Bluestem Prairie: news about Tim Walz (MN-1)

Sticking a fork in it: Rep. Connie Ruth will not seek re-election

At the Capitol: Put a fork in it, an entertaining News Cut headline about a cake Connie Ruth brought to celebrate Minnesota's sesquicentennial, turns to have been an inadvertent harbinger for news from  Owatonna. 

The Owatonna People's Press reports that Ruth passes on re-election bid in November.

From the looks of the candidates in 26A who are registered with the Campaign Finance Board, the DFL has yet to endorse a candidate for this seat. Kathy Muellerleile challenged Ruth in 2004 and 2006. In the first contest, Ruth received 54.48 percent to Muelleleile's 45.29 percent. In 2006, Ruth did slightly better, garnering 56.37 percent versus her challenger's 43.43 percent.

The District includes parts of Steele and Waseca Counties, including Owatonna and Waseca. Senator Dick Day, who is running for the nomination for Congress in the Republican primary, represents Senate District 26. Should he win the primary endorsement, he won't be home in Owatonna to help whomever ends up being the Republican state house candidate in the open seat.

Post Bulletin: Nap time for Olmsted County GOP?

Via Politics in Minnesota, we find this questioning headline in the Rochester Post Bulletin: Olmsted County Republicans asleep at the switch?

Here's the lead:

During her years in the Legislature, former state Sen. Nancy Brataas never had a reputation for biting her tongue when she had something to say.

Now Rochester's political grand dame is raising her voice anew, warning of the growing influence of what she calls "right-wing" extremists in the area Republican Party.

Yet other GOP leaders see the issue differently. They say the party is simply being rejuvenated by the introduction of new blood and new ideas.

At issue is the growing political muscle of area supporters for GOP Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. The tension between those views reached a flashpoint last weekend when Republicans endorsed Jacob Dettinger, a local businessman and Paul supporter, for House District 30A. The seat is now held by DFL Rep. Tina Liebling.

Brataas calls what happened at Saturday's endorsing convention an "absolute travesty." Out of 50 delegates eligible to be seated, only 19 attended, she said. Dettinger eventually won the party's endorsement to represent a district of more than 32,000 people with 11 votes.

Read the whole article. There's also an interesting companion article, War of words, philosophies at root of GOP rift, in which we find an explanation for the low turnout at the endorsing convention.  It sounds like there aren't enough Republicans activists to go around in Rochester:

. . .Yet, area Republican leaders say there is a simple explanation for why the convention was so poorly attended. The race for the endorsement was uncontested. There is less motivation to attend a convention when the outcome is preordained.

Duane Quam, chairman of the GOP First Congressional District, says there also were competing political activities going on at the same time. Statewide campaign activities for GOP Sen. Norm Coleman's reelection were scheduled for the same time. So with the conventions for Dettinger and Johnson considered noncompetitive, supporters of the candidates were instructed to participate in the Coleman activities rather than attend the convention, Quam said. . . .

Some more tidbits from the second article:

. . .since receiving the GOP endorsement for House District 30A, Dettinger has found his views on the receiving end of critical remarks by former state Sen. Nancy Brataas.

Brataas, the state's first elected woman senator who served from 1975 to 1992 and who identified with the party's moderate wing, emphasized that her criticisms should not be viewed as personal attacks. But she believes Dettinger and other supporters of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul are filling a political vacuum created by the fact that area Republicans aren't paying attention. . . .

. . .Dettinger, owner of two Erbert and Gerbert's restaurants in Rochester, is one of two House Republican candidates from the area who support GOP Rep. Ron Paul for president. The other is Jason Johnson, a technology contractor who is running for House District 29B, a seat held by DFL Rep. Kim Norton.

There's been blogosphere chatter about the Ron Paul issue in the Sixth's GOP, but no mention of the complications it's causing in the First.

Renewable energy news digest: something in the air tonight

We noted yesterday that the Institute for Local Self-Reliance had released a new report showing  how current federal law discourages local ownership of power plants while highlighting how the removal of two federal-level barriers could dramatically enhance local ownership and investment in renewable energy projects. Congressman Walz's bill to revise the tax code to do just that is mentioned.

News of the report is spreading; today, North American Windpower published Report Explores Democratic Routes To Energy Independence.  Despite the headline style, that's a small "d" democracy, meaning that more people get to participate and take ownership in energy production. Some of that can be through co-operatives; other avenues including revising the tax code so that local individuals can take a tax credit for investing their private dollars in wind and other renewable energy projects.

Why has Walz championed this legislation, as well as backing an extension of the production tax credit? It's easy: just read the area papers. As is so often the case in the congressional district that was ranked fifth in the country in 2007 for the production of wind energy, the area papers frequently carry news of this industry and economic boon.

Today's Mountain Lake Observer/Butterfield Advocate published A definite change in the air. The lead:

You’ve come a long way windmill.

They progressed from four wooden blades, to six metal blades, to a trio of sleek blades manufactured using state-of-the-art vacuum-assisted resin infusion molding technology.

The jobs they do have dramatically shifted from grinding grain and pumping water to providing 15% to 20% of the City of Mt. Lake’s yearly expected power demand.

According to Mt. Lake City Administrator Wendy Meyer, “We (Utility Commission) are right where we thought we would be.

"The wind turbine is performing as anticipated.”

Mt. Lake’s wind turbine was erected on June 5, 2007, with commissioning activities carried out during July 2007 and August 2007. .

Today's Rochester Post Bulletin opines favorably about wind energy in Minnesota rides crest of wind-energy expansion. And there's news of the industry too, in articles like Newest wind farm helps meet renewable energy mandates and SMMPA signs 20-year wind-energy agreement.

The endorsed GOP candidate opposes renewable energy standards; the NRCC poohs-poohs the production tax credit for renewable energy. Given the importance of the wind industy to the district, positions and statements like that have prompted us to repeatedly wonder in this blog just what in God's good green earth Republican party leadership means when it whines about "being out of touch with Southern Minnesota." Perhaps someone ought hand them mirrors.

Finally, not all new wind technology is "for the grid." Today's Spring Valley Tribune notes a meeting about small-scale turbines in Local businessman hosting meeting on potential wind power turbine.

Update: We've added the graphic that illustrates that in years when the production tax credit was allowed to expire, investment in America's wind industry plunged.

News across rural Minnesota: Wind energy's economic power

Looking around in Greater Minnesota news venues today, we couldn't help but be struck by the many references to wind power.

Part of this is generated by the news that the American Wind Energy Association announced [pdf file] that Minnesota is now the third state national in terms of generating electricity from the wind.

We wrote Thursday about how in terms of Wind power: we're #3--and #2! (and how to keep those turbines spinning).  That post included the need to extend the wind energy production tax credit. As the graphic on that post and this indicates, eliminating the production tax credit for wind takes the breeze right out of the industry's blades.

There's another tax issue that would help Southern Minnesota capture more of the revenue stream from the wind. KAAL-TV news reported last night on the Economic Power of Wind Energy:

Minnesota has set a goal to produce 25% green energy by the year 2025.

Every state legislator from Southern Minnesota voted for that renewable energy standard.

But who's putting up the wind farms to make that goal?

The Prairie Star Wind Farm is 15 miles southeast of Austin. Brian Lammers works for Horizon Wind Energy, which is the company that built the turbines.

In one year, 62 turbines will generate a lot of electricity.

“[That’s] enough power for about 30,000 average U.S. homes,” says Lammers.

Lammers is from Minnesota and says most of the dozen employees here are from Minnesota or neighboring states. Energia de Portugal or EDP, which is a Portugal-based utility, owns Horizon.

According to Minnesota Congressman Tim Walz's office, foreign companies own most of the wind turbines in the U.S. The current tax code gives credits for large companies, but not for small individual investors. 

Mark Willers is one of 350 people who've invested millions into 11 turbines in the southwest corner of Minnesota. He says his group is the exception, and that's bad.

"If you have wind available and the tax credits are not useable by people here in the midwest, then you are forced to sell those wind rights or the energy from that wind off to another entity,” he says.

Entities like the Portuguese company that owns Prairie Star. But Lammers says regardless of whom owns the turbines, communities here benefit from tax revenue, jobs and rent paid to landowners. 

Plus, Lammers says wind energy projects are just too expensive for local investors to get involved with.

Willers says more projects could work if the tax code were changed.

Lammers says ownership doesn't take away the net benefits of using more clean energy. Walz is pushing legislation that would change the tax code and allow for individual investors to receive a wind production tax credit. It’s a move that would make investing in wind turbines more economically feasible.

KTTC-TV reported Minnesota Goes Past Iowa in Wind Energy and Minnesota Number Three in Wind Energy. The Albert Lea Tribune applauded the rise of the area's wind industry in State now No. 3 in wind energy production. The Blooming Prairie Times (which has just launched an online edition) reported on March 20 that High Energy, LLC announce Wind Farm:

High Energy, LLC announce Wind Farm
High Energy, LLC, and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, announced on Friday, March 14, that they have signed a letter of intent to acquire a 150 Megawatt portion of the High Country wind project. The High Country Wind Entergy Park, located in Dodge and Olmsted Counties, Minnesota, is planned to included a total of over 300 megawatts. . .  .

Like its sister paper in Adrian, the Fulda Free Press reported on the Nobles Cooperative Electric Wind turbine erected. As we noted earlier, the Dodge County Independent noted  Renewable energy program at library  At mid-week, we posted Wednesday afternoon news digest: Call the wind, Marriah edition.  And just outside the district, today's Marshall Independent reports about the current efforts geared toward Expanding wind energy across Minnesota.

We could go on, but you get the picture. The area papers report on new wind energy developments. The industry is a source of pride and optimism for farmers and business people, who have come to their congressman asking for the current tax credit to be preservation and for revision of the tax code so that they, too, can directly reap the economic opportuinty of investing in the wind industry

We've written before about how out-of-step with the district's support for renewable energy the endorsed GOP candidate is. But we're even more flabbergasted by a Karen Hanretty blog post that Tom Cole, chair of the NRCC, included in a national missive to supportive bloggers this week:

So while Pelosi and the Democrat majority pander to their fat-cat environmentalist patrons by debating the efficiency standard of a light bulb, offering tax credits for wind farms (none of which are to be built in Ted Kennedy's backyard, of course) and pushing for increased reliance on corn-based ethanol (maybe we can grow all the corn in ANWR) precious little has been done to increase the supply of oil in America. Yet, the Democrats are trying to "fool" you into believing they're offering viable options. . .

Hanretty's spleen seems particularly out-of-touch with the First, where farmers and other rural dwellers are racing to put up wind turbines on their land while arguing for  keeping and expanding that tax credit. There's a lot of economic interest in ethanol as well, though no absolute allegiance to corn-brewed ethanol, since several of Walz's earmarks go toward researchong cellulostic feedstocks for ethanol.  And, funny, but a lot of people in the First are concerned with environmentalism, though many might use the word conservation, and they're not fat cats.

So who is Hanretty, this fount of wisdom about energy policy?  According to CBS News/Politico:

The National Republican Congressional Committee has hired longtime Republican operative Karen Hanretty as the new communication director, according to a GOP source familiar with the committee’s decision.

Hanretty succeeds Jessica Boulanger, who resigned last month to join Prism Public Affairs, a bipartisan consulting firm.

Hanretty most recently served as deputy communications director on Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign. She has been a fixture on the punditry circuit, regularly appearing as a Republican analyst on Fox News and other cable news networks.

She has also served as communications director for the California Republican Party and as the press secretary for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial bid in the 2003 recall election.

That West Coast, Hollywood focus must explain why Hanretty (a paragon of civil discourse) forgot to tell readers about another opponent of the Nantucket Sound sea-based Cape Wind Project:

. . .former candidate for U.S. President and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. . .

Can the NRCC fool Southern Minnesotans into thinking that arguments of distraction about Ted Kennedy's battle against a sea-based wind energy project are superior to economic development in their own communities? We'll not weigh in here on the merits or lack of a much different energy project in a distant state and community, other than to note in passing that both objections to and support of the Massachusetts project come from people across the political spectrum. Even the Alliance against the Cape Wind project supports land-based wind projects that are properly cited and enjoy community support.

Objections to wind projects in Southern Minnesota do exist, but they're fairly rare. In a recent instance in Mower County, the local planning commission and wind energy company worked to ask questions about the project, according to the Austin Daily Herald.

We think linking attacks on all wind energy--and the production tax credit--to the Cape Wind controversy is pure Tom Cole foolishness for Southern Minnesota. But at least Hanretty wasn't carrying on about Fred Thompson or family values this time. And while we're considering the source of the snark about the wind energy production tax credit, here's a video clip of Hanretty's defense of Scooter Libby:

Photo: The Nobles Coop wind turbine, from the Fulda Free Press

Walz's statement on the Minnesota state house's vote to opt out of NCLB

Just in from Congressman Walz's office:

Today, high school educator Rep. Tim Walz issued the following statement in response to the bipartisan vote by the Minnesota House to discontinue participation in President Bush's No Child Left Behind.  Walz, a Member of Congress with experience teaching under No Child Left Behind mandates, has been working to drastically overhaul NoChild Left Behind.

"I applaud both the Republican and Democratic members of the Minnesota House who stood up for parents, teachers, students and schools by voting for legislation to withdraw Minnesota from the punitive mandates of No Child Left Behind.  Their actions yesterday sent a message to bureaucrats and Washington politicians: NCLB's irresponsible mandates need to be replaced with policy that properly funds education, meets our high expectations for public schools, ensures local control and provides for real accountability.  I have been and will continue to be a voice for that message of change in Washington.

"Bureaucrats must resist the desire to micromanage our children's classrooms.  After nearly two decades in public school classrooms, I know when parent-teacher conferences are held in our schools to discuss student achievement, parents, students and teachers show up, but not the federal government.  No Child Left Behind is a policy directed at making the federal government's voice drown out all others in those conferences and that is simply unacceptable.

"I am working to do away with the punitive measures that only hurt the schools that need the help the most.  It is Congress' job to put together a new policy that promotes real accountability and gives the power back to states like Minnesota who are national and international leaders in education.  I believe that our schools need and deserve federal resources and in the waning days of the Bush Administration and No Child Left Behind, I am working closely with my colleagues to do what's right for Minnesota's parents and students."

Tuesday news digest: grassroots energy edition

We'd missed this KEYC-TV report on Saturday's Walz campaign activities in Mankato: Tim Walz Holds Campaign Event At East High School:

Supporters gathered at Mankato East High School to listen to Representative Walz talk about economy, healthcare, veterans' benefits, and restoring accountability in the government.Walz says he hopes there will be bipartisan momentum for change.Rep. Tim Walz says, ''It's obvious this is the heart and soul of our support. I said I'm very proud that I think I have a broad base of support here for the year we spent in the classroom teaching and through national guard and those things. For me, it's very encouraging because it's kind of a family thing, and I have my children down here today and these are really fun.'' . . .

Later on in the day the Walz campaign went door - to - door and made phone calls in Mankato, Rochester, and Winona, talking to an estimated 5,000 voters.

A talk radio station in LaCrosse reports Minnesota Republicans Worry That Divided Race For 1st District Give Democrat Walz A Second Term.  The Republican assumption that Brian Davis is in touch with district voters may be the cruelest self-inflicted April Fool's joke of all.  Walz's victory wouldn't hinge on their disarray, but on his service in Congress, accessibility to his constituents, and the growing grassroots volunteer force supporting him.

No word yet on fundraising from Walz, Davis, or Day. At Minnesota Campaign Report, Joe Bodell predicts:

In the House races, I think CD1 is going to be the least exciting, at least to those looking for a horse race.

We disagree: if the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican Party of Minnesota are actually as enthusiastic about this race as they claim, they will have made every effort possible to persuade friendly ideological and special interest PACs to pour money into Davis's campaign account. However, since we're close to neither the NRCC nor the RPM, we'll just have to wait to see if rainmaking confirms or refutes our analysis.  No word from the Walz campaign on its take for the quarter.

The Rochester Post-Bulletin reports Rochester becomes attractive political venue:

Why this embarrassment of riches from the state's two major political parties? In a recently released report, the Rochester Convention & Visitors Bureau identifies several factors that have made Rochester a desirable site: Its thriving population, diverse political views and Mayo Clinic.

The Minnesota GOP Convention will be May 29-31, and the DFL Party Convention will be the following weekend, June 6-8.

The report notes that Rochester has seen an accelerated population growth in the past 30 years and marked the 100,000 mark in January. Within that growth spurt has been a surging minority population, which has jumped from 2.6 percent in 1980 to 16.8 in 2006. That diversity has brought a cacophony of political voices. In other words, Rochester has become a battleground.

"Rochester is a great snapshot of the state's political views," said Brad Jones, executive director of the RCVB. "Our voters do not vote the party line. Both parties will have to fight for Rochester's votes, and a competitive atmosphere is perfect for conventions."

Of course, it doesn't hurt also to be home of Mayo Clinic at a time when health care ranks as among the top concerns of voters.

"We took advantage of the amazing resources available in Rochester, and used Mayo to leverage us in the bidding process," he said.

Another item in the link notes Klobuchar's endorsed of Barack Obama and Obama's visit to Rochest in 2006:

Rochester residents might remember, too, Obama's support of Klobuchar's candidacy. He rallied voters here at the Mayo Civic Center in 2006 for Klobuchar and Tim Walz.

The Albert Lea Tribune reports that Winter seemed rough, but really it was only average. An interesting discussion of weather trends and climate change. 

In Kasson, the Dodge County Independent reports, residents attended a Renewable energy program at library. The talk by MSU physics professor Lou Schwartzkopf is one of tenorganized by the Southeast Library System (SELS) and the University of Minnesota Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (The Experiment in Rural Cooperation).

Video and pod casts of earlier forums about rural sustainability are available online here at the library system web site.  The final three forums:

• Climate Changes on Forests

        Lanesboro, April 8, 2008

• Visions for Rural Design

        Houston Nature Center, April 15, 2008

• Local Food Supply

        LaCrescent, April 17, 2008

Rural Sustainability Program Series Brochure (PDF, 142 KB)

The Mankato Free Press reports Farmers to cut back on corn. This to be expected; crop rotation and the demand for other crops will make planting fewer acres in corn a good proposition. Given the demand for all crops, food  prices are expected to rise again. The paper predicts a soybean surge.

Bachmann’s bulb plan a dim one the MFP editorial board observes. At the conclusion of the editorial, the paper goes to the heart of Bachmann's unscientific views:

Bachmann’s odd bill may have more to do with her view on global warming. At a recent Republican convention Bachmann said any human connection to global warming is “voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.”

For someone who claims to base her decisions on science, Bachmann ignores scientific consensus on global warming and the clear benefits of moving to new technology in lighting.

We trust her strange ideas will be quickly dispatched by her colleagues in Congress.

The Minnesota River is one of the great flathead fisheries in North America; flathead fishing at night is our favorite form of angling. The New Ulm Journal reports Catfish release part of Capital for a Day. Why catfish and the river?:

. . . the catfish release during New Ulm’s Capital for a Day celebration “provides a terrific opportunity to draw regional attention to New Ulm and the state’s namesake river in Minnesota’s sesquicentennial year. Plus it’s one more way for the community to showcase all we have to offer here.”

Mark Matuska, DNR Southern Region Director at New Ulm said the event is a great way to involve local kids, partner with the community to highlight the importance of the Minnesota River and New Ulm’s historic connection to it.

Unlike other catfish that are scavengers, flatheads eat only live fish, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.

And some of our readers thought New Ulm only produced German-Americans, beer, and veterans.

Former Congressman Tim Penny, now head of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, has a letter in the Spring Grove Herald about how the SMIF helps with Growing Small Businesses.

The Hill mentions the Republican endorsement in the First, concluding:

None of [Walz's] potential GOP foes has raised a substantial amount of money for the race.

Davis tells KAAL he doesn't favor programs helping renewable energy (Southern Minnesota's renewable energy industry includes wind, biomass, and biofuels):

"I support alternative energy but I support it on the free market - -we need to get back to free market principles and not always look to government to solve things."

Davis opposes renewable energy standards such as those passed by the Minnesota legislature and signed into law by Governor Pawlenty. Government assistance to renewable energy includes tax credits to the wind industry and a variety of other programs.

Photos from Saturday's campaigning Above right: At the Blue Earth County DFL convention, Congressman talks about the future, while son Gus, its physical embodiment, squirms in his arms.  Lower left: Walz doorknocks in a very dog-friendly neighborhood in Rochester--also quite friendly to Democrats.

America's small city scrubber: putting the laugh in McLaughlin

As is obvious to readers, Bluestem Prairie pretty much stays focused on Minnesota's First Congressional District. However, we do have some other interests, including being the editor of BlogNetNews Minnesota. The position isn't demanding, and keeping an eye on the feed has the added bonus of keeping us informed about what bloggers are writing in the North Star state. 

Thus, we had a good belly laugh this morning when we saw this item in the feed:

America's Small City Mayor Mary Ellen Otremba: The 2nd Amendment Vote

I have had a number of people forward me the St. Cloud Times article that Mary Ellen Otremba voted against an amendment supporting of our right to bear arms. I have always believed in giving credit when credit is due and the article is incorrect.

To be clear about what he's saying, here's the [...]

The full post over at his blog:

Mary Ellen Otremba: The 2nd Amendment Vote

I have had a number of people forward me the St. Cloud Times article that Mary Ellen Otremba voted against an amendment supporting of our right to bear arms. I have always believed in giving credit when credit is due and the article is incorrect.

To be clear the vote was on a motion to table the amendment bill by DFLer Tony Sertich. In other words the DFL wanted to not vote on the amendment because they feared it would pass. The motion did pass and the bill did not make it to the floor.

Mary Ellen did not vote to table the bill and did support the amendment.  Mary Ellen did make the correct vote in my opinion, and I would have voted the same way.

In addition, a few days ago I did contact the reporter at the St. Cloud Times. He said once he verified I was correct he would run a retraction and correct the record online.

So what's funny about that? Indeed, it would make frequent Otremba critic, Clarissa Mayor Nathan McLaughlin, look like a beacon of fairness, especially since gun rights remain an important issue among rural votes (ourselves included to the dismay of some of our more urbane friends).

Ah, but our tale is not so simple, however  McLaughlin may want to tout his creds as the lion of due diligence. One of the things BlogNetNews does is keep a feed of blog post headlines and the first paragraph or so of each post made by each blog.  It's quite handy if you're looking for a post you kinda sorta remember someone writing, but aren't having luck searching that blogger's archives.

Here's the feed for America's Small City Mayor. Scroll down to March 17, and you'll see these items among McLaughlin's posts:

• Corrrection:  Mary Ellen did note vote to table gun bill. Thanks to a reader it was pointed out the St. Cloud Times post was incorrect if you look at the actual roll call vote. Mary Ellen in fact did not vote to table the gun bill. Thanks to the reader and apologies to Rep. Otremba on the mistake.America's Small City [...] Share | Rate | Permalink Posted: March 17, 2008, 9:40pm Eastern Daylight Time Mary Ellen Otremba (DFL) 11B:  Opposes constitutional amendment on the right to keep and bear arms. Olson gun gambit failsPosted: 3/13/2008 at 2:51 PM Source: [65.36.138.212] Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake, took a shot at getting a floor vote on a constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to keep and bear arms Thursday, but came up short. Olson, [...] Share | Rate | Permalink Posted: March 17, 2008, 4:37pm Eastern Daylight Time

So what's the problem? Where's the humor?   If one clicks through to the March 17 posts at America's Small City Mayor, the reader will discover McLaughlin scrubbed both entries (here and here).

Thus, no one reading the blog itself would likely know or remember that he had piled on Otremba when he read the Schumacher column, then quite honestly issued a retraction when an anonymous reader pointed out that the St. Cloud Times column was at odds with the roll call of the vote kept by the Minnesota House.

For the record, we were that anonymous commenter that left the informative note at America's Small City Mayor on March 17; the information, not our identity, was what we thought important at the time. Thus, we're highly entertained to see McLaughlin revise his image to be the champion of Truth, even in the service of political adversaries, when the Intertubes provide a different story. And no, he didn't discover the St. Cloud Times mistake on his own, as a casual reader might infer from today's post.

We'd still have respect for him if he had left both original posts up. But this move? Sorry, Mister Mayor, but you're no hero here.

(We'll be adding a screen shot of the March 17 posts in a moment to illustrate this post).

[Update]: America's smallest mayor just stopped by and left a comment, to which we added our snark in brackets. His visit reminded us that we hadn't gotten around to posting the screen grab from BNN Minnesota. We have now done so.

And as we said in the comment section: let him open his site traffic log and produce the email or IP identity of "the known source" he claims left the anonymous comment. Otherwise, he and his pal are simply spinning this second version out of thin air. We simply think that he didn't know a record of the first two posts would be preserved, and thus he concocted his third post--and the explanation for it that he gives in the comments. [end update]

SD 21 DFL Fundraiser April 5: Walz to join former MN House Speaker Jennings at event

This notice just came in from the First District's incomparable chair, Lori Sellner. The "B" part of the district is in the First:

We'll be kicking up our heels at the:
*The 5th Annual*
*Senate District 21*
*DFL Fun(d)raiser*
April 5, 2008 -Jackpot Junction Casino, Morton
The Fun begins at 5:00 p.m.
* **Keynote Speaker*
DAVE JENNINGS
*FORMER SPEAKER OF THE MN HOUSE*
*Also speaking: ***
*1st District Congressman Tim Walz*
*State Auditor Rebecca Otto*
* Minnesota Farmers Union President Doug Peterson*
*In attendance: MN DFL Associate Chair Donna Cassutt*
* *
*RSVP your reservation by March 27.*
Donation: $35. for adults.
$15 for college students with official ID or youth under 18.
Dinner Choices: Turkey, Pork or Vegetarian
MUSIC * GOOD FOOD*GREAT SPEAKERS
MEET THE CANDIDATES
Auction items appreciated!

More on former Speaker Jennings' appearance at a DFL fund raiser in the Redwood Falls Gazette.
For reservations or more information please contact Evonne at 507-532-0204 or by email  at sd21dfl {at} yahoo {dot} com.

Tuesday morning news digest: Pea Pod Republicans edition

The Owatonna People's Press and Faribault Daily News report that GOP candidates share similar positions on issues. Clare Kennedy writes:

At the Steele County Republican Convention on Saturday, Sen. Dick Day, Rep. Randy Demmer and Brian Davis took pains to stand out.

The three men are vying for the Republican nomination for the First District's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, currently held by Democrat Tim Walz.

On conservative issues, the three are almost identical.

That pea-pod uniformity looks to be the theme for Republican politics this election year. From what we're reading on the right blogosphere, "Platform Republican" seems to be the rallying cry of the day at the recent wave of Republican BPOU conventions.

But the lefty bloggers at MnPublius report that the rightward choreography may be out of step with some First District Republicans.

State GOP deputy chair  "Deputy Dot" traveled to Cottonwood County to enforce a piece of the new fatwa against the "Override Six" who voted with the DFL majority to overcome the Governor's veto of the transportation bill. Zack writes:

Deputy Chair Fleming went all the way out to Cottonwood County to express her deep opposition to the endorsement of Rod Hamilton for another term. But according to my source, the activists in the room didn’t take too kindly to the State Party sticking their nose into this particular issue. Apparently, Fleming was booed and heckled during her speech. In fact, she was “all but booed from the stage.”

One Republican who was in the room said “If there is any Republican who should be worried about his job, its Ron Carey, not Rod Hamilton,” a reference to the MN GOP Chair’s decision to endorse Mike Huckabee before precinct caucuses.

One more example of the Republican Leadership being out of step with the average Republican, let alone the average Minnesotan.

We must admit to being puzzled by Zack's stressing the fact of Deputy Dot's travel. Appearances by the state chairs and deputy chairs at  county/senate district conventions and fundraisers isn't unusual.

In fact, both DFL chair Brian Melendez and associate chair Donna Cassutt were at the Winona County DFL Banquet on Sunday.  They did have the good sense, however, to praise the local elected leaders and the enthusiastic volunteers who sent them to St. Paul and Washington.   

Sounds a lot more pleasant than Pea Pod Republicans.

At Minnesota Monitor, Andy Birkey takes a look at the Knowlegis annual Congressional Power Rankings  in How powerful is Minnesota in Congress? Not very. The lack of seniority looks to be the key, though Keith Ellison is relatively high on the list, while Kline is near the bottom because of his new-found gospel of not seeking earmarks for his district.

In Forbidden fruits (and vegetables), Grist's blog, the Gristmill, picks up on Saturday's column in the New York Times by Rushford-area organic farmer Jack Hedin.  The article mentions Walz's Flex Farm legislation, which is aggressively opposed by West Coast vegetable growers.

"Integrity counts": Mary Kiffmeyer's SOS campaign contact page

Bluestem Prairie rarely grazes beyond Minnesota's First for material. However, a web page from this morning's reading strikes us.  We offer the contact page from Mary Kiffmeyer's  2006 Secretary of State campaign website, in which she lists her official state email address and fax number as contact information. Thank heaven she showed some restraint and informed the public that campaign mail would not be accepted on the listed state office address.

Kiffmeyer has announced that she will challenge incumbent Mark Olson for the Republican endorsement in House District 16B. Olson was thrown out of the Republican House caucus when he was convicted of a domestic abuse related charge.

Will Kiffmeyer be using this domain address for her House campaign?