A Bluestem Prairie

News updates: Walz works for victory

Tonight, a fog descends across Minnesota, but tomorrow's sun promises to burn it away.  Voters will have a clear choice in the First Congressional District when polls open at 7 a. m.

To volunteer to help Tim Walz: Call 507-388-5382

Here  are some of the latest news stories:

MANKATO FREE PRESS: HIGH SCHOOLERS CARE ABOUT POLITICS, TOO!
The Mankato Free Press goes into the local high schools to find out what's happening in High schoolers care about politics, too!

It turns out to be Tim Walz:

Across town, students at West High are getting a similar dose of political education in classes.

Some are going so far as to take time out their hectic schedules to discuss the issues — which is exactly what happened Friday, when a group of students met in social studies teacher Scott Urban’s room to talk about hot political topics.

The students, ranging from ninth- to 12th-graders, bring up No Child Left Behind, the recent Michael J. Fox speech, objective news reporting and mud slinging.

They also talk about being affiliated with the Democratic Party and volunteering for Tim Walz, a West High teacher, in a race for U.S. Congress. To do so, many of them have been volunteering on weekends, doing grass-roots work such as door knocking and making phone calls.

“We can’t vote, but we can still do something,” one student said.

STAR TRIBUNE: HUSTLE
The Strib includes the Fighting First in Minnesota state, federal candidates hit road as campaign winds ...

In the equally hard-fought contest in the 1st Congressional District, incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht and Democratic challenger Tim Walz were traversing wide swaths of southern Minnesota, with Gutknecht making ten campaign stops and Walz, 11.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: ADS FOR FIRST COST MILLIONS
WCCO carries Associated Press coverage of outside spending in the Fighing First in Ads For 1st And 6th District Races Cost Millions

National political parties and other groups have spent millions of dollars in Minnesota's two most competitive House races -- those pitting Tim Walz against Rep. Gil Gutknecht, and Patty Wetterling against Michele Bachmann. . . .

[snip]

. . .  in the 1st Congressional District, spending by both parties was about equal, although outside groups helped give an edge to the Democratic challenger, Walz.

The DCCC has spent about $370,000 in outside expenditures, compared to about $410,000 by the NRCC.

Labor groups have spent heavily on behalf of Walz, combining to spend around $600,000, including $300,000 by AFSCME, and around $230,000 by SEIU. And VoteVets.org, a group headed by an Iraq War veteran, has spent $115,000 on an ad criticizing Gutknecht's record on veterans issues.

Gutknecht, a six-term GOP incumbent, is locked in a tight race with Walz, an Army National Guard vet. .  .  .

AUSTIN DAILY: FINAL SWING THROUGH AUSTIN
Some highlights from Walz brings celebrity to final swing through Austin:

. . .After a campaign that has taken him over 110,000 miles across the First District since January 2005, Walz is no longer an underdog.

“I think not. With the mood of the country, the type of campaign I have put together and the ground game we have out there, if my people get to the polls I win,” he said. . . .

[snip]

. . .In an election year when the public has been inundated with negative ads, Walz said he feels comfortable with his own campaign.

“I have run this campaign with honesty and integrity. I have run it the right way. Ads that have been run against me have no basis is fact. Ads that I have run are based on congressional record votes,” he said. “I have run this campaign to inspire people, to show them there is a different way and my opponent has chosen to take another road.”

Franken recalls Albert Lea roots

Al Franken, a former Saturday Night Live comedian and host of a liberal radio talk show on Air America, made the most of the brief campaign stop.

He talked about his family moving from New Jersey to Albert Lea and spending time in Austin until his family moved to the Twin Cities. . . .

NETROOTS
The Wege looks at another sort of vandalism while The Blog of the Moderate Left thinks about Gil Gutknecht's dignity in I Am the Eggman, They Are the Eggmen. Minnesota Campaign Report provides a CD1 Report.  Smartie relates some Some Rash Predictions. Hot Flashes: One more day. But it is not going to be a revolution.

Rochester Post Bulletin: Gutknecht, Walz race to the finish in 1st District

The Rochester Post Bulletin's Washington Bureau reporter  Edward Felker covers the  action asGutknecht, Walz race to the finish in 1st District.

He writes about Walz:

WINONA Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht and Democratic challenger Tim Walz took advantage of Sunday's warm temperatures and sunny skies to dash across southern Minnesota's 1st Congressional District in final get-out-the-vote barnstorming tours.

[snip]

Walz, of Mankato, knocked on doors Saturday in Rochester and on Sunday made an eastern swing that began in Owatonna and routed through Albert Lea, Austin, St. Charles and Winona before ending in St. Peter. He was to make another 11 stops in southwestern Minnesota today, and he planned nine stops on Tuesday, with a midday rally in Rochester.

Celebrity backing

Walz traveled by minivan, rather than bus, but brought along his closest celebrity backer, comedian and liberal radio host and author Al Franken. Franken regaled Democratic groups ranging from about 35 in Owatonna to more than 150 at Winona State University with biting critiques of Gutknecht and praise for Walz.

Franken first met Walz when he was a volunteer for presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry two years ago, and Franken proudly told audiences that he practically begged the national party to support Walz, well before the party came to Walz's aid this month.

Franken won big laughs by recalling how conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan criticized President Bush as "out of his mind" for reaffirming his support for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Quoting Sullivan, Franken told Winona State students and others, "This is not an election anymore, this is an intervention. We need to tell this administration to wake up!"

Franken contended that Gutknecht and the Republican-led House failed to uphold their 1994 Contract with America, which called for term limits, balanced budgets, accountability, and an end to corruption and scandal. He also bashed Gutknecht for failing to voice concern about the problems in Iraq until a trip this summer to Baghdad, just days after he took to the House floor to tell colleagues "now is not the time to go wobbly" on the war. "You don't go to Congress and get paid not to know what's going on," Franken said.

Walz estimated his campaign would call about 39,000 homes this past weekend and knock on 11,000 doors. All of them were selected as potential but not solid Democratic voters, based on previous voting patterns and their responses to calls made by his and other Democratic campaigns this year.

Dressed in blue jeans, brown leather shoes and a blue fleece pullover embroidered with his campaign logo, Walz promised volunteers victory if they get voters out on Tuesday. "It's down to about 51 hours, 51 hours of hard work," he said...

There's another curious story in the Post Bulletin today:

 

Walz to supporters: "Once in a generation"

MANKATO FREE PRESS: CANDIDATES CAMPAIGN HARD ON FINAL WEEKEND
In an article by Dylan Thomas, Walz urges his supporters to not go gentle into that ground game:

Running in a statistical dead heat, the 1st District Congressional candidates were charging hard on the campaign trail Sunday.

Both Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht of Rochester and Democrat Tim Walz of Mankato made local campaign stops intended to fire up their supporters in the final 48 hours before Election Day.

[snip]

An 8 p.m. rally at Gustavus Adolphus College was the last stop for Walz Sunday, whose six-city bus tour Sunday began in Owatonna. With him was comedian Al Franken, who walked with Walz in the St. Peter Fourth of July parade.

Walz mentioned passing the Gutknecht bus on the road, and told his supporters not to underestimate the Republican campaign effort in the final days.

“We’ve got 48 hours,” he said. “This thing is won on the ground.”

In his effort to inspire the troops, Walz spent little time discussing the details of his platform. Instead, he focused on the big picture.

“Once in a generation, you get an opportunity to make a massive change,” he said, referring to the potential Democratic take-over of Congress.

Franken took the stage next, running through a few of the jokes he told on a morale-boosting visit to the troops in Iraq. But the laughter died down when Franken choked up talking about how the feeling of unity after Sept. 11 had been squandered.

“We Americans, we’ve got to get back together,” he said in a broken voice.

“This president and the Congress had an opportunity to lead,” Franken continued. “... Instead they hijacked 9/11 and used it for political purposes.”

That may not have been what Gustavus senior Emily Petraitis expected when she showed up for the rally. A Walz supporter, Petraitis said before the rally she was there mostly to see Franken.

Petraitis said she was voting Democratic because the party seemed more concerned about youth issues, like student loan debt. But she also expressed a strong desire for change.

“I’m tired of Republicans,” she said

AP: 1994 SWEEP IN DANGER OF BEING SWEPT

Petraitis is not alone. This morning, the Jerusalem Post  carries the Associated Press copy about the midterm wave under the headline: House Republicans who came in during '94 sweep in danger of being swept.  The lead and MN-01 sections:

A half-dozen Republican congressmen ushered into office in the 1994 Republican tidal wave that tossed Democrats from power may be swept out in Tuesday elections, casualties of a Democratic surge fueled by voter anger over the Iraq war.

On the eve of the congressional elections, Republicans are hoping their acclaimed get-out-the-vote operation will ensure majority control. But some say privately they have a slim chance of retaining the House after a grueling campaign centered on turmoil in Iraq, President George W. Bush's sagging approval numbers, political scandals and corruption investigations.

snip]

Gil Gutknecht in Minnesota, who has an occasional independent streak. In the late 1990s, he concluded that Gingrich as speaker had been "a disappointment to everybody" and that the Republican revolution had been exaggerated. Democrat Tim Walz, a high school teacher, is challenging him.

Occasional independent streak? Sure: about 6% of time in 2006, according to CQ Reports.

WALL STREET JOURNAL: A FEW TOUGH QUESTIONS
David Brooks of the Wall Street Journal writes that real independents--among voters--hold the key to tomorrow's elections:

The 2006 midterm elections could go down in the books as the year that Karl Rove's strategy of energizing the Republican base reached its limits, and Iraq opened the door for Democrats to court disaffected independent voters.

As voters head to the polls tomorrow, Republicans still hope to hold on to power in Congress by mobilizing conservative supporters and using negative ads to taint Democrats and suppress their turnout. But this time, with Democrats making a strong bid for at least the House, the outcome could rest more on voters who aren't hard-core party loyalists.

"There are some elections where the fear of the status quo is greater than the fear of change," says Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster. "This is one of those elections."

How much change could depend on how voters -- particularly independents -- resolve these questions: How much has Iraq trumped the larger war against terror, which two years ago was the president's great link to swing voters? How effectively have Republicans used a tough-on-immigration and antitax posture to counter the erosion of support for the war? How unshakable is the economic pessimism in the Midwest? And what is the lasting impact of political scandals, topped by former Rep. Mark Foley's sexual approaches to former teenage pages?

[snip]

The lasting result of the Foley scandal is the image of a Congress unable to keep tabs on itself, let alone the president and a war overseas. Democrats argue that Congress's failure to hold the executive accountable has been a potent issue for them, one that appeals to independents and even some Republicans.

Congressmen "get there Tuesday afternoon and they leave Thursday afternoon," charged former Vice President Walter Mondale, campaigning for Democratic challenger Tim Walz in Minnesota's First District.

The Brookings Mr. Jones notes that both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton learned to work with opposing parties running Congress. Since Mr. Clinton's impeachment in 1998, Republicans governed by what he calls "narrow margin politics," in which the only way to get something done was extreme party unity.

In good times, such partisan tactics in service of the president's agenda are tolerated, but Iraq and the elections signal changes for Congress and Mr. Bush, he says. "If everything went fine, no problem. But everything hasn't gone fine."

WINONA DAILY NEWS: "HE'S GOING TO WORK FOR THE COMMON PERSON"
While Gutknecht may vote the party line, Walz's supporters believe he will represent them in Washington DC, and they're working hard to make that happen.  Kari Knutson reports for the Winona Daily News:

It’s not over ’til it’s over.

That is one thing Minnesota’s candidates seemed to agree on as they scoured the state for votes in the final days before Tuesday’s election. Gov. Tim Pawlenty shook hands with shoppers at Midtown Foods on Saturday, his second visit to Winona this week. His DFL opponent, Mike Hatch, was here Thursday.

U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, on a 22-city bus tour, plans to stop in Winona today for the second time in four days. Gutknecht’s opponent, Tim Walz, stumped at Winona State University on Sunday with a little help from his friend, radio host and comedian Al Franken.

Walz’s Winona stop was the fourth of the day, with earlier stops in Owatonna, Albert Lea and St. Charles. After Winona, it was onward to Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

“I can tell you right now we will win Tuesday,” Walz said.

Walz acknowledged that it was a close race and asked the crowd to do what they could to help sway undecided voters.

“You’re going to feel like you have a voice in Congress, and you will,” Walz said.

Franken was in Winona July 18 with Walz, although that time he spoke first.

“I was killing,” Franken said. “I was great. I thought this is just not fair to Tim. Then Tim comes out and blows me out of the water.”

Franken told the crowd there was no better candidate than Walz and that Walz would work for the people of Minnesota.

“We need to send a message to this administration. We need to send a message to the rest of the world that the Americans are back,” Franken said.

Jeanette Karjala, a WSU professor in the college of education, has been working hard to spread Walz’s word. She’s volunteered at 23 parades, made countless phone calls and knocked on plenty of doors. Karjala says she’s never been this active in a campaign but believed in Walz strongly enough to get involved.

“He is going to work for the common person,” Karjala said. “He’s going to work for Americans who have been put off by all the decisions that have been made, especially in the last six years.”

She plans on continuing to make phone calls and knocking on doors right up to the election. On Tuesday, she’s going to camp out at DFL headquarters.

“If anybody needs a ride to the polls, I’ll be there with my car,” Karjala said.

Can you help Karjala put Tim Walz in office? Volunteer with the Walz campaign and help make history. Call 507-388-5382 to lend a hand.

WORTHINGTON DAILY GLOBE: FIFTEEN PEOPLE GREET GUTKNECHT
Fortunately for Gil Gutknecht, he brought 30 camp followers with him on his bus tour Saturday, otherwise his Worthington stop might have been a wee bit sparse to those passing by his bus. The Worthington Daily Globe reports:

. . .About 15 people crowded into a small room at United Financial Resources to hear Gutknecht, while about 30 people from his campaign bus waved signs and balloons at people driving by outside.

It was Gutknecht’s third stop of the day, and audience members had questions on everything from health care to the farm bill to English becoming the official national language.

Gutknecht advocated allowing people to purchase prescription drugs in Canada, though he said “That’s not the real answer. We’re still paying way more than the Germans do, for example. If you opened up the drug markets, you would see the price go down.”

He cited Medicare Part D as an example of increasing competition among drug companies.

Gil Gutknecht voted against the bill that created the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit for seniors.

Then he took some questions from the audience.

“I work in long-term care,” said Laura Svoboda, referring to the low pay and high expenses of the nursing home where she works. “What could be done for getting more money for staffing there?”

“That’s what happens when you get socialized medicine,” Gutknecht replied . . .

Okay then.

NEW ULM JOURNAL: GUTKNECHT CAMPAIGNS ON SADDAM VERDICT
The story was a bit different in New Ulm, where the Journal reports that Gutknecht was campaigning on Saddam's death sentence:

Regarding the news released earlier in the day that former dictator Saddam Hussein was sentenced to hang by an Iraqi court, Gutknecht said he felt the news would help the cause of Republican party candidates in Tuesday’s General Election.

“Saddam killed 200,000 Kurds. More than 100,000 were found in a mass grave,” Gutknecht said.

Gutknecht, who is seeking re-election to a seventh term, is locked in a close battle with Tim Walz for the 1st Congressional District. Walz, a teacher and veteran whose home is in Mankato, held a rally Sunday evening in St. Peter at Gustavus Adolphus College. He is also on a campaigning-ending tour. He will make a 7 a.m. stop today in New Ulm at Perkins.

To judge from the picture in the New Ulm Journal, Gutknecht wasn't exactly packing them in at the Larkspur Market and Deli.  Good thing he brought those folks in the background with him.

WASHINGTON POST: CAMPAIGNING ON SADDAM'S DEATH SENTENCE
Gutknecht's pitch on Saddam Hussein comes straight out of the GOP playbook, written in Washington DC, if what we read in this morning's Washington Post article, Parties Crank Up Voter Turnout Efforts, is accurate:

GOP strategists said they think their prospects continue to improve as voters digest the guilty verdict against former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, positive economic statistics and the prospect of Democrats taking control of one or both chambers of the legislative branch. "I have always believed that Republican voters in many cases come home later, particularly this year," said Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman.

The WaPo also reports that a Pew Research Center Poll indicates a narrowing of the Democratic advantage in House races--though the flicker of hope may easily be snuffed by a great ground game:

A Pew Research Center poll showed a significant narrowing in the partisan advantage in House races that the Democrats have enjoyed for much of the year, findings that echoed those of a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Saturday showing the Democrats with a six-point edge.

The Pew poll showed that the Democratic advantage had dropped to 47 percent to Republicans' 43 percent among likely voters, down from 50 percent to 39 percent two weeks ago. The poll found a drop in Democratic support among independents, but Pew Director Andrew Kohut said the most significant change over the past two weeks is that Republicans now outnumber Democrats among likely voters.

Separately, a USA Today/Gallup Poll showed Democrats leading Republicans by 51 percent to 44 percent among likely voters on the "generic vote" -- the question of which party voters intend to support in House races -- down from a 13-percentage-point advantage two weeks ago. But the newspaper noted Republicans enjoyed a similar 7-point edge on the eve of their 1994 landslide victory.

Other weekend polls by Time and Newsweek magazines continued to show Republicans at a steep disadvantage, with Democrats enjoying double-digit margins in party preferences for the House.

Volunteer with the Walz campaign and help make history. Call 507-388-5382 to lend a hand.

VOX VERAX: "HIT ME WITH A LEAD PIPE" GUTKNECHT SAYS
Leigh Pomeroy took in Gutknecht's Mankato stop.  Some choice reporting:

About 40 supporters of Rep. Gil Gutknecht showed up in downtown Mankato around noon on Sunday to see the congressman on his three-day, last minute tour through the 1st Congressional District. Though the turnout was thin, the passion was strong. One couple expressed deep concern about a potential Democratic victory, which they feel would undermine the traditional religious values they support. "The 2nd Amendment," the man said, "was supposed to protect churches from the government, not the other way around."

The Second Amendment protects gun rights.

In talking to reporters afterwards [Gutknecht] acknowledged that the campaign had become far too negative. "It's not the campaign I wanted to run," he said. "Starting October 1st, they came out and hit me with a lead pipe. That's when the campaign changed dramatically."

Poor Gil. He forgets that the campaign changed dramatically the moment Tim Walz decided to run for office. 

Vox Verax and Minnesota Monitor provide a round-up on the race.

MONDAY CAMPAIGN TOUR: WALZ IN THE WEST
Tim Walz will be campaigning in the western half of the Fighting First today.  Here's the schedule.  if you're reading this in the west, get out and say hello:

7:00am   New Ulm
Perkins Restaurant
1727 S. Broadway St, New Ulm

8:30am   St. James
Stray Cat Cafe
600 1st Ave S., St. James

9:30am   Windom
Towne Perk
207 10th St., Windom

11:00am   Slayton
Pizza Ranch
2306 Broadway Ave, Slayton

12:30pm   Pipestone
Lange’s Café
110-8th Ave SE, Pipestone

1:30pm   Luverne
Vanderkooi Law office
1275-141st St., Luverne
Note: Tim Walz may walk down the street to the local pizza place/coffee shop to great voters.
 
2:45pm   Worthington
Northland Mall
1600 Block of Oxford St., Worthington

4:00pm   Jackson
Pizza Ranch
206-3rd St, Jackson

5:15pm   Truman
Aarvarks
On Hwy 15, across from the Cenex gas station

6:15pm   Madelia
Madelia American Legion
36-1st St. NW, Madelia

7:15pm   Thank volunteers at the Mankato DFL office
630 N Riverfront Dr, Mankato

Mondays are our busiest day, but we'll try to post updates as news comes in.  You know what I'm going to ask: Volunteer with the Walz campaign and help make history. Call 507-388-5382 to lend a hand.

 

In the Mankato campaign office: Saturday night lights

Late yesterday afternoon, the Mankato DFL office was jumping with volunteers and staff.  Some were phoning voters, others were recounting impressive tales of the day's doorknocking, and still others worked on laptops scattered around the long and open office on Riverfront Drive.

Phones rang  constantly, with volunteers patiently answering voters' questions, mainly about Tim Walz's position on issues. A cluster of young women and men stuffed lit for a doorknock of MSU-M dorms.

While the Rochester office fielded volunteers of all ages, the Mankato office swung more toward young volunteers. Two reasons for this, really: Mankato is a college town and Tim Walz is a high school teacher. Many of Walz's former students, now in college, have gathered to help put Walz in the win column come Wednesday morning.

Nick Burkhart and Matt Klaber were among those returning. While Matt only had to travel from the Cities, Nick returned home from Mesa, Arizona, where he is a first-term freshman.

No accident these young men have come home to Mankato. In a very real way, they are the genesis of the Walz campaign, for Nick and Matt are the students who were kicked out of a 2004 rally in Mankato for President Bush. The story as told in The Atlantic Monthly:

. . .The president's visit struck Walz as a teachable moment, and he and two students boarded a Bush campaign bus that took them to a quarry where the president was to speak. But after they had passed through a metal detector and their tickets and IDs were checked, they were denied admittance and ordered back onto the bus. One of the boys had a John Kerry sticker on his wallet.

Indignant, Walz refused. "As a soldier, I told them I had a right to see my commander-in-chief," the normally jovial forty-one-year-old recently explained to a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party dinner in the small town of Albert Lea, Minnesota.

His challenge prompted a KGB-style interrogation that was sadly characteristic of Bush campaign events. Do you support the president? Walz refused to answer. Do you oppose the president? Walz replied that it was no one's business but his own. (He later learned that his wife was informed that the Secret Service might arrest him.) . . .

. . .Walz was told to behave himself and permitted to attend the speech, albeit under heavy scrutiny. His students were not: they were sent home. Shortly after this Walz retired from the Guard. Then he did something that until recently was highly unusual for a military man. He announced he was running for Congress—as a Democrat.

This was the beginning of what the Wall Street Journal has called the Republican nightmare.

At the Mankato DFL headquarters on Saturday, there were no nightmares, just the buzz of contagious youthful high energy as the afternoon flowed into evening. 

Pizzas were ordered and delivered just in time for Tim Walz's return to Mankato after a long day of campaigning and greeting volunteers all over the district. Word filtered in of the number of doors knocked, of the press walking along as Walz met with citizens, of yet another notice of the campaign in the Wall Street Journal.

Bright and ripe in its perigee and nearly full, the November moon rose over the eastern bank of the Minnesota River Valley, and still the volunteers and staff soldiered on, high on expectations for Tuesday and yet . . .and yet--not certain of victory on that day or even what Sunday would bring.

It was Saturday night in Mankato, southern Minnesota's Key City, and Tim Walz's staff and volunteers were working, working, working.

Dirty tricks: Voter suppression and RNCC Robocalling spoofs

VOTER PROTECTION
A reader wrote us asking about voter protection efforts in the First. We contacted the Walz campaign with the question.

In an emailed response, a Walz staffer supplied a toll-free number for those who are challenged at the polls to call:

Voter Assistance Hotline:  1-888-336-8683  or 1-888-DEM-VOTE

She also noted that "We will also have poll watchers at all locations with lots of young people and Hispanic voters. . .We have attorneys on call in every county."

MNBlue provides additional contact information from a nonpartisan coalition:

I've found out more information about voting protection efforts in Minnesota. The non-partisan Minnesota Voting Rights Coalition is coordinating our state's part of this national effort. They are part of the National Campaign for Fair Elections (which may rank up there as one of the longest website names of all time). So if you see or hear something that doesn't look quite right, just call:

1-866-OUR-VOTE

This is the national number that routes call (by area code) to the particular state's call center. In Minnesota's case, that call center will be staffed by a team of lawyers stationed at Take Action Minnesota's offices.

MNBlue notes that Take Action Minnesota is especially focused on MN-02 and MN-06, though it will have lawyers stationed in Rochester:

  "Our particular concern is suppression of minority and recent immigrant votes."

For example, they will have a team of lawyers up in Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park on election day as these are two cities have higher concentrations of minority and immigrant populations. "We just want to make sure that anyone, regardless of their party affiliation gets their chance to vote. We also have lawyers available in Duluth, Rochester and the Red Lake Indian Reservation

RNCC ROBOCALLING?
Over at Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo, we've been reading about dirty tricks in the form of irritating robocalls being made  by the National Republican Congressional Committee to voters in hotly contested congressional races.

To the average recipient, the calls appear to be coming from the Democratic candidate's campaign; each voter contacted gets the call over and over again.

The story has been reported by the AP in Politics calling: How do you like those nasty telephone calls from the campaigns?:

by Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer
published November 1, 2006 6:14 am

WASHINGTON – Press one if you think they're dirty tricks. Press two if you think prerecorded telephone messages are devastatingly effective, especially during the final days of a close campaign.

In at least 53 competitive House races, the National Republican Campaign Committee has launched hundreds of thousands of automated telephone calls, known as "robo calls."

Such calls have sparked a handful of complaints to the FCC and underscore the usefulness of the inexpensive — and sometimes overwhelming — political tool.

"As much as people complain about getting automated calls and saying they don't work, every politician is doing them," said Jerry Dorchuck, whose Pennsylvania-based Political Marketing International will make about 200,000 such phone calls each hour for mostly Democratic candidates. "Targeted calls play a key in very close races."

They can single out single women, absentee voters, independents and party faithful with tailored messages, but they also can frustrate voters. Sometimes, the latter is their goal.

Bruce Jacobson, a software engineer from Ardmore, Pa., received three prerecorded messages in four hours. Each began, "Hello, I'm calling with information about Lois Murphy," the Democrat running against two-term incumbent Rep. Jim Gerlach in the Philadelphia-area district.

"Basically, they go on to slam Lois," said Jacobson, who has filed a complaint with the FCC because the source of the call isn't immediately known.

FCC rules say all prerecorded messages must "at the beginning of the message, state clearly the identity of the business, individual, or other entity that is responsible for initiating the call." During or after the message, they must give the telephone number of the caller.

"The way they're sent is deceptive. The number of calls is harassing. The way her stances are presented in these stories is deliberately misleading and deceptive," said Karlyn Messinger, another Murphy supporter from Penn Valley, Pa., who filed a complaint with the FCC.

NRCC spokesman Ed Patru denied any illegal intent.

"All of our political calls are in compliance with the law," Patru said.

Not so, said the Democrats.

"They are violating the regulations that were set up," said Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who said the DCCC employed one robocall this cycle and paid $500 for it.

"I think the real point here is that the Republicans are using a desperate campaign tactic that is misleading, at worst violating the law and at best is a page out of Karl Rove's playbook," Psaki said. "They clearly are attempting to mislead voters."

Democrats argued that that's the strategy.

"Because they are getting so many, they are only listening to the first part of the message," said Amy Bonitatibus, a Murphy spokeswoman. "They're hoping to turn off our base. ... These are pretty much dirty tricks by the Republican Party."

The NRCC, the GOP campaign arm for House candidates, has spent $2.1 million on such automated calls nationwide. In Illinois, at least three versions of a phone message target Tammy Duckworth, the Democrat in a tight Chicago-area race, and her positions on taxes, Social Security and immigrants.

"Illinois families will be footing the bill for illegal immigrants who get government benefits," the voice says in one.

In Connecticut's hotly contested 4th Congressional District, incumbent Republican Rep. Christopher Shays and Democrat Diane Farrell both said they are victims of misleading and annoying robocall campaigns. Shays, a 10-term congressman, said he has survived more than 20 robocall campaigns, including one that tried to link his stance on stem-cell research to that of religious extremists.

"These calls are at best misleading, and often blatantly wrong," Shays wrote in a letter to several newspaper publishers this summer.

Farrell spokeswoman Jan Ellen Spiegel said Tuesday the campaign has been a victim of "constant pummeling," including robocalls that begin with a recorded voice saying, "I'd like to talk with you about Diane Farrell." It's the same tactic employed in Murphy's district and elsewhere.

In North Carolina's 11th Congressional District, Republicans are going after challenger Heath Shuler, whose campaign said the calls are coming as late as 2:30 a.m.

"Calling people up, making people think it's me when it's actually them — it's acts of desperation. ... I think it's part of the corruption in Washington," Shuler said. . . .

TPM analyses the tactic behind the calls being made by the NRCC:

What we're seeing is an apparent coordinated effort from the NRCC -- the House GOP committee -- to place calls that appear to be from the local Democratic candidate and then automatically call the same number back as many as seven or eight times each time the caller hang-ups. If the caller listens to the whole message it goes on to bash the Democratic candidate. But if the caller hangs up prematurely, the computer calls right back. Hang-ups are the achilles heal of robo-calls. So this seems to be an attempt to cover for that weakness by making those who hang up think the Democratic candidate is basically harassing them with phone calls. The GOP wins either way.

What is there to do about it. As described, the calls appear to be in violation of federal regulations which mandate that these calls clearly identify their origin. The repetitive call back may also be a violation in different states. The New Hampshire AG apparently just intervened to force the NRCC to stop the calls in that state. But frankly, none of that matters. Because the folks placing the calls factor in the price of whatever fines might be meted out after the election when the damage is already done.

Truthfully, I don't think there's really much to do but publicize it and then get out and vote.

A lot of these races remain inside the MOE, the margin of error. And that means the MOT, the margin of theft. If Dems want to pick up seats on Tuesday they'll have to get a lot of these races out of the MOT. Because as long as they're inside, the Republicans can still grab them with a mix of voter suppression, dirty tricks and election fraud.

We wondered whether the Walz campaign had heard of this sort of tactic being used in the First.

A call to a Walz staffer revealed that the campaign had yet to hear complaints about this sort of robocalling in the First, but was on the alert because it was happening in so many other hot races across the country.

The staffer suggested that First district residents who believe that they are receiving calls of this nature should contact local daily newspapers, television stations and the Minnesota Attorney General's office so that voters can get the news that the tactic is a dirty trick--and illegal.

National Journal TV: Walz will win in MN-01

National Journal's Midwest roundup TV analysts predict that Tim Walz will win in southern Minnesota: "People love Walz."

Volunteer to help make sure this prediction comes true.

OLLIE OX UPDATE: We can't get our link to work but we have watched it.  Will get link up once we solve the technical problem.  Here's the URL for documentary purposes, but when we add HTML code to make the link hot, it disappears: 

http://ads.nationaljournal.com/ads/HLTVfullshow3/

Rochester Post Bulletin Sunday: "The hay is in the barn" (but the barn's on fire)

Poor Gil Gutknecht.  He's sounding pretty bereft on the campaign trail, if one reads coverage in today's Rochester Post Bulletin. 

It's quite a contrast to what we heard yesterday at our live coverage stops in the Rochester and Mankato DFL offices, where an exuberant Walz greeted dedicated volunteers after coming in from his own campaigning.

Walz didn't just rally campaign workers, but doorknocked in Rochester (with an assist from St. Paul mayor Chris Coleman) and Plainview, with fellow teacher and state legislator Andy Welti. He's gotten endorsements from First district newspapers, crowds at his rallies, and has released his last television ad--"Our Hope."

Gutknecht?  Edward Felker of the Post-Bulletin spent some time on the Gutknecht bus yesterday, turning in a dispatch with the telling headline, Gutknecht campaign works to hold off hard-charging Walz:

MANKATO -- With little more than 72 hours left to campaign, GOP Rep. Gil Gutknecht on Friday told his volunteers in personal visits that get-out-the-vote efforts will determine whether he keeps his seat in the face of a stiff challenge from Democrat Tim Walz.

Gutknecht, from Rochester, is seeking to hold off Walz, a high school teacher and retired guardsman who has attracted national party and labor support, putting the 1st Congressional District on the national political radar screen. Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, who is not up for re-election, joined Gutknecht for the day. In stops in at GOP headquarters in Winona, Rochester, Austin, Albert Lea and Mankato, their message was clear: Without strong turnout Tuesday, Gutknecht loses.

The problem is that Republicans have told pollsters they are discouraged by the war in Iraq, congressional scandals, government spending, and the inability of Congress to deliver on key conservative social goals. Meanwhile, Democrats are found to be highly enthusiastic, sensing the opportunity to win the House and possibly the Senate, along with some governorships.

Gutknecht's first stop before about two dozen volunteers at the GOP headquarters at the Winona Mall was hosted by radio company owner and party activist Jerry Papenfuss. Both voiced optimism that Republicans will turn out for Gutknecht and other GOP candidates because they share the same pro-family, anti-abortion and anti-tax values.

Area voters should vote on the basis that Democrats, Gutknecht said, have no plan for Iraq other than to pull out American troops, while he wants the United States to continue working to help the Iraqi government stabilize the nation with its own police forces. He acknowledged his frustration and that of the American public over the lack of progress in Iraq, but said the alternative is worse. "If we don't defeat them there, they will pursue us," Gutknecht said of anti-American terrorists who have flocked to Iraq.

Coleman and Gutknecht sought to rally their troops by emphasizing the likelihood that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, stands to become House speaker if Democrats win the chamber. A takeover is a distinct possibility, with Gutknecht and dozens of fellow Republican lawmakers facing unexpectedly competitive challenges this year. Democrats need to win 15 additional seats to seize the speaker's gavel.

"What kind of values are we going to pass on to the next generation? Will they be the Midwestern, Minnesota values we believe in, or are they going to be the values of San Francisco? That's what's at stake in this election," Gutknecht told a group of about 30 volunteers at GOP headquarters in Rochester.

Gutknecht called this year's campaign "the most frustrating and difficult" of his 12-year career in Washington. Gutknecht has seen a safe lead evaporate under what many describe as a heavy barrage of negative advertising by Walz, labor unions and a pro-Democratic veterans group. Many think he also has responded in kind.

"This is one of nastiest, meanest, most poisonous campaigns we've ever been involved in," he said in Rochester, speaking for himself and other GOP candidates. He told a group of about 15 volunteers in Albert Lea that he shelved positive ads so that he could respond to Walz. "This is not a campaign I wanted to run, this is a campaign I had to run."

In Mankato, Gutknecht contended that Walz' progress in voter support has been halted and owed much to the Mark Foley congressional page scandal and negative advertising by labor unions in early October. "I think we've righted it. We'll be fine," he said of his campaign.

Walz said Thursday his latest internal poll showed him ahead, 45-42 percent, though that difference was within the margin of error, meaning a statistical dead heat.

To about 30 volunteers there, Gutknecht said, "it's all about turnout," and said much of what the candidates can accomplish has been done. "Essentially the hay's in the barn. It's about getting it out.

More coverage about the election in the PB from Mike Dougherty and Matt Stolle in  Iraq War dominates pre-election talk . 

Yet another letter about anti-Walz phone calls

There's a cliche: when you're in a hole, stop digging.  Negative push-polling against Tim Walz just doesn't seem to be doing the trick. Voters are writing to  their papers with objections.  C. J. Kobbermann of New Ulm says Enough with the negative ads in a letter published in the New Ulm Journal:

As an independent and registered voter I have to say “enough negative campaigning.” Mine is a vote that is always up for grabs. I vote on issues and for people not the party. I listen to the debates, visit candidate websites and read articles about each candidate. However, I ignore political ads. Why? Generally I find that they contain very little useful information. Instead telling us about the candidate and why we should vote for them, we get sound bites that are presented out of context and spun to make the opposition look as bad as possible. The effect they have on me, and many of the other independent voters I’ve talked to, is to prejudice us against the candidate they are sponsored by (if they are run by your political party you are responsible for the content). Worse yet are the telephone polls or informational calls that turn out to be mudslinging telethons.

I received two such telephone calls today, both of these attacking Tim Walz. The first started out as a voter poll. I was asked whom I would for as governor. I responded, “Peter Hutchinson.” I was then asked which candidate I would support, Gutknecht or Tim Walz. I responded that I wasn’t sure, but was considering Tim Walz. The caller responded “Would it change your mind if you found out the Tim Walz supported abortion without limits….” I cut in and said “I would have to check if it was true, but I question the truth of your statement and hung up.” At that point I was shaking off a gut response to throw my support fully behind Tim Walz. Then I received another call, not less than one minute later, basically saying Tim Walz would raise taxes recklessly. I cut that person off saying, “this constitutes negative campaigning and I will not listen to it.”

If these people want our votes, sell the politician and not the propaganda. Those Gutknecht supporters would have been better off telling me why they think Gil Gutknecht is the man for the job. With their obvious conviction, they could have made a compelling case for him. Their honest enthusiasm for him could have made me take a closer look at him and my leanings. I want people of integrity representing me. A clean honest campaign goes a long way towards establishing that sense of integrity with voters. In closing I have this bit of advice for Gil Gutknecht and all other candidates out there. Give us the reasons that make you the best person for the job, not what makes you the “better of two evils.”

Here's the last ad from Tim Walz's campaign--"Our Hope"

And here's the Rochester Bulletin on the accuracy of Gutknecht's latest ad, in which he claims to have received the highest award that the National Guard gives to elected officials:

About Gil Gutknecht's new ad:

Both campaigns continued to flood the airwaves with paid advertising. Gutknecht this week unveiled an ad in which he points to a 2001 award from the National Guard Association of the United States, the Charles Dick Medal of Merit, as proof of his support for veterans and soldiers, counter to criticism of him by Walz.

Gutknecht says the award is from the National Guard and that it is the highest award that can be given to an elected official, but those claims are not completely accurate. The award is not from the guard but from the association, a private nonpartisan organization of 45,000 current and former guardsmen, and the award is given to elected officials and typically a handful a year are so honored, a spokesman said Thursday.

The association's highest accolade is the Harry S. Truman award, given to one individual annually. The 2006 winner was Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., who stands to become the next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee if Democrats win a majority in the House on Tuesday.

Too bad that ad isn't on YouTube for everyone to see.

OLLIE OX  UPDATE: There's a really poor quality YouTube of the ad the posted now; while the picture is really bad, the sound--and Gutknecht's claim that the award is "the highest" given to elected officials by the National Guard--is clearly audible.  Perhaps he'd like to add that the award is from the National Guard Association and that it's not the highest award that the association gives.

Is this the same issue that faced Tim Walz in his Junior Chamber of Commerce award?  We think not: Gil is using the award as cover for his votes in Congress.

BLUESTEM COMMENDED AT DFLERS
We were surprised to see Bluestem Prairie mentioned in a post at the official DFL blog, since we are not on the state party's press release list, nor has the blog ever directly received any tips or leads from the state DFL in our inbox. We have been included in the DFLers' blogroll for awhile, though, so we didn't feel completely left out.

As nice as the hat tip is, it's important to stress that Vox Verax, rather than Bluestem Prairie, first carried the Mankato Free Press letter. Credit where credit is due.

 

Another glorious Sunday morning: reading around the Fighting First

While we were in Rochester, a volunteer shared the story of one DFLer returning home from Washington DC.   The plane on which the DFLer traveled carried a number of  Republican operatives being sent to shore up crumbling GOP fortunes in Minnesota; most of the team was being dispatched to Rochester.

Since the GOP is pulling expert help from out-of-state into the First, those Twin Citians who wish to help Tim Walz take back the district from a fading relic of the 1994 Republican revolution shouldn't hesitate to drive down and lend a hand.

Advance weather predictions say that Tuesday will be 62 degrees and sunny. We couldn't ask for a more beautiful November day in Minnesota.  Doors need to be knocked and phone calls made.  There's plenty of work for everyone and, judging from the spread at the Mankato office last night, local cooks will bring in homemade food to feed a herd of volunteers.

Volunteer with the Walz Campaign.

Those wanting to get a jump on the fun on Monday can carpool to Rochester with Bill from The Life Fantastic, who offers space for three:

. . . for the second Monday running, I am driving down to Rochester. So, I put forth my question from last Sunday. Who's coming with me? I have room in the car for three more. This race is winnable. I'm going to do my part. Who's coming with me?

Visit The Life Fantastic for contact info.

 MANKATO FREE PRESS: CAMPAIGN NOTEBOOK
The Mankato Free Press reports on last-minute spending in the congressional race by parties and special interests.  Guess which party is going completely negative?

Expect more television ads about the 1st District race from outside groups, along with more stuff in the mailbox.

From Tuesday through Thursday, national Republican and Democratic groups filed their intention to spend an additional $251,000 on the race between Congressman Gil Gutknecht and Democratic challenger Tim Walz of Mankato, mostly in television ads in the final days of the campaign. And a labor union’s political action committee is putting another $200,000 in TV ads into the race.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is spending an extra $150,000 leading up to Tuesday’s election — half in ads attacking Gutknecht and half for ads supporting Walz.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is planning to spend $101,000 — all for attack ads against Walz.

The DCCC is also spending just over $27,000 for more mailings, split evenly between pro-Walz and anti-Gutknecht messages.

The biggest spender, though, is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — $200,000 in ads opposing Gutknecht.

No doubt Gutknecht will whine about the ASCFME ads, while ignoring his own broken pledge about limiting the amount of PAC money he takes in campaign contributions:

PAC percentages

Another sign that Gutknecht is pulling out all the stops in this race: He’s accepting much more money from special-interest groups through their political action committees. As evidence of his popular support, Gutknecht had in previous campaigns pledged to take no more than a third of his campaign cash from PACs with at least two-thirds coming from individual donors. This year, he’s at 40 percent, according to the most recent campaign finance reports published by Congressional Quarterly’s Political Moneyline.

While the proportion of special-interest dollars goes against Gutknecht’s previous standard, it remains below the percentage collected from PACs by many incumbent lawmakers. Democratic Congressman Collin Peterson of Minnesota, for instance, has taken 77 percent of his campaign cash from PACs this campaign.

Walz had collected 23 percent of his donations from PACs.

The Campaign Notebook also reports on last minute barnstorming:

Franken, Walz in St. Peter

Those interested in a live event can see Walz and Al Franken at a rally at Gustavus Adolphus College starting at 8 p.m. today.

Franken, the comedian and radio talk show host, is spending the day campaigning with Walz, stopping at a couple of restaurants in Owatonna and doing rallies in Albert Lea, Austin, St. Charles, Winona and St. Peter.

The latter event is scheduled to run from 8 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. at the Courtyard Cafe in the Gustavus student union.

MANKATO FREE PRESS LTES: JUST SAY NO TO GIL-AGAIN
Yesterday we linked to Vox Verax's coverage of an LTE which had yet to go online at the Free Press; now it is posted, along with other pro-Walz LTEs.  Here's the full text of Clinton Meyer's letter, Gutknecht's 'Skipper' has them shipwrecked:

Gil Gutknecht has stickers saying “Gil-again,” playing off the TV show Gilligan’s Island.

How ironic. Gilligan was The Skipper’s “little buddy.” Skipper ordered. Gilligan followed. The Skipper led Gilligan and his passengers headfirst into a typhoon. This blind loyalty resulted in shipwreck on a deserted island.

Gilligan and The Skipper? Shipwrecked. Gil and Bush? Shipwrecked.

Last election, I voted for Gutknecht, this year I’m voting for Tim Walz.

I got a call from the Republican Party talking about how Walz is for higher taxes because he would repeal the Bush tax cuts, blah, blah, blah...

I interrupted after the “soft on terror” and “raise your taxes” portion and said, “ma’am... I am an independent voter and have voted for Gil in the past... but his comments about Walz’s position on taxes and terror are so far out of context, they are not true. I don’t believe them and won’t vote for Gil again.”

Gutknecht blindly supports Bush and Iraq is a civil war we cannot afford and cannot win.

She then said “sir... I personally agree with you and wouldn’t vote for Gil either... but this is my job.”

Dottie Barrett, on the other hand, got serious about those phone calls in her letter Walz-bashing phone calls reiterate lies in ads:

I am supporting Tim Walz for U.S. Representative because I know him to be a decent and hard-working person with whom I taught for some years. His energy and dedication for the public good was apparent during the Walz/Gil Gutknecht debate at Bethany College, where he offered realistic solutions for the large problems facing our country. I deplore the lack of action by this do-nothing Congress, who Tim Penny used to refer to as the Tuesday-Thursday Club. Walz would energize the legislative process with open dialogue and debates on issues that affect the people of this country. As citizens, we have a right to quality governing.

In the debate, Walz confronted his opponent with lies in his opponent’s ads. Gutknecht replied that he hadn’t seen the ads. Now people in our district are getting personal Walz-bashing phone calls reiterating the lies. Walz is against granting amnesty to illegal aliens, against tax breaks for millionaires, against allowing special interests to write our laws, against giving tax breaks to big oil companies and against raising interest rates on student loans necessary to continue high-quality education for our people to complete with foreign work forces. Walz will stand up for Minnesota and work for fair legislation for all.

Tim Walz has the correct motivation writes Dennis Durand of Mankato:

I am going to vote for Tim Walz because of his motivation. Tim is a successful teacher, a veteran, a coach, a concerned citizen and a family man.

Sounds like a full life to me. As he has stated he never intended to run for public office, like so many career politicians. But he did accept the responsibility to be of service. Oh, there will be times when he doesn't vote for an issue I support; I don't agree with my wife all the time either.

But I truly feel his motivation to serve the people has propelled him through this campaign. I think we all have had enough of the special interest money groups, the dead-end inter-party squabbling and the near regal detached elected officials. So good luck Tim, you have my support.

STRAINING AT GNATS, SWALLOWING ELEPHANTS
Taking up where MnObserver and the Wege left off, Jeff Fecke at the Blog of the Moderate Left deconstructs the latest GOP smear against Walz. He begins:

The Minnesota Republican party made a startling allegation in the waning days of the 2006 campaign. According to Republican operatives, Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate for the first Congressional district, had faked an award. Not only had he claimed he won an award he didn’t, but he claimed that he’d won an award that didn’t even exist. It was asserted this would destroy Walz’s credibility, and hand the too-close-to-call first district to Rep. Gil Gutknecht.There was only one problem. The award does exist. Walz has, indeed, won it. The Republicans who advanced the story knew it, hanging their entire allegation on one omitted word. And in order to press the story, they turned to a man with an axe to grind who was willing to play his part.This is a story of the politics of personal destruction—the desperation of a sputtering party in the waning moments of the 2006 election to put up a smear, however tendentious, in desperate hopes it will be enough to win.

Get the rest of the story at The Blog of the Moderate Left or the Minnesota Monitor---where there's also more First district news.

Smear artists would direct voters' attention to typos, rather than important matters of policy like the war, health care, education. Don't swallow that elephant!

On to Mankato: Volunteers make all the difference

We left the frenetic DFL office in Rochester around three, heading west on Highway 14 toward Mankato. As high energy as the Rochester  office was,  we were stunned by the intensity of the Mankato office.  A taste of our Sunday morning post comes from the Star Tribune in The Final Push: Volunteers could make all the difference:

In Mankato Saturday, Ginny Nimmo, 54, a school psychologist, could hardly believe she was out hunting for voters who might not have made up their minds yet.

"My husband says he's never seen me like this," said Nimmo, a volunteer who is supporting First District challenger Tim Walz, a Democrat. "This is new for me."

Weather prediction for Southern Minnesota on Election day?  62 degrees and sunny. What better way to appreciate a warm November day than working for change? Volunteer for the Tim Walz campaign.