Obama deserves to win because...

... he got ABC to break into World News with live coverage of his rally with John Edwards ... the day AFTER he lost West Virginia by 40 points.

Hot damn! That's no small feat.

Here's the whole Edwards speech from CNN:

UPDATE X2: Folstrom drops out of 4A DFL race; Persell poised as frontrunner

Dammit, blogging, I can't quit you.

So much for the "no blog" Tuesday afternoon.

FLASH! From the House District 4A DFL endorsement race. Irene Folstrom withdrew her bid for the endorsement today, leaving a clear path for the other candidate, John Persell, a Beltrami County Soil and Water commissioner and longtime DFLer. Persell has worked in government and as an environmental consultant for the Leech Lake tribe of Ojibwa, which means he has a good relationship with many of the constituencies he would serve as State Representative. He's also, from what I've heard from Bemidji friends, got the potential to be a very knowledgeable and effective representative in the mold of popular outgoing Rep. Frank Moe. And he's got wind turbines on his property. Damn, that's hot. (I'm serious. I want a turbine more than any other large, metal, currently unaffordable piece of machinery).

Anyway, it's still possible that other candidates could emerge on either side, but Persell now has a clear upper hand and should be considered the favorite for the DFL endorsement and nomination. Either Tony Williams or John Carlson will be the Republican candidate.

UPDATE:
Why did Folstrom drop out? Here is an excerpt from her press release last night:

Today, after much thought and consideration, Irene Folstrom has decided to not seek the DFL endorsement for House District 4A seat. Folstrom attributes her decision to family concerns and a desire to devote her energy to local issues and becoming more involved in the communities of Northern Minnesota.

“While I am sad to come to the decision to not seek the endorsement, I am excited to re-emerge myself in community activism, economic development initiatives and focusing on my young family. I am thrilled to have my oldest child start kindergarten this fall at Lincoln Elementary and watch my husband’s career flourish. I’ve decided to put politics on the backburner for now to focus on what has driven me my whole life: giving hope and energy to my communities and be a great mother and wife. I will be very involved in the campaigns this election cycle and know this is the right
decision for my family, our party and our communities. I look forward to playing a more active role in the redevelopment of my hometown of Cass Lake and the exciting changes happening here in Bemidji.”

Folstrom will continue to work on the campaigns locally and nationally throughout the campaign cycle. Folstrom, her husband and two sons will be active participants throughout the elections.

Who says Democrats aren't big on family values? Here we have two candidates in Bemidji, Frank Moe and now Irene Folstrom, passing on a run for office because of the time it takes away from family. This is a big issue for anyone in office, but especially those who live several hours away from St. Paul.

Also, from a political standpoint, I image that Folstrom and Persell were competing for the same voters from the Leech Lake band -- a major DFL demographic in 4A. Folstrom is a Leech Lake member and Persell is a longtime associate of the band. If those delegates were splitting their support in any measurable way that may have been enough to convince Irene to try again another time. In any event, Irene conducted herself well in this process and may well have another shot at office in the future.

Midnight in the halls of Iron Range power

I didn't think Excelsior Energy could go a whole legislative session without deploying its vast lobbying force for something. Recently, in the tax bill conference committee, State. Sen. Tom Bakk inserted language that extends the property tax exemptions from 2010 to 2012 for everyone's favorite black hole of government giveaways and special favors. Excelsior is the company proposing the Mesaba Energy Project, a coal gas power plant intended for the Iron Range. The project enjoys great political support from most elected officials, is deeply misunderstood by the population at large, and will almost certainly break the hearts of the people of the Iron Range at some point in the next decade.

I'm tired of talking about carbon sequestration, private financing, lobbyists and lawyers and all the other things I rail about when I post about Excelsior. Let me try to explain why I care about this.

The first problem I have with this project is that it exists only because, starting in 2002, a group of lobbyist/lawyers succeeded in getting officials in Minnesota (and the Iron Range in particular) to give them vast amounts of money and favors. There was little debate, very little questioning of this so-called company. There was certainly no discussion about whether the tens of millions of state and Iron Range dollars and hundreds of millions of federal dollars could be better spent in other ways. We were told this was simply a "jobs" project, and that's all Range lawmakers needed to hear in 2002 when it looked like the whole mining industry was falling apart. We were told 1,000 jobs would come from this, when anyone in the power industry could have told them that only about 100-200 permanent jobs could ever come from such a project. In short, the project was built on desperation and deception.

My second problem with this is related to a much larger issue. Who is in charge on the Iron Range? Are the people and their elected representatives in charge? Or is it developers, lobbyists and consultants? Because the Range is doomed if it's the latter. We will only survive this fast-changing transition to the global economy if our elected leaders use judgment in defending the interests and resources of the people ahead of the interests of those who offer lofty promises in exchange for free rein over laws and public coffers. The leaders of Excelsior Energy walked onto the Iron Range pretending to be a group of native Rangers interested in "saving" the region. But their business model has been to clearly and forcibly shift risk from their ledgers onto that of the taxpayers, to promise more jobs than they could deliver and to mischaracterize the nature of the technology they tout, making a science experiment seem like a sure thing.

Meantime, the $9.5 million that the Iron Range gave this company (ostensibly as a loan, but the language clearly implies that we'll never see that money again) could have built a new school. It could have almost met the state match on the federal highway money that could have finally -- after FIFTY years -- finished the cross-Range Highway 169. City sewers. Rural broadband. Streets and roads. All of these real needs were put behind the needs of lobbyists.

Excelsior Energy has acted as though it owns the Iron Range and is entitled to its mineral monies and special treatment. As long as the status quo continues, Excelsior and any half-rate pack of wolves that comes along DOES own the Range. They WILL extract our resources and push our local, county and state officials around like cattle. Every midnight conference committee will contain favorable language for developers at the expense of the regular Iron Range people who mined the ore that funded the whole enterprise. And when the money's gone, the wolves will be gone. No jobs. And people like me and my kids will be sitting around wondering what to do next.

So I will talk about this as often as is necessary. I will post commentaries like this every week, every day if necessary until this company and any like it is driven from the halls of Iron Range power. I don't need votes. I don't need money. I've got no personal stake in this except that I want to see the right thing done and the people put first.

So if I go on and on, now you know why. Believe me, I'd MUCH rather be talking about something else.

Democracy on the March: Batman vs. the Penguin

In the old Adam West TV show, Batman once battled the Penguin (both in full costume) in a democratic election. Sadly, the satire is particularly appropriate for this year. My favorite is Robin's reaction at the end of the clip.

Update: Forums scheduled for hot 4A race

Here's an update from the House District 4A race. This is the seat that popular incumbent Frank Moe (DFL-Bemidji) is abandoning to pursue a Ph.D. and focus on his family. We've got endorsement fights on both sides of the aisle.

DFL
There are still only two announced DFL candidates for endorsement: Leech Lake band member and attorney Irene Folstrom and Beltrami County Soil and Water commissioner John Persell. Both candidates have run unsuccessful campaigns for the legislature before and have learned from the experience. The word from the district is that Folstrom and Persell are both working the delegate lists hard and that it's hard to say which currently has the upper hand. There remains the possibility that other candidates could jump in, but no one has expressed any public interest. The SD 04 DFL will hold a series of forums for delegates to meet the candidates.

SD4 will be hosting three forums this month - an open setting for any parties interested in running for House Seat 4A. This is an open forum, welcoming for people interested in running to come and tell area DFLers about themself and some mingling, and one on one conversations and question and answers.

DFL 4A endorsement race forum times and locations:

Sunday, May 18 in Deer River at the Helping Hands recycling center board room - 5 p.m.

Tuesday, May 20 in Cass Lake at the American Legion - 6 p.m.

Thursday, May 22 in Bemidji at the Eagles Club - 6 p.m.

The SD4 endorsing convention will be held on Saturday, May 31 in Cass Lake at the Palace Casino at 10 a.m., registration at 9 a.m.

Gotta' love the subtle mix of democracy and gambling.

GOP
Meantime, the Republicans have a race for their endorsement as well. Furniture entrepreneur Tony Williams was originally unopposed to challenge Moe, but with Moe's departure John Carlson, an insurance man from Bemidji, announced his intent to seek the Republican endorsement for 4A State Representative. Initially it seemed that Carlson would be the more organized candidate, but Williams has posted to this blog vowing a hard fight for the GOP endorsement. The tone I've heard from Bemidji is that Carlson is the guy to beat here, but in these hastily assembled open races it's all about who can turn out delegates.

There are so many variables up and down the ticket this year that I can't properly handicap this race yet. My gut says this seat still leans DFL but is by no means an assured victory. So much depends upon the strength of the endorsed candidates.

Getting along

Minnesota Public Radio has a story today on why Republicans and Democrats can't get along. Iron Range State Rep. Tom Rukavina is quoted near the end. His diagnosis: not enough free beer. His solution: more free beer. Makes sense to me.

Excelsior petitions for delay in PUC ruling on Mesaba project

Excelsior Energy's Mesaba Energy Project will not be on the docket for Thursday's Public Utilities Commission meeting. The PUC had been expected to rule on two key aspects of the proposed coal gas plant, but Excelsior asked for and received a delay.

Why? Some mumbo jumbo about an appeal to a previous administrative decision.

The truth? Either ...

1) Excelsior has reason to believe that a more favorable decision for them can be achieved in the future through political gamesmanship.

2) They are in deep trouble and know that a devastating decision will come down the next time the PUC rules.

Maybe it's both, but I forecast a battle Royal over this wasteful boondoggle (a project that, in the end, will not produce jobs or power) this summer. The amount that the public doesn't know about this company and its project is vast. When we answer some of the questions, as I and others seek to do, I don't think this project can or should proceed.

Obama blasts through cable news flak

Well, I watched several consecutive minutes of cable television news last night and at no point did I feel the need for alcohol. That's a good night. Barack Obama has Fort Clinton surrounded on all sides. He should offer to pay her campaign debt and end this thing.

Meantime, let's take a look at his speech from last night. Not quite as good as Iowa, but a reminder of why folks like me like this guy. Don't worry, baby boomer friends. He'll be fine.

Obama, Clinton bar fight reaches "hard to watch" stage during awkward moment between de facto conclusion and police arrival

So you all know I'm in the tank for Obama so I'll spare the feigned objectivity here. I am, however, finding ways to enjoy this protracted race for the Democratic nomination even though it hasn't been very good for my guy.

Have you ever been to an Iron Range bar? At night? Sometimes, around 11 or so, a fight breaks out. Maybe between guys, maybe between girls. Doesn't matter because everyone's drunk. Every once in a while you have this dude or lady who, by points, is losing the fight. They're bleeding out their nose and eyes. Their t-shirt is all messed up. But they don't think they're losing. They take a punch and pretend like that was all part of their fight plan, to weaken their opponents fist with their face and neck. And for some reason, even though it's hard to watch and that everyone in the joint knows that the night will end with this person in the hospital, it invokes sympathy if not outright admiration from those watching. "Woah, she's up. She got up again! Damn!" That's kind of how I feel about Hillary Clinton in this whole deal. By the numbers, this is pretty much over. She had a clear path to victory before Iowa and then blew it by not having a Super Tuesday plan and by choosing an incumbency message in a change year. The only path to the nomination for her now involves both a complete collapse of Obama and a coup at the DNC. That could happen, but it probably won't. Still, in a strange way my view of Hillary Clinton is higher now that it has been in months.

I'll still be pulling for Obama tonight. Come on, Indiana and North Carolina. He's telling the truth about the ridiculous gas tax holiday (even Bill Hanna agrees with me) and he's survived the worst month of sustained negative TV coverage of any candidate in the race so far. Obama has been tested and he's ready. He's still basically even with McCain and poised to pull ahead when the Democrats unify. And they will. One way or the other.

But oh, what a fight! I'm betting that Clinton will still be standing in the corner of the bar, motioning for more tomorrow morning. The regulars are going to be talking about this fight for a long, long time.

Oberstar gears up for campaign today

The Eighth Congressional District DFL Convention opens today in Duluth. I'll be covering the convention from the audience of Hibbing Community College Theatre's production of "Born Yesterday" (tonight at 7:30 with a Sunday matinee!) via my cell phone that will be switched off. I expect my coverage of the convention to be among the worst ever. Call me when Oberstar retires. Meantime, he's not retiring. He's in great health, chairs transportation and his Republican opponent remains theoretical.

PRESS RELEASE: Oberstar to Kick Off 2008 Campaign in Duluth
DULUTH – The longest winning streak in the history of Minnesota politics continues. Congressman Jim Oberstar (DFL-Chisholm) will kick off his 2008 Congressional reelection campaign on Saturday, May 3. Oberstar, seeking his 18th term, will be joined by supporters in the Lyric Room at Porters Restaurant in Duluth at 9:45 a.m. to launch the 2008 campaign. Immediately following this event, Oberstar will attend the 8th District DFL convention, where he will seek his party’s endorsement.

The Empire Strikes Barack

Got five minutes to burn on Friday afternoon? Familiar with the Star Wars series? Support Barack Obama? Or, do you support Hillary Clinton and want to see the what these crazy kids voting for Obama can do with all their digital editing software and idle time? Check out this video. That's right, folks. We can do this all damn summer! We haven't even tapped all the Star Trek footage yet. That's the nuclear option.

(For McCain voters, just click on the tubes below and see what the internets are capable of).

OMG! I'm a Millennial! WTF!

Good news. I'm a Millennial (born after 1978). Apparently that's a good thing. There's more of us than there are living baby boomers. We like the Internet. A lot of us have blogs. A recent research paper available at this Case Foundation blog suggests that we Millennials might try to survive without a government in the distant future. I'm sure that will go really well.

(Seriously, the paper, written by Allison Fine for the Case Foundation, is an interesting look at this new generation of American adults and how they are changing the way social action takes place).

I'm most pleased to learn that we outnumber the baby boomers. Now we only need to marshal our power to get those God awful "Just for Men" hair dye ads off the evening news where that smarmy bastard says "Don't trust anyone over 90" while clutching future wife #4.

Oh wait, I forget. Millennials don't watch the evening news. Sorry. You can go back to the Internet now.

The magic number is 22%

From AP via Yahoo:

The White House said Wednesday that President Bush has paid a price for the "Mission Accomplished" banner that was flown in triumph five years ago but later became a symbol of U.S. misjudgments and mistakes in the long and costly war in Iraq.

Thursday is the fifth anniversary of Bush's dramatic landing in a Navy jet on an aircraft carrier homebound from the war. The USS Abraham Lincoln had launched thousands of airstrikes on Iraq.

So, let's look at the office pool. Which liberal blogger had 22%? Who had 22% as the approval rating it would take for the Bush Administration to admit that "Mission Accomplished" was a stupid and misleading thing to say? Ah, I see. That would be LatteDrinkingElitist.org.internets.thiswould be funnyifitwasnotsosad.com.net. Congratulations!

Oh, and NBC/Wall Street Journal has Bush polling BELOW the Rev. Jeramiah Wright. Ouch.

Franken handles tax situation with perfect P.R.

Sure, you can dismiss this because my blog has been supportive of Al Franken's bid for the U.S. Senate. But I also know quite a bit about public relations and the news as part of my past career as a newspaper editor. I don't think Al Franken could have handled this tax story any better than he has. After a minor story about a past mistake in Franken's taxes, Al hired accountants to investigate. When his own accountants found a mistake in where his taxes were paid the campaign announced it themselves. They called every state delegate and even bloggers like me to explain the situation. All this before the media even reported the story. That is the classic definition of good public relations; confronting negativity head on, honestly and, most important, proactively.

This is going to be a part of the news cycle for the next few days but I'll go out front saying that Franken's campaign has approached this with both good faith and political awareness.

Governor signs miners' health study funding bill

This was out earlier, but I'll make belated mention that Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill funding research about the cause of higher-than-average rates of a rare form of cancer in former Iron Ranger miners. As I've said, this will provide a whole lot of people a whole lot of answers about the risks of mining. I certainly understand that mining will go on and that there are more dangerous vocations out there than mining. But if there was a way to recognize a specific risk factor and mitigate it, why wouldn't you? This will eventually save lives.

Souls of future candidates at stake in Democratic race

Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic has a good post today putting perspective on the situation for Barack Obama and his supporters.

Watching shows like "Good Morning America" and any of the 24-hour cable news networks reminds me that the national media is increasingly devoid of perspective. Hence why the last 72 hours of news has focused on Obama's former preacher's speaking tour.

You know, I used to be upset that the hyper-charged media coverage was producing national candidates unwilling to take risks or say what they mean. "Serious" candidates were those that spent decades of their life avoiding anything that would be considered controversial, resulting in more vacuous, poll-driven politicians who suppress their practical strengths in the interest of political victory. But this latest cycle, with the focus on Obama's past minister the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, carries another risk for future politicians. If Obama is dragged down the only successful future candidates will be those who not only purge their own biographies of political will, but who are also willing to purge their lives of any loved ones or associates who hold unpopular views. In other words: soulless, vacuous, poll-driven politicians. Oh, boy!

To me, that's why it's more important than ever that the Democratic Party nominate Barack Obama and get him elected President. We've learned that he's not perfect, but he still provides a strong vision and an extraordinary contrast to the conventional wisdom of today's lousy political culture. This is a generational political struggle. The thing about struggles is that they often involve struggling. Struggle on!

Wide open spaces (will build to suit)

The Duluth News-Tribune reports today on the practice of public entities building speculative buildings on the Iron Range to attract business. The appeal, according to the stories sources (all governmental), is that these buildings are modern, attractive and can be customized at public expense for any company willing to sign a long term deal that involves new jobs.

Public involvement in the economic development process remains necessary and wise. And you know I'm all about jobs and new growth on the Range. Still, I wonder why these projects always seem to favor expensive new buildings on the edge of town as opposed to the regeneration of vast amounts of empty buildings and spaces inside our Range towns. In a sense, this is a smaller scale version of the same zoning problem that many urban and exurban communities face.

And people do notice. I often provide informal "immersion counseling" for people new to the Range. One political operative new to the area noticed the same spec building discussed in today's DNT, the giant building by the Hibbing airport, on his way into town. "What's the deal with that?" was an approximation of his comment, as even this outsider could recognize the stank of economic desperation that the building seemed to kick out. The empty building has also been the subject of water cooler talk around the central Range since it was built. At $1.6 million, the investment by public entities in that building is enormous. While I understand the desire to create managed growth, I can't help but think certain buildings like this one are a little heavy on dreaming and a little light on long term planning.

I still think the best strategy for community growth includes strong, attractive infrastructure. The kinds of companies that swoop in for low-cost customized buildings are the same that can swoop out just as easily. We want to create an environment where businesses develop independently and people live comfortably and prosperously. That may sound conservative but in practice it requires some very progressive action (eg. public investment in high speed internet and comprehensive highway and rail improvements).

Political blogs at the Minnesota Capitol

The Forum Communications legislative bureau ran a story on the role of blogs in Minnesota politics in their state papers. Marisa Helms interviewed me and used a quote at the end of the story. I was dubbed a "liberal blogger" in the story, though I bet other "liberal blogs" don't support legalized moonshine and automatic scatter guns for really big varmints.

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.

Sertich's take on state budget fix

Iron Range State Rep. Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm), the Minnesota House Majority Leader, offers his take on the state budget fix over at MNPublius.