Home » Politics in Minnesota: Weekly Report: 2006 » Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 1, Issue 31 - 1/09/2006

Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 1, Issue 31 - 1/09/2006

In this issue: Politician Of The Year; Legislator Of The Year; Story Of The Year; Let The Games Begin; Doran Throwing Convention Out The Door; Is Entenza Really In Trouble As Minority Leader? Political Blogging: An Update; Online Politics; Bits & Pieces; Lobbyist Watch; Setting The Record Straight.

Politician Of The Year

We continue the rich tradition begun by former Politics In Minnesota editors Wy Spano and D.J. Leary of naming politicians, legislators and stories of the year. This year, our pick for politician of the year was decided back in February.

U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton is the 2005 Politics In Minnesota Politician of the Year.

Spend most of an adult life time serving in elected or appointed office. Spend $12 million on one statewide race. Become a member of what many call the world's most exclusive club. Then walk away, after serving only four years of the six-year term.

That took serious spine, as did his candor in why he was retiring. Dayton said he did not want to spend the next two years raising funds (he had announced he couldn't afford to self-finance the next campaign). The mystery in this story was that, at the time, the Washington establishment types didn't dwell on that aspect of Dayton's announcement--the hard and cold reality that it does take two years of non-stop begging to run for the U.S. Sen.

No need to reference sleazy lobbyist Jack Abramoff.  Dayton said it best:  Washington is a "cesspool."

Sure, at the time Dayton made his retirement announcement, many thought he was in deep weeds because he was the only Senator to send his staff home over the 2004 holiday because of an intelligence report. But so much has changed since then.

Dayton is our 2005 pick not only because he called a cesspool-spade-a-cesspool spade, but also because he brought an almost manic desire to serve in public office. There was almost an ethereal quality about it. Moreover, it was real. Dayton was not about amalgamating personal power or playing the Washington game. Voters, who are rarely dummies, caught that vibe and elected him. Let's hope that Dayton delivers what he promised at the beginning of 2006: To go out with a bang.

Dayton spent much more than $12 million for the 2000 U.S. Sen. race.  In 1982, he ran and lost to Republican U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger. In 1990 he ran and was elected State Auditor (he didn't seek reelection to that office either). In 1998, he ran for Governor but was defeated in the DFL primary. Through the course of his career (back when it was kosher to do so), Dayton spent great sums on lavish parties for DFL endorsing delegates. En toto, Dayton spent more personal funds in Minnesota politics than anyone ever has and probably ever will. We're guessing Dayton would say it was worth the investment.

Legislator Of The Year

2005 was Minnesota's first government shut down in state history. 2005 was a terrible year to be the Politics In Minnesota Legislator of the Year. We are sparing someone grief and not naming one in 2005. [Here's hoping the 2006 Legislator of the Year will be a tough contest.]

Story Of The Year

The government shutdown. Made Minnesota national news. Embarrassed everyone. End of story.

Let The Games Begin

[Publishers' note: This story was written solely by PIM publisher Sarah Janecek. PIM publisher Blois Olson got to read it, but he was not allowed to change a word.]

2006 certainly started out with a bang.

My co-publisher, Blois Olson, filed a lawsuit against a GOP blogger, Michael Brodkorb, who writes at minnesotademocratsexposed.com. A tough suit to file, because it's sooooo inside baseball.

If I were Blois, I would have done the same thing.

Clients, jobs, elections--they all come and go. Integrity and reputation last a lifetime. That's what this lawsuit is about. And, in that vein and to some degree, my integrity and reputation have been challenged, as well.

This is why I care. Blois did what other prominent public relations firms have done. He got started in politics after college and then started a public relations firm which evolved into not having political consulting clients. Some corporate clients care deeply about neutrality, partisanship and bipartisanship when it comes their PR guns.

Another reason I care relates to Politics In Minnesota. Blois has continued the honest, rich and sometimes difficult tradition established by former PIM editors and political pundits D.J. Leary and Wy Spano. A tradition continued by this publication, the next generation of PIM. That tradition is that in our newsletter writing and political punditry, when an issue comes up that affects a client, we always disclose our connection. "Secretive spinning" is simply not allowed.

Our stories in PIM about Coleen Rowley's failing congressional bid were not retribution for Blois' New School Communications not getting hired because New School didn't apply. End of story.

To the blogosphere. Opine away. Rip Blois apart. Rip me apart.

But do let your conscience be your guide. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the late, great U.S. Democratic Senator from New York, said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."

The publications entitled Politics In Minnesota--and the people who write them and opine in other media--always disclose a conflict.

Doran Throwing Convention Out The Door

It's really early to announce a running mate in the governor's race, but that is conventional wisdom. One campaign that is going to throw conventional wisdom to the wind in 2006 is real estate developer Kelly Doran's. Doran and State Senator Sheila Kiscaden (formerly IP- currently D-Rochester) chose to announce their ticket earlier today.

Doran is a feisty businessman who is not afraid to mix it up with either his fellow DFL gubernatorial contenders or with Governor Tim Pawlenty. Doran's biggest wildcard is that no one truly knows the extent of his funds or how much he will spend to be the next governor.

If early indicators are any impression, he is on his way to at least $5 million or more.

But choosing Kiscaden and announcing it this early makes us think that in this case a little more conventional wisdom might have played out well. Despite the Democrats' increased lead in the state Sen., Kiscaden was positioned to be a broker to get things done in the upcoming legislative session. Every move henceforth will be perceived as political, something that hasn't haunted her in her tenure in that body.

And while Kiscaden is a strong choice for the general election strategy, we wonder how Doran and Kiscaden get through a DFL primary. On first blush, it just doesn't add up.

Doran's campaign kicked off the Kiscaden announcement with billboards throughout the state with both of their names and a media tour of Lake Street later in the week that will be accompanied by radio ads countering the Governor's immigration plan.

In the early stage, all of this is impressively aggressive for Doran, and yet, they are the things he needs to do to be competitive come September. Which leaves the real question--who else is in the DFL primary?

Is Entenza Really In Trouble As Minority Leader?

It depends on who you talk to, but overall, most House Democrats think that House Minority Leader Matt Entenza (D-St. Paul) will continue to serve in his post as minority leader through the session. The dust-up seems to be between Representative Al Juhnke (D-Willmar) and a clan of others including Representative Irv Anderson (D-International Falls) and Representative Tom Rukavina (D-Virginia) who haven't been happy with Entenza and others in existing leadership for some time.

The issue isn't as much about leadership as is it is about personality and Entenza's campaign for Attorney General. Entenza's style hasn't endeared him to many freshman nor others who are more cavalier (Juhnke/Rukavina) in the caucus. Entenza, seeing the op portunity to make an impact on his house with the Republicans barely in control, has tried to instill discipline through political strong-arming. That can work with some, but not all, especially those who have served for some time.

The latest subtle, or not so subtle, shot at Entenza and his campaign, was this past week's introduction of the Eminent Domain Legislation, co-authored by Attorney General candidate State Representative Jeff Johnson (R-Plymouth) and State Senator Tom Bakk (D-Virginia).

Political Blogging: An Update

So, given all the attention to the blogging defamation lawsuit, what is the current status of political blogs?

A March 2005 Harris Interactive survey found that two-fifths (44%) of online American adults have read a political blog and more than a quarter (27%) read them once a month or more. The survey also found that the more educated you are the more likely you were to read political blogs; that most (53%) political blog readers spend less than 15 minutes during a typical reading session; that men (48%) are more likely to read political blogs than women (40%); that liberals (52%) are more likely to read political blogs than their conservative (48%) or moderate (46%) counterparts; and that liberals (13%) are significantly more likely to post comments at political blogs than are conservatives (7%) or moderates (7%).

A recent AOL survey of bloggers reveals that political bloggers are a small subset of the blogosphere by dicing up the motivation of bloggers: Almost 50% of bloggers blog as self-therapy while only 16% do it because they're interested in journalism, 12% to stay ahead in news and gossip, and a mere 8% to expose political information.

The AOL survey also found that while most bloggers read other blogs for entertainment (53.3%), a significant percentage (43.9%) read other blogs to get a "different, fresh perspective on the news," and 22.1% did so because "it's the easiest way to get the latest news." These findings may help explain the viral effect blogs sometimes have on news stories the mainstream media may not consider significant but percolate up through the blogosphere due to bloggers reading others' blogs and then giving their own take on the same story on their blog.

In January last year, Pew did a State of Blogging survey which found that though eight million American adults have created blogs, that blog readership stands at 27% of Internet users, and 5% of Internet users use blog aggregators or feed readers to get information online, 62% of Internet users do not know what a blog is.

Online Politics

A recent USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future survey found that more people believe that the Internet can be used to gain political power. The survey found that in 2005, 39.8% of Internet users agree that going online can give people more political power, that's up from 27.3% in the previous study. Additionally, 61.7% of respondents, regardless of Internet access, agree that going online has become important to political campaigns.

In this year's study, 41.1% of Internet users went online for information about the presidential campaign and 87.2% were satisfied with the information about the presidential election they found. Of those people, 91.1% sought information about issues or candidates they supported and 77.4% sought information about issues and candidates about which they were undecided.

People are becoming more skeptical about online information, according to the study: "In 2005, 48.8% of users say that most or all of the information online is reliable and accurate, a decline from the peak of 58% in 2001." People are far more likely to trust the reliability of established media organizations (78.5%) or government (78.2%) web sites than they are information posted by individuals (11.5%) but that's up slightly from the previous study (8.6%).

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 63 million Americans turned to the Internet for political news and information in 2004, up from 34.5 million in 2000 and just 7 million in 1996.

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

Interesting anecdote from the lobby of Hubbard Broadcasting headquarters. While one of your publishers was there waiting to go on the radio, we heard the receptionist answering nearly every call questioning "Where's Rush Limbaugh?" The receptionist said to everyone, "We don't know, but you can check out Rush's website." Funny when everyone else in town seems to know he has a new home.

The DFL has upgraded its Communications staff with the hiring of former Governor Jesse Ventura press guy David Ruth. Ruth was most recently at the U of M, and prior to his stint with Ventura in the governor's office he was Ventura's producer at KFAN.

Former Rochester Post-Bulletin Capitol Reporter Mike Dougherty is returning to the paper as a features writer focusing on special projects.  Dougherty has spent the past number of years freelancing.  Dougherty's spouse Margaret is a Communications exec for the Mayo Clinic.

Scott Persons, who recently lost his bid for the Minneapolis City Council in Ward 10, has joined the Kelly Doran for Governor campaign as finance director.

Fun fact: Both State Senator Becky Lourey's and Kelly Doran's gubernatorial campaign offices are in the Griggs Midway Building. The building has housed many campaigns over the years. Another link between the campaigns, before Lourey got into the race, one of Lourey's relatives was working for Doran.

Joe Elcock, a New Hampshire native, has joined the Coleen Rowley campaign as campaign manager.

Congressman John Kline has a new press secretary. Troy Young crosses into the world of politics from the world of journalism, where he was most recently a sports writer for the Rochester Post Bulletin.

Knight Ridder's well-publicized issues may be the reason that the Duluth News Tribune is not sending a reporter to the Capitol for the upcoming session. For the first time in the paper's history, a reporter will not be sent to St. Paul full-time to cover the Legislature when it convenes in March. Beleaguered Knight Ridder, which bills itself as "Information for Life," owns the Duluth paper.

You can only read it in print because the Pioneer Press did not publish Charley Waters' full column online. So in case you missed it last month, Waters quotes former All Pro Viking tackle and Hall of Famer Ron Yary extensively about the boat scandal and the misdemeanor charges brought against four players. Among Yary's opinions is one that you don't hear that often these days: complete faith in our government and judicial system. Yary says, "One thing about Minnesota laws: They're fair on all sides...One thing I really liked about Minnesota is that it's probably the cleanest form of government of any region in America. It's not corrupt like some other areas. It's a very just area."

Based on the answers to the quiz posed by Pioneer Press columnist Bob Sansevere to Vikings tight-end, Bostonian Jermaine Wiggins, leans right politically. Given the choice between Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, Wiggins chose Rice; and given the choice between Red and Blue, Wigg chose red. Wiggins conservatism is balanced by the Vikings' liberal kicker from Chicago, Paul Edinger. In November, Sansevere gave Edinger the same quiz. Edinger chose Clinton over Rice and Blue over Red. The clincher, though, was that Edinger also chose CNN over Fox News.

As an aside to our politician of the year story, it's always fun (and some would argue rare) to make a wild prediction that pans out. PIM predicted Dayton's withdrawal months before he did it. That's recorded for posterity in a blog written by Minneapolis Republican Scott Benson. [Ignore everything else Benson writes about PIM publisher Sarah Janecek.]

The U of M's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs is seeking nominations for the 2006 Hubert H. Humphrey Public Leadership Awards. This awards program honors individuals and organizations that have made contributions to the common good through public leadership and service. Four awards are given annually: two awards to outstanding leaders (either emerging or established); one award to celebrate the work of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs (to a faculty member, student, center, research project, etc.); and a Dean's Award given to a candidate selected by the Humphrey Institute dean. To make a nomination or for more information, contact Camille J. Gage via e-mail at cgage@hhh.umn.edu or at (612) 625-5309. The deadline for nominations is January 31.

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

From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board:

  • New lobbyist registrations:
    • Sonnie Elliott and Richard Forschler, of Faegre & Benson, for Ticketmaster.
    • Timothy Flaherty and Kari Thurlow, of Flaherty & Hood, for the cities of Faribault and Owatonna.
    • Robert Freeman for HealthPartners.
    • Chris Georgacas, of Goff & Howard, for Andersen Corporation.
    • Darin Goens for the National Rifle Association.
    • Lloyd Grooms for the Builders Association of the Twin Cities.
    • Martha Head for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.
    • Tom Hyder for the ElderCare Rights Alliance.
    • Kevin D. Johnson for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals.
    • Harold Kimball and Travis Reese for the Minnesota State University Student Association.
    • Julie Perrus, of Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren Ltd., for Edward Kraemer & Sons.
    • Bradley Rixmann for the Minnesota Pawnbrokers Association
    • Marilyn Vetter for Takeda Pharmaceuticals America.
    • Todd Vlatkovich for Waste Management of Minnesota.
  • Terminated lobbyist registrations:
    • Diane Alexander for AstraZenica Pharmaceuticals.
    • Tom Berkelman for Qwest.
    • Gary Botzek for the North Metro Crossing Coalition.
    • Tarryl Clark for the Minnesota Community Action Association.
    • Kurt Deter for the Minnesota Association of Drainage Inspectors.
    • Sonnie Elliott of Faegre & Benson, for Supportive Housing and Managed Care Pilot.
    • Michael Guest for the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks.
    • Kathy Hahne, of Faegre & Benson, for VEGA Venture Inc.
    • Dawson Hobbs for the National Rifle Association of America.
    • John Herman, of Faegre & Benson, for Clear Channel Outdoor, Brookfield Properties LLC, and Bituminous Roadways.
    • Ross Kramer, of Messerli & Kramer, for Scientific Games, Inc.
    • Tom Lehman for the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, Lakewood Health System, and the National Paint & Coatings Association.
    • Margaret Leppik for the Hopkins School District.
    • Vic Moore for the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce and Gopher State Ethanol.
    • Becca Pryse, of Ewald Consulting, for Minn-BIO.
    • Dominic Sposeto for the Minnesota Association of Health Underwriters.
    • James Vagle for the Builders Association of Minnesota

Politics In Minnesota: Setting The Record Straight

Correction: Last issue we wrote that former state Representative Rebecca Otto was the only Democrat who voted for the proposed Constitutional Amendment in the House. We were wrong, it should have said the only Democrat who voted for it to have lost.