Almanac: At the Capitol

New media is the new force in politics — so tonight we are re-launching a re-vamped version of our attempt to cover the campaign with special attention to new media. It's called Campaign Notebook. We started it a couple of years ago when we sensed the web was really changing politics, and what a difference a couple of years makes. The online world has completely re-shaped campaigns and politics as we know it.
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A select few got to see the reality of a promise made to lawmakers at the Capitol many years ago. The promise was to keep one of the most coveted pieces of real estate in public hands: Lake Minnetonka's Big Island.
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It seems Gov. Pawlenty's national press buzz reached a new height in the past week. The London Times declaring "One candidate has risen to the top of John McCain's shortlist" is huge. There's also a new critical mass (often quoting each other) saying he's McCain's guy. As suspected, their appearance together last week created more fodder on the possible future GOP ticket.
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty introduced John McCain here in St. Paul. Pawlenty said McCain has "valor, courage, patriotism" and he added that Minnesotans can appreciate that he is a "straight talker" and "populist." The often-mentioned candidate for running mate concluded his brief but solid introduction with saying McCain is "going to be a great president."
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Outside St. Paul's Landmark Center the cops outnumber the people. There are no protesters or supporters to be seen. No signs, no chanting, positive or negative. It's oddly quiet for a presidential candidate's visit. There are several dozen officers from the city and county, but they don't have much to do.
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The first person in line outside Landmark Center is Rep. Dennis Ozment the highly respected moderate Republican from Rosemount who is retiring from the legislature. Interesting to see a guy like Ozment showing his support for McCain who made his name as a maverick moderate but is now being questioned for moving to the right. The other lawmaker in line is Rep. Steve Smith another well-liked moderate from Mound.
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Here's a look inside St. Paul's Landmark Center, the site of John McCain's town hall meeting tonight. They are testing mics now and we're setting our gear in preparation for the security sweep.
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Just a day before John McCain's visit to Minnesota most Minnesotans know little about the presidential candidate's visit because the campaign wouldn't release any information. After a press conference responding to Democrats' press conference, McCain's local campaign coordinator Ben Golnik got chewed out by the local press for the lack of advance work.
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Gov. Tim Pawlenty didn't have much interest in local press questions about his political future today. We chased him after his big announcement with U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters on Minnesota becoming the first state to get federal dough under that Urban Partnership Agreement. What it means is more money and less congestion along 35W.
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Al Franken won the endorsement "by acclamation" and word is he would have won on the first ballot with 62%. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer made the motion in deference to Franken. That's just past the 60% needed for endorsement. A first ballot endorsement is big. It shows strong support for a candidate mired in trouble. JNP and Franken stood side by side.
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