Almanac: At the Capitol

One of the Independence Party candidates for U.S. Senate, Jack Uldrich, tried to prove he's going to have a different approach to his campaign. He rolled out a YouTube-inspired web commercial. Uldrich is a smart and thoughtful guy, but this ad may be too smart and too complicated for the web. One young person who saw the ad told me it's too long and confusing.

Jack says he's going to go "viral" and use technology in a different way and if this doesn't work he'll be back with another ad and another ad. He is serious and persistent. When we pointed out that Coleman and Franken are using the web, Facebook and other new technology tools, Uldrich said "the difference is I'm going to address the issues." The former IP chair conceded that Dean Barkley will have better name ID and probably raise more money.

Barkley plans to have commercials actually on television and famous adman Bill Hillsman is already working on ideas. In our interview for Almanac this week Barkley told me next week he will milk more free media hitting greater Minnesota media outlets. And speaking of the IP, the U's Smart Politics has an interesting post on the health of the Independence Party.

The media were there in mass to watch the unpredictable last-minute candidate filings at the secretary of state's office. The Independence Party of Minnesota will have quite the spirited primary with more than half a dozen candidates now in the mix. After Jesse Ventura announced on CNN he wouldn't run, Ventura's close ally Dean Barkley decided to get into the race. Gov. Ventura appointed Barkley to serve 8 days in the U.S. Senate after Sen. Paul Wellstone's death. Barkley said Jesse is "tough act to follow" and it's like "stepping into a big shadow." Barkley pressed that he can get things done and proved it during his short stint in Washington. He said "I'm not there to throw bombs, I can collaborate."

Barkley will be facing former IP Chair Jack Uldrich. Not sure what it says about a party when there's an endorsed candidate being challenged by not just a dozen people, but a former party chair. Uldrich has a good sense of sportmanship in all of this and said the number of candidates is "wonderful for democracy and the Independence Party." He also said he has nothing against Dean Barkley, they just run different campaigns. The author and public speaker plans a viral campaign relying heavily on the internet.

Finally, Al Franken will have a DFL primary opponent as well. Priscilla Lord Faris was the only candidate who had a press release and staff today. Her release says "I am deeply concerned about the direction of the Al Franken candidacy." Faris said her tipping point was Frankens poor showing in the polls, but also "the work done as a comedian may come back to bite him." Faris was the only one at the podium who hadn't done a press conference before and she held up just fine. Her father is a former attorney general and the name has weight. But Franken has more current name ID, money and an endorsement that has more meaning than in the past when DFLers regularly had primary battles. She said she has a ton experience in Minnesota.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is headed to ANWR with fellow Republicans. She just appeared on CNN and said if we drill for oil in Alaska we can have "two-dollar-a-gallon gas again." When asked about the environmental and wildlife impact she said, it's "dark most of year" and there are "no trees" so it's the "perfect area" to drill. No matter what you think about her (and most seem to have strong feelings) as a media professional, I got to tell you she's good at TV. But the congresswoman seems to be avoiding Minnesota press in favor of the national spotlight. Bachmann has gotten a lot of press on the domestic drilling issue, but John McCain didn't seem to know much about her plan when he was asked about it at his St. Paul town hall forum.

Here's what Jesse had to say: "This is an agonizing decision...felt like '98...my personal life...my family...my children were attacked by Minnesota media...do I want to put my family on the firing line again...maybe I'm not religious enough...God has never spoken to me...maybe at 5:00 God will send me to file...I came close...my daughter feared....won't put my family through that again...I don't see how Al Franken can win."

Jesse wanted to delay but Larry King pushed him along. Ventura ripped the local media again, essentially blaming the local press for a reason not to run. Jesse looked the same (clean shaven and died long hair) when we sat down back in May for an interview (despite erroneous reports that he won't talk to any Minnesota political reporters). He cited a poll done by Ch.5 in Minneapolis so there was a slightly positive reference to local media.

The most ironic part of the broadcast had to be an Al Franken commerical in one of the breaks between Jesse's segment. He had to keep the door open a tiny bit, by saying maybe God would talk to him like President Bush.