Almanac: At the Capitol

The Clinton and Obama camps keep growing in Minnesota. Clinton's campaign just held a press conference led by House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher. They announced a bunch of new endorsements in the Twin Cities, Duluth and Rochester. No earth-shattering names, but the campaign's continued activity is interesting. As the second female speaker of the House, Kelliher noted, of course, that Clinton would be the first female president and "she'll be ready on day one." Sen. Scott Dibble added his support. Minneapolis City Council President Barb Johnson said she never imagined that when she graduated from an all-girls high school that she could have a female president, "the thought never crossed my mind."

Meanwhile Obama's camp announced the first presidential TV ads will start running in our state. They obviously have been running a long time in states like Iowa with early tests and even in Arizona which has the same Super Tuesday schedule. I was inundated with Clinton and Obama ads watching Phoenix TV on my recent visit.

Politicos are really buzzing about the new Survey USA poll showing McCain beating both Obama and Clinton in Minnesota. In it McCain has 49% support running against Obama at 42% and Clinton at 45%. That has people wondering if it hurts or helps Pawlenty's VP potential. A VP is supposed to deliver their homestate, but we've been going pretty blue for president for decades. One thought has this poll helping TPaw's chances at the number two slot, the other would say McCain may not need Pawlenty. I think McCain probably fits the mold of those maverick independent voters who elected figures like Rudy Perpich, Arne Carlson and Jesse Ventura.

After spending several days in Arizona, not only am I shocked how hot 64 degrees can feel but I'm amazed how little press John McCain seems to be getting in his home state. He only grabbed big headlines after winning South Carolina. I was expecting a McCain-fest, but far from it. I had to search to get much substantive coverage anywhere. Maybe it's the fact that he's not a native and once famously responded to the charges of carpet bagger with:

Listen, pal. I spent 22 years in the Navy. My grandfather was in the Navy. We in the military service tend to move a lot. We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world. I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the first district of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.

Not until Hillary Clinton came to town did any of the local TV news dedicate much time to the presidential race. Her visit to the "Valley" probably got extra coverage because it was happening live during a newscast. Crime seems to dominate the airwaves. The Superbowl coming to town is dominating all the local ink.

I guess we should count ourselves lucky — not for our frigid weather, but for our quality and quantity of political coverage. I thought with so many Minnesota transplants (one of whom I was visiting) more Gopher qualities would have been imported.

The day after the New Hampshire primary, every politician on the face of the earth has scheduled a press conference for the exact same time in Minnesota. Really. At 10:30 this morning Clinton, Obama, Romney and Pawlenty all have media availabilities scheduled. It's crazy. Most Capitol news bureaus have about two people, who can't be in four places at one time. It seems none of the campaigns are paying attention to each other. We've been frenetically calling and trying to get someone to reschedule. It's symbolic of the push for press coverage. We'll see how the day shakes out...

On the eve of the Iowa caucuses Clinton's campaign took some time to pay attention to Minnesota. Her campaign chair and political director held a conference call with local reporters to "discuss campaign's momentum and grassroots support in Minnesota." They're predicting a record turn-out in Iowa and then their attention switches to a host of other states, especially places like Minnesota, which is part of SuperDuperTuesday Feb. 5th. By then half of the delegates will be chosen. Clinton's people say they're running a national campaign, not picking one or two states (subtle shot at opponents). Clinton is launching an "aggressive phone bank operation" in Minnesota to boost turn out here, which they're viewing as one of the "larger delegate counts" on that key date. Mr. or Mrs. Clinton plan to visit the state, but the campaign doesn't have any details yet.

Clinton should finish in the key top three, but the highest-regarded poll from the Des Moines Register has Obama with a true lead. Huckabee's surge also showed up in that poll with Romney in second like Clinton. My advice when trying to read polls is to look at trends rather than just who has what number. Obama and Huckabee are trending up, but it'll be a close race. Eric Black has a great backgrounder on MinnPost. New Hampshire will be an entirely different game and a state that looks a lot more like Minnesota with its independent streak. Apparently, that's why Gov. Pawlenty is spending time and getting noticed as he stumps for McCain. The Republican Senator's resurgence there is interesting and it's interesting that Pawlenty hasn't bailed from his longtime friend's fledgling campaign.

New development, Monday Assistant Minority Leader Tarryl Clark will endorse Hillary Clinton. Leaders Pogemiller and Senjem have not made up their minds yet. Today House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher endorsed Hillary Clinton for president saying, "Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to deliver the change this country needs." Yesterday, Minority Leader Marty Seifert was named honorary chairman for the Fred Thompson campaign in Minnesota. Seifert said, "Thompson is the only true conservative in the race." Seifert is really excited about this and begged me to blog about it. Majority Leader Tony Sertich is backing John Edwards. It seems the House leadership reflects much of the country still making up their minds. Speaking of Sertich, he's the subject of my report tonight on Almanac. A couple of week's ago we caught up with former Republican House Speaker Steve Sviggum teaching in the classroom. Tonight we get to see "Anthony the Actor" that is Sertich embracing his theater major. We get to see him in make up and tights (just a peak) as a thespian. Sertich also shares come exciting personal news with us. He was a great sport and I think it'll be fun for viewers to see the majority leader's comedic timing and wit in action. Tune in to Sertich in an Oscar award-winning movie!

Could You Please Send Us a Million Dollars?

TIME: 8:49 p.m. on a warm Sunday, April 15.

[The phone rings.]

ME: Hello?

CALLER: Hello. Is [name of my wife] home?

ME: May I ask who's calling?

CALLER: I'm calling from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota.

[I look at the caller ID. The phone call is coming from a number in Milwaukee.]

ME: From Milwaukee?

CALLER: It must be a bounce. I'm actually calling from Little Falls.

ME: Oh, how was the weather up there today?

CALLER: Nice. But I didn't get to see much of it. I had to work.

ME: I understand. A drag.

CALLER: Yeah.

ME: Are you a DFLer?

CALLER: Yep.

ME: But they pay you, right? You're not a volunteer?

CALLER: No, they pay me.

ME: Do you earn a salary or are you on commission?

CALLER: Both.

ME: I see. But I bet it's not much, is it?

CALLER: No. But it's about the only thing I can get here. There aren't too many good jobs in Little Falls.

ME: I can imagine. I've done phone solicitation before. It's not easy.

CALLER: No, it isn't.

ME: You're not union, are you?

CALLER: [Pause.] No.

ME: The DFL is a big supporter of unions. Too bad there isn't a union for phone callers.

CALLER: Yeah.

ME: Well, I'd like to help you, but actually we've given this year. We give to our local DFL.

CALLER: OK.

ME: I'd like to help you, but...

CALLER: It's all right.

ME: Good luck.

CALLER: Thanks.

ME: 'Bye.

CALLER: 'Bye.

[I hang up.]

Now for the equal time part. I used to get phone calls from the Republicans as well. Heck, I may still get some in the future. They invariably seem to come from someplace in Utah. Only they're not a bounce. The caller is really calling from Utah. I ask pretty much the same questions. Except I say, "Are you a Republican?"

The answer varies. Sometimes they say yes. Sometimes they say they're not political. Whereupon I ask if they're registered to vote, and they say, "No." So I encourage them to register to vote and become aware of the issues that may affect them, because after all, this is a democracy, isn't it?

I remember one caller for the Republicans in particular. This was some time ago. I asked her my usual retinue of questions. When I came to my "Are you a Republican?" question, she said, no, she was a Democrat. I said, "Why are you calling for the Republicans then?"

She said, "Because it's the only job I could get. I have three kids."

Oh.

I'm not a big fan of political fund raising. I'm a firm believer that money taints the system. And, right now, it's all we seem to hear about when the political races are brought up.

"Hillary Clinton has raised $26 million."

"Barack Obama has raised $23.5 million."

"Mitt Romney has raised more than $20 million."

"Rudolph Giuliani has raised $13.8 million."

"John McCain has raised $13 million."

All told, that's almost $100 million. In one quarter. Eight months before the Iowa caucuses. Nine months before the first primaries. (If you're a female you could conceive and have a kid in that time.) A little more than a year and a half before the general election.

What if those megabuck donations could go toward something else?

Let's see. One hundred million dollars.... That'll get you about 50 million school lunches or 20 million meals on wheels or 2 million children's dental visits or two-thirds of a day of war in Iraq.

While certainly a sad commentary on our national priorities, it's not just the candidates and political parties who are to blame. It's the media, too. To them, "Who's raising how much money?" is more important than "What do you plan to do about the health care crisis in this country?"

And it's not just CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS. It's NPR and PBS as well. Heck, they're the worst.

Is there something wrong with this picture?

Perhaps all this political fund raising is giving somebody a lousy-paying job in Little Falls, Minn., or God-knows-where, Utah, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what good it's doing for our democracy.

Can anybody give me a clue?