Dick Day grabs the lion's share of earned media in WCCO's report, Republicans Face Off In 1st District Primary. From the sounds of things, Brian Davis should spend some of that money on the primary, since Day is a master at getting the press's attention.
In the WCCO news report, Davis has little name recognition. Day was featured on two station's news last week.
We got a chance to look for signs of the primary yesterday in parts of Nicollet, Brown, and Blue County on the way back from the ruins of Farther and Gay Castle. When we drove through New Ulm, we saw a few signs for both candidates in the Day-Davis primary, and they seemed evenly matched. We were most impressed by the signage for both Skillings and Torgelson in the 21B open seat. Neither faces a primary, but are hustling for visibility and their work shows.
Congressman Walz and Senator Klobuchar will visit Rochester, Albert Lea, Waseca, Mankato and St. Peter tomorrow to talk about equalizing Medicare payments between states and to visit with veterans at service clubs. Details and full schedule here.
Outspoken Owatonna conservative Marlene Nelson writes to say Walz’s office staff was quick to help, in the Owatonna People's Press. When she encountered a problem with transportation to the V.A., she turned to Walz's congressional office. Go read the outcome at the OPP. This is how congressional constituent services are supposed to work.
Phil Heim of Medford did a little research and praises H.R. 6709 (National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Independence Act) in Energy bill is what we should expect. He concludes:
Without labeling ourselves as Republicans or Democrats but as Citizens, isn’t this the type of working together we expect from our governmental leadership? Why not call or write your representative or senator and express your concerns?
In Winona, DFLer Jim Gurley writes ti say Rep. Walz helps hard-working families. On the editorial page, the board is ticked off at state legislators from both sides, except for Gene Pelowski. We have to hand it to the WDN's Darrel Ehrlick: he's not one to mince words.
Winona Radio reports that Women in Business will host a meeting featuring congressional and state house candidates:
Four political candidates will be the special guests at next weeks meeting of the Winona Women in Business group.
The event will take place at noon on Thursday, August 21st, at Westfield Golf Club.
First District Congressman Tim Walz and his Republican challenger Brian Davis will be on hand. Also attending will be Minnesota State Representative Gene Pelowski and his Republican challenger, Rhett Zenke.
All four will address current campaign issues.
The deadline for registering for the event was August 11.There will be more forums and debates as the general election nears. One post-primary debate, sponsored by Debate Minnesota, is in the works; readers can probably expect at least as many post-primary debates and forums as Gutknecht and Walz attended in 2006.
The Austin Herald reports Local voter registration up. The local League of Women Voters is facilitating the process:
. . .Members of the Austin Area League of Women Voters offered voter registration at the Austin Public Library Friday and Saturday in preparation for the Sept. 9 primary election and the Nov. 4 general election.
. . .The Austin Area League of Women Voters will also be offering registration at its primary forum Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. at the city chambers. The event is open to the public. Registration can also be made at city hall, which is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Minnesota's election laws allow same-day registration on election days, but registering in advance will speed an individual's time at the polling place. Those who is wish to be on the roster at their polling place for the September 9 primary need to register by August 19; for the general, it's October 14.
The Minnesota Secretary of State's website provides information about how to register. Voter qualifications:
You may register and vote in Minnesota on the next Election Day if you:
- will be at least 18-years-old on Election Day
- are a citizen of the United States
- will have resided in Minnesota for 20 days immediately preceding Election Day
- have any felony conviction record discharged, expired, or completed
- are not under court-ordered guardianship where a court has revoked your voting rights
- have not been ruled legally incompetent by a court of law
Again, one need not be registered before election day in Minnesota to vote (registration is available at the polls) but you must register. Doing it in advance saves everybody time on Election Day.
The blogger at Minnesota First started posting because of concerns about FISA. In Here We Go Again he links to an article about a proposal to expand domestic eavesdropping. At Minnesota Central, McPherson Hall takes several looks at drilling as an issue.
A letter writer tells the editors of the Mankato Free Press Backyard hens are nothing to fear. We agree, unless you're Mickey Rourke in this 1987 film.
In Owatonna, Steele County politicians engaged in a watermelon seed-spitting contest. Now think how much more fun it would be to see Norm and Al go bowling? (h/t) to THM.
Speaking of bowling--there's going to be a one-sided immigration reduction forum in Austin tomorrow night that features a panelist from FAIR. The convergence of bowling news and FAIR news is as good a superficial excuse as ever to post a video of our favorite bowling song.
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