voting Record.

[Publishers Note: We used to but no longer include rankings and voting guide ratings in Politics in Minnesota: The Directory. Many groups have distorted the value of these ratings by making legislators take votes (just to have the votes) and then using that information (or misinformation) during election season.]

Such is the case of the use of several votes by the Chamber. They were amendments simply offered to get the vote where the issue wasn't concrete. The Johnson letter comes at an awkward time. Many Democrats were starting to view the Chamber as moderate. The group supported a gas tax increase, and their lobbyist, Bill Blazar, is a well-known Democrat who isn't afraid to say so.

This new view stems from Minnesota Chamber of Commerce President David Olson's ability to guide the group to stake out more moderate positions coupled with it's comparison to another group that is very interested in taxes, but is considered extremist by many: the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. Traditionally, chambers of commerce have to be the no-new-taxes groups, which is good for membership drives but doesn't always drive the most thoughtful policy. The Minnesota Chamber has strengthened its impressive policy research program and holds "policy focus groups" throughout the state to gather information and advocacy positions from real business owners.

Also worth noting is that the Republican Party hasn't done much on Chamber issues the past few years. Besides no new taxes (and that all-important gas tax increase), the Chamber disagrees with Republicans on the issue of health care reform. Three Chamber 2005 Legislative Session Voting Record votes Johnson questions:

Transportation

The Chamber chose a vote on an amendment to strip funding for the Northstar Corridor from the bonding bill. The Chamber supports Northstar, and Democrats rightfully thought a gas tax increase vote was more meaningful to businesses in the state.

Taxes

The Chamber chose the vote on the Sen.'s increase in the personal income tax for Minnesotans who earn more than $200K per year. Johnson wants the Chamber to use the vote on the health impact fee/cigarette tax increase because of its effect on small retail businesses. But the Chamber chose the right vote, in our view, because many of their members would have been affected by the personal income tax increase because small business owners often take prof its from their businesses on their personal income taxes, not their corporate returns.

Health Care

The great big elephant in the room regarding rising health care costs is that the state can't do much about them. The issue needs a big national fix, which is unlikely to happen. But one change in state law that could help would be to open the market to for-profit HMOs and increase competition. That's something the Chamber supports. Meanwhile, the Chamber chose to score a vote that is related to "statewide teacher healthcare" an obscure issue, that does little to address the real problem.

The Chamber does distribute the voting scorecard as a "draft" for comments before it goes to print. Johnson's letter will likely have an impact on some of the votes ultimately used. [It should be noted that PIM Publisher and Democrat Blois Olson is a member of the Minnesota Chamber and generally supports the group's agenda, and has several chambers of commerce in the Twin Cities area as clients.]

The St. Paul Mayors Race...quietly getting interesting

Thursday's announcement that St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly is proposing a three percent tax increase for more cops is clearly an effort to try to give him some cover on the left. But with the majority of the St. Paul City Council supporting his opponent, any new budget is going to be a battle regardless. His strategy to spend the increase on public safety was a no-brainer given the recent news about a seven percent increase in crime in St. Paul. Kelly, who has the support of the police, would just be making up for cops that have been lost to cuts and retirements since he became mayor. This makes him more vulnerable to an attack from his main opponent, Chris Coleman, who has the endorsement of the firefighters.

Next Monday, Kelly is having the fund-raiser everyone knew he would have, with Republicans Governor Tim Pawlenty and U. S. Senator Norm Coleman. This will no doubt reinvigorate the DFL activists and solid Democrats that make up the majority of the voters in St. Paul. There is already a planned protest across the street, where people can pick up "Republican Randy" lawn signs. Democrats will characterize the event as payola for Kelly's endorsement of President Bush last summer. While Kelly's endorsement got him attention at the time, it guarantees that his race is tougher than it needed to be.

Doran Doing His Homework

While Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar continues to impress in the all-important fund-raising aspect of the DFL U.S. Sen. nomination contest, real estate developer Kelly Doran is making some waves among likely Democratic endorsing delegates. Because he is paying for his own race, Doran has the freedom to spend a ton of time on the campaign trail all over the state. Besides wooing delegates, Doran is courting key constituencies, including Iron Range legislators and the Native American tribes. Doran spent all day at the annual golf event of Senator Tom Bakk (D-Cook). There were mumblings that Doran could block a DFL Sen. endorsement with the help of legislators like Representative Tom Rukavina (D-Virginia), Representative Irv Anderson (D -International Falls), and most of the rest the gang from "da range".

Doran has reportedly also met with all of the Native American tribes throughout the state. He doesn't need their contributions, but not having them help someone else could be huge, particularly if there's a DFL primary. Doran is likely getting audiences with the tribes because his campaign manager, John Wodele, is close with many of the lawyers who have represented the tribes over the years. These include former Ramsey County Attorney and Metropolitan Airports Commissioner Tom Foley, along with Tad Johnson and Doug Twait, well-known lawyers in the tribal communities throughout Minnesota and across the country.

Doran is also investing in increasing his name recognition. He has billboards in key transportation corridors that say "Kelly Doran: A Democrat for ALL of Minnesota." He also has a radio ad regarding Republican candidate Mark Kennedy's vote for CAFTA, which is running in the Western part of the state, where CAFTA is unpopular. Of course, this is moderate to conservative Democratic territory represented by the ultimate moderate Democrat, U.S. Rep. Colin Peterson. Overall, Doran is still a long shot. But, unlike most long shots, he is being really smart about his spending, and picking issues and regions of the state where Klobuchar and Patty Wetterling aren't likely to run as well as a more moderate Democrat.

Reporting the Redress of Grievances

For our readers who aren't in the lobbying and public affairs business, this story first needs a primer on lobbyist reporting. The primer: In the early 1990s, the Minnesota Legislature, like most bodies around the country, embarked on a new era of lobbyist reporting. [Prior to that, lobbyists only had to register for whom they were working. Back in the days when it really was a bunch of good old boys cutting deals with legislators (who were also mostly good old boys) over steaks, drinks and smokes at the St. Paul Grill, The Lexington, or the much-loved, but since defunct, Blue Horse. Of course, those were the days when the lobbyists always picked up the tabs.] But starting in the 1990s, the then-Ethical Practices Board and current Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board, under the direction of the Legislature, started to add more requirements about disclosing spending. There have been a gazillion good ideas and even more bad ones on how to do this. For example, one of the dumbest ideas was to do what Wisconsin does, and that is require lobbyists to report--in 15-minute time increments--who they are lobbying. Anyone in the business knows that's irrelevant. However, knowing who is spending how much is relevant, and the devil has always been in the details. (A good history of lobbyist registration put together by the Board.[PDF])

The Board is considering some seemingly minor but good rule changes regarding lobbyist disbursement reporting. One proposed change would require reportable "media costs" to include Web design and maintenance. Another would mandate that specified "fees and allowances" must include surveys, polls and counsel. Why do we say "good?" Your publishers--both in the public affairs business--always side with "full disclosure." Strikes us that all this reporting by lobbyists, like all the reporting for political candidates, really does enhance both professions. For those who still think of lobbying as an inherently evil activity, we'll spare you the primer on why lobbying is a good thing, except to say there's a little line in a little document about the right to petition your government for a redress of grievances. And, given government has made government so complicated, hiring a professional is usually the only way to exercise your right to petition. The Board and staff welcome all feedback on the proposed rule changes (see rule changes [PDF]).