Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 1, Issue 30 - 12/16/2005
In this issue: Shame On David Strom; The Earth Is Moving In Local Talk Radio; When Giants Fall; 1968 Was The Ultimate In Political Volatility; Stirred Up In St. Cloud; Traditions Continued; It's Safe To Book The Winter Trip To Mexico; Attention Legislative Process Wonks; News From The Blogosphere; Bits & Pieces; Lobbyist Watch; Setting The Record Straight
Shame On David Strom
Sometimes some men do, indeed, get too big for their britches. This week the man wearing the too-tight pants is the Taxpayers League of Minnesota's David Strom, who strangely opined on the appointment of Hennepin County Judge Lorie Gildea to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Sayeth Strom in today's Star Tribune, "I've had lots of conversations with lots of conservatives who had other candidates in mind and there's a general feeling of disappointment...This was a great op portunity to pick a strong, principled conservative, and instead he [Gov. Tim Pawlenty] picked someone with very little experience who is an unknown quantity."
Earth to Strom: Gildea is one of the brightest legal minds in the state. As one of the top attorneys for the U of M, she did the (unpublicized) heavy lifting on most of the high profile cases that put the U in court the last dozen years or so. Gildea retrieved the small sum of $815,000 from former men's basketball coach Clem Haskins who misrepresented his involvement in his players' cheating in classes. [Remember that case? No one thought the U was going to get a penny out of Haskins. Gildea even got his pension.] She defended the U of M's Duluth campus when it was accused of not having enough women's athletics programs. That case went to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Gildea also wrote the brief in a complicated procedural case that put the U before the U.S. Supreme Court. [The U won.]
Earth to Strom: As a Hennepin County judge, she presided over more than 300 misdemeanor cases. She only acquitted one. Talk about a law and order conservative.
Earth to Strom: Pawlenty is continuing the tradition begun by former Gov. Arne Carlson, and (amazingly) continued by former Gov. Jesse Ventura: pick people to be Minnesota judges who are smart and fair, not primarily because of their political resumes or their ideologies. Strom and the Taxpayers' League crowd should stick with the issues under their jurisdiction--taxes and spending--and avoid opining on matters beyond their purview like judicial appointments.
And while one of your publishers is on a chastising roll, Star Tribune journalists Pat Doyle and Dane Smith, who wrote the Gildea story, should not be spared. What were they thinking asking Strom to comment on Pawlenty's judicial appointments? What were they thinking comparing Lorie Gildea to President Bush's failed and inflammatory U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Harriet Miers, without attribution?
Pawlenty made terrific choices this week. Chief Justice appointee Russell Anderson (age 63) gets universal accolades. As does Court of Appeals appointee Kevin Ross (age 42), who happens to be black. As should Lorie Gildea (age 44), who happens to be a female. Kudos to Pawlenty for appointing people to the Minnesota bench who look like Minnesota. To be clear, that means not some aging, elitist white male club.
The Earth Is Moving In Local Talk Radio
[Publishers' Note: PIM Publisher Sarah Janecek will host a new daily radio show with former Pioneer Press media critic and Senator Mark Dayton's Communications Director Brian Lambert from 5-7 p.m. on 100.3 FM beginning January 2, 2006. This piece was written by Publisher Blois Olson who has no arrangement with Clear Channel and is meant to be an objective view of what will happen to local talk radio in the coming months.]
This week's unveiling of a massive new Rush Limbaugh billboard on Block E in Minneapolis holds a certain amount of symbolism. Something new and big is coming to town and it will mean a short-term bit of uncertainty in the local talk radio scene.
On January 2 Clear Channel is launching KTLK FM News Talk live from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with Rush as their anchor. This is a result of Clear Channel owning the Limbaugh program, and locally owned KSTP 1500 AM losing rights to his show. This change is likely to have the biggest effect on KSTP, which loses the franchise that built it into the original conservative talk station in the Twin Cities. But conservative talk has begun to lose its audience. Some of them have been divided among the more conservative hosts like Michael Savage who is played locally on 1280 AM The Patriot, others have migrated back to mainstream talk like WCCO 830 AM.
The new station will be a hybrid of the two. Local mainstream talk with hosts like WCCO TV's Pat Kessler from 9-11 a.m., and a local news-based morning show featuring Kelly Guest and Andrew Colton along with the Janecek and Lambert drive time slot. This line up means the station will be competing directly against WCCO and KSTP and maybe even MPR.
For KSTP, which announced a new lineup this week, it means a loss of identity in some sense. This is why we have seen the new emphasis on Joe Soucheray, KSTP's extremely popular afternoon drive time host, on billboards across the metro area. Since Soucheray is the 1500 AM franchise, the station will need to build a better and broader scope of talent around him if it is going to hold onto any chunk of the market.
KSTP's lineup announcement this week, something insiders have been waiting to see, was underwhelming to most. They kept all of the local talent which has lost ratings over the past few years, including Bob Davis in the morning (although his latest numbers have improved), and Chris Krok at night. They shuffled their most mainstream program, Ron Rosenbaum and Mark O'Connell, to the Rush time slot, something that could work considering Rosenbaum and O'Connell cover many of the same topics daily that Jack Rice covers at WCCO, but they do it with more depth and knowledge.
KSTP also added Willie Clark, someone who is currently on in the mornings in Sioux City, Iowa, but will be unknown to local listeners. In the end, KSTP is the station that has the most to los e and the most to gain. KTLK FM News Talk will compete and have Clear Channel's resources to market itself against KSTP and WCCO. WCCO has the signal, tradition and sports anchor programming that will keep it as the Good Neighbor, leaving KSTP with something to prove, outside of Soucheray.
When Giants Fall
Last weekend's passing of former Senator, Representative and presidential contender Eugene McCarthy was clearly the falling of a giant. While the obituaries and retrospectives the media ran offered the appropriate depth and attention, we are struck by the significance that Minnesotan played on the 1960s stage that was American politics.
If you think about the media circus that presidential campaigns are today, and the extreme detail with which national political conventions are scripted, just think what would happen if 1968 happened today. Minnesota would be the center of the political universe, as it was in 1968, but the truth is that we have come close in recent years because of events just as volatile as those of 1968.
The difference between the giants of then and today, is that giants like McCarthy actually changed history and altered its course. Today, in the prescribed formulaic partisan politics that we all watch and talk about but don't do much about, no one has changed history to the level that the giants of yesteryear did.
1968 Was The Ultimate In Political Volatility
One recent political phenomenon in Minnesota has to do with the changes in the scope of an electorate or voting preferences in the final days of a campaign. Our term for this is "political volatility."
- The 1990 election of Paul Wellstone and Arne Carlson on the same night was a small earthquake.
- The 1998 election of Jesse Ventura was a slightly more of a tremor.
- And the 2002 plane crash that killed Senator Paul Wellstone had a similar impact on making us the center of the political world's attention.
These recent volatile events continue to mean that campaigns are even more calculated and more scripted, rather than less as was the case in 1968.
Stirred Up In St. Cloud
What are the odds that, at the beginning of last summer, people would have bet the DFL could pick up two seats in the Minnesota Sen. through special elections? Slim. But that is the case, and the stir up in St. Cloud has DFLers feeling a little giddy about the odds. The reason? The House race for Seat 15B (replacing DFL veteran lawmaker Joe Opatz) has controversy that is going to affect the Sen. race.
The DFL has raised significant doubts about House GOP candidate Sue Ek's residency. Ek most recently voted in St. Paul, and was allegedly carrying a driver's license that had a St. Paul address until she decided to be a candidate. While this is significant in any election, it has become big news in St. Cloud.
Ek's DFL opponent is Stearns County Commissioner Larry Haws.
The Ek troubles head to a judge for a hearing today (Friday 12/16), and could leave the GOP without a candidate with less than 10 days left before the election. That would be even more important news in St. Cloud. We don't think big news that is negative is good, especially in special elections. It turns off your base, as well as regular voters who are loyal to voting, not the party.
The House GOP trouble makes what everyone knew would be a close race in Sen. District 15 potentially lean DFL. The race between DFLer Tarryl Clark and GOPer and St. Cloud radio host Dan Ochsner is for the seat being vacated by former Senator and St. Cloud mayor-elect Dave Kleis. The wildcard in the Sen. seat is that there is a third party candidate, Dan Becker, but we don't know how any major party, much less a third party, is going to get out a lot of voters on December 27th.
The DFL couldn't ask for a better situation, giving them some room to expand their slim majority in the Sen., if they can seize the day.
Traditions Continued
This time of year is all about traditions for many, and so we think it's our job to continue with some of what is a tradition for Politics in Minnesota. We will write again next week (12/23), but take the Friday before New Year's (12/30) off for rest and reflection on the year behind and what is sure to be a big year for politics and Politics in Minnesota in 2006.
We'd like to take this time to give you a chance to nominate candidates for two special features: Political Story of the Year and Elected Official/Politician of the Year. We must admit we didn't have the stamina earlier this year to do Legislator of the Year or Freshman of the Year after the mess that was the special session.
So was the political story of the year the special session and the partial state government shutdown? Mark Dayton announcing he wouldn't seek re-election? Mayor-elect Chris Coleman's landslide victory over Mayor Randy Kelly? Or was it something that we're completely missing?
For the politician/elected official of the year, who is it and why? Is it because of political maneuvering or for changing the course of history in our country or our state? Is it someone who was a winner, or someone who was a loser?
Please send your nominations to staff@politicsinminnesota.com
It's Safe To Book The Winter Trip To Mexico
Long-time Capitol habitués may remember Jackie Rosholt, a former House DFL staffer.
Rosholt works as a U.S. Foreign Service officer at the American consulate in Tijuana, assisting U.S. citizens abroad. When American victims of violent crimes come to her for assistance, Rosholt often helps them receive compensation through state crime victims' reparations programs. Each state in the U.S. has a program that assists innocent victims of violent crimes with the many unreimbursed expenses that result from the crime, including time lost from work, medical and counseling expenses.
Rosholt discovered, however, that Minnesota was the only Midwestern state that did not offer crime victims compensation to residents traveling abroad. So she contacted Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis), who was Rosholt's legislator when she lived in Minnesota. Naturally, Kahn was interested in changing the law and she succeed in passing it as an amendment to the 2005 public safety omnibus bill. And, as a result of Rosholt's dedication to pursuing access to compensation for Minnesotans traveling abroad, the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime recently presented Jackie Rosholt with an award of recognition.
Attention Legislative Process Wonks
The Center of the American Experiment has put together a bi-partisan task force of former legislators, executive branch members, lobbyists and members of the capitol press corps to examine the Minnesota legislative process given the persistent special sessions and this year's partial shutdown. Along with the internal deliberations of the group, the Center is seeking input from people who are currently involved in the legislative process (legislators, key legislative staff and lobbyists) as well as the public at large. Take the survey.
Co-chairing the task force are former GOP party chair and current Goff & Howard president Chris Georgacas and former DFL Sen. Majority Leader Roger Moe. Read the list of others appointed to the task force.
Politics In Minnesota: News From The Blogosphere
--Tracking what's interesting in cyberspace--
An Awkward Endorsement
Eva Young, writing here and here and Pam Spalding, here, object to former DFL party chair Rick Stafford endorsing former DFL Rep. and current candidate for State Auditor Rebecca Otto. Stafford was recently elected chair of the Democratic National Committee's GLBT Caucus. As a legislator, Otto was the only House Democrat to vote in favor of putting the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on the ballot. Certainly there was intense pressure from her district at the time, given the Senator there, Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater), is the chief proponent of the amendment. Otto, who surprisingly beat GOPer Matt Dean in a 2003 special election, lost to him in the 2004 general election.
Politics In Minnesota: Bits & Pieces...
--Tracking people and events--
Mayor-elect Chris Coleman added more names to his team this week, including his policy outreach team. The team will be led by longtime St. Paul policy wonkette, Anne Hunt, who led the way when St. Paul added curbside recycling and is known around town as an effective and strong leader. Joe Spencer also joins the team to focus on Arts and Culture issues, something in which outgoing Mayor Randy Kelly had invested a lot of political capital, and clearly something Coleman will not leave off the table. Rounding out the Coleman team is Melvin Carter III, in what may be the most important job of the three, leading the city's efforts on the Central Corridor. Under Coleman, the Corridor will remain the number one economic development priority in the city.
Again this year, Mayor R.T. Rybak will be the guest of Sylvia and Sam Kaplan for a fund-raiser on New Year's Eve. Last year, some criticized the Mayor for going against his word of raising money in non-election years when the Kaplan's hosted the annual New Year's Eve event. This year it may be more critical for Rybak, who, Star Tribune ace City Hall reporter Rochelle Olson (no relation to your publisher) reports, is $44K in debt. Contributors can give $500 per individual until 11:59 p.m. on the 31st, but at 12:00 midnight it drops to just $100 per individual. Anyone who does the math knows it's pretty tough to raise $44K in increments of $100.
We always grimace when we see such public failings of elected officials as we saw this past week with Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson, who is also the brother of MAPE lobbyist Brian Bergson. However, we must say that Bergson's proactive communication to his city colleagues and Duluth media about the incident went a long way in making sure he controlled the story as much as possible. His frankness and honesty are something of which anyone who gets into this kind of trouble should take note. Earlier this year, Bergson raised eyebrows at Duluth City Hall when he fired the city manager by posting a short and terse letter on his office door. Bergson will remain one to watch to see how he recovers from these incidents over the next couple years.
Campaigns in Minnesota continue to have trouble getting attention in the Twin Cities media unless they make big news for policy initiatives or by screwing something up. We must all remember the rest of the state, and we were reminded when we found a story with a headline even a press secretary like Tonya Tennesen or a campaign manager John Wodele could love. The headline in the Crookston Daily Times: Doran stresses principles over politics comes straight out of Doran's campaign materials and are the things that often show up in television ads later, unbeknownst to the headline writer at the time.
Doran's visit to the Northwest corner of the state is something we know others are also doing. Last week, Attorney General Mike Hatch covered most of the top quarter of the state with small fund-raisers and media events.
Congratulations to Minneapolis Federal Reserve Economist Art Rolnick. Minnesota Monthly named him 2005 Minnesotan of the Year. Rolnick was a great pick.
Congratulations to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's press secretary, Brian McClung, who has obtained the title, "Communications Director." McClung will continue to speak for the Governor. We loved the exuberance in the press release: "‘Brian is energetic, articulate and intelligent,' Governor Pawlenty said. Not to be outdone, "‘Working for Governor Pawlenty is like playing basketball with Michael Jordan,' said McClung, ‘If you pass him the ball you know he's going to find a way to put it in the hoop.'"
Last week we wrote that Erin Murphy, current president of the Minnesota Nurses Association, was running for the House seat held by current Rep. Matt Entenza (DFL-St. Paul), who is retiring to run for Attorney General. We were remiss in not noting that there is another high profile and highly qualified candidate running. His name is Ian Keith. That surname should ring a bell--Keith's father is Sandy Keith, the former state senator, Lt. Gov. and Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. The younger Keith has the backing of key St. Paul DFLers including St. Paul City Councilman Jay Benanav, former Human Services Commissioner Maria Gomez , DFL activist Yusef Mgeni, St. Paul School Board Member Elona Street-Stewart and Reps. Sheldon Johnson (DFL-St. Paul), John Lesch (DFL-St. Paul), Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul) and Sandra Peterson (DFL-New Hope)
U of M Professor Emeritus and well-known historian Hy Berman (who has appeared regularly on Almanac, Access to Democracy and KARE 11) is recovering nicely from an operation for a benign tumor.
It's time for the annual Minnesota Government Relations Council (MGRC) leadership rotation. Exiting ably from the time-consuming and many times thankless task of serving as president is the Minnesota Chamber's Bill Blazar to be replaced by Flint Hills Resources' Diane Koebele. Rotating off the board of directors are Lee Anderson (General Mills), Blazar, Luci Botzek (Botzek Associates), and Sarah Janecek (PIM publisher). Newly elected board members are Jenny Engh (Cargill), Ray Frost (Ewald Consulting), John Hustad (Minnesota Health & Housing Alliance), Frank Iossi (Mayo Clinic) and Matt Lemke (Winthrop & Weinstine).
Crackerjack former House GOP Caucus staff Robert Freeman has joined the HealthPartners government affairs team.
Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner was elected president of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association.
Politics In Minnesota: Lobbyist Watch
--Who is working what issues--
From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board:
- New lobbyist registrations:
- Sarah Erickson and Patricia Nauman, for the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities.
- Robert O'Hair, for Koch Pipeline Company.
- Bonnie Rietz, for the League of Minnesota Cities.
- Chris Tholkes and David Willoughby, for the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco.
- Terminated lobbyist registrations:
- Al Christopherson, for the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation.
- Sarah Grewing, for all the clients represented by Flaherty and Hood.
Politics In Minnesota: Setting The Record Straight
Last week we erred when we named the new DFL House Caucus campaign manager, it is not Stephanie McCleary it is Melissa Parker
Last week, the always responsive Campaign Finance Board called to say they had erred by "hitting the wrong button" which wrongly made Tom Murphy a terminated lobbyist of the Funeral Directors Association. Tom was not terminated by the Funeral Directors, in fact, he is alive and kicking as one of their lobbyists.
Morning Reports
