by Dave Mindeman

Some of you probably know about the posts I have been making about the background of GOP Senate District candidate in District 57, Pat Hall.

Well, the Star Tribune endorsed his opponent Greg Clausen. Not unexpected, but the clear recognition of the assets Clausen brings to the table was entirely evident.

In addition, please note the highlights in bold....

District 57: Greg Clausen


Recently retired educators often bring a needed long-term perspective to legislative service. Greg Clausen, a recently retired Rosemount High School principal, would fit that pattern if the DFL candidate is elected to fill the open Senate seat in Apple Valley and Rosemount.

Clausen, 65, spent 40 years as a teacher, coach or principal. He knows how to manage public money. He's seen economic and demographic changes and their consequences firsthand, and knows how to adjust public programs to accommodate them. He's acquired the habits of teamwork and consensus-building.

He easily gets our nod because GOP candidate Pat Hall declined our request for an interview. He was the only candidate for the Legislature to do so this season.

Hall, 58, is a clergyman who founded True Light Covenant Church in Minneapolis in 2007. On his website, he embraces GOP orthodoxy -- reduced spending and taxes, parental control of education, an end to legal abortion. Voters seeking a more open-minded approach to state policy will find much to like in Clausen.

The only candidate who did not interview. Pat Hall - really?

Is there any doubt who is the best candidate here? Any doubt at all?

by Dave Mindeman

In what is sure to be a widely discussed blog post from Michael Brodkorb, the ex-GOP operative expounds upon the state of the Republican Party in Minnesota. He calls it - "My Republican Friends, The System is Broken."

Well, he should know....he broke it.

The Sutton-Brodkorb leadership team were the officers in charge during the upheaval that led to a House and Senate takeover but a sweeping loss of Constitutional statewide offices.

He wants his Republican "friends" to pause and reflect....

As Republicans gather to volunteer at campaign offices this week in one final push for our endorsed candidates, I?m hoping the timing of this post will encourage Republicans to take just a few minutes to think about our party and how it can be a successful statewide party for generations to come. I believe the Republican Party in Minnesota will have many successes next Tuesday, but the defeats our party will face, specifically in the election for the U.S. Senate, will be too great for us to ignore.

It is more than just a little bit ironic that Brodkorb should talk about this because he encouraged and helped promote the type of lock step politics that lead to this candidate upheaval. The blasting of the Override Six; the Emmer insurgence against Marty Seifert; the outcast status of moderates like Tom Horner and Arne Carlson; the Tea Party primary challenges; the depleting the GOP Party bank. Brodkorb was there - and he didn't just watch.

And, indirectly, he acknowledges the intentional loss of the "big tent" party doctrine....

One organizational advantage I see the Minnesota DFL has over the Republican Party of Minnesota is the cohesiveness between Democrats of different generations. All political families have disagreements, but I?ve notice over the last few years how Republicans have repeatedly cast aside those Republicans who have fallen out of favor because of policy positions. We have kicked our party elders to the curb.

I have to chuckle at the comment about "organizational advantage" he sees for the DFL. It only looks better because the GOP situation is so bad.

But Brodkorb, himself, is as responsible for casting aside those party elders as anyone. The hard core conservative takeover was promoted by Brodkorb. The likes of Horner, Carlson, Durenberger, Jennings, Ramstad....they have become dinosaurs in this new GOP. And the likes of Pawlenty and Coleman adapted to the new order in order to survive.

Brodkorb oversaw a party that began a hard evolution. They repudidated climate change. Villified immigrants. Delcared compromise unusable. Took taxes completely off the table.

This party allowed Michele Bachmann to rise ascendant. Allowed the Ron Paul faction to dominate. And gave the likes of Alan Quist and Mike Parry a platform for craziness.

It is almost like Brodkorb has promoted himself to the position of party "elder", so that he can expound on the philosophical aspects of going forward.....without acknowledging his complicity with the problem.

Brodkorb is in a long process of remaking his image. His "messaging" relates to himself as much as to the party.

I will be curious to see how many Republican "friends" he has left. And if any of them will take the advice of change from one who took them down this road in the first place.

Category: John Kline

by Alan Anderson

According to CBS News, " Whether you use the Office of Management and Budget?s earmark numbers or Citizens Against Government Waste?s earmark numbers, eliminating 100 percent of earmarks in fiscal 2010 would have cut the federal budget by less than one-half of one percent. Eliminating all earmarks in fiscal 2010 also would have hardly made a dent in the federal deficit, reducing it by only about a percentage point, according to the earmark calculations made by both OMB and CAGW.

John Kline has run on his great accomplishment of not accepting earmarks to reduce the federal budget. As you can see, his big stand makes little difference. What it does mean is Kline has not worked to help secure funds for any project in his district. It is like having no Representative at all.

Mr. Kline (Chair of the Education Committee in the House) has also criticized President Obama for providing waivers to the states on No Child Left Behind education legislation. He provided waivers so that states could have more flexibility to come up with their own assessment and standards systems, providing states with more local control. He did it, he said, because Congress failed to act on the issue...one requested by many states. Minnesota asked for a waiver.

Ironically, John Kline previously endorsed legislation (The A Plus Act), sponsored by Republican Congressman Peter Hoekstra (M), to provide states with flexibility to design their own systems. Seems a bit hypocritical for Kline to condemn the President for suggesting something he endorsed before.

Issues of economics and education are important in this election. Too bad the big issues aren't being discussed as much.