Union screening: Was she or wasn't she? Candidate Maureen Reed and SEIU don't agree
By Doug Grow | Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009
Just what constitutes a formal "screening" takes on some importance in this intra-party struggle to see which candidate will challenge 6th District [...]
Allen Quist
'Retooled' Allen Quist ready to challenge 1st District Rep. Walz
By Doug Grow
Monday, Nov. 23, 2009
Withdrawing from politics after losing to Arne Carlson in the 1994 governor's race, the former GOP lightning rod says he has' [...]
Difficult bottom line for some pro-choice advocates: Accept ban language or scuttle health care reform?
By Doug Grow | Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009
Leaders of abortion-rights religious coalitions say there are many people of faith who support their cause, and they're frustrated that the' [...]
Ever optimistic, even after Tuesday's loss, Dick Franson already is planning his 25th campaign
By Doug Grow | Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009
By 7:30 Wednesday morning — just hours after he'd learned he'd lost his bid to become mayor of Minneapolis — there was [...]
What prompted AFSCME union to back enigmatic Mark Dayton for governor? Electability, leader says
By Doug Grow
Monday, Oct. 26, 2009
Noting there are no "perfect candidates," Eliot Seide says the former senator has "Minnesota values" and that he supports "working women and men."
Related: [...]
Sec. Ray LaHood
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood greeted with two kinds of 'Minnesota chill'
By Doug Grow | Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009
During a question-and-answer session following his speech, at least a couple of questions bordered on hostile [...]
DFL governor candidates: Here's how they fared at labor meeting
By Doug Grow | Friday, Oct. 2, 2009
With all 11 likely DFL candidates on hand, who came across as most passionate, surprising, courageous and optimistic at the AFL-CIO gathering? Here's my scorecard.
[...] A classic semi-sliming? GOP's Seifert sort of goes after three DFL governor candidates
By Doug Grow | Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009
At a news conference Wednesday, Rep. Marty Seifert, a Republican candidate for governor, sort of implied that three DFL gubernatorial hopefuls might be [...]
A change of heart: After all my Pohlad-bashing days, it's time to praise them for the Twins stadium 'extras'
Courtesy of the Minnesota TwinsA fresh view of Target Field -- and of the Pohlad family.
Suit challenges Minneapolis City Council's decision on proposed charter amendment
By Doug Grow | Monday, Aug. 31, 2009
This much is clear: Most agree that Minneapolis parks are a crown jewel of the city. But after that, it's all getting murky.
[...]
10,000 Minnesotans called Klobuchar with health care questions, and many are still waiting for clear answers
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
By Doug Grow | Monday, Aug. 24, 2009
"This is complex," Sen. Amy Klobuchar said several times during Sunday's tele-town [...]
Update: ELCA repeals ban on gay, lesbian ministers
stpaulref.orgPastor Anita Hill, longtime supporter of repeal
By Doug Grow | Friday, Aug. 21, 2009
Update: Gays and lesbians in committed relationships now will be able to become ministers in the [...]
With mixed emotions, groundbreaking Lutheran pastor awaits today's historic vote on gay ministers
stpaulref.orgPastor Anita Hill
By Doug Grow | Friday, Aug. 21, 2009
"I thought I was going to be one of those people who worked a lifetime" [...]
As a gay candidate for governor, Paul Koering says he has no party support
State Sen. Paul Koering
By Doug Grow | Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009
State Sen. Paul Koering, a Republican, had a lot that should have [...]
TC picnic has grass-roots health-care reform on menu
By Doug Grow | Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Organizers hope that Wednesday's event will help energize volunteers to stand in front of grocery stores and go door-knocking in their neighborhoods searching for people to sign petitions [...]
A mid-game surprise for Twins fans: baseball action, radio commercials ... and a 60-second 'sermonette'
By Doug Grow | Friday, June 26, 2009
Wooddale mega-church is trying a new way to reach that elusive male demographic with one-minute inspirational messages during radio broadcasts of [...]
State Rep. Laura Brod
Suburban Rep. Laura Brod could be intriguing GOP governor candidate
By Doug Grow | Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The three-term state representative, who can put a "smile" on her conservative message, is one [...]
Bad etiquette: Why is Pawlenty bashing the stimulus package?
Analysis by Doug Grow | Friday, Feb. 27, 2009
Gov. Tim Pawlenty is proudly giving out federal stimulus money for highway projects with one hand while bashing the program with the other. Why?
[...] Jackie Lindskoog and the joy of amateur sport
By Doug Grow | Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009
The Birkebeiner Ski Race is filled with remarkable sports heroes. But few could better represent the everyday joy of amateur sport more than Jackie Lindskoog.
Some Lutheran churches will feel pinch when 'fee' replaces 'free' for weekly donation program
By Doug Grow | Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009
"Simply Giving," a well-received automatic contribution system used by church members, has worked well in helping congregations improve their budgeting. Now, a charge [...]
The DFL has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against "former" U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman and the Republican National Lawyers Association.
[...]In the spring of 2005, a young Illinois senator came to Minnesota to speak at a DFL fundraiser.
[...]At a ceremony for the unveiling of the official portrait of U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar last spring, Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia went on and on about the wonders of Minnesota's longest-serving congressman.
[...]When Irv Anderson ran the Minnesota House, the calendar on the wall may have read 1994, but the style said 1950.
[...]
Not likely. Mike Antonovich, a former hockey great for the U of M, the Fighting Saints and the North [...]
If you thought the campaign for the Senate was slimy, hang on. The recount process is going to be worse.
[...]The first thing Al Franken had to do when he stepped off his big, blue campaign bus outside a Starbucks on the University of Minnesota campus at about 10:30 this morning was to dab off "my lucky tie.''
[...]I did a double take. Was this really my political hero, George McGovern, on the TV screen speaking out against what labor calls the "Employee Free Choice Act"?
[...]With only five more mudslinging days left before Election Day, rumors are getting juicier, and the activities of pols and media are getting curiouser.
[...]
By this point in political campaigns, it's often hard to tell when anger is real or a tactic. DFL officials — accompanied by "Marcela the Mother'' [...]
WASECA — It's not hard to spot the Penny home here. There's a campaign sign for John McCain — and [...]
At the end of the day on April 3, 1993, state Sen. Allan Spear walked into the House chamber at the Capitol, found Rep. Karen Clark and gave her a long, sweet hug. And then …?
[...]Much to the shock and contempt of Keith Ellison, the culprit responsible for today's financial crisis has been discovered by those on the right end of the political spectrum.
[...]DENVER — Coming to St. Paul for the Republican convention? There was a pause, as if Jacob Reitan was pondering whether the question was serious. "No, don't believe we'll be making it to St. Paul,'' Reitan finally answered.
[...]MAHNOMEN, MINN. — The numbers came as no surprise to Pat Moran, manager of a substance-abuse program on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.
[...]
REUTERS/Jim BourgGov. Tim Pawlenty
By Eric BlackUnless some insider to John McCain's campaign writes a very candid memoir a few years from now, we probably never will know why he [...]
The DNC wouldn't seem like a friendly venue for a corporate health-care behemoth. But a UnitedHealth executive garnered some of the loudest applause at a forum on health-care reform, according to BusinessWeek.
[...]In Friday's local news roundup, Tim Pawlenty isn't tapped, proving markets are dumb. Also: protester sweeps tonight? And: What if we didn't need the 35W bridge after all?
[...]Across the river from where "artists" of one sort or another are clogging streets for the RNC is an underground movement designed to empower those who've been disenfranchised from the conventional system.
[...]The circumstances couldn't be better for an incandescent performance by these explosively feisty, Grammy-award winning thrash rockers. They were in their pissed-off prime during the Clinton era, splintering into semi-retirement right around the time the U.S. Supreme Court was ruling on Bush vs. Gore. Consigning themselves to a smattering of [...]
The Clintons have spoken. Obama is their guy, and the media is debating whether they truly passed the torch or just temporarily bestowed their benediction on Barack. Cynical if not smart money is on the latter. But as with much of the drama at the Democratic convention, the Clinton-Obama rift [...]
The conversation I was having with David Gilbert-Pederson was interrupted by a call from his home. "Time magazine wants to talk to you,'' the kid was told. "I'll get back to them,'' Gilbert-Pederson responded.
[...]
On a daily basis, the Minnesota Republican and DFL parties can be counted on to say something nasty about the other party's U.S. Senate candidate. This has been going on for months, but Tuesday seemed to be a particularly vitriolic day.
By Doug Grow
[...]Turns out, Minneapolis is going to be the site of a large political gathering, too. On Sept. 2, the followers of Ron Paul are vowing to fill the Target Center for 10 hours of speeches and music. This event, "Rally for the Republic,'' will occur on the second day of [...]
A month ago, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann said she's on board with a campaign plan to get gasoline prices back to $2 a gallon. This scheme, which Republicans have dubbed the "No More Excuses Energy Act,'' works like this: Just announce that the United States will starting drilling in the [...]
The crowd of reporters outside the Minnesota Secretary of State's office was large — one of the biggest media stakeouts ever to observe candidates' last chance to get on the election ballot, according to filing-day veterans. Read more...
By Doug Grow
[...]A woman who once donated to Al Franken's U.S. Senate campaign says she will file to run against Franken in September's Democratic primary. Read more...
By Doug Grow
[...]Fifty-five pounds lighter and a year and a half older, former Minneapolis City Council member Dean Zimmermann returned home Thursday morning. Or at least halfway home. Read more...
By Doug Grow
[...]The race in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District was to be one of those contests the whole nation studied. We had Democrat versus Republican in a suburban district that is neither conservative nor liberal. Read more...
By Doug Grow
[...]The announcement that Barack Obama will accept his nomination at a 75,000-seat football stadium and not at the site of the Democratic National Convention raises the obvious question: When John McCain accepts the Republican nomination, will he try to counter Obama's move by giving his acceptance at the Hubert H. [...]
