Political Party

Anderson makes campaign official, courts "Tea Party" vote

Republican Pat Anderson stopped in Rochester today as part of a 14-city tour to kick off her gubernatorial campaign. The former State Auditor described herself as a "pro-liberty conservative," who embraces fiscal responsibility, the free-market system and individual responsibility.

Anderson has been busy courting members of the Tea Party movement. Anderson unveiled some of her policy ideas. They include eliminating the corporate income tax, lowering marginal tax rates across the board and expanding the sales tax base. She said that change would make Minnesota's business climate more competitive. She said she also supports school vouchers and getting rid of special tax benefits and subsidies that unfairly benefit some businesses and not others.

"It is a time to choose between a pro-liberty conservative approach to governing and the collectivist world view that would elevate the collective good over individual sovereignty, the needs of the state over the sanctity of private property, and the arbitrary desires of legislators over the rule of law," Anderson said.

She does share the socially conservative values of some of her fellow candidates including opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.

Local Republican leaders line up behind Seifert

Today, Rep. Marty Seifert of Marshall unveiled a list of his backers from southeast Minnesota in his quest for the governor's mansion. The individuals are part of Seifert's "Southeast Minnesota Leadership Team."

Among the Rochester big hitters on the list are: Republican Party of Olmsted County Co-Chair Bruce Kaskubar, former Rep. Fran Bradley, former Rep. Carla Nelson, former state Senate candidate Dr. Scott Wright and 1st Congressional District Republicans Vice-Chair Duane Quam.

Seifert made the announcement during a live chat on his Web site. Here is the complete list of 23 supporters.

*Chuck Bradford – Mantorville, Chairman Dodge County Republicans, Deputy Chair 1st Congressional District Republicans
*Fran Bradley – Rochester, former State Representative
*Mike Falk- Albert Lea, Activist, Youth for McCain State Co-Chair 2008
*Katie Gottwalt – Mankato, Vice Chair Minnesota State-Mankato College Republicans
*Jerry Groebner – Madison Lake, Chairman Blue Earth County Republicans
*Bruce Kaskubar, Rochester, Chairman Olmsted County Republicans
*Bob Kierlin, Winona, Former State Senator, Founder of Fastenal
*Tom Kuntz – Owatonna, Mayor
*Mary Myers – Mankato, Republican National Alternate ’80, ’84, Local Reagan Chair
*Carla Nelson – Rochester, former State Representative
*Jerry Pappenfuss- Winona, business owner, past MN Broadcasters assoc. President
*Sean Paskach – Mankato, executive director Minnesota State-Mankato College Republicans
*Andru Peters- Lake City, Goodhue County BPOU state delegate
*Mark Piepho – Mankato, former State Representative and State Senator
*Robert F. Pierret – Mankato, longtime activist
*Aaron Pilcher- Waseca, Waseca County Activist
*Duane Quam – Byron, former Chair 1st Congressional District Republicans
*Dustin Quimby – Albert Lea, former Treasurer 1st Congressional District Republicans
*Lewis Reiman – Utica, former candidate State House
*Michelle Rifenberg- La Crescent, former State Representative, Former Deputy Chair Minnesota Republican Party
*Connie Ruth – Owatonna, former State Representative
*Howard Swenson – Nicollet, former State Representative
*Dr. Scott Wright – Rochester, former State Senate candidate
 

Local Tea Party group launches 'October Suprise'

Members of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots have organized a week of events to protest Presidents Obama's efforts to overhaul the nation's health reform. The series of events, dubbed "October Surprise," kicked off yesterday with about a dozen Tea Party Patriots waving signs along the 2nd Street Southwest bridge over U.S. 52.

Today, the group plans to protest at 2nd St. S.W. and Broadway over the lunch hour and later this afternoon they are scheduled to decorate cars and drive around town. Registered nurse Rita Gillmore was among those rallying against health reform yesterday. She said she is worried about the changes will end up hurting the health care system.

"We're going to lose our freedom of choice," Gillmore said. "I don't know how in the world we'll pay for it."

The Rochester Tea Party Patriots have been quite active on health care reform and are now focusing other issues, including the cap-and-trade bill. Here is a link to their calendar of activities.

Ultimately, it will be interesting to see whether this party ends up embracing local Republican candidates in the upcoming election or opts for other candidates. The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article about how the tea party movement is causing headaches for the GOP nationally. The reason? They are backing candidates they see as more ideologically pure instead of candidates backed by the Republican Party who are deemed more likely to win. Here's a link to the article. 

Meanwhile, supporters of health care reform will speak out at 5 p.m. today. Members of the Southeast Minnesota Area Labor Council will gather at the Rochester Labor Temple with the message "Don't throw away health care reform."

Nurses rally against health care cuts, endorse Thissen

The Minnesota Nurses Association is rallying at the state Capitol today to protest health care cuts made by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.A flier about the rally states in bold print at the top "Don't let him get by with it!"

To help balance the state budget, Pawlenty opted to use his uanallotment authority to cut the program beginning in March 2010. GAMC provides subsidized health care for 30,000 low-income Minnesotans.

The association says that many of the people on the plan are veterans, senior cities, people with mental illness and people who are homeless. They estimate that 70 percent of those served have mental health or chemical dependency problems. Members are being encouraged to wear red and make signs for the rally. Click here to Download Nurse rally flier .

The Minnesota Nurses Association also announced they are endorsing state DFL Rep. Paul Thissen of Minneapolis. Thissen is chair of the House Health and Human Services Policy Committee.

In a news release, MNA President-Elect Linda Hamilton is quoted as saying "“Paul Thissen is a champion for Registered Nurses. From his work to make sure all children have health insurance, to his advocacy of adequate RN staffing for patient safety, he exemplifies the characteristics we expect of a Governor."

The association represents more than 20,000 nurses.

Walz to hold town hall on Afghanistan in Winona

1st District Rep. Tim Walz is hosting a town hall forum on Friday at Winona State University to get residents' input on the war in Afghanistan. The event will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Somsen Auditorium.

The town hall comes as President Obama is deciding whether to send more troops to the region following a grim assessment by Gen. Stanley McChrystal of conditions on the ground. Obama is meeting with Congressional leaders today from both parties to discuss the war strategy.

Walz recently traveled to Afghanistan and met with McChrystal. The Democrat from Mankato said he is "not yet convinced" about the need for more troops. Here is an article I wrote about his trip.

"Afghanistan is one of the most important issues that we face today," Walz said. "The lives of our sons and daughters, our husbands and wives, our friends and neighbors are on the line and we owe our brave men and women in uniform a fully engaged public debate on the future of our strategy there."

Mayors push for candidates to take stand on LGA

The Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities today announced a campaign aimed at urging voters to ask gubernatorial candidates whether they support Local Government Aid. As part of that announcement, they unveiled a two-minute video that states cities have lost $782 million in LGA since 2003 and that Minnesota property taxes have gone up 64 percent.

The coalition also takes aim at Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. It features a video of him when he was running for governor in 2002. In the video, Pawlenty says, "You can't run around the state and say I'm not going to increase taxes and then cut LGA in a way that drives up local property taxes."

While Pawlenty makes these comments, a chart shows the cuts in LGA and the rising property taxes.

Austin Mayor Tom Stiehm is also featured in the video. He talks about the impact of state aid cuts on Austin's public safety.

"We're down one police officer already," he said. "We are anticipating another police officer going in August."

Pawlenty's spokesman Alex Carey offered this reaction to the coalition's campaign.

“During these difficult economic times, cities need to streamline and become more efficient, and not turn reflexively to local property tax increases. For 2009, Governor Pawlenty capped the cut in LGA payments to cities at 3.3 percent. Cities should be able to find ways to manage a small reduction to their revenues, just like families and businesses are doing, without massively hiking local property taxes.”

To watch the video, go here.

Mayo Clinic gets a national exam and Kline's attacks draw cheers

There's plenty of health care reform-related news to catch up on from the past weekend.

Mayo Clinic is scrutinized in a Washington Post article entitled "Is the Mayo Clinic a Model or a Mirage? Jury is Still Out." The article raises the question of whether the Mayo model can be replicated at other hospitals, given that the clinic's patients are generally wealthier, healthier and less racially diverse than in other parts of the country. It's an interesting read.

Also, Second District Rep. John Kline held a health care town hall on Friday. The Pioneer Press reports that the Republican congressman attacked the Democrats' health care overhaul plans. He even went so far as to shove a phonebook-size binder said to be the Democrats health plan off a table to the floor. According to the story, the crowd reacting by going "wild, rising to deliver cheers and extended applause."

Kelliher touts her rural roots

House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher today headed back to the family farm in Mankato to announce her candidacy for governor in 2010. The Minneapolis DFLer is clearly trying to position herself as a candidate that understands rural issues.

An eight-minute video posted on her campaign Web site devotes plenty of time to Kelliher's childhood on the family farm. It features family video of her riding horses and cleaning cows. Her mom also vouches for Kelliher's work ethic, noting her daughter had to feed the cows and clean the pens. The video also shows images of Kelliher's children suited up for hockey and her husband says, "We think we need to take the label hockey mom back" — a clear reference to former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

In the video, Kelliher emphasizes the importance of education when it comes to Minnesota's future. She says the state cannot afford to have "an opportunity gap" between rural and metro Minnesota. She also takes some digs at current Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

"The way that (the session) ended is exactly why I am running for governor because no Minnesota governor should walk away from negotiations with the legislature or turn their back on Minnesota," she said.

It will be interesting to see if this focus on her rural roots ends up winning her support in outstate Minnesota. The Republican Party of Minnesota has jumped on Kelliher's attempt to appeal to outstate Minnesota. The party sent out a press release entitled "Kelliher not fooling anyone with Mankato makeover."

The party chairman Tony Sutton is quoted in the release as saying, "As an out of touch Minneapolis liberal, Kelliher has voted to raise the gas tax, the metro wide sales tax and income taxes. People in Greater Minnesota and the suburbs need to be aware of this tax and spend wolf in sheep's clothing." 

MAK makes it official, bat bites GOP gubernatorial candidate

Plenty of campaign news today. First off, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher plans to officially announce she is running for governor on Wednesday at a picnic on her family farm in Mankato.

The Minneapolis DFLer will face plenty of competition for the nomination. Other candidates who have announced or are expected to announce include Sen. Tom Bakk, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, former House Minority Leader Matt Entenza, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, former Sen. Steve Kelley, Sen. John Marty, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Rep. Tom Rukavina and Rep. Paul Thissen.

Meanwhile, there is a bizarre story being reported by the Star Tribune. Apparently Sen. Michael Jungbauer, a Republican candidate for governor, was bit in the face by a bat. The bat attacked Jungbauer while he was putting a car in his shed on Sunday night.The senator from East Bethel has already had to undergo eight rabies shots and five more still need to be done. Yikes! Here's a link to the story.

Senators to get a show in Mantorville

Members of the Senate Capital Investment Committee will not likely forget what awaits them in Mantorville today. Residents have planned an elaborate welcome complete with people dressed in 19th Century costumes riding on horseback. Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, said he will be getting a to ride — along with a few other lawmakers — in a horse-pulled stagecoach.

For Mantorville, it is all about making a lasting impression on lawmakers that will have a key hand in determining the state's public works borrowing bill for 2010. Dodge County is looking for $2.7 million to build a "Stagecoach Trail" that would connect Owatonna to the Douglas Trail in Olmsted County. There has also been talk about using the trail for stagecoach tours that would run from Mantorville to historic Wasioja.

This is not the first time that the residents have employed these tactics. In 2007, the put on a similar show that wowed committee members. They ended up getting $550,000 toward the project in the 2008 public works bill. But Senjem told me that organizers have said that was just a "dress rehearsal" compared to what lawmakers can expect today. I'll be there to check it out and post some pictures.

The committee will be in Rochester this afternoon to learn about the proposed Mayo Civic Center expansion, the Southern Rail Bypass corridor and the National Volleyball Center expansion. I have a story today on the long-running quest to finish the volleyball project.