Almanac: At the Capitol

State Fair scenes: Al and Audrey, political crop art and a 90th-birthday celebration By Joe Kimball | Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009

The Great Minnesota Get-together works its yearly magic, bringing together the young and old — and all sorts of political types, from office-holders to opinionated seed crop artists.

I just took part in a mercifully brief opinion poll by telephone that turned out to be a survey for the Republican Party of Minnesota. With the promise of only four questions that would take only 15 seconds, it was hard to say no.

The four questions, near as I remember them:

1. During an economic downturn, do you support raising taxes, cutting spending, or raising taxes and cutting spending?

2. Do you support domestic drilling for oil? Yes or no?

3. Are you pro-life or pro-choice?

4. Are you a Democrat or a Republican?

Having recently refused another phone survey that sounded as if it might take too long, I shouldn’t quibble with the MNGOP’s refreshingly slam-bang approach. But I did feel shoe-horned by the second question, since “no” would mean I oppose every oil derrick in America, and I don’t. (A friend of mine who’s unemployed is making ends meet with monthly checks from newly tapped oil on the family farm back in Pennsylvania.) So I protested, and when the pollster offered “undecided,” I took it.

Photos: MN Historical Society

As if the 19th-century founders of once-flush, now-foundering newspapers didn’t have reasons enough to turn in their graves, last week two local landmarks associated with St. Paul Pioneer Press founder Frederick Driscoll found distressing ways into news columns again.

First the Pioneer Building, the newspaper’s home beginning in 1889, once the city’s tallest building and still one of the handsomest around, had alterations made without a permit, including chimney-removal and work on an embarrassing “15th-floor bulge.”

Then Driscoll’s own turretted 1884 home on St. Paul’s signature Summit Avenue (just two doors down from railroad baron James J. Hill’s even larger mansion) suffered the ignominy of being the site of a frantically cancelled Al Franken fundraiser, after staffers belatedly learned their host had served prison time for swindling Minnesotans, using the back-in-fashion Ponzi method.

Both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Although Barack Obama's approval rating has taken an (expected) hit in Minnesota since the beginning of his term, a hit all presidents endure, a new SurveyUSA poll finds Gopher State residents much more patient with the new Democratic president than many states across the nation.

A poll of 600 adults, conducted August 26-27 by SurveyUSA, finds 53 percent of Minnesotans approve of the President's job performance, up a statistically insignificant 2 points from July. Forty-four percent disapproved of Obama's job performance.

What is particularly noteworthy is that Obama's approval rating dropped in August in 10 of the 13 states tracked each month by SurveyUSA, and by an average of 3.8 points.

In fact, Obama dipped to record lows in the neighboring states of Iowa and Wisconsin in the new round of surveys.

In Iowa, only 45 percent of adults give Obama positive marks this month, down a significant 11 points from July. Fifty-four percent disapprove. Likewise, in Wisconsin, just 45 percent approve of Obama's job performance, down from 50 percent in July. Fifty percent disapprove.

Obama's rating also dipped to record lows in the states of Alabama (40 percent), California (62 percent), Kentucky (36 percent), Missouri (48 percent), New Mexico (52 percent), New York (58 percent), Virginia (42 percent), and Washington (51 percent).

Perhaps it is due to Minnesota's culture of patience, with its ice fishing and slow-starting vehicles in the winter, but while the rest of the country has become increasingly impatient with Obama and the economic concerns facing the nation, more Minnesotans are, comparatively, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Overall, Obama's approval rating has fallen at the slowest rate in Minnesota compared to the other 12 states tracked by SurveyUSA. The President's job performance rating has dropped only 17.2 percent since January in the Gopher State, compared to an average of 28.5 percent elsewhere.

In Wisconsin, Obama's approval rating has dropped a whopping 35.7 percent, from a lofty 70 percent in January to 45 percent in August. A similar story has unfolded in Iowa, where the President's approval rating has fallen 33.8 percent, from 68 percent in January to 45 percent in August.

One possible explanation for the more favorable view Minnesotans have of Barack Obama's job performance to date compared to its Upper Midwestern neighbors is that the Gopher State's job situation has somewhat stabilized. Minnesota's unemployment rate is up only 8 percent from January to July (7.5 to 8.1 percent), compared to 28.6 percent in Wisconsin (7.0 to 9.0 percent) and 35.4 percent in Iowa (4.8 to 6.5 percent).

Change in Barack Obama Approval Rating Since January 2009

State January August Change % Change Minnesota 64 53 -11 -17.2 California 77 62 -15 -19.5 New Mexico 65 52 -13 -20.0 Oregon 68 54 -14 -20.6 New York 78 58 -20 -25.6 Washington 69 51 -18 -26.1 Missouri 65 48 -17 -26.2 Kansas 62 45 -17 -27.4 Virginia 62 42 -20 -32.3 Alabama 60 40 -20 -33.3 Iowa 68 45 -23 -33.8 Wisconsin 70 45 -25 -35.7 Kentucky 62 36 -26 -41.9 Average 66.9 48.5 -18.4 -27.7 Note: SurveyUSA data compiled by Smart Politics.

The most recent national tracking poll, released today by Rasmussen, finds Obama's approval rating at 45 percent, with 53 percent disapproving.

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The Associated Press reported this morning that the Minnesota State Capitol is now providing brochures in 25 languages, the latest being Somali. Brian Pease, site manager of the Capitol for the Minnesota Historical Society, told PIM that all the translations of Capitol literature are done on a volunteer basis—there's not money set aside for these projects, so visitors to the Capitol usually volunteer. In this case, Mahomud Wardere was the Somali speaker who took a brochure home and returned to the Historical Society with a translation. Guide sheets are available today at the Capitol info desk that welcome the Somali community. Pease was proud to add another language to the list, saying that a variety of languages creates a welcoming atmosphere for visitors from all over the world, and gives them a chance to see that "there's a place for them at the Capitol."

L to R: 2007, 2008, 2009

The Republican National Convention. Michele Bachmann at Living Word church. The Flying Imams. Larry Craig in the airport bathroom. Norm Coleman’s donor database breach. The “missing” Somali youth. Candidate Palin and President Obama. The Franken/Coleman recount.

Since our launch as the Minnesota Monitor in late summer 2006, the Minnesota Independent has published nearly 8,000 stories on an array of topics, winning a bunch of awards and having a hell of a lot of fun along the way.

Join us for a special birthday happy hour at the Red Stag Supper Club on Thursday, Sept. 10 from 6 to 8 pm, and give us a hand (ahem) in celebrating our third birthday!

Democrats jumped on Gov. Pawlenty’s unveiling last week of a new website, mnhealthscores.org — where health care consumers in Minnesota can compare clinics and costs — because Pawlenty was touting a program he’d earlier threatened with his budget-cutting axe. Pawlenty responded that he’d spared the program in the end. In fact, he now loves the program so much that, to hear his office tell the story, you might think he started it. 

From last week’s news release:

In addition to the new online cost and quality information, Governor Pawlenty has initiated a number of health care reforms …

On his radio show Friday from the State Fair, deputy chief of staff Brian McClung repeated something from a press release last year that sounds like the website was Pawlenty’s baby [emphasis added]:

Well, governor, if I could jump in too, he raises an interesting point, because just yesterday you announced that we have a new health care transparency website. And Minnesota is now the first state in the nation where consumers can go online and look at cost and quality information. … So this is the first time — and they did this at Gov. Pawlenty’s urging, provided the information. There’s a nonprofit that runs it. And that kind of transparency’s important for trying to hold down costs and improve quality.

The nonprofit in question, Minnesota Community Measurement, dates its origins back nine years and began providing information about how medical groups rate five years ago (pdf). Its founding members are seven state health care nonprofits, and its board includes directors representing both providers and consumers from around the state.

At the end of the radio show, Pawlenty had these fitting words, in reference to the Metro Gang Strike Force:

It’s a matter of common sense and good ethics that you don’t take stuff from other people and then take it home and use it for your personal use.

Team still has room under cap for more additions to roster

For Poland, shadow of 1939 hangs over today's events By Nick Hayes | Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009

Today, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has come to the Polish city of Gdansk to stand at the scene of one of his country's greatest crimes. But Poles are demanding an even stronger apology from Putin.

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley appears to be the first candidate in a special election for the Senate seat left open by the death of Edward Kennedy.

Minnesota broadband: Why is Mike O'Connor cranky? By Steve Borsch | Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009

That's because the member of the Minnesota Ultra High Speed Task Force is worried about the governor's choice of the firm to gather data on the state's broadband needs and prepare the proposal for federal stimulus funds. I share his concerns.

Kenneth Vogel of Politico reports that Sarah Palin's political action committee had to cough up some quick cash to federal candidates in order to qualify for the right to make big donations (up to $10,000) to other candidates in the future. And one of the lucky beneficiaries is Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN6), whose reelection campaign received $1,000 from Palin.

We've long wondered whether Palin's meteoric ascent to the national stage last year prompted the similarly profiled and similarly ambitious Bachmann--who, after all, reportedly has a press officer working solely on national cable appearances--to commit the deadly sin of envy. If so, Palin's latest gesture may take away some of the sting. 

After 20 years, Don Fraser plunges back into City Hall charter wars By Iric Nathanson | Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009

This time the former Minneapolis mayor weighs in on a proposal by the Park Board to cut its fiscal ties to the 13-member council.

Colorado officials refused records request on Democratic convention By G.W. Schulz | Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009

The Center for Investigative Reporting sought to examine documents from fusion centers in both Denver and St. Paul to better understand what roles they played in the security preparations for last year's Democratic and Republican national conventions. But authorities in Colorado refused a public-records request sent by CIR.

A new study says the net economic impact of the 2008 Republican National Convention on Minnesota’s economy was $170 million, Minnesota Public Radio reports. (The research was done for the Minneapolis St. Paul 2008 Host Committee by the University of St. Thomas’ Center for Retail Excellence, so you know it’s good.) But when the St. Paul Pioneer Press asked state Republicans whether the RNC helped them politically, Gov. Pawlenty’s answer was typical: “Not particularly.”

Elsewhere in Minnesota headlines this morning …

ST. PAUL: McCollum’s health-care forum “civil.” Case in point: The guy in the photo holding a “Socialism” placard with President Obama’s face in scary Joker facepaint appears to be sitting quietly with his hand in his lap next to a woman with a “Standing Together for Health Insurance Reform” sign in hers. [St. Paul Pioneer Press]

STATEWIDE: My stronghold is stronger than your stronghold. Entrenched DFLers in the state House are more entrenched than their Republican counterparts. [Smart Politics]

FORT SNELLING: Franken joins Klobuchar, Pawlenty at sendoff for Afghanistan-bound reservists. The state’s new senator recited some rules for phoning home, including not asking about “your car, finances or boat” before asking how the family is. [Minnesota Public Radio]

MINNEAPOLIS: Protest shines light on “wage theft.” Working through breaks, losing tips, and doing unpaid overtime: It’s not just for immigrants anymore. [Workday Minnesota]

NORTH METRO: Northstar Commuter Rail rolls out Nov. 16. Perfect timing for commuters who dislike iffy November driving conditions, or for anyone with a grandmother in Big Lake to visit for Thanksgiving. [Finance and Commerce]

ST. CLOUD: Just build a pool. We don’t need no stinkin’ spendy aqauatics center, writes a St. Cloud grandmother (whose grandkids could visit via the new train if it didn’t terminate at Big Lake). [St. Cloud Times]

Assessing RNC police tactics: missteps, poor judgments and inappropriate detentions MinnPost photo by Terry GydesenPolice on the streets during the GOP convention last year: Critics say many of the police actions were unconstitutional.

By G.W. Schulz | Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009 Center for Investigative Reporting

A year ago, St. Paul was preparing for the Republican National Convention, and security was a paramount concern. Officials took unprecedented advantage of new laws to halt potential subversives before they attack. But the effort resulted in heavy-handed tactics, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Part 1 of 2 articles.

Related: What's the Minnesota Joint Analysis Center?