Home » Politics in Minnesota: Weekly Report: 2008 » Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report, Vol. 4, Issue 6 - 8/1/2008

Politics in Minnesota: The Weekly Report, Vol. 4, Issue 6 - 8/1/2008

In this issue: Crossing The Bridge: The People; The Politics and the Public Policy; At Issue Greatest Hits; Freedom's Just Another Word For Few Seats Left To Lose: GOP Sees House Pickups In 2008; 2008 House Race Notes; Messerli and Kramer Redecorates; Roadway Risk In Perspective: Bridges Hardly Ever Fall Down, But Many People Hit Mailbox Support Posts; Bits And Pieces; Lobbyist Watch.


Crossing The Bridge: The People

Like everyone else, PIM has been ruminating on today's one-year anniversary of the I-35W bridge collapse. First thing we did was reread our August 3, 2007 issue.

Back then, we wrote, "Tragedies are stunning events in the lives of politicians and in which careers are made or broken." One year later, let's assess some of those careers.

The most prominent broken career is Carol Molnau's. Still Lt. Gov., but no longer the Commissioner of Transportation. We wish she'd taken our advice a year ago and left the department of her own volition. In the months after the bridge collapse, the heated and tortured public, media and legislative scrutiny on her, personally, was extremely painful to watch. Running into her many times at the Capitol, the normal courteous greeting of "How are you?" became a torturous politically loaded question. Unfortunately for Molnau, she's still in bridge-collapse aftermath limbo. Has anyone seen our Lt. Gov. anywhere the last few months?

In the days after the bridge fell, our political leadership collectively did us proud. The key players in the gruesome national media spotlight did their jobs competently and authoritatively: Gov. Tim Pawlenty (who hit the perfect note summarizing the bridge collapse as an "historic catastrophe"), Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak as champion of a city in trouble and those in charge of the rescue efforts including Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan and Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek. Certainly much of the nation -- and our nation's political leadership -- got a good glimpse of Pawlenty which was additive to his short-list Veep contender status.

In later days, Rybak, like most Democrats, assumed the "blame the Pawlenty Administration position," and pretty much every one now is guilty of politicizing the bridge. Before exploring that further, a few more careers. About the only person who seems to have crossed the line and capitalized on the tragedy for personal political gain is Stanek, who used $30,000 of Hennepin County funds to create a "training video" of what was learned in responding to the tragedy...starring Stanek. Moderating the video was WCCO's Don Shelby, who later said he felt a bit "snookered." Stanek was once widely assumed to be interested in higher office. That will be much more difficult after the video, as time marches on and the field of GOP higher-office seekers grows (a field full of people who didn't PR themselves so blatantly over the bridge).

The career that is seemingly broken but was actually made is former MnDOT Commissioner Bob McFarlin, who as then-Deputy Commissioner, became the public face of MnDOT not only when Molnau was in China when the bridge collapsed, but also in his service months after, culminating with serving as acting commissioner when the Senate rejected Molnau. "McFarlin rose to the challenge of providing stable, steady information when the state was in a crisis mode after the bridge fell." And as we wrote months ago, "Bully for Bob McFarlin."

Another career worth noting is that of Bob Schroeder, Pawlenty's Deputy Chief of Staff. Unbeknownst to most people, Pawlenty immediately picked Schroeder to be his point person on the bridge, and from all reports we've heard, he did a fabulous job coordinating all that had to happen with various units of of government and the private sector. Consider Schroeder's performance a "career enhancer," because Schroeder is Schroeder, always doing this kind of work spectacularly well.

Finally, the one government career that was thankfully and hopefully irreparably broken is the side show that is former MnDOT employee Sonia Pitt. Somebody needs to call a spade a spade: Pitt financed trips to see a boyfriend and made extensive cell phone calls to same boyfriend on the backs of Minnesota taxpayers. The kind of behavior that deservedly makes the joke rounds about state employees in local bars everywhere. Shame on Pitt for sullying the public employee image. Pitt, fired from MnDOT, then hired by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is worthy fodder for anyone taking shots at the Bush Administration. The Transportation Safety Administration just fired her.

Crossing The Bridge: The Politics And The Public Policy

Rather than single out the most egregious offenders, we'll just say that many people were pretty shameful about playing the blame game over the bridge. We know who they are. Another way of looking at it, however, is that Minnesota did get sorely needed transportation funding this year. And the national spotlight is now where it should have been for some time, on the deplorable state of our nation's infrastructure.

Growth & Justice's President Dane Smith beautifully blends his close call -- thereby incorporating the close calls of many Minnesotans -- into what the bridge collapse means long-term for our state, not only in terms of transportation policy, but also our overall quality of life. You can read Smith here, in a column he wrote for our sister publication, The Capitol Report. [Granted, many a Republican would argue with Dane's "declining quality of life point of view," but Dane is right. A bridge fell and the horrific images do, indeed, reflect on our state.]

At Issue's Greatest Hits

If you have ever watched the Minnesota State Legislature on television, you have probably witnessed an off-color comment or an amazingly laughable one-liner only to want to witness them again. Thankfully, the people at KSTP's At Issue, hosted by Tom Hauser, have the best of the best At Issue clips compiled on their website from 2000 to 2008.

The clips range widely: then-Rep. Pawlenty says, "I thought Austin Powers had mojo, but after watching Rep. [Ted] Winter at the Iron Range party last night, he’s got the mojo;" Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virginia) makes the startling observation that "Zero percent of zero is zero..."; to a clip of then-Gov. Jesse Ventura almost breaking out into tears... and that’s just in 2000.

One recurring motif from At Issue's Greatest Hits are the Animal House clips. The scene where John Belushi screams "FOOD FIGHT!" works as a metaphor for floor debates. Belushi saying "Have a beer, it don't cost nothing," and then spilling his beer on the floor juxtaposes with clips of the Legislature's endless ventures into liquor laws and booze in general. In the 2008 Greatest Hits the topic of the 4 a.m. bar close was debated on the floor. Sen. Julianne Ortman (R-Chanhassen) wondered, "What are they doing in St. Paul?" A fair question since only one bar in the metro area has paid the $2500 fee to stay open until 4 a.m., Sheik's Palace Royal. [First Avenue may also obtain a license.]

If one experienced all these moments watching Channel 17, legislators' remarks would merely range from the banal to the absurd; thanks to the excellent editing, rearranged and shorn of their context, even the most boring clips become entertaining and frequently, laugh-out-loud funny.

Freedom's Just Another Word For Few Seats Left To Lose: GOP Sees House Pickups In 2008

Despite all the gloom-and-doom rhetoric about the GOP's electoral chances in the fall, we've heard from inside the GOP campaign apparatus that there are a number of silver linings: Certain races are shaping up well for the beleaguered conservative party. With only 49 seats to the DFL's 85, Republicans think there are very few seats they will need to focus on protecting. They expect to have little trouble defending the most conservative districts in Minnesota and plan to pounce on areas where the DFL is hardly strong.

As always, the races at the top of the ticket will affect the House ones. Much like the last two elections, turnout should be strong, and an appeal to traditional common-sense politics may work to attract independents to GOP candidates. Republicans believe that the DFL's endorsed Senate candidate, Al Franken, is unpopular with independents, especially out-state, and this could deliver victories by driving them to the GOP column down-ticket, especially in areas where the Republicans lost only by the thinnest of margins in 2006.

The Republicans plan to reflect how people are worried about their pocketbooks, with everything from gas to corn flakes to utility costs spiraling in price, and thus regular folks would oppose the prospect of the government taking away more money. It also helps that unpopular president George W. Bush won't be on the ballot, and we heard that Bush is now seen as not "suburban friendly" at all. Republicans think this explains, for example, the DFL blowout in Woodbury in 2006.

The GOP hopes that Franken neutralizes U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) strengths in tossup areas. In any case, they'll have much more of a sporting chance than with a statewide candidate who seemed accepted by a broad consensus, like U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was in 2006.

Additionally, despite the acrimony between the U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (TX-14) bloc and the GOP establishment, we've heard that things are still OK, and people are motivated, with several candidates happily espousing Paul-friendly philosophies on the campaign trail. The Paul people bring a lot of energy and excitement. By bringing in a lot of previously uninvolved people, it's a bit like the Jesse Ventura days.

Here are some hot ones to watch, as the GOP certainly is:

  • Challenging first-term Rep. David Bly (DFL-Northfield) in 25B is Tim Rud, (timrud.com) currently in his third term as mayor of Lonsdale. Rud has deep experience within the community and works at a third-generation union construction company in Webster, so he could have labor support. Bly squeaked by Ray Cox in 2006 with just 60 votes, so even just a few union members going GOP could be enough to recapture the seat.
  • In 26B, Otto Luknic has had good fundraising success since he lost to Rep. Patti Fritz (DFL-Faribault) in 2006, and we understand that he "hasn't stopped running" since then. Luknic is the owner of Grumpy's Antiques in Faribault, was an English teacher at the high school, and has served on various boards in the area. Rice County Republicans offer a thumbnail profile.
  • Last time around in 14B, a relatively young GOP candidate, Nate Stang, lost heavily to Rep. Larry Hosch (DFL-St. Joseph), but this time the more experienced Jim Stauber of Cold Spring should have a more respectable shot. (He needs to raise his Google profile, however.) Larry Schumacher at the St. Cloud Times had a profile.
  • In 13A and 49A, the seats of retiring Reps. Bud Heidgerken (R-Freeport) and Chris DeLaForest (R-Andover), respectively, should likely remain in GOP hands, in particular because the GOP index is quite strong. The Republicans there are Paul Anderson and Peggy Scott, (scott49a.com) respectively.
  • In 53A, first-term Rep. Paul Gardner (DFL-Shoreview) will have a tough re-election battle after he narrowly defeated Phil Krinkie by 51 votes in 2006, especially since the district includes the arch-conservative turf of Lino Lakes and a slice of North Oaks. Fortunately for Gardner, he first gets to watch a GOP primary battle between the endorsed candidate John Kappler (johnkappler.com) and former Sen. Mady Reiter, (madyreiter.com) who was favored by the party establishment. It's seen by Republicans as another high GOP index district which won't support Franken or Obama.
  • In 57A, the young first-term Rep. Karla Bigham (DFL-Cottage Grove) stomped GOP opponent Kellie Eigenheer 60-33 in 2006, after replacing now-Sen. Katie Sieben (DFL-Newport). (Bigham is two years younger than Sieben: this district certainly likes young DFLers.) This year's challenger, Kurt Perkins, (perkinsforthepeople.com) is the manager at Tousley Collision and Glass in White Bear Lake, so he points on his website to good experience with "people relations, high quality customer service and good money management." We heard that Perkins is discovering district residents that have never been door-knocked: looks like Bigham might need to wear out a pair of sneakers this summer.
  • In 54A, Mark Laliberte (mark54a.org) is challenging 8-term Rep. Mindy Greiling (DFL-Roseville). Laliberte says on his site his name sounds like "Lali berty." Nice. We heard he's getting good fundraising by advocating for keeping government within its means, but Greiling has been able to get really strong vote totals in recent years. Laliberte might try to discredit Greiling's leadership of the DFL's House education policy.
  • In the highly conservative 16B, with Rep. Mark Olson (R-Big Lake) taking a shot at the Senate, it will be very difficult for DFLers Bruno Gad or Steve Andrews (andrews08.com) to beat an experienced politician like Mary Kiffmeyer. (..the GOP is "not concerned.") Gad and Kiffmeyer need to get their campaign websites up.
  • In 20A, retiring Rep. Aaron Peterson (DFL-Appleton) whomped Mike Bredeck by 2,265 votes, and Bredeck is coming back for another round. This time, insurance agent Bredeck won't have to face down the well-established Peterson family name (three generations of Petersons have held the seat most of the time since 1964), and instead faces a young wind farmer, Andrew Falk.
  • In 51A, Rep. Scott Kranz (DFL-Blaine) is retiring, so there's a chance that GOP candidate Tim Sanders (timothysandersmn.com) could beat the DFL's Shawn Hamilton (shawnhamilton.org) or Independence candidate Daniel Sanders (danielsanders.org). Former GOP Rep. Andy Westerberg did well in the district, so it's seen as GOP-permeable turf.
  • In 30A, Rep. Tina Liebling's (DFL-Rochester) challenger, Jake Dettinger, (jakedettinger.com) is regarded as a well-spoken new candidate cast from the Ron Paul mold.
2008 House Race Notes

After last week's review of the good, the bad, and the ugly websites, we should point out a couple more fun GOP websites for House candidates, which can all be reached from our 2008 House Race index:
  • In 61A, Rep. Karen Clark's (DFL-Minneapolis) opponent, S. Andrew Sheppard, (andrewsheppard.net) has a variety of randomized icons appealing to the geek in all of us, including the main character of the Halo video game, Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Linux penguin. Sheppard is working towards a Ph.D. in computer science at the U.
  • Up in the contentious open 4A seat of retiring Rep. Frank Moe (DFL-Bemidji), we got a kick out of GOP primary contender Adam Steele's campaign PDF, described on his site (northernherald.finalhost.net) as "essential... campaign info & propaganda." This PDF is definitely the most entertaining campaign "newspaper" we have found this season. Steele claims credit for exposing interesting up-north corruption on his website.
  • On the 42A House race page: Congratulations to Shari May, who just became the officially endorsed GOP candidate against 2nd term nurse practitioner Rep. Maria Ruud (DFL-Minnetonka). Her official site is now sharimay.com.

Messerli & Kramer Redecorates

The swank offices of top lobbying firm Messerli & Kramer just got swanker. The firm's St. Paul office is located on the fourth floor of the League of Minnesota Cities building, providing a great view of the Capitol, along with the more important convenience of close proximity to the Capitol (important for both M&K lobbyists and their clients).

M&K's Gary Kintzi, Legislative Assistant in Government Affairs, was kind enough to show PIM around the redecorated office—which hasn't been redecorated since M&K took the space. The walls practically glow in rich burgundy and gold tones, and the waiting room chairs, PIM is pleased to report, are extremely comfortable. The showstoppers in the office are a series of photographs from around the Capitol, captured by Dept. of Education's Lesley Hinz. M&K lobbyists first caught wind of Hinz' work when she was an assistant to then-House Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty. Hinz had decorated her 4th floor SOB nook with the photos. The images are unambiguously stunning in their ornate frames, and showcase the splendid setting that Minnesotans are lucky to call the center of politics and government. [Our favorite, of course, is the Quadriga.] Congrats to Messerli & Kramer for investing some capital in their capitol digs.

Roadway Risk In Perspective: Bridges Hardly Ever Fall Down, But Many People Hit Mailbox Support Posts

The heat is on regulatory agencies for failing to address the obvious flaws in the I-35W bridge, but it seems that such scrutiny only arrives after major, well-publicized catastrophes. The media are generally well-known for latching onto charismatically interesting potential threats, while failing to place everyday risks in context. If it bleeds, it leads: even through vastly more Americans get killed and injured in car accidents, the media spend far more time rambling about terrorism.

Likewise, far more Minnesotans get harmed in conventional car accidents than bridge collapses, yet the focus is rarely on the general safety of the roadways. PIM was contacted by Thomas and Larry Friend, two brothers up in Virginia, Minnesota, who manufacture postal mailbox supports (mailboxsupport.com). They've found that they are unable to get state government units to purchase their mailbox supports, and instead, those manufactured by MinnCor Industries, the state's prison-industrial complex, get purchased. The current MinnCor design is at left.

The Friend brothers point out that federal and state law regulates the design of mailbox supports, because they are placed in huge numbers right next to highways, and they get hit by motorists very frequently.

In particular, mailbox supports are supposed to break away just a few inches off the ground, so that they do not cause an errant vehicle to flip, rupture gas tanks, or go further out of control. Mailbox supports are supposed to be weak, and not increase the magnitude of an accident.

The brothers contend different variations of the MinnCor mailbox support were not properly certified as safe, and the certified crash test evidence from the Texas Transportation Institute failed to prove that the MinnCor designs are safe enough. The Friends provided PIM with disturbing crash test evidence of things like severely damaged windshields, wherein it appears quite possible that the mailbox support entered the vehicle cabin.

They also say that the MinnCor design fails to break away near ground level, and provides an especially high level of resistance in frozen ground. Made of galvanized steel, the MinnCor mailbox supports could bend forward and possibly flip cars over, if two or more supports are placed close to each other.

They provided PIM a number of emails exchanged with MnDOT officials and engineers, including questions about the certification process, which they felt was never carried out adequately. We aren't too familiar with the inner workings of DOT and MnDOT regulatory structures for items such as this, so will leave the case there.

However, it's certainly worth notifying our readers that the paper trail surrounding this issue would interest any lawyers investigating collisions with mailbox supports, and not just the MinnCor ones.

Minnesota statute sets safety requirements, but there is no fine associated with violations so the rules are not enforced (no fiscal motive for law enforcement!). The Friends told us that they have tried to raise the issue with DFL legislators, who were not interested in changing the enforcement level of the relevant statute, §169.072. The statute is quite specific.

Tom Friend explains the context of his concerns in this letter.

We recall how national media figures like Nancy Grace and Bill O'Reilly feigned great outrage for a day or so about the reports of how the I-35W bridge's flaws got ignored, and then they quickly moved on to the next exciting topic. Little things like mailbox supports don't generate big spectacles or big news, yet it seems quite likely that they are more likely to harm the public than shark attacks or terrorists. We hope that the media can start to place everyday risks in accurate perspective. Bits And Pieces

U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN3) has received the 2008 National Courage Award from the Courage Center, a nonprofit rehabilitation and resource center. The award recognizes Ramstad's contributions to the health, welfare, and rehabilitation of people with disabilities.

The city of St. Paul has announced plans for a public viewing area and open forum that will allow individuals to "express their opinion within earshot of the RNC" by means of a stage and sound system. The soapbox will be available by reservation only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. September 1st through 4th. Stage time in fifty-minute allotments will be issued first-come, first-serve basis by the St. Paul Parks Permit Office. PIM can only imagine that these slots will fill fast, so individuals or groups should act quickly. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman declared that the plan "creates an organized way to give people who want to share their thoughts the chance to be close to the Xcel Energy Center during the convention. The public forum area also fits into the overall public safety plan for the RNC." Kudos to St. Paul for this creative and democratic exercise.

A blogger known only as Gary writes on his long-running site BunkBlog that U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken's campaign website is blocked on the U.S. military base where he works. It's well-known among people that keep track of these things that left-leaning sites are far more likely than right-wing sites to get blocked by the military. History professor Juan Cole's essential middle east-focused blog Informed Comment has at times been blocked, even though government officials tell him his information is uniquely helpful. Classic GOP-beloved felon G. Gordon Liddy doesn't have his site blocked, for example. There is no discernible policy about what websites are blocked, but surely campaign sites ought to be the least likely to be censored!

Adding to the increasingly busy DFL gubernatorial field for 2010, Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) has set up tombakk.com, although the site asks us to "please be patient" while it gets designed. He was officially encouraged to run by the Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council, which hints that he could have a business-friendly political position similar to what Kelly Doran tried, but with the added advantage of being well-known and clearly defined as a pragmatic tax guru at the State Capitol. (Bakk, however, is also among the first to point out that the total tax burden in Minnesota is quite regressive and ought to at least be flat.) We heard from an attendee at a Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities panel with Sens. Bakk, Rod Skoe (DFL-Clearbrook), Reps. Laura Brod (R-New Prague) and Paul Marquart (DFL-Dillworth) that "the back and forth between Bakk and Brod was very interesting, and could it be that we might witness the debate between these two as the 2010 governor's race shapes up?"

David Brauer took his own MinnPost management to task, challenging them to elucidate possible conflicts of interest with professional PR people. They're taking on our former PIM colleague Blois Olson (for short-form posts rather than full-length stories), but he doesn't want to declare his complete client list, because he provides discreet private advice. Fair enough, but it reminds us a little bit of the time they tried to put Henry Kissinger in charge of the 9/11 Commission; the issue was that Kissinger Associates had influential, discreet Middle Eastern clients with possible links to terror financing. Either way, it gets presented as a kind of covert political contamination: There's a certain equivalency drawn between covert operations and covert politics. As Brauer notes, the Star Tribune, of course, does not want to make disclosures about what the part-time editorial board member John Rash is up to in his day job. These days people wear more and more hats, and there ought to be better disclosure, but it ought to be available in a transparent and streamlined way. [For the record, your publisher always disclosed any and all (even remote) client interest in stories for PIM when she was still in the lobbying business.]

The guys at We Are Change Minnesota are hosting a "Government & Science for 9/11 Truth" symposium at Macalester College tomorrow at 6 p.m., featuring Dr. Bob Bowman and Richard Gage, AIA. You can brush up on the physics arguments that the 9/11 skeptics love to float. Suggested donation is $15, details here.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty named Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City) as the State's official representative to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. Urdahl, who wrote the book Uprising about the Dakota-U.S. conflict of 1862, has been a long time writer, reader, and history buff. The Commission was formed by Congress to celebrate the birth of Abraham Lincoln on February 12, 1809.

Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday! Don't miss two powerhouses go head-to-head in the heat of this season's most high-profile race! On August 5th, eyes will be on the Gilfillan Estate in Redwood County as Norm Coleman and Al Franken meet at the Farmfest Forum. The must-appear event for Minnesota candidates. The two Senate candidates will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by congressional candidates at 1:30 p.m.

We know the elections in November will leave you reeling, whatever the outcome. To help you make sense of it all, the Center of the American Experiment will host columnist David Brooks for a Post-Election Wrap-Up on Wednesday, November 12th at the Pantages Theater. The program begins at 7:00 p.m. A variety of packages for tickets and benefits are available. Call Devin Foley at 612-338-3605 for more information.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN6) took to the airwaves on Thursday putting the blame squarely on the Democrats for the lack of tax credits for renewable energy resources. Appearing on Laura Ingraham's talk show she asserted that "They’re [Democrats] so strange Laura, they won’t even pass the tax credit for solar and wind right now. I mean, they claim to be the big solar/wind people, they won’t even pass that." When pressed by Ingraham on why the Democrats were doing this, Bachmann countered with "We don't know." The liberal folks at ThinkProgress.org shot back that it's really the Republicans who are blocking the tax credits.

Lobbyist Watch

From the Minnesota Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board: