A Bluestem Prairie

First district election drama steps from shadows of Senate recount battle

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE DISASSOCIATED PRESS:

MN Secretary of State declares Greg Mikkelson surprise winner in MN-01; Mechanical Dick Day imposter arrested for voting machine tampering

(St Paul)--April 1 

In a surprising reversal of political fortunes, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie told a stunned capitol press corps today that the state canvassing board had directed him to certify Lake Crystal corn farmer and perpetual candidate Greg Mikkelson as the winner of the 2008 congressional election in Minnesota's First Congressional district.

The decertification of Tim Walz, a Democrat from Mankato, came after months of a top secret investigation of voting irregularities first discovered in the hand recount of ballots for the United Senates Senate contest.

 A robot bearing an uncanny resemblance to former Senate Minority Leader Dick Day has been seized in connection with the investigation, Ritchie added.

"Tim is the last person I wanted to see harmed," a somber Ritchie said, "But a guy's got to do his job, and I'm doing mine."

According to Ritchie, his office's investigation discovered that voting machines in the district had been rigged to give Congressman Walz 62.5 percent of the vote, while distributing the rest between Republican challenger Brian Davis and IP standard bearer Mikkelson.

During the hand recount triggered by the close margin in the Senate race, local election officials noticed that far more ballots appeared to have been cast for Greg Mikkelson than machine counts had indicated. The alarmed public servants brought their concerns to Ritchie's attention.

"When we counted the ballots in the congressional race, we learned that Mikkelson had actually received 70 percent of the vote, with Congressman Walz trailing at 20 percent and Davis with 5 percent," Ritchie said.

"Forensic experts suggested that if we kept it quiet, the culprit would grow bold and brag about his successful attack on the democratic process," Ritchie explained.

Ritchie first suspected that Senator Day was involved in the theft of the election during a state senate hearing in January when the Owatonna senator--or the robot imposter rather--defended the voting machines over the intent of human citizens. 

According to numerous sources, Day had said, "why isn't it that we can put it in a machine, and if the machine can't read what somebody is trying to vote for, I personally don't care if they're disenfranchised or not.. . ."

Acting on this hunch, Ritchie ordered his staff to google Senator Day on a regular basis. Their first big break in the investigation came when an intern stumbled on a report on the Tild blog that documented Senator Day's true nature as a terminator, or a "Termindaytor" as Ms. Tild wrote.

"The citizens of the First Congressional District and Minnesota owe her watchful eye an enormous debt," Ritchie said, "without her post to point us in the right direction, we'd still be scratching our heads over this one."

Forensics experts from the BCA traced motor oil found on the voting machines to that used by the robot. Ritchie added that the android assumed Senator Day's identity in October, when Day had journeyed to Alabama to take in a NASCAR race.

"Just don't ask me which one," the Mineapolis liberal said.

The robot said that before dispatching Day to an undisclosed location in the future, it had been persuaded by the seasoned politician to seek vengeance against Brian Davis by rigging the election to ensure Walz's lop-sided victory.

Political scientists explain Mikkelson win

Ritchie said that the robot had no way of knowing that Mikkelson had gained momentum in the closing weeks of the campaign. Local political science professors agreed.

"If the Termindaytor read accounts by Don Davis or any other reporters--which is improbable in itself, since let's face it, it was a beyond-the-metro-snoozer--he'd have missed Greg. We all did," Hamline University political poobah David Schultz said.

"Exit polls in Adrian, Darfur, Cherry Valley and other bellwether communities in Southern Minnesota revealed a Mikkelson groundswell," Schultz confessed. " But when the machine counts didn't match up with the exit polls, we all said WTF? and discarded the data."

"My bad," Humphrey Insitute director Lawrence Jacobs said.

A Minnesota State University at Mankato grad student said on background that exit polls indicated that voters had noticed that Mikkelson didn't run any television ads, or conduct  robocalls, doorknocks, or lit drops,  appear in parades, or any of the annoying campaign strategies that Walz and Davis followed.

"They said they were so sick of campaigns after all the stuff that they saw about McCain and Obama, Coleman and Franken, Coleman and Franken, Coleman and Franken that they thought they could make a difference on the local level," said the student, who requested anonymity.

"I gotta live in this town," the Mankato resident said. She added that she had taken social studies classes and played football for former Congressman Walz.

Mikkelson, Davis, Walz, Pelosi react

Reached just outside a corn crib on a cold and windy day, Mikkelson said that his first order of business once sworn in would be to order the arrest of former President George W. Bush for personally planting the explosives that brought down the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001.

Twin Cities progressive peace activists cheered the development.

Dr. Brian Davis was unavailable for comment. A colleague at the Mayo Clinic said the oncologist had headed up to his lake cabin in Wisconsin to reflect of his crushing defeat at the polls to Mikkelson.

Congressman Walz said that while he was disappointed to leave Washington, the process was most important and he was eager to return to the classroom. Walz was unavailable for comment after the Disassociated Press learned that the Mankato School Board had cut the position from which he was on leave.

"Our bad," a spokesman for the school district said. "There were budget cuts and we figured he'd be in DC forever, so no one would notice."

Speaker Pelosi said she'd miss Congressman Walz but was relieved that she'd no longer have to step over his  two-year-old son Gus during a tantrum.

Day fate unknown; Entenza raises concerns

The fate of the real Senator Day was unclear, Ritchie told the press conference.  Day's associates said that they had noticed small changes in the colorful senator's behavior but nothing that stood out.

"He was just the same Dick that he'd always been, maybe more so," said Chris Johnson, Day's former congressional campaign manager.

Minnesota 2020 director and DFL governor candidate Matt Entenza has asked for an investigation of Senator Day's wife to determine if she, too, was a robot from another time.  "Look, it may sound improbable," Entenza said, "but the private investigator I hired to dig into this said that cause exists for bringing her in for questioning."

Entenza added that Mrs. Day had published a letter in a recent issue of the Owatonna People's Press calling his think tank Minnesota 2010.

"If that's not reason to suspect that she can travel back and forth in time like those terminators in Schwarzenegger films," Entenza said, "I don't know what is."

Janet Day has retained former Attorney General Mike Hatch as legal counsel.

Due to this unforeseen turn of events, Bluestem Prairie will cease publication tomorrow.

PB's Political Party: Walz can see for miles and miles...

 Today marks the end of the FEC's first quarter reporting period.  Here's one good reason to thank Congressman Walz and contribute to his campaign committee.

From the Post Bulletin political reporter Heather Carlson:

Walz stands out for his bailout stance

With taxpayers still seething over the massive AIG bonuses, First District Rep. Tim Walz's steady opposition to the Wall Street bailouts due to a lack of oversight may have him feeling vindicated.

Last fall, the Democrat voted against the bailout plan twice, voicing concern about a lack of oversight to make taxpayers recouped their money. He defied newly-elected Democratic President Barack Obama, voting against releasing the second $350 billion installment of the bailout funds.

Last week, Walz voted in favor of a bill aimed at strengthening oversight of the bailout plan, also known as the Troubled Assets Relief Program. The measure would allow the Special Inspector General to audit or investigate any action taken under the financial rescue law. It also mandates the investigator to report to Congress in September how those taxpayer dollars were spent.

"This increased transparency should have been in the original Wall Street bailout," Walz said.

The Winona Daily News' Mark Sommerhauser also observed that Walz can say he saw it coming.

Who knew:

Come on and on and on on on: a tale of two birthdays

 We took a break from a birding excursion to the Minnesota River Valley-Swan Lake area area yesterday to drop by a brunch for Congressman Walz's 45th birthday.

 Actually, Walz's birthday isn't until April 6th, a date he shares with Congresswoman Bachmann, a fact that caused us to firmly reject astrology.

We caught the congressman and his family leaving the brunch and snapped this family photo of three generations of the Walzes.

Seizing the moment, we asked if Congressman Walz was going to permanently move his birthday back into March rather than share the honors with his media-hound colleague from the Sixth.

Smiling as impishly as a former  National Guard command sergeant major and football coach can, Walz said, "Oh no. I always say it's karma."

He paused.

"This keeps the universe balanced," he said, taking his leave with his family.

Reading some of the things Congresswoman Bachmann is saying of late, we suspect he's on to something with that theory, though the god of winning margins has certainly favored Walz in his rural district more in the 2006 and 2008 elections than it smiled on Bachmann's numbers among the more suburban population of the Sixth. 

That being the case, we want to wish both representatives a happy birthday and dedicate this tune to Congresswoman Bachmann:

Photo: (left to right) Darlene Walz, Gwen Walz, Gus Walz, Hope Walz and Tim Walz.

Pat G's hip hop putdown: will Steele feed Garofalo a slamburger?

A story somewhat removed from today's snow-laced prairie strikes our fancy. In reading mnpACT! analysis, Rep. Garofalo Wants to Can the "Hip-Hop", we find it's clear that the suburban legislator Pat Garofalo doesn't care for the rap music.  From the Pioneer Press:

A Republican state lawmaker wants to scrap integration aid given to some school districts and redirect the funds to other education programs.

Rep. Pat Garofalo of Farmington said given Minnesota's budget deficit, it's more important than ever to reprioritize spending. His proposal would give all districts a 1 percent increase in funding and boost the state's school lunch program by $12 million.

"There is simply no excuse for state government to be spending money on a six-step hip-hop program or a kindness retreat," Garofalo said, criticizing actual programs districts use the money for.

MnpACT! Dave Mindeman points out that Garofalo's own county is experiencing a significant demographic shift:

Even in Garofalo's Dakota county, the minority population (as of 2005) was 13.5%. By 2015, the minority population is projected to hit 19.3%. and by 2020 the number will be 21.7%. One out of five. Significant change.

In short, Dakota County may be an ideal test-ground for the outreach Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele outlined in February to the Washington Times:

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”

The RNC's first black chairman will “surprise everyone” when updating the party's image using the Internet and advertisements on radio, on television and in print, he told The Washington Times.. . .

. . . [Steele] indicated the Republican Party needs to break out of being considered a regional party.

”There was underlying concerns we had become too regionalized and the party needed to reach beyond our comfort” zones, he said, citing defeats in such states as Virginia and North Carolina. “We need messengers to really capture that region - young, Hispanic, black, a cross section ... We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-surburban hip-hop settings.”

We'll ask the obvious question. Why does Pat Garofalo hate the Republican Party? Why does he want deprive conservative school children of the very tools that will let them rescue the RPM from becoming a regional relic?

Will Steele slam Garofalo, recreating his recent trouncing of Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert?

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Conservative Rap Battle - Michael Steele's Response
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

 Grandmaster Garofalo at the podium, lay it down.

Sunday digest: news, link farming and Muse Tube as well

It's interesting how the same article by the same reporter is packaged differently by two different nearby newspapers in the same chain. The LaCrosse Tribune chose the headline Minnesota Rep. Walz confirms support for disputed labor bill, while the Winona Daily News picked Business leaders criticize Walz for backing labor bill. The lead (clipped directly from the WND):

American workers would gain leverage to organize unions under a controversial bill that Rep. Tim Walz, DFL-Minn., recently confirmed he will support.

Federal lawmakers, particularly in the U.S. Senate, are ginning up for a bruising fight on the Employee Free Choice Act, which supporters say could help reverse decades of declining influence for American labor. Business leaders have fiercely criticized the bill, calling it a “job killer” and saying it would rob some workers of the right to a private vote on whether to unionize.

The act would enable employees to unionize without a secret vote that is now required, if a majority of workers sign cards to support forming a union. It also would set deadlines to force employers to negotiate contracts with newly formed unions or enter binding arbitration moderated by federal labor officials.

Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Walz voted for the act in 2007 before it stalled in Congress, but this year, Walz waited until last week to co-sponsor it — causing a business leader in Owatonna, Minn., to speculate earlier this month that the congressman might be undecided. But Walz said Thursday he hasn’t wavered on the measure.

Employees should be able to control their destiny,” Walz said. “We’re just trying to make sure that people have the opportunity to make a living wage.”. . .

You'll have to go read either paper to find out the management view. we're happy Walz is sticking with a campaign pledge and vote during his first term.

Bob Collins at MPR: News Cut:writes about The 'earmarks factory', giving a hat tip to Bluestem for our earlier post about the PMA Group pay-to-play scandal.  We like the post, but commented with a cautionary note about overly dramatic political rhetoric:

Thanks for the hat tip.

However, isn't "ensnaring" somewhat overblown rhetoric?

Can you demonstrate which of the individual contributions from employees of PMA Group clients to Minnesota's federal lawmakers are linked with the corruption probe? As you point out, that probe seems more linked to the big honchos at the PMA Group giving money to others to contribute to campaign and leadership PAC committees. This violates federal law.

The other scandal--which though legal--is the apparent quid-pro-quo of contributions for earmarks. Again, the connection between our lawmakers should be established prior to claims of ensnarement.

Both instances underscore the need for meaningful reform in the appropriations process. How's about a civil conservation about that?

It seems difficult when burdened by loaded language. While the Star Tribune used the Taxpayer for Common Sense's recent report on all earmarks as the basis for an article larded with loaded language like "pork", the careful reader of Taxpayer s for Common Sense documents will note that the organization never uses that sort of language. At the recent Transparency Camp in DC, a thoughtful employee of the TCS explained to me that the group's choice of words was deliberate so as to avoid oversimplification of the debate.

An excellent point, though it seems to have gone over the head of reporters like Kevin Diaz. I hope that MPR will avoid dramatic hyperbole as well. Jeff Rosenberg called for a rational discussion of earmarks at MnPublius recently. Good idea. [final link added here at BSP]

The Albert Lea Tribune has posted answer to questions about public service in Sparks, Dorman and Walz answer questions on service. Interesting read.

Our friend the Political Muse at Liberal in the Land of Conservative: has posted three MNMuseTubes on Tim Walz. The YouTubes are posted below. He writes: 

Over the past few weeks Congressman Tim Walz has given a few one minute speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives. The first came the day after the speech to Congress by President Obama. Walz highlighted how the 1st District would benefit from the investment (energy, health care, & education) priorities laid out by the administration.

Here's the first MN MuseTube:

The second, on veterans :

The third:

We appreciate the Muse's putting together these YouTubes almost as much as his Weekly romp through the Blogosphere.

The New Ulm Journal reports Irish carry on St. Patrick’s Day Tradition. And you thought New Ulm was just about Germans and great beer. A sample:

The Irish in New Ulm are hopeful that the new stimulus package that President O'Bama is working on will finally lead to a 4-lane highway leading into New Ulm. "It will make it easier for the Germans to leave and the Irish to move in," said O'Connor.

It would also ease the traffic jams leading into New Ulm on St. Patrick from all the tourists coming to town to see the parade. The traffic sometimes backs up as far as Nicollet.

Southern Minnesota: To know Mayberry 2.0 is to love it.

Photo: Our friend DJ is tired of seeing our stock pictures of Congressman Walz, so he supplied this gorgeous picture of a 6-lb pot roast from a union meat cutting shop.  Don't you just want a slice of that emblem of the middle class American way of life?

Saturday digest: roads, rest stops, recovery money and urban legends edition

 News is getting out about the projects MNDOT will be funding with Recovery Act dollars. The Jackson County Pilot reports in Stimulus upgrades local rest areas:

Federal stimulus money will pay for repaving of the parking lots at Interstate 90's Clear Lake and Des Moines rest areas in Jackson County, according to a list of state projects announced Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The $320,000 parking lot overlay and rehabilitation of curb and walkway at both rest stops is expected to start in September.

Bridge work in Windom was the next closest state project.

MnDOT earlier announced federal stimulus package projects being undertaken by local governments, of which one was the replacement of the Highway 20 bridge over County Ditch 3 a mile and a half west of Okabena by the Jackson County Highway Department. That project has a price tag of $378,000 and construction is expected to start right away this spring.

Click here for a map and click here for a list of the state transportation projects funded by the federal stimulus program.

Click here for a list of the local transportation projects funded by stimulus money.

In We need solutions, not slogans, an LTE from DFL activist Phil Castrovinci published in the Rochester Post Bulletin, we read:

Just three months into his second term, right wing Republicans have begun their attacks on Rep. Tim Walz, as demonstrated by Mr. Klinger in your paper on March 4.

Shame on them.

Rather than come up with sound solutions for the devastating problems facing our country, they want to use funny names (like "Porkulus," coined by Rush Limbaugh) and associations with tired old rhetoric to describe Democrats (tax and spend).

Sadly, right wing ideologues have made it clear they are rooting for failure that seems to be their only hope.

Mr. Klinger, Rush Limbaugh and the other right wingers should take a deep breath and actually think about proposing solutions rather than partisan slogans.

Thank you to Rep. Tim Walz for standing up for Main Street rather than for the Wall Street banks. Walz voted to create jobs in southern Minnesota and he voted against spending billions on a Wall Street Bank bailout. Clearly, his priorities are to represent and fight for Southern Minnesota.

The comments that follow the letter are instructive, as the Republican line seems to be that none of the funding in the Recovery Act or Omnibus spending bill is destined for southern Minnesota. For ourselves, we can only hope that, whatever the passion that informs their denial, those Republicans slow down for the safety of the construction workers on Highway 14 (Omnibus funding) and I-90 (Recovery Act), as well as using the rest areas as needed when passing through Jackson County.

Kudos to the Pilot and sister paper, the Lakefield Standard, for posting a pdf of the local projects. The Winona Daily news reports that Low I-90 project bids announced in the eastern part of the First.  Local police hope for federal grants because they'll be losing state fudning, the WDN reports. The Money would come from the Recovery Act:

Winona and Goodview police will lose state funding in 2009 but hope to bolster or maintain their forces with grants from a federal program re-invigorated by the federal stimulus bill.

The departments are joining thousands of police forces nationwide vying for $1 billion in the stimulus bill to hire officers through the Community Oriented Policing, or COPS program. Winona police hope a COPS grant will pay to replace an officer position they expect to lose next month, while Goodview police say the grant could fill a longstanding need to expand patrols in that department.

The Rock County Star Herald reports in Luverne HRA gets $92,000 in stimulus money:

Luverne was among more than two dozen southern Minnesota communities to receive funds for the express purpose of modernizing and developing public housing.

In Luverne that translates to more money for maintenance and improvements at the Blue Mound Tower apartments.

Luverne HRA Director Marcia Linssen said the money will be a welcome addition to the capital improvement fund at the Blue Mound Tower.

"Every little bit helps," she said. "We're looking forward to finding good ways to utilize that money, either by upgrading apartments or by making improvements to the building itself."

She said Luverne's HRA has been receiving roughly $72,000 in federal funds for capital improvements, so the $92,287 will allow for extra or more thorough improvements.

HRA owns the Blue Mound Tower apartments, which were built in 1970.

"It's an old building, and there are always capital projects that need attention," Linssen said. "Whether it's air exchange issues, plumbing issues or structural issues."

The Mankato Free Press Dan Linehan reports in Politicians weigh in at Futures Summit:

An ambitious project to identify and seize economic opportunities in southern Minnesota sought advice Friday from hundreds of southern Minnesota leaders from the public and private sectors.

Using hand-held voting devices, 250 participants winnowed six key industries to three: bioscience, health care and renewable energy. It’s in these areas the region has the best resources and opportunity to create jobs, they agreed.

The wider process is called the Southern Minnesota Regional Competitiveness Project, led by the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. . . .

. . .Next up was Margaret Anderson Kelliher, speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and a Mankato native.

“This is not the southern Minnesota of the 1970s,” she said. No one here is looking back, Kelliher said.

After her address, she said the best economic strategy takes advantage of home-grown entrepreneurs, who are looking at a range of factors, not just tax breaks.

“Relocation is a bit of the Old World of economic development,” she said.

Both Klobuchar, currently the state’s only senator, and Rep. Tim Walz touted the recently passed $787 billion stimulus bill as promoting similar goals.

Walz acknowledged the bill essentially borrows from the future and said he doesn’t like deficit spending.

But doing nothing was a worse option, and the only way out of the recession is creating growth, Walz said.

Read the entire article about the Summit at the MFP.  A biobusiness in coming to Pine Island. The Post Bulletin has published more about the Elk Run project in Elk Run seems to have all the right stuff. along with companion articles, $1 billion in a 'pile' for Elk Run and Pine Island city administrator pleased with infusion of capital into Elk Run.  There's even more in Much to be found under biotech umbrella and Interchange is necessary, but unfunded, piece of the project.

URBAN LEGEND ALERT: Finally, loyal readers know we're always on the lokkout for false urban legends being circulated as if they are factual. The Worthington Globe has published an LTE attributing a prayer to the late Paul Harvey. The text instantly set our bull detector tingling; sure enough, it's an item at the Urban Legends Reference site. The praye, falsely attributed to both Harvey and Billy Graham, wasn't aired on radio, but rather delivered on the opening day of the Kansas State House in 1996.

Photo: A waggish friend sent us this lolcats, recommending it as an allegory of First District Republican efforts to unseat Congressman Walz. We have some really funny friends.

If you've stuck with us and read this whole post, you deserve a song. How about a little Anthony and the Johnsons:

A note on the emotional health of Minnesota's First Congressional district

Both the City Pages (Minnesota happiness, by Congressional district) and the Star Tribune (The pursuit of happiness, through a Congressional lens) report on the Gallop/Healthways Inc well being survey. City Pages noted that MN-01 was the only district served by a DFLer in Congress to crack the top 100 happy congressional districts.

Unlike the Strib, City Pages linked to the study, which allows viewers to explore the various facets of the poll. We liked the map visualization version.

Howevver, we're not sure what meanig any of this has.  People in the First, for instant, enjoyed the third highest emotional health of any congressional district in the country.  Next in line for emotional health in the state's congressional district was Michele Bachmann's Sixth.

Perhaps it's related to all those real, face-to-face town hall meetings Congressman Walz has had with his constituents. Conversely, voters in the Sixth remain emotionally healthy because their congresswoman has yet to host an open public meeting where she'll meet constituents face-to-face.  Just saying.

Photo: Tim Walz, smiling.  Congressman Walz is able to maintain his good spirits by serving on three committees and the China Commission, and coming home to southern Minnesota pretty much every weekend and district work break.

BREAKING NEWS! DNC INSIDER WINS SD 29 & 30 DFL CHILI COOK-OFF!

NOW UPDATED WITH REVEALING PHOTO!

Loyal readers of Bluestem Prairie report that Merle Larson, spouse of DNC member Nancy Larson, won the Senate Districts 29 and 30 DFL Chili Cook-off in Rochester early this evening. In the divisions, Elaine Mayer won the vegetarian. Jason Askelin, the hot category and Liz McLoone, the mild category.

McLoone's secret ingredient was bacon hamburger from the Waseca meat market, the activist admitted on her Facebook page.

Reached by phone, Mr. Larson admitted that his win was accompanied by charges of carpetbagging, since the long-time Meeker County Chili Champion drove a few hours south to claim the SD 29 & 30 chili crown. Rumor has it that a certain labor leader may demand a recount.

Developing. . . .

Last year, Bluestem Prairie reported on the impact of Larson's cooking in our post George Clooney's Greater Minnesota heartbreak: from supermodels to super delegate.

Photo: Merle Larson accepts the overall winner award last night at a union hall in Rochester. We found the image in an album here.

MinnPost leads the way in quality local journalism again (updated)

MinnPost - High-quality journalism for people who care about Minnesota is at it again.

We had to laugh at Minnpost's title of its repackaging of the press release announcing his district and communications director's additional duties Southern Minnesota has an economic recovery guru. When did coordinators become gurus?

We wonder if anyone from the MinnPost ever sets foot  in Southern Minnesota. On Monday, for instance, the same repackager posted a rewrite of an article from the Mankato Free Press under the headline, Mankato merchants worry stimulus highway project will hinder commerce and first paragraph:

Sure, the stimulus bill will pump money into the economy and fix some glaring infrastructure problems, but some Mankato business people worry that one of the projects -- reconstruction of Hwy. 169 as it goes through downtown -- may create new problems.

“We’re excited, we’re jazzed for the city to look better and more friendly,” business owner Tia Summers told the Mankato Free Press. “But it’s just really scary. Six months without our bread and butter? We might not be here in six months.”

The problem? As a commenter pointed out on Monday:

This article is solely about St. Peter merchants and businesses that are affected by a potential Hwy 169 reconstruction in St. Peter. The headline and first graph incorrectly refer to Mankato, not St. Peter.

We were born in Mankato and attended St. Peter's public schools from second grade through high school graduation and can attest that the Greater Minnesota cities are two different towns separated by miles of countryside. Most travelers on Highway 169 have probably noticed the same thing as they roll along the Minnesota River Valley.

Minnpost has had five days to correct the errors.

Is this geographic ignorance (and failure to correct a glaring mistake) what MinnPost is using the $105,000 it received in November from the Knight Foundation to "expand the local reporting capacity of MinnPost.com and provide a viable alternate local news site"?  Kimball has expanded Mankato's boundaries to include St. Peter. That's one strategy for expanded coverage.

No doubt the citizens of Mankato and St. Peter cheered this development, and will be heartened to know that Knight's CEO praised the venue in a January article with these words:

In announcing the grants, the president and CEO of Knight, Alberto Ibargüen, said: "At Knight Foundation, we firmly believe that you cannot effectively manage the affairs of a community in a democracy without the free flow of information. That's why we believe that information is a core community need, as critical as any to a healthy community.

Without the MinnPost--and the foundation support to fund it--Minnesotans would simply be in the dark about the miasmatic jungles of Southern Minnesota. Why, they might have to turn to unpaid bloggers who are willing to post about local coverage and who know where to find towns like Mankato and St. Peter.

Funny how that goes when the MinnPost hired someone to scold bloggers when we didn't get our facts right, as we noted in Minnpost to battle fellow citizens' reckless blogging.  As the new blog nanny wrote then:

Now, being a blogger with a worldwide audience also comes with a lot of responsibility. We've all heard at least one story about a blogger who has misled, misrepresented or flat-out lied on their blog.
 
Simply put, there's a lot of garbage in the blogosphere and I won't hesitate to call out a Minnesotan who blogs recklessly.

The people-powered media revolution is knocking at our door, friends. It's time to peek between the curtains.

How much of the Kinght funding helps out with that?  Or does it all go tohelp MinnPost make its own mistakes? For now, we're simply not asking MinnPost for directions.

(And yes, we have a screen shot).

Update: A member of MinnPost's team contacted us to let us know that the post is being corrected.

Now if we can just convince the e-democracy.org team that we're not remotely interested in spending our gas money on a trip to Duluth where we can pay $99 for a hotel room and $35 for the privilege of participating in an "unconference" in which the  Blandin Foundation-funded Minnesota Voices Project gleans what we know (just how many of those voices in the project actually live outside of the Twin Cities?).

We don't need help getting our voice heard online. And we certainly don't need to pay for the privilege of giving away our expertise to a funded grant project. [end update]

"Monocles and jodhpurs": Bachmann question leads Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me

Our faithful correspondent, McPherson Hall of Minnesota Central, posted this comment on our Contrary to rant, Bachmann's district projected to benefit most from job creation bill

FYI : The lead news question on this week's broadcast did not highlight which MN District would receive the most dollars, but was a quote from the Congresswoman.  The national media may not care about Minnesota's split, but they panelists had a lot of fun at Bachmann's expense for her concern for the nation's future with her observation “We’re running out of rich people in this country."

Listen to the show here. The Bachmann question opened the first listener quiz in Who's Carl This Time?.

Image: Punch, circa 1890s. With America's rich people shortage reaching crisis proportions, warehouses are bursting with monocles and jodhpurs. 

It must be true: it was heard on NPR.

RNC Chair Michael Steele's hip-hop rebranding inspiration uncovered

Update #2: Yet another friend notes that given the difference in Central and Pacific time zones, BSP's post actually was up first. Hmm. Whatever the case, it's still two people recalling the same pop culture reference [end update]

Update: A close friend of the kind friend observed that Kos had the same idea. Indeed--and he posted it first. Maybe we should start reading that site again.[end update]

A kind friend sent us links about RNC chair Michael Steele's remarks about the Republican's latest effort to rebrand itself as the fun people party. CNN reports RNC chair plans 'off the hook' campaign, tells critics to ‘stuff it’, and the ever-vigilant Steve Benen at Washington Monthly assesses the damage:

Steele said the party needs "messengers" who can capture a "region" made up of "young, Hispanic, black, a cross section." He added, "We want to convey that the modern-day GOP looks like the conservative party that stands on principles. But we want to apply them to urban-surburban hip-hop settings.... [W]e need to uptick our image with everyone, including one-armed midgets."

Steele went on to explain his public-relations vision, saying, "It will be avant garde, technically. It will come to table with things that will surprise everyone -- off the hook."

Asked if he imagines a cutting-edge approach, Steele replied, "I don't do 'cutting-edge.' That's what Democrats are doing. We're going beyond cutting-edge."

Raise your hand if you think Michael Steele has the foggiest idea what he's talking about.

Look, Steele seems to believe the Republican Party will do really well with a fresh coat of paint on a rusted, broken-down car that's already been driven into a ditch. For the RNC chairman, the problem is about branding. If only the party can put together a song about capital gains tax cuts that sounds like Lil Wayne, younger voters will swoon.

Spring must be on its way if it's rebranding time for the Republicans. Last May, the grand rebrand was led by the NRCC's swiping Wyeth's slogan for an anti-depressant; this time around, the strategy is extracted from a Simpson's episode. We've found some representative clips from the Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show:

Could Franken betting pool replace Dick Day's racino as state budget fix?

A kind lady from Buzzflash just sent us a link to this online game:

Play "Seat the Senator!" Guess the day Al Franken will be sworn in as Minnesota's junior senator and win a prize from BuzzFlash

Switch the sponsor from Buzzflash to the state gaming commission and Minnesota could dig itself out of the hole.This would easily replace Dick Day's proposed racino as" something people want to do."  The details:

The How-to:

• If you aren't already signed up with a username on the BuzzFlash Blog, click here to sign up. All you need is an e-mail address, and we promise we won't use it to do anything but contact you in the event that you win the contest.
• Go to the bottom of this story and leave a comment between now and 11:59 p.m. Central on Feb. 28, 2009 indicating the date upon which you think Al Franken will be sworn in as Minnesota's new U.S. senator.

The prize: 

• The Coen Brothers Movie Collection, which includes five DVDs of the Minnesotan sibling duo's critically-acclaimed films: Fargo, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing and Blood Simple.

The specs:

• If more than one person picks the same winning day, each winner will be entered into a lottery and one prizewinner will be randomly selected.
• If no one picks the winning day, the person who picks the closest day to the one upon which Franken is sworn in wins.
• If Franken is sworn in before Feb. 28, the contest will be closed immediately and the person who picks the closest day to the one upon which Franken is sworn in wins.
• Otherwise, the contest will end when Franken is seated. A winner will be announced within 24 hours of his swearing-in and contacted via their e-mail address as registered with the BuzzFlash Blog.
• No purchase or donation is necessary to play. 
• A small amount, like with pulltabs or Powerball would be wagered, striking the rule iabove in the Buzzflash competition.
• BuzzFlash employees and their family members are not eligible to win.

BuzzFlash wishes the best of luck to all, but especially to Al!

We already own those Coen Brothers' DVDs, along an accent to go with them, and so are happy to donate any winnings for our modest proposal to the State of Minnesota.

Image: Forget the foo-foo dust of Pegasus in this artist's rendition of the proposed racino, regardless of Senator Day's off-Beat poetry. The Franken betting pool will bring in more immediate dollars.

It's the jobs: Walz works to help struggling dairy farmers

Back on February 10, we posted Walz to USDA: Help America's dairy farmers, which linked the potential economic calamity confronting milk producers as prices they receive plummet (so far, we haven't noticed any lower prices being past along at the grocery store).

Walz's move, asking USDA Secretary to use his agency's "so-called Section 32 funds—funds that are available at the discretion of the Secretary of Agriculture to purchase surplus commodities--" to spur demand for dairy products, has been widely covered in the district press.

KEYC-TV picked up on the story right away in Walz Urges Swift Action For Dairy Industry, as did the Twin Cities-based Minnesota Independent in Paul Schmelzer's Capitol Catchall: Walz urges action on milk crisis. . .

The Owatonna People's Press reported yesterday that Walz works to remedy effects of milk surplus:

After raw milk prices took a 50 percent drop in a space of a few months, legislators and dairy farmers alike have been scrambling for a solution.

The effects have not yet played out in the general public. The startling, rapid drop in milk prices has not lowered retail prices in grocery stores, but U.S. Congressman Tim Walz said on Friday that people should not assume all is well.

“When people see high prices, they assume it’s all fine in farm country,” Walz, who represents the First Congressional District in Minnesota, said. “Dairy producers are usually pretty recession-proof, but they can’t continue to produce and lose money on each gallon.”

Walz takes the position that Minnesota cannot afford to lose the dairy industry. According to a release prepared by Walz’s staff, Minnesota dairy producers directly contribute more than $1.2 billion to the state’s economy and generate more than 27,000 jobs.

Walz said that the dairy producers will need help from the government to maintain a vital industry that constitutes a large contribution to Minnesota’s economy during what one local dairy farmer called “the biggest downcycle since the Great Depression.”

To wit, Walz wrote to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack with two proposals, “two quick ways to prevent a total meltdown.” . . .

Read the rest at the OPP, along with the companion Q&A: Rep. Tim Walz on the steep decline of raw milk prices.

The Winona Daily News looks at the story from the perspective of local dairy farmers in A future uncertain: Dairy farmers fight dropping milk prices:

Jason Kalmes and Keith Speltz milked cows Friday afternoon on a farm two miles west of town, but the milk they sell probably won’t be worth enough to pay the men who collect it.

Maple Acres Dairy, where they work, will be paid $10.40 per hundred pounds when the milk is bought by Plainview Milk Products Cooperative, said their uncle Mark Speltz. That’s about 50 percent less than the price of milk last summer and, by Speltz’s estimation, more than $6 below what the farm needs to break even on its dairy operation.

“We don’t know what to do,” he said. “We won’t make payroll next period.”

Plunging dairy prices have forced many area farmers like Speltz into an untenable position — where they are losing money with each load of milk they sell. Most expect prices to continue falling. While congressional leaders push for government assistance to curb the drop, the timeline for a price rebound remains unclear. The uncertainty may force some farmers out of the industry and has even the long-timers pondering the future.

“It just makes you wonder why you’re even doing it,” said Speltz, who has farmed for 32 years. “It’s never been this bad.”

The article discusses the solution:

Most dairy experts predict the fall to get worse before it gets better. Farmers talk about prices dropping down to $9 per hundredweight by the end of this month. Action on the milk future market indicates that prices will still be below the break-even point in six months, Lefebvre said.

Congressional leaders have been working to change that outlook. U.S. Democratic Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota were among more than 30 senators who sent a letter late last month to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging measures to address the price drops. Minnesota Democrat Rep. Tim Walz sent a similar letter .

USDA could use funds set aside to purchase surplus commodities to increase the demand for dairy products and help producers, Walz said in the release.

The government could buy the surplus dairy products and then give them to food shelves and other organizations serving those hurt by the hard economic times, [executive director of Minnesota Milk Producers Association Bob] Lefebvre said. He calls the idea a “classic win-win.”

“It’s a two-for-one deal,” he said. “You talk about economic stimulus. This is not just an economic stimulus; it’s a people stimulus.”

Walz's request to Vilsack made news across the state. Little Falls Radio reported on Thursday:

--Falling milk prices are squeezing the budgets of central Minnesota dairy farmers Lobbying at the Capitol in St. Paul, dairy farmers told legislators their priorities including keeping recent tax incentives and assistance programs from drying up in the effort to balance a $5 billion dollar state budge deficit.  Pat Lunemann, a Todd County dairy farmer and president of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association,  says farmers hope the legislature will continue the Livestock Investment Grant and Dairy Profitability Enhancement programs, as well as streamline permitting and helping farmers meet new environmental compliance regulations, set to kick-in next year. . . .

. . .--Congressman Tim Walz is urging the U-S Agriculture Secretary to step in and purchase surplus milk and processed milk products to shore up collapsing dairy prices. Walz says just a few months ago farmers were getting 17-dollars a hundred-weight.  Walz says a dairy collapse would result in a number of lost jobs. Minnesota's dairy industry generates more than 27-thousand jobs, including direct employment of more than six-thousand workers. Last year, similar action was taken to address the drop in pork prices that threatened the livelihood of many farmers.

We'll be following this challenge for rural Minnesotans.

Image: (Upper photo) Not Tim Walz, regardless of what you read in the Political Muse's Weekly Romp through the MN Blogs. No, Eric: that's Superman.

We think our friend at Liberal in the Land of Conservative panicked a bit at the chess piece we mailed him. Who knew the he'd be so alarmed upon receiving a package containing a knight?

We're confused that a writer who has the courage to work with schoolchildren and talk common sense about the Crown Hydro project would have such an over-the-top reaction and claim that Tim Walz flies and lives in a Sod Hut of Solitude.

We're definitely not going wrap any of our latest walleye catch and send Hal over with the delivery.

(Lower photo) Tim Walz for real. You didn't think we weren't going to milk this one for all it's worth, did you?

And now a milkman song from Ella Mae Morse, channeling Rosie the Riveter:

NRCC takes one small step to stimulate economy in Southern Minnesota

In the Atlantic article, NRCC Airs Ads Bonking Dems On Stimulus, Marc Ambinder observes:

The National Republican Campaign Committee is hitting 30 Democrats with radio ads blasting their support for the stimulus package, a spokesman said.  Listen to an example of the ad here.  The ads say that these Dems "voted for a wasteful, porkbarreled spending program," and include the Litany -- STDs, smoking cessations, NEA funding.  The ad buys aren't large, but they're the first major effort by the right-of-center crowd to hold Democrats accountable. According to the NRCC, the ads target:   John Barrow (GA-12); Bruce Braley (IA-01); Chris Carney (PA-10); Travis Childers (MS-01); Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-03); Steve Driehaus (OH-01); Chet Edwards (TX-17); Bart Gordon (TN-06); Alan Grayson (FL-08); John Hall (NY-19); Steve Kagen (WI-08); Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15); Larry Kissell (NC-08); Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24); Dan Maffei (NY-25); Betsy Markey (CO-04); Eric Massa (NY-29); Jerry McNerney (CA-11); Charlie Melancon (LA-03); Dennis Moore (KS-03); Glenn Nye (VA-02); John Salazar (CO-03); Mark Schauer (MI-07); Kurt Schrader (OR-05); Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01); Ike Skelton (MO-04); Zack Space (OH-18); Harry Teague (NM-02); Dina Titus (NV-03) and Tim Walz (MN-01).

That template ad should make Southern Minnesotans feel special, as might the boilerplate press release the NRCC blasted into the 30 districts. A choice sentence:

Democrats said they would fight for fiscal responsibility in Washington, but went back on their promise by voting for $335 million in STD prevention, $75 million for smoking cessation and even $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts.

We're guessing that the NRCC must consider public health measures aimed at preventing disease and decreasing health risks as somehow less prudent than spending funds on treating those marvelous "social diseases" we heard about as kids--or in getting people to stop smoking.

Nor does it deem it necessary to note, as does USAToday in GOP radio ads to target House Dems who supported stimulus that the Senate stripped the bill of the supposedly offensive fundng.

Perhaps the nedia buy is the NRCC's own stimulus package, designed to promote opportunity in health care by making sure there's enough preventable disease to go around. Funny, but those nice doctors working on health care policy at Mayo have urged increased attention to preventing disease in the first place.

Or perhaps they hope to kick start the radio industry. One thing we know, the $570 that the NRCC is spending at Rochester's KROC-AM in Minnesota's First isn't going to stimulate the local media industry. We told by two indpendent sources that sum is the extent of the media buy.

Bluestem gets quoted in a district paper, sort of

Update: The editor of the New Ulm Journal has written us to inform us that the copy has been corrected online, with the quote properly attributed. We deeply appreciate the change. [end update]

Some other projects delayed our reading district newspapers yesterday, and so we missed the New Ulm Journal's wonderful article about Lori Sellner getting elected as state DFL treasurer. We especially liked this passage:

The only state officer from rural Minnesota, Sellner plans to give up her Brown County DFL Chairwoman position within the next month.

"I'm looking forward to taking a greater role in helping the party statewide and bringing the most rural voice," Sellner said about her new volunteer position. "It'll mean attending more meetings at the state party office. A staff does the day-to-day (DFL treasury) work."

Unfortunately, a quotation from Bluestem Prairie was incorrectly attributed to "state DFLers."  Whatever this bovine blogger is, we aren't the state DFL. (We must confess to having been introduced to Brian Melendez. Seven or eight times.)

Hoping for a correction and accurate attribution of our copy, we wrote the Journal staff today:

 I appreciate the New Ulm Journal quoting something I wrote about Lori Sellner in your recent article about her election as state DFL treasurer:

"Lauded by state DFLers for "one of the best work-to-ego ratios of any activist we've met," First District DFL Chairwoman Lori Sellner of Sleepy Eye was elected state DFL treasurer Saturday at its biennial business conference.'

The quote--"one of the best work-to-ego ratios of any activist we've met," is taken from this post:

http://www.bluestemprairie.com/a_bluestem_prairie/2009/02/congratulations-lori-sellner-new-state-dfl-treasurer.html

However,  Bluestem Prairie is not run by "state  DFLers." It is a personal web site ("blog") run by a private individual.  While I caucus with the DFL, I am not at this time a party officer on any level, nor am I a party employee.

I hope you will print a correction and correctly attribute this material to its source.

This owner and author information is public and published on the site on the  blog's "About"  page:

http://www.bluestemprairie.com/about.html

Thank you for attending to this matter. I appreciate being able to read the Journal online.

Now if we can just get the party chair to remember us, we'd save a lot of time with those introductions.

Photo: A bovine blogger

Owatonna senator stars in "Disenfranchisement Day"

Millions of Minnesotans voted on November 4, 2008.
The survivors of the U.S. Senate race called the recount
%#$%& drawn out. They lived only to face a new
nightmare, the war against the Machines
in a state senate committee hearing room....

Update: Tild has a different take on the Termindaytor. [end update]

Senator Day's  recent defense of the ability of machines to read a voter's marks on a ballot, versus the citizen's right to have his or her vote counted in an election, was caught in an alarming video posted at the Uptake, embeded below.

With a group of friends, we speculated over the weekend about the source of Day's spirited partisanship on behalf of voting machines. Soon, we concluded that Day himself might indeed be a machine. After all, we'd seen this sort of machination in theaters and on television.

The group's next line of inquiry was identifying which sort of machine. Since the Cyclons* Cylons are frequently smoking hot babes, we quickly ruled out that android culture. Nor could Day be a Decepticon, regardless of his dreams of bringing NASCAR to the state, since his eyes aren't red.

No, in siding with the voting machines, Senator Day revealed himself as a terminator, and not one of the nice ones played by that handsome Governor Schwarzenegger, either.  Our artistically inclined friend Tild created the photoshopped image which exposes the allegiances wired beneath Senator Day's skin.

The Uptake clip that started it all:

*A kind police officer gave us a verbal warning about the correct spelling of this word. We are grateful for his humane professionalism, since fines in Minnesota's Spelling Court have risened dramatically in the age of no new taxes.

Will Republican leadership fight for the title in a grudge match?

From Attitude is more accepting now to high-speed rail proposal, an article in the Rochester Post Bulletin:

"This is going to cost billions of dollars, and in my mind we need to have a cost-benefit analysis," House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said recently at the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce's legislative preview. "I don't mean to throw cold water on the parade, but who is going to pay the bill for this?"

And:

The high-speed rail proposal enjoys support from Republicans and Democrats who represent Rochester

"We need to do it. We certainly need a statewide plan," House Minority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, said at the chamber's legislative preview.

Looks like the copy editor at the PB miss this one: the genial, Rochester-based Senjem is the Minnesota Senate Minority leader.  Or perhaps the remaining Republicans in the Minnesota legislature have concocted a new way to enlarge their numbers via a daring new cross-chamber pollination system.

Photo:  In a dramatic new move to bring Minnesotans back to the Republican Party, Governor Pawlenty (center) announces the grudge match between Marty "The Comb" Seifert (left) and Dave "Dimples" Senjem (right) for the title of Minnesota House Minority Leader at the Moose Lodge in Imogene, MN, on Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Baby, it's cold outside

The news day is as slow as molasses in January, and it's no wonder: it's below zero on the prairies, guys are attending to last night's drifts, and the Christmas holiday is coming up.

We're heading to the gym and sauna, but somehow we think our adventure there will be a lot less entertaining that what our porcine friend experiences in this clip:

What do you expect from a blogging bovine? Ella Fitzgerald?

Strictly ballroom: ScrippsNews suggests legislation

From ScrippsNews:

Legislation we'd love to see, courtesy of the incoming 111th Congress:

The Austria -Walz Act to promote ballroom dancing in America, sponsored by Reps. Steve Austria, R-Ohio, and Tim Walz, D-Minn.

Would Walz promote that via the House Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Infrastructure, or Agriculture Committee? Austria, who replaces retiring Ohio rep David Hobson, has yet to receive his committee assignments, though he has been elected as GOP freshman class president.

As the Monty Python clip below suggests, outdoor performances of Austrian waltz tunes are fraught with danger:

Thursday mid-day digest: crunch time edition

[update] The Repede Family blogs about Pancakes with Al and Tim in Rochester this morning. Lots of pictures [end update]

Fifty-two years ago today, our father stopped by the maternity ward of Mankato's Immanuel Hospital to see our mom and us, then went back out to canvas the streets of the Key City for Dwight Eisenhower's re-election campaign.

Since then, attitudes about fathers' roles in birthing have changed. We don't know any man who wasn't at the side of the mother of his child--with the exception of a couple of guys in the Army and National Guard, who weren't happy at being away but understood their duty.

But the crunch time of GOTV has remained a constant companion on our birthday in even-numbered years. We urge everyone to get out and volunteer--whether by phone banking, doorknocking, stufing packets, or making food for the hordes of volunteers who are giving their time in this important election.

There will be work to do on Election Day as well; one task is driving voters to the poll. If you're civic minded but not into political parties, consider volunteering for this GOTV work.  Non-profits in Minnesota can hook you up with non-partisan GOTV volunteer opportunities.

We wouldn't want anyone to have to give that greedy cat a burger in order to exercise his or her right to vote.

The MinnPost's Joe Kimball reports Al Franken has a very 'full plate' today. The menu:  breakfast pancakes in Rochester and lunch chili in Owatonna with Congressman Walz. There'll be a rally at MSU-Mankato at 3 p.m. The MSU Reporter provides details in Frenzied final days: Franken and Walz wil stop at MSU today during tour:

Minnesota's Democratic nominee for U.S Senate, Al Franken, will be on campus today along with fellow Democrat Tim Walz, a candidate for the House of Representatives.

The event will take place at 3 p.m. in the Minnesota State Centennial Student Union Ballroom.

Yesterday's rally at Winona State with Al Franken has garnered some attention. WKBT in LaCrosse reports Al Franken Campaigns in Winona. The Winona Daily News reports Al Franken campaigns at WSU.

The Owatonna People's Press reports in Press conference held for Walz on Owatonna:

John Rassieur of Owatonna, Carl Witty of Kasson and Laura Askelin of Rochester participate in a press conference Wednesday in Owatonna to support Congressman Tim Walz, and to criticize a national sales tax supported by Walz’s Republican opponent Dr. Brian Davis. Walz was not in Owatonna Wednesday to participate in the press conference, but will be appearing with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken at 11:45 a.m. today at the Owatonna Elks Club.

Our readers may remember that Congressman Walz returned $100,000 of the money allocated to his office for 2007 to the U.S. treasury. That contrasts sharply with a story at the Minnesota Independent. Andy Birkey reveals that Bachmann’s self-promotion unusual among Congress  members[emphasis ended]:

Rep. Michele Bachmann is now notorious for her appearances on cable TV news programs, having sparked significant controversy with her recent “anti-America” statements on MSNBC. But as Politico reports, Bachmann, a Republican, has done 23 major television appearances since the beginning of September — far more than any member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation. How does a freshman Congress member from the minority party find herself in the limelight so often?

Easy. You and I pay for it.

Bachmann has built an impressive communications staff in Washington, D.C. She has a press secretary for national media, a press secretary for local media and a “new media director” who harnesses “the networking and outreach power of the internet.”

According to congressional salary data, none of Minnesota’s Congress members has more than one press secretary. Minnesota’s most influential members, Democratic Reps. James Oberstar and Collin Peterson, who chair the House Transportation and Agriculture committees, respectively, each have only one press secretary.

Bachmann’s fellow freshman colleagues, Democratic Reps. Keith Ellison and Tim Walz, each have just one communications lead, and Walz has combined the communications director and district director positions into one entity.

When the congresswoman endorsed Davis, he gushed:

"It's an honor to receive the support of Congresswoman Bachmann," Davis said of Bachmann. "She is a dynamic leader for Minnesota and for our conservative causes. I value her leadership and advice, her principles and energy. I look forward to serving with her in the 111th Congress."

No word on whether Davis holds fast to that opinion.

Letter writers in the WDN worry about Davis's allegiance to Michele Bachmann in More silence from Brian Davis and his ignorance of vets issues in Davis should have done better:

Over the weekend, I read something very concerning. When the Republican candidate for Congress, Brian Davis, was asked to name a specific way he would improve education or health care benefits for veterans, he couldn’t come up with even one idea.

I can’t believe that someone could run for Congress for over a year and in all that time not manage to develop a single idea about how to improve veterans’ care. I have heard how hard it is for veterans to make use of their educational benefits.

When I returned from Vietnam in 1971, I was able to enroll in law school without having to jump through all kinds of hoops to get my benefits as veterans do today. Anyone who has taken the time to talk to a veteran and get their perspective on these issues would have been able to come up with an answer to that question. But not Davis, I guess.

[Robert]Youngerman is a retired major in the United States Army Reserve.                         

Billed as a presentation of Davis's heath care plan, last night's meeting in Albert Lea turns out simply have been a chance for Davis to rally the GOP faithful.  Check out the intense excitement rippling across the faces of the faithful.

Erin Hoban writes the Post Bulletin to say 23 percent sales tax proposed by Davis would target poor, elderly. We have more about Davis and the national sales tax here and here. In the Owatonna People's Pressm a Walz supporter writes that Walz won’t gamble away Social Security. A letter in the WDN says that Seniors are hurting; it’s time for change and readers should vote for Walz and other DFLers.

LaPrensa endorses Congressman Walz; Brian Davis didn't bother to return the four-question survey. The nod joins the long list of endorsements Walz has received.

Now get out and volunteer for GOTV. Here's Walz's latest positive ad: