Overheard at Senate District 3's endorsing convention

Today, the Minnesota Senate District 3 Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party held its endorsing convention for House district's 3A and 3B.

Rep. Loren Solberg (DFL-Grand Rapids) and Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township), both incumbents, were endorsed for re-election. The biggest news of the day was the terrible weather that many believed would keep people away from the convention. While those in the northern part of the district were forced to stay home (they had 8-12 inches of snow in Koochiching County) about 50 people showed up regardless, including some from Lake of the Woods County in the far northern part of the state.


Since the business of the convention was fairly routine, here's some snapshots of what I heard today:

• The DFL endorsement battle for neighboring House District 4A has boiled down to Irene Folstrom and John Persell. There may be more candidates but Folstrom and Persell are working the phones and have a big jump. Interestingly, both have connections to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe: Folstrom, a band member who works with the Red Lake tribal court system, and Persell, a soil and water commissioner and longtime associate of the band who has worked on environmental issues. The question now becomes, A) will Leech Lake delegates go with a member of the band or a longtime associate of the band, and B) who shows up to the endorsing convention? Party regulars or all the new people who flooded the system because of the exciting presidential race? The answers to those questions will determine the endorsed candidate. The endorsed candidate will likely be the nominee and will likely face John Carlson, who recently announced he would seek the Republican endorsement for this seat. Tony Williams is also running for the Republican endorsement, but I keep hearing Carlson is going to be the more plausible candidate. If you read the Bemidji Pioneer story you'll see this guy Carlson is pretty savvy and gearing for a serious run at the 4A spot.
  
• The Al Franken vs. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer U.S. Senate battle for delegates continues, though from the mood of the group on Saturday clearly reflects the idea that Franken is well ahead and knocking on the door of a first-ballot endorsement. The JNP surrogate who spoke at today's SD 3 convention ended his speech by asking by show of hands who supported which candidate. By a 2-1 margin the crowd preferred Franken. Thus, the surrogate ended his speech with the phrase: "Well that went over like a turd in the punch bowl." I don't know that it's that bad for JNP around the state, but despite their fervor, JNP backers have yet to show me exactly how (and I mean numerically) their guy wins the endorsement.
  
• Same subject. Franken's pledged delegates are receiving heavy calls from JNP and surrogates trying to get them to switch. I've been criticized for making a big deal out of this, but if your primary targets are people who swore to their friends and neighbors they would vote the other way at the convention that means you're pretty far behind.
  
• We're all sick of snow. Everyone in northern Minnesota is sick of this fake spring we're getting. Also, the Prairie River is expected to flood even more in the coming week. So Itasca County residents have that to look forward to.

Minnesota U.S. Senate race heats up on the Range

I see at MN Publius that State Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook) has endorsed attorney Mike Ciresi for Minnesota's upcoming U.S. Senate race. The editors at MN Publius believe this may portend future Ciresi endorsements from other Range legislators. It might, but this situation is indicative of the overall woes of this Senate race. Incumbent Norm Coleman is somewhat popular, but not in any meaningful way. People generally don't hate him, but believe that he's a pretty slippery political chameleon.

Part of the appeal is that he's been very good about the "process" of being a Senator; he's effective at responding to things and runs a pretty good office. When Dylan Days, one of my projects, needed some help with visas some years ago his office provided quick assistance. It's not nearly enough for me to forgive him for his war votes or fervent support for the Mesaba Energy boondoggle on the Range, but his quick reactions are why people don't have strong negative feelings about him.

With his allegiance to ultra-unpopular President George W. Bush Coleman would normally be a good target. But Minnesota is a funny state and there's no guarantee that the DFL can get this one. I believe Bakk is underestimating Franken and overstating Ciresi's skills, but still; neither Franken nor Ciresi will have an easy time in beating Norm Coleman. They should; either one would be better, but for some reason Coleman knows the formula for calculating political fortunes and might escape.

This race also represents a change on the Iron Range. Most of the time, the Range delegation unifies behind a candidate. Heck, in any year prior to 2004 this race would see an Iron Range candidate. But everyone up north now realizes that Iron Rangers don't have the political or financial capital to mount a successful statewide run. Our last success story, Gov. Rudy Perpich, was a truly remarkable exception. But even so, normally the delegation backs one candidate. This time, you have the West Range legislators -- Reps. Tom Anzelc and Loren Solberg and Sen. Tom Saxhaug -- backing Franken. Bakk -- the "north" Range senator -- is backing Ciresi. It remains to be seen what Reps. Tony Sertich, Tom Rukavina and David Dill will do, but I don't think any of them are going to make an endorsement whole-heartedly. If you didn't need $10 million to run a campaign Sertich, Rukavina or Bakk would be in this race.

Also, on the subject of MN Publius's post, Tom Bakk may have been crowned "King of the Range" during a committee meeting last session, but the title is largely a joke. Bakk is chair of the Senate Tax Committee -- one of the most powerful spots in St. Paul -- which makes puffery a staple of his diet. The truth is no one is really in charge of this Iron Range delegation. They just are the way they are. It may be many years before we regain the influence we've lost since the 1980s and years more before another Iron Ranger is elected to a statewide office.

UPDATE: Don't forget to take part in the Quick Poll along the right side of the blog. Do you believe Santa Claus is A) real, B) not real, C) real in our hearts, or D) State Sen. Tom Bakk (DFL-Cook).