Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report - Vol. 1, Issue 1 - 4/29/2005
Welcome to Volume 1, Issue 1 of the new PoliticsinMinnesota.com, the new collaborative effort between former Politics In Minnesota newsletter editor Sarah Janecek and Minnesota's leading online political source, MNPolitics.com.
First things first, if you don't want to receive this publication, follow the "unsubscribe" instructions at the top of this email or use the link at the bottom.
Second, we mean what we say up there in the title: We intend to build Minnesota's premier public affairs news service. We'll bring you the public affairs news and insight you cannot find anywhere else. To do that, we'll be rolling out a series of news products. Below is our first one: Politics In Minnesota: The Weekly Report which you can expect to receive every Friday. Eventually, we'll add more news products in addition to the Report and The Directory, and content to our Web site PoliticsInMinnesota.com.
We'll be delivering tons of Minnesota public affairs information, including daily links to top political stories from Minnesota media, and links to all things public affairs in Minnesota.
For the time being, our weekly reports cost nothing. We'll lay out the pricing next week. Please do tell us what you think at the e-mail addresses provided at the end of this issue. Don't by shy about hitting "forward" and sending our reports to anyone you think might be interested. Our goal is tell you things you don't know, so keep reading please!
Sarah Janecek and Blois Olson
Politics In Minnesota: The Stories
-A collection of insider news and opinion-
Stalled Out Session
Historically, three weeks before the Legislature's constitutionally mandated adjournment date, the Capitol is chaos. Not this year. Both the weather this week and the mood at the Capitol feel like early March. The House has only passed several of its major budget bills. The Sen ate took up its first budget bill (state government finance) today. These bills will take weeks of conference committee time to iron out the differences, given the House Republican Majority and the Sen ate DFL Majority have hundreds, if not thousands, of differences in dollars and policy changes in the various big bills. And, yet there's no sense of urgency.
Why? Everyone at the Capitol recognizes there are irreconcilable differences in the big issues. Governor Tim Pawlenty wants no new taxes and several hundred million in new general fund revenue from new casinos. The Sen ate DFL Majority wants to increase taxes. Exactly which ones remains Sen ate Majority Leader Dean Johnson's (DFL- Willmar) papal conclave smoke-filled mystery. House Speaker Steve Sviggum wants what the Governor wants, but cannot manage the votes in his caucus.
This may be the biggest unsung story of the session: With a mere 68-66 majority, the Speaker has no leverage. This couldn't have been made more clear in the vote this past week to send the new gambling proposal to the Taxes Committee (where currently there are not enough votes to pass any new gambling). Several dozen Republicans voted with the Democrats and against the Speaker to do so. Typically, committee chairs like Capital Invest ment Chair Rep. Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea) and Taxes Chair Rep. Phil Krinkie (R-Shoreview) vote with their Speaker or they lose their chairmanships. [See more about Dorman in the Bits & Pieces section of this issue]. But both Dorman and Krinkie (who both voted with the Democrats) could-in a heartbeat- leave the caucus and declare themselves Independents and probably get reelected in their districts. The Speaker may have the gavel but he doesn't have a hammer. This is the worst possible position for a legislative leader to be in.
About the only thing that could change the stalled-out dynamic would be an outcry from the public. Everyone at the Capitol seems to have forgotten the impact last year's "do nothing" Legislature had on the election in which Republicans lost 13 House seats.
High Stakes Health Care
The old joke about "how many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb?" has recently morphed into, "How many lobbyists does it take to build a hospital?"
Answer: 37.
The hospital in question is the new one proposed to be built in Maple Grove to service the explosive population growth in the northwestern suburbs and exurbs. The issue is before the Legislature because in 1984, during a time when there was a glut of open hospital beds, the Legislature passed a moratorium on new beds. [Ironically, the idea at the time was to control the cost of health care.] Since then, the Legislature has passed 18 different exceptions. The proposed new hospital in Maple Grove is the first exception that has proved contentious, in part, because this will probably be the only new hospital to be built in Minnesota in the next 20 years.
The three contenders are Fairview Health Services, North Memorial (which currently operates the closest hospital to Maple Grove in Robbinsdale) and Tri-Care (a joint proposal by Park Nicollet Health System, Children's Hospitals and Clinics and Allina Hospitals and Clinics). More about the specifics in each proposal can be found at the Star Tribune. The Fairview lobbying team (seven registered lobbyists) includes long-time Fairview contract lobbyist Mary Gilbert, who has recently been supplemented by the work of Dominic Sposeto, Ted Grindal, Kathleen Micheletti and Nora Stewart of Lockridge, Grindal and Nauen, and Chris Georgacas of Goff & Howard (the firm also does Fairview's PR). North Memorial (14 registered lobbyists) hired Judy Cook, Todd Hill, Jim Girard, Andrea Hart Kajer and Marnie Moore of Cook Hill Girard; O.J. Doyle (who also represents the Minnesota Ambulance Providers and other health care-related groups); and just last week, John Apitz, Jim Clark, Ross Kramer, Tom Poul and Bill Schreiber of Messerli and Kramer. Doing the PR for North Memorial is Cook Hill Girard and Padilla Speer Beardsley.
Representing the Tri-Star group (16 registered lobbyists) are (1) for Park Nicollet: long-time internal government affairs person Mark Skubic and contract lobbyist help in Bill Conley, Doug Franzen of the Rider, Bennett firm, Tom Kelliher, Tom Lehman and Vic Moore; (2) for Children's Hospitals and Clinics, Paul Cassidy and Terry Velner of the Leonard Street & Dienard firm; and (3) for Allina, long-time contract lobbyist Linda Sandvig along with the team of Brian Halloran and Larry Redmond, Rick Nelson and Allina employee Todd Johnson. Tri-Star's PR is done by Himle Horner.
We mention the PR firms, even though by law they don't have to register their clients with the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, because all of the contenders are running grassroots campaigns in affected communities and some are even taking out full-page newspaper ads. Spending on efforts to influence the Legislature's decision easily exceed $1 million, and may be closer to $2 million.
So, who is winning? Hard to say. This week the House overwhelmingly passed the North Memorial proposal, authored by Rep. Kurt Zellers (R-Maple Grove) with lots of help from Rep. Joyce Peppin (R-Rogers), the legislators whose districts are most affected by the decision. One interesting sidebar, on local issues like this, usually great deference is paid to legislators representing the people most affected--which, besides Zellers and Peppin include, Reps. Ron Abrams (R-Minnetonka), Lyn Carlson (DFL-Crystal), Denise Dittrich (DFL-Champlin) and Joe Mullery (DFL-Minneapolis)--and all of whom spoke in favor of North Memorial on the House floor. Another interesting sidebar was Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis) who proved a steadfast defender of big HMOs on the House floor. [Who knew?!]
The Sen ate bill in play is authored by Sen. Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove) and would put the authority to make the decision in the hands of the Department of Health (an amendment that failed on the House floor). Supporting Limmer and the number two author of the bill is Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL-Minneapolis) and the long- time number one Senator on health care issues. The Pawlenty Administration is officially neutral, according to Assistant Commissioner of Health Doug Stang.
St. Paul Politics
The inside track on this weekend's St. Paul DFL endorsing convention is that it is a toss up. Both campaigns are claiming a lead on the first ballot and agree that whether it is Chris Coleman or Raphael Ortega who is ahead, the leader will likely win the endorsement.
When it comes to the team behind the candidates, there is a clear difference on where the pros are lined up versus the long-time activists in the city.
Coleman counts many Wellstone ties on his team, leading with Wellstone's campaign manager Jeff Blodgett who will run his floor on Saturday. Coleman, who has three full-time staffers led by campaign manager Kris Fredson, a recent veteran of ACT (America Coming Together); field director Emma Greenfeld, who worked for 21st Century Democrats last cycle; and Ashley Mild, a finance veteran from congressional races in Indiana and Nebraska.
On the much leaner Ortega team, the sole paid staffer is Dennis Hill, a long-time and institutional DFL activist in St. Paul. Dennis' last victory in St. Paul was when he managed Dave Thune's race against Christine Nelson in 2003. Other key team members include Fred Perez, Ken Iosso, Connie Lewis, Usef Mgeni, and Roy Magnuson. All are veteran DFL operatives from St. Paul.
Ortega held a slim six delegate lead after the ward conventions. The battle is over 500 delegates and 52 auto-delegates that include elected and party officials. While it doesn't matter in the DFL endorsing convention, Coleman's camp says they have raised six figures and Ortega's team wouldn't give an estimate.
Other key players on Coleman's team include his campaign co-chairs former Chief William Finney, former Mayor George Latimer, well-respected operatives Dan Cramer and Darin Broton, and well-known activist Angie Kline. On the elected side, Coleman has council members Pat Harris, Lee Helgen and Kathy Lantry, as well as Coleman's former council aide and current State Representative John Lesch.
Ortega has the backing of more progressive members of the elected official community, including Senator Sandy Pappas, council member Jay Benanav, and State Representatives Carlos Mariani, Sheldon Johnson, and Cy Thao.
In the mind of one of your editors, the tale of the teams gives a slight edge to Coleman.
It should be noted that the big ger political event in St. Paul on Saturday is the wedding of St. Paul City Councilmember Pat Harris to Laura Offerdahl. Offerdahl is a former Ventura staffer. Visit the wedding Web site.
Sixth Congressional District Politics
Tomorrow the Sixth District Republicans hold their convention at Stillwater High School. Typically, conventions in non-election years are dull affairs where delegates would much rather be home and outside planting gardens. Not this year. All reports are that the candidates will have full- blown convention presences in people, signs, buttons, and, of course, flags (Republican candidates don't leave home without them). The candidates so far are Sen. Michele Bachmann (R-Stillwater), Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud), Rep. Phil Krinkie (R- Shoreview), and former Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke. Each candidate will be allowed five minutes at the podium. No vote will be taken, but the candidates want to leave good impressions because this will be their last chance to be before all the endorsing delegates for a year. As an aside, tomorrow's convention will also be the perfect place for former U.S. Senator Rod Grams to confirm or deny that he may challenge GOP State Party Chair Ron Eibensteiner for his job.
Betting on Words
Are we the only people who have noticed that Governor Tim Pawlenty, his chief of staff Dan McElroy, House Speaker Steve Sviggum and others who want to expand gambling studiously avoid using the word "gambling" and opt for "gaming" instead?
They must be heeding the words of Benjamin Franklin on the subject. Franklin said, "Vice knows she's ugly, so puts on her mask."
The noun, game, is such a clean and competitive word. According to the American Heritage® Dictionary, a game is an activity providing entertainment or amusement. Think Monopoly (where the mone y, of course, is fake). It's a pastime. Think baseball, our national pastime, (but don't think about steroids). It's an organized athletic program or contest, a period of competition or challenge. Think Olympic Games, and don't forget to play in your head the majestic theme for the games. Bum-BUM-ba-bum-bum-BUM-ba-bum-bum- bum...
Then scroll down to see how the same dictionary defines game as a verb. Gaming is to waste or lose by gambling.
Gambling, the verb, is to bet on an uncertain outcome. Don't think about your own personal Powerball--ticket buying experiences--those have very certain outcomes where 79,999,999 of us lose our mone y. Gambling is to take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit. Don't think about the prices of the stocks you bought in the late 1990s dot.com boom and the prices they were trading at when the market last closed. Gambling is to engage in reckless or hazardous behavior. Don't think about the 90-year-old woman in the obituaries who smoked and swore it contributed to her longevity when the science so clearly tells us otherwise.
The "let's expand gambling crowd" nails it. Gambling is an unsavory word. Much better to game.
Maybe these folks also remember that Franklin helped organize a Pennsylvania lottery in 1748. However, that lottery was to raise 3,000 pounds for military supplies to defend the lives of Philadelphians against the Frenchmen and the Indians.
Strikes us the stakes aren't that high in 2005.
Not when the proposals to expand gambling would merely add a couple of hundred million dollars to a $30 billion dollar biannual budget
One final thought. Maybe all the girls shouldn't worry too much about all the boys who want to expand gambling. Historically, gambling--and the attendant financial crises that flow from that addiction--is a mostly male problem.
Gloria Steinem explains why, "Someone asked me why women don't gamble as much as men do, and I gave the commonsensical reply that we don't have as much mone y. That was a true and incomplete answer. In fact, women's total instinct for gambling is satisfied by marriage."
Politics In Minnesota: Bits & Pieces...
--Tracking people and events--
[Publishers' note: We've got months of catching up to do in the comings and goings of people in Politics In Minnesota. Please e-mail us at ne wsletter@politicsinminnesota.com with anything we've missed or something that's coming up, or fax same to 651-293-9056.]
Publisher Sarah Janecek and staff wish to congratulate co-publisher Blois Olson and his much better half, Lou Ann on the birth of their daugh ter, Lilyann, who was born yesterday morning at 6:17 a.m. She weighed in at 7 pounds and 12 ounces.
Former St. Paul Chamber Communications Director Nick Gehrig has joined Josh Kohnstamm's St. Paul public relations firm
Laura Mortenson is working for Amy Klobuchar's U.S. Sen ate Campaign. Mortenson was previously communications director for St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly.
Many rank and file Republicans in the House are furious that Rep. Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea) is voting how he pleases--and not the party line--on significant issues while maintaining the prestigious chairmanship of the Capital Invest ment Committee and extremely good committee slots (Taxes and Ways & Means). Certainly that's compounded by a bit of professional envy in the recent profile written by Dane Smith in the Star Tribune and titled "'Crazy Tire Dealer' Bucks GOP". The Capitol rumor mill postulates that (1) Dorman will leave the House GOP Caucus next year to run for Governor as an Independence Party candidate; or (2) Dorman will run as a Lt. Gov. candidate with either John Gunyou or Peter Hutchinson. Sources confirm that former DFL Congressman and IP gubernatorial candidate Tim Penny has been in contact with Dorman about his options in 2006.
Speaking of the Star Tribune, the paper's new search engine stinks. A search for "Dan Dorman" includes 23 listings for other Web sites and most annoying of all, classified ads. Why does "Dan Dorman" elicit a classified ad for 1997 Salem 5th Wheel RV that's boat towable?
Most House DFLers openly bucked AFSCME and their House leadership when they voted 44-22 in favor of the omnibus state government finance bill recently. Minority Leader Matt Entenza (DFL-St. Paul) and AFSCME lobbyists lamented the cuts, the lack of a salary supplement for state employees and many of the reforms and eliminations State Government Finance Chair Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) made sure were in the bill. All urged a no vote on the bill. 44 Democrats voted for things like eliminating subsidies for the Target Center, abolishing the Legislative Commission on the Economic Status of Women, and funding for Minnesota Public Radio.
Bill Walsh was the obvious choice to be the state GOP's new executive director. He did terrific jobs as communications director for the House GOP Caucus, the Department of Education, and the state party, including in 2002, when almost every office was at stake, similar to what will happen in the election in 2006. The behind-the-scenes fascinating part of the choice was the other option, which was to hire someone from Washington. The thinking there was that the Minnesota state party needs to improve its notoriously bad relations with the Republican National Committee...particularly if the state's Governor is thinking about future national plans.
Former GOP executive director Corey Miltimore is leaving by choice to run his Minnesota mort gage company and a corporate telecommunications business in Chicago.
The Center of the American Experiment has hired its first communications director, former state GOP communications director, Randy Wahnke. The move signals new territory for the Center: Raising the group's profile in greater Minnesota and beyond. For example, the Center will have an opinion piece in an upcoming edition of the Mankato Fr ee Press about education issues relating to the Mankato area. Wahnke is very much enjoying the slower pace of a think tank as opposed to the craziness that is a political party. He and his wife, Amanda, recently had their first child, son Alex.
The new communications director at the state GOP is Michael Brodkorp.
Al Franken Watch: Reported in the LA Times last week was the fact that Air America has sunk to 24th in the NYC metro area at its flagship station, WLIB. That's worse than the all-Caribbean format Air America replaced.
The Minnesota Women's Political Caucus has lined up what's sure to be a great program next Tuesday night, May 3. The topic is "Gridlock: What's Being Done to Fix Minnesota's Transportation System?" and MPR's Kerri Miller will moderate the discussion featuring Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul); Carolyn Jones, director of health care and transportation policy for the Minnesota Chamber, Annette Meeks, CEO of the Center of the American Experiment and Metropolitan Council member; and Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope). For more information, go to www.ewomenwin .org.
Congratulations to Joe Soucheray, Matt (The Rookie) Michalski and Kelly Lynn Michlitsch on today's 13-year anniversary of their show on AM 1500. They built an institution in Garage Logic, which airs all over the state on 22 stations. Your publishers have always been extremely grateful for the many plugs over the years of our publication, Politics In Minnesota: The Directory. A former sports reporter, Soucheray was one of the first people in town to immediately understand that our book is to Minnesota politics what a game book is to professional sports. Thanks, Joe and here's to another 13 years. And, make sure that The Rookie and Kelly Lynn get pay raises.
Congratulations also to MPR political reporter Michael Khoo. He's off to Yale Law School next fall. Maybe that should be condolences.
Former Minneapolis DFL Rep. Greg Gray was just hired by the DFL House Caucus as senior staff. We'll flesh out his job description next week.
Both House Democrats and Republicans have started to recruit candidates for the 2006 election, with both sides giving 2004 defeated candidates "guest passes" to the House floor recently. The DFL brought in Pat Mellenthin, the candidate who lost to Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall) by 20 points; the Republicans, Kelley Koemptgen, who lost to Rep. Nora Slawik (DFL-Maplewood) by 12 points.
We'll have much more on legislative races in upcoming issues. We hope our readers won't be shy about sending us news and tips to ne wsletter@politicsinminnesota.com.
Politics In Minnesota: Lobbyist Watch
-Who is working what issues-From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board:
[Publishers' note: In the future, each week we'll include new lobbyist activity, along with the stories behind the hired guns. For the last several months, we've highlighted below some lobbyist changes we found interesting. Use the links above for the complete lists.]
Julie Hottinger, as in daugh ter of Sen. John Hottinger (DFL-St. Peter) registered to lobby on behalf of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees.
Former Sen. Majority Leader Roger Moe registered to lobby for the Minnesota Wine & Spirits Wholesale Association.
The Minnesota Biodiesel Council terminated its contract lobbyists, the firm of Cook, Hill, Girard. The move signals that the pro- biodiesel folks have no immediate plans to ask for something new in St. Paul.
Politics In Minnesota: 20 Years Ago
-How political time flies-Sweat, Advice and Newspaper Ink
On May 2, 1985, the Wall Street Journal ran a front page story on a memo then-GOP U.S. Senator Rudy Boschwitz sent to his 22 Sen ate Republican colleagues up for reelection in 1986. Boschwitz wrote the memo as a prelude to running for chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Boschwitz won the post (which GOP Sen. Norm Coleman lost earlier this year by one vote to North Carolina GOP Sen. Elizabeth Dole). At the time, Minnesotans thought the folksy Boschwitz memo made Minnesota look like Hicksville to effete Easterners and trendy West Coasters. Of course, that was long before the movie, Fargo.
Here's some of the advice Rudy offered to his colleagues:
- "Parades are great. Take your spouse. Walk behind your car; don't ride. Rush over and shake some hands at the curb (with the spouse). Stop every 100 yards and conspicuously wipe the sweat off your brow."
- Work the county fairs. "I pulled more cows and ate very little of the food...Most Minnesotans recognize me, but a volunteer should carry a sign saying, 'Meet Senator Rudy Boschwitz' because people savoring the delicacies of a corn dog may otherwise not notice you."
- "The Minnesota State Fair is BIG doings. I'm there every year and this was the second year of Rudy's Super Duper Milkhouse. Don't snicker...We sold upwards of 200,000 glasses of milk (root beer was the favorite flavor...also serving: banana, amaretto, cherry and strawberry) at a quarter a glass. I either dispensed or stood out front 8-10 hours a day for 10 straight days. A million people must have seen me!"
- On holding fundraisers for $1,000 donors: "I used a reputable hotel, to be sure, but it was also the oldest and cheapest in town (by $6-&10 a plate)...Don't waste mone y on food and facilities. Your donors will understand and like you for it."
- Use your family to campaign. "My two younger sons (together) during seven weeks of the summer went to 240 small towns [that had weekly newspapers] and spent 30-90 minutes in town, got the local editor to take a picture of them 'Mainstreaming," and gave them a news release about themselves" And the part that made newspaper editors across the state cringe, "To make sure it was printed, we put a nice-sized ad into the paper the preceding week announcing they were coming!"
That last piece of advice is remembered fondly by one of your editors. She was in charge of buying the ads and running around the state with the two Boschwitz teens, Dan and Tom, in the white Boschwitz family Volvo station wagon. As an aside, ten years later that particular car was still traveling Minnesota roads. Former MPR Midmorning host and currently Al Franken's Air America cohost Katherine Lanpher bought it and drove it until it died.
Politics In Minnesota: What Do You Think?
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 newsletter@politicsinminnesota.com or to the publishers, at b.olson@new-school.com and/or sarah@politicsinminnesota.com.
Morning Reports
