Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 2, Issue 46 - 05/25/2007
Happy Memorial Day Weekend
PIM housekeeping note: We won't be publishing next week.
We hope everyone enjoys a long weekend with family, friends, fun, fish, lots of sun (hopefully) and no politics (definitely).
Kiffmeyer v. Star Tribune
Unfortunately, that headline is wrong. Former GOP Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer is a public figure, and thus she cannot prevail in a defamation lawsuit against the Star Tribune unless she proves malice on the part of the paper. So Kiffmeyer will take the best recourse available to her and file a complaint against the paper with the Minnesota News Council.
On the other hand, what the Star Tribune published on the front page today about Kiffmeyer would qualify as malice to most people. Legally, malice is defined as knowing that published statements are wrong or that they were published with reckless disregard as to their truth.
According to the Star Tribune, Kiffmeyer and maybe some "Republican partisans" tried to have former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger fired because he would not collaborate in suppressing the Native American (and mostly Democratic) vote.
When did left wing DFL conspiracy theories become unsubstantiated yet publishable hard news?
Today's Star Tribune story by Eric Black contains the subheader, "Theory in DFL circles," and details U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison's (D-MN5) line of questioning to Monica Goodling, former aide to embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, about possible reasons for Heffelfinger's departure from that office. The theory Ellison expounded goes like this: Heffelfinger was punished because "he didn't support Kiffmeyer's policy that would have made it harder for some Indians to vote. Indians have tended to vote Democratic in Minnesota."
Writes Black, "In 2004, Kiffmeyer ruled that Indians who live outside reservations could not use tribal membership cards as voter identification at the polls. A federal civil-rights lawsuit ensued and Kiffmeyer eventually settled the case by agreeing to allow the use of the cards." Goodling denied having any contact with Kiffmeyer. Heffelfinger politely says that he does not subscribe to the theory, and that he never dealt with Kiffmeyer's position on tribal ID cards.
So how does Ellison come up with a "Mary machination/GOP wants to suppress the vote theory?" Apparently from the Star Tribune, itself. There were two Star Tribune institutional editorials (not linkable because they are not searchable online) suggesting this theory. The black helicopters long ago left the Capitol and now hover above 425 Portland Avenue (where the Star Tribune is located). Come on. We've written in the past about the insularity of the institutional editorial voice of the Star Tribune. Last week, we noted the importance of the continuation of Lori Sturdevant's weekly column on Minnesota politics (we note this because it's important for our readers to understand that Sturdevant does not write the national editorials, like the two in question here). We also noted, with great approval, that the loss of five jobs on the editorial pages because of new Star Tribune owner Avista Capital's restructuring was going to translate into fewer national editorials.
So what are the facts? One, Kiffmeyer had nothing to do with Heffelfinger. Two, the genesis of Kiffmeyer's involvement with Native Americans and voting was that she was trying to help them be legally able to use their voting cards as identification to vote. The tribes, themselves, turned the issue into something else. The Star Tribune might have known this has the paper made a serious effort to contact Kiffmeyer.
Writes Black, "Kiffmeyer could not be reached for comment Thursday." That's correct. The only contact Kiffmeyer had from Black was a voice mail left after five p.m. on her home machine. Like many Minnesotans, Kiffmeyer was on the road to the lake to get an early start on a holiday weekend with the grandkids. One can only ponder what other research Black did on the facts, and perhaps more important, what editors above him asked about and considered before publication. Meaning: that knowing and disregarding the truth part of malice would be pretty tough to prove.
But one phone call after five on a holiday weekend? That's easy reckless disregard.
These are very, very tough times in the newspaper news biz. And for the public affairs biz, which has historically relied on the newspaper biz as the documenter of the facts that comprise the common conversation upon which public policy is decided. To your GOP publisher, it's super shocking that the news side of the Star Tribune would allow the knee-jerk left wing conspiracy thinking of the editorial side to creep into the news section without well-sourced (hell, any-sourced) factual background.
As for the editorial pages, to be blunt and crass, who cares? Nobody under 35 thinks a newspaper editorial matters anymore. And for those over 35 who are Republicans, the Star Tribune editorials have become laugh lines. But perhaps the most salient point on the relevancy of Star Tribune editorials is that not even the conservative blogosphere spends time vetting what's written.
The 2007 Legislative Session: The PIM Post Mortem
Last week we chickened out and didn't make a written prediction on whether there would be a special session. Good thing we didn't because we would have said special session, for sure. Despite the last minute fireworks on the House floor, the Legislature--which roared in like a lion in January--high-tailed it out of St. Paul with a whimper Monday night. What happened and who won? Your DFL and GOP publishers have wildly different and irreconcilable views and thus we write separately.
From The GOP Side
Thank you, DFL. This session was a gift that will keep on giving.
Harken back to January. The House Republican Caucus was demoralized. The 2006 elections cost them the majority. Democrats were elated...which further demoralized the Republicans. Democrats seemed to have the high ground on the major issues like education and property tax relief. But then the bill introductions started to roll in and lo and behold, Democrats appeared to want to regulate everything, from what kind of Ketchup you can bring to the beach (not a glass bottle) to where you can go to the bathroom (any commercial establishment). Not only that, Democrats wanted to tax everything, as well. Bills were introduced to tax (or increase the existing taxes on) gas, beer, clothes, paint, income, light bulbs, cell phones, electricity, snuff, cars, dead people (and the hearses that carry them), billboards, computers, medicine, cosmetic surgery, mortgages and more.
On the major tax and spending issues, Democrats were stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock was GOP Governor Tim Pawlenty, who was never going to compromise on raising taxes and Democrats knew that all along, despite the rhetoric. However, to acknowledge that, and budget for that, was the hard place. Democrats had promised a lot of new funding to a lot of people who brought them to the House Majority dance. They had no option but to stall until the last minute because any earlier recognition that there wouldn't be serious new money in education, health care, transportation, etc., would have been politically difficult.
Meanwhile, the House GOP staff buckled down and forced more bad votes on myriad issues that will play out next election (more on that next issue). House Minority Leader Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) kept the troops together, on even the toughest of votes like not overriding the gas tax veto.
To Democrats who think Republicans will suffer penalties for not raising taxes and increasing funding for education and providing local property tax relief, check with legislative staff. Minnesotans weren't calling the Capitol, let alone coming to the Capitol, asking for anything.
Perhaps the biggest winner of all was the Governor. He proposed a budget with a 9% increase without raising taxes. He had higher moral ground vetoing tax increases not because he had signed a pledge, but because that was what the public wanted. Nationally, the slug for Pawlenty is that he's the Governor who stopped Minnesota Democrats from raising $5 billion in new taxes. That's gold in every potential vice presidential consideration conversation.
From The DFL Side
If session was a boxing match it is a split decision. No one is the undisputed champion and both sides will live to fight another day. The DFL House and Senate had the advantage at times but the GOP put up a valiant fight and in the end, anyone who paid for the pay-per-view is still wondering if they got their money's worth.
From a policy perspective the session is status quo and that is good news for the DFL because it is the status quo of the last five years, which the voters said last fall they didn't like. The obstacle to changing the status quo: the Governor.
As for politics, the DFL-controlled House will be playing as much offense in 2008 as they will defense. There are a handful of Republicans who either flip-flopped on key issues or didn't represent their district's strong wishes on big bills (gas tax and K12).
Next session will ultimately be the one that matters to voters in the next election. If DFLers come out of next session with a strong bonding bill and the top issues remain education, health care and transportation, your DFL publishers like the odds of keeping the majority, and potentially picking up a couple more House seats.
Democrats can and should lay blame at the Governor's feet for the failure to increase funding for transportation and education. Those two issues alone are traditionally winners for Democrats. Next session, DFLers will take up health care, another issue with wide popular appeal.
The two things that the DFL didn't do well this session but must do better next time are communicating and guiding the freshman who will be most vulnerable next year.
This session's communications were sub-par. Between the capitol press corps' multiple annoyances with the House and Senate DFL operations, and the Governor's effective media operation, the DFL must improve if they want to win the hearts and minds of the Minnesota public next session.
With so many freshman, the DFL caucus needs to continue to give the most vulnerable members leadership roles but also protect them from particularly difficult votes (i.e. more tax increases).
For the GOP, they need to think beyond being obstructionists in the House. Protecting the Governor was important this session but if they take the same tact next session, they will look more like a problem than a solution. Minority Leader Marty Seifert's (R-Marshall) first session in leadership was decent but he must tone down the hyperbole and demagoguery if he wants his freshman and vulnerable members to succeed. Cute quotes are just that cute quotes; they don't help get people elected.
[For more on the 2007 legislative session, see the last two stories before "Bits & Pieces."]
Communism 2.0
It's often amusingly accurate: The type of technology you favor often predicts your ideological leanings. Mac users, for example, are passionate about their computers and can often be heard railing against Microsoft, the evil megacorporation; the irony of their passion for Apple, another megacorporation, apparently lost on them. The same phenomenon can often be seen playing out with Internet technologies, as well.
There are two primary technologies used to create complex database-driven web sites and application: Microsoft's ASP and the open source PHP. Both programming languages are fine and will do the job. The primary difference between them comes down to one basic thing: cost. Microsoft technology requires licenses and software purchases and the software required for PHP sites is free.
Free versus paid. Open source versus proprietary. This may explain why tech people who lean conservative are more likely to use Microsoft technologies while the more liberal tech people tend to favor open source; and it plays into all the political stereotypes.
Those who favor Microsoft technology are more likely to come from the corporate environment and probably have more money to pay for software. Those who favor PHP, on the other hand, are more likely to come from a nonprofit environment or are freelancers for whom the savings on software are significant.
Proprietary software such as Microsoft's is more top-down because it prohibits the user from modifying or enhancing the source code. And the purpose of Microsoft software, of course, is first and foremost to make money. Open source software, on the other hand, is about collaborating and sharing and creating a pool of resources (i.e. property) which anyone can use and/or improve in order to enrich the commons rather than the individual.
The economic stereotypes fall into place.
On Monday, the Washington Post ran a story saying that Republicans are well behind Democrats in online politics. That may be explained by the aforementioned embrace of the respective technologies both in fact and philosophy.
The open source movement has gained tremendous momentum largely due to the fact that open programming platforms such as PHP and JavaScript have powered Web 2.0, the Internet as it looks today. Liberal tech people therefore have more experience, skills, and expertise using the current lingua franca of the Web.
Further, it is the notion of open source (where anyone can contribute) that informs much of what is driving Internet content today. Wikipedia is a massive online encyclopedia to which anyone can contribute and/or edit. Blogs (and, increasingly, newspapers) allow anyone to comment and hold a discussion pertaining to a given blog post. User-created content seeds such sites as YouTube and Flickr. And social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook and Twitter, make it easy to find and communicate with people of similar interests.
Such a chaotic environment may feel comfortable to debate-loving liberals but not so much to message-disciplined conservatives.
As if to confirm this ideological breakdown, the last remaining prominent Communist, Cuba's own Fidel Castro, has encouraged his country to adopt open source technology while Brazil's Lula Da Silva began migrating government computers to the open source Linux operating system in 2004.
Walz A Top NRCC Target
Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN1) has made the list of 18 targets for the House GOP leadership in Washington. Walz is the subject of both ad and phone campaigns released this week, as part of a national effort targeted at "vulnerable" freshman. The ads are in addition to other attempts by the NRCC to target freshman across the country. The campaign, as reported by Politico, is the first attempt by a debt-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee. Walz, of course knocked off former GOP Congressman Gil Gutknecht, in one of the 2006 election's biggest upsets. Most Minnesota observers still think Walz is the rising star among the new members of the delegation. Because 2008 is a presidential election year (in which Democrats average around a five% bump in DFL voter turnout), and because veteran Walz is a solid story/campaigner on the Iraq war, beating Walz would appear to be an uphill battle. GOPers exploring the race include Sen. Dick Day (R-Owatonna) and Rep. Randy Demmer (R-Hayfield).
We're betting that any large sums of national money sent to Minnesota to aid a campaign against Walz next year will first be hedged on behalf of GOP incumbents, starting with U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, and then U.S. Reps. John Kline, Michele Bachmann, and even Jim Ramstad.
Nominations Are Open!
Now that the legislative session is over, it's time for Politics In Minnesota to name the Legislator of the Year and the Freshman of the Year. Please send your nominations and thoughts about them to staff@politicsinminnesota.com. Be as candid as you like because all nominators shall remain confidential.
Eric The Great
As some of our readers may know, Eric Eskola (WCCO AM and Almanac, but this is an obviously superfluous ID to all our readers) has been absent from the Capitol for the last week and a half. Here's the deal. Our good friend Eskola has lived and breathed and been yanked by the chain of Minnesota politics for as long as he has been in the business. Eric needed a break, so he's taking one. Eric is more than an icon; he's more than an institution. He's part of the defining DNA in the Minnesota public affairs genome. Godspeed to Eric Eskola.
The Secret Lives Of Ag Lobbyists
What a great idea...the May issue of the Minnesota Agri-Growth's Council newsletter [PDF] includes a primer on "Who Lobbies on Agriculture at the State Capitol." Besides professional details about the Ag players, the article also includes fun personal tidbits. The Minnesota Farm Bureau's Chris Radatz proudly notes, "I'm not a lawyer and I enjoy golfing." The Minnesota Farmers Union's Thom Petersen trains and shows Appaloosa and miniature horses (his horses have won more than 200 ribbons at the Minnesota State Fair.) On to the contract lobbyists who have Ag clients: Jerry Schoenfeld does carpentry as a hobby, "Pounding nails after the session is over helps relieve anxiety." Bruce Kleven owns a 1968 John Deere 4020 tractor and won't do PowerPoint presentations. John Apitz proudly features a photo of his twins each year on an issue of the newsletter he produces for Farm Credit Services. Cory Bennet graduated from a class of 35, the largest graduating class ever from Clarissa. Allison Hartle is a bike racer.
And the legendary Valerie and Ron Jerich? Ron says, "I don't wear a suit to the Capitol [we knew that]. Before John Marty's ethical practices act, I was known as the Capitol caterer because I often brought in pizzas, coffee cake and other treats." Valerie notes, "My favorite place is a log home that I own with my sister in the Black Hills. I pheasant hunt."
That solves the longstanding Capitol mystery about why Ron always seems to be good to Val. She knows how to use a gun.
Blue Books Are Out
Kudos to Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (DFL) and all the staff who worked on a fine edition of the 2007-2008 official Legislative Manual of the State of Minnesota (a.k.a. the Blue Book). Since 2008 is the state's 150th of statehood, the SOS office made the 2007-2008 Blue Book the Sesquicentennial Edition. This edition of the book includes photos and written materials that harkens back to earlier times throughout Minnesota's 150-year history and some of it is printed in old-fashioned "Font 41." Copies are free at the Secretary of State's office or you can get one mailed to you by sending a self-addressed padded envelope (Jiffy #4 or #5) stamped with $2.81 in postage to the SOS Office. The book is in the process of being published online.
By the way, we've been remiss in not complimenting Ritchie on how he staffed his office after defeating former GOP Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer. From the reports we've heard, he took all the politics out of it. Your GOP publisher, in particular, found this surprising since Ritchie--among other leftie endeavors on his resume--was the brain behind the 2004 national anti-GOP Get Out the Vote effort called "November 2." He even kept Kiffmeyer's communications director, Kent Kaiser, on staff. Granted, staunch Republican Kaiser was a classified employee, and thus not fireable. However, the usual move would have been to shuffle Kaiser to an inconsequential job and hope he would leave of his own volition. Not Ritchie, who kept Kaiser on in the highly visible public affairs contact as "communications director and voter outreach." Not only was this a classy move, it was also smart: Kaiser continues to do the same super timely, super responsive and super friendly work that he did under Kiffmeyer.
A Moving Vote
The vote to attempt to override Governor Tim Pawlenty's veto of the transportation funding increase package may be one of the most politically significant in years. We're betting that an election or two in 2008 rides on the override. As a general rule, of course, Democrats supported the package and Republicans did not. The seven Republicans who voted for the package when it left the House all voted to sustain Pawlenty's veto. They are Reps. Jim Abeler (R-Anoka), Ron Erhardt (R-Edina), Bud Heidgerken (R-Freeport), Dennis Ozment (R-Rosemount), Neil Peterson (R-Bloomington), Kathy Tingelstad (R-Andover), and Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City). Should the GOP take the House in the near future, look for these Republicans to get plum committee chairmanships.
Rep. Mary Ellen Otremba (DFL-Long Prairie) was the only Democrat to vote against the House package and against the override. Rep. Sandy Wollschlager (DFL-Cannon Falls) switched, voting for House passage but against the override. Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia) also switched, but he voted against the House package and for the override. Rep. Larry Howes (DFL-Walker) was absent.
A Timing Vote
One significant feature of videotaping all floor sessions is that there's a built in timer. The record shows that the House vote on the tax bill happened after the midnight deadline. Speaker Margaret Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis) announced the taking of the roll call vote at 12:00:03. The Speaker closed the roll at 12:00:49 and announced the vote at 12:01:36.
The midnight deadline is dictated by the Minnesota constitution. Unclear and never tested is what happens when the Legislature doesn't make the midnight deadline? Given the tax bill could be vetoed, that issue probably won't be relevant this year.
Politics In Minnesota: Bits & Pieces...
President of the Senate Sen. Jim Metzen's (DFL-South St. Paul) unfortunate (although actually fortunate because he didn't hurt anyone or himself) DUI has political people reminiscing about FOX 9's big end-of-session story three years ago about drinking at the Capitol. From the comments on the Mezten story at mnspeak.com, we learned something new. A person who posts as "Ranty" on the site says he/she was a legislative assistant to then-House Speaker Rep. Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon) and recalls other staffers racing down the hall from Muffy Dickinson's desk, "flailing their arms and hissing 'empty the fridges, empty the fridges NOWWW! The press is coming!' . . . As I recall, the Speaker's fridge was merely jammed with Dr. Pepper, so we passed inspection."
Congratulations to the Center of the American Experiment's president and founder Mitch Pearlstein. Last week's annual dinner with keynoter George Will was a huge success and very well attended. Some conservatives wondered if that would be the case after the Center mysteriously fired former president Annette Meeks and other staff. Meeks, by the way, is close to going public with her own conservative public think tank, which will focus on state issues.
Last week PIM noted the obscure Minnesota-Native American connection to the national U.S. Attorney scandal; more insider confirmation came to light this week. Testifying Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Monica Goodling, former aide to embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, confirmed that former Minnesota U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger's performance was criticized inside the Justice Department prior to his March 2006 resignation, under questioning by freshman Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL MN-5). Goodling, the first then-serving DOJ official to offer anything about Heffelfinger, said that "There were some concerns that he spent an extraordinary amount of time as the leader of the Native American subcommittee of the AGAC [Attorney General's Advisory Committee] and put--clearly, people thought that that was important work, but I think there was some concern...The concern that I heard raised was just that he spent an extraordinary amount of time on the subcommittee business." Both Minnesota Senators promptly defended Heffelfinger's efforts working with Native Americans. The Hef has repeatedly stated five of the eight fired U.S. Attorneys worked closely with him on Native American issues.
Put this in the "sometimes, the cream really does rise to the top category." U.S. Rep. John Kline (R-MN2) named Jean Hinz as his new chief of staff. Hinz, a lifelong Minnesotan and St. Thomas University grad, has been Kline's legislative director the last four years. Jeff McNichols will take the legislative director job. McNichols has been Kline's legislative assistant on military affairs the last three years. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School.
One of your publishers is in Washington, D.C. this week and has a few Minnesota observations. One, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ciresi at Reagan National Airport. We presume that he was headed back to Minneapolis as he was in the Northwest concourse and there was a flight back. Two, John Bessler and daughter Abigail, the immediate family of Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), spotted driving the Saturn into the Senate parking lot. We're guessing they are either staying in D.C. for the Memorial Day holiday or driving back home for the recess. Three, General Mills hosting a reception in the Old Senate dining room.
Also in D.C. this week an impressive (and the largest in the country) delegation at seventy strong of Chamber of Commerce staff and members from Minnesota who were in town for the U.S. Chamber's Summit. The group, led by Minnesota Chamber President David Olson, included members from many Chambers from throughout the state.
The conservative side has a new local radio host in the St. Cloud area that has more talent than your average small-market radio host. His name is Andy Barnett and he is on KNSI-AM from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.. Listen for yourself.
One might assume that record-high gas prices would cause people to change their commuting habits in a big way across Minnesota. But according to University of Minnesota Humphrey Center Senior Fellow Lee Munnich, that's not necessarily the case. "Many Twin Cities Park and Rides are full and Metro Transit is looking for ways to provide more park and ride spaces for express bus service," said Munnich, "but most people still continue to use their cars and drive alone." Thanks to a number of factors, Munnich says people still have not made significant lifestyle changes due to high gas prices. And he says there's no way to know how high gas needs to go, before motorists start making those changes.
In all the chaos that surrounded the House's final adjournment this year, many lost track of when the Legislature will be back next year: February 12, 2008.
In an interview with the Minnesota Monitor blog, departing Strib Capitol reporter Conrad de Fiebre joins the ever-growing ranks of disgruntled, job-deprived local media professionals firing parting shots at dead tree-based media: "The old mass-media newspaper model is failing, and I'm not sure I have the energy--or whatever it takes, probably youth, mainly--to try to figure out what the next step is going to be. I sense that newspapers as we know them are going the way of the buggy whip."
Politics In
Minnesota: Lobbyist Watch
--Who is working
what issues--
From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board:
Setting The Record Straight
Last week we were critical of the communications staff of the DFL Senate. While critical, the statement "every member of the Capitol press corps" was more sweeping than we intended.
As always, we look forward to hearing what you like as well as what you don't about our new publication. Please, do send your thoughts to staff@politicsinminnesota.com or to the publishers, at blois@politicsinminnesota.com and/or sarah@politicsinminnesota.com. We'll keep your e-mails confidential, although we'd appreciate knowing what part of the state or the country you're from.
Morning Reports
