Category: GOP Presidential Candidates

by Dave Mindeman

Marianne Stebbins is having a problem with Mitt Romney....

Marianne Stebbins—chair of the delegation–said she doesn't think Mitt Romney, named Tuesday as the GOP nominee, is a viable candidate.
“I don’t think Mitt Romney is a strong candidate,” she said. “He represents old ideas and what the party has stood for over the last couple of decades, which is not necessarily what the voters want.”

She said that before she went to the convention....and her experience at the convention hasn't improved her mood.

Word has it that tonight the Ron Paul delegates will stage a loud "walk-in" to the convention. Good reality TV.

Stebbins has been a vocal leader for the Ron Paul faction and as usual, the Romney people are just hoping it all goes away, rather than dealing with this directly. They may regret that.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is getting on some ballots. He already has qualified in Minnesota. The disgruntled Paul backers have a place to go.

Stebbins noted that she has received hundreds of e-mails from Minnesota Republicans that may not support the nominee based on how the Paul backers have been treated.

The slogan is already in place because of how Maine delegates were treated during the credentials process.

You will probably be hearing "Remember Maine" at Ron Paul get togethers across the state.

Minnesota has an internal GOP struggle.

Category: GOP Politics

by Dave Mindeman

Remember Room 208? Remember the campaigning being done in a Capitol office by the GOP Senate caucus campaign committee?

And remember how Sen. Ted Daley needed to answer questions about why a campaign worker (with her T-shirt) was filmed heading into that office and how Sen. Ted Daley was one of the two Senators mentioned in the e-mail as personally thanking the group?

And remember how I posted that Sen. Ted Daley should explain?

Well he didn't. I even sent an e-mail asking him to give me an explanation and all I got was one of those canned responses about how he "appreciated" my contacting the office and that he would respond time permitting....

I remember all that.

Well, Sen. Ted Daley is involved with another one. I don't know if this guy is naive, devious, or just plain diabolical, but he seems to be abusing his Senate office privileges.

I got some notes from people in Eagan which indicate that the "Coalition for Minnesota Business" which is a real business group, is making phone calls on behalf of Sen. Ted Daley "thanking him" for "protecting" public education.

While that part is not noteworthy, the person receiving the call happened to catch the Caller ID number....

Minnesota Senate 651-297-8073

Which corresponds to:

Theodore J. "Ted" Daley (R) G-24 Capitol 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55155-1606 651-297-8073

So....does that mean a) the Coalition for Minnesota Business is using Sen. Ted Daley's Senate office for political calls...or b) Daley's office is sending out recorded messages for CMB... or c) CMB may have electronically used Daley's number as a header (I guess this can be done) to make sure the call got through.

In any event...Senator Daley AGAIN should be giving us an explanation. Senate offices and campaign activity should be completely separate.

How about it Sen. Daley -- comments are open???

Category: GOP Politics

by Dave Mindeman

One thing you have to give Paul Ryan...he's got cajones.

It takes some to tell that story about the Janesville GM plant when he knows full well that it closed during the Bush administration.

It takes some to criticize Obama's health plan for "raiding" Medicare when only a short time ago, Ryan himself sought to eliminate the Medicare program as we know it.....and in fact makes the same adjustments in his budget that Obama does (only Obama kept the money in health care).

It takes some to glorify smaller government when Ryan himself voted for TARP...he voted for the auto bailout.... he voted for stimulus under Bush.....he voted for the prescription entitlement (and it is very important to note that the Medicare Part D Rx plan was not paid for but the costs went straight to deficit).

It takes some real cajones to say that in front of a national audience knowing that all of it can be checked for accuracy, but does it anyway.

The biggest casualty of the GOP Convention is the truth.