Sticking with a Fork

Now that Edwards has factored into the Nomination tussle, one more high profile endorsement sits out there, and the 'watch' is on. Should Vice President Al Gore come out for Obama soon, the presumptive label on Obama would be official

``The Al Gore watch starts now,'' said Ken Goldstein, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

Gore, who is one of the party's superdelegates, has indicated he won't give his endorsement until the primary contest is finished. His spokeswoman, Kalee Kreider, said yesterday that Gore had no further comment.

Obama and Gore

Obama said he has spoken to Gore ``periodically'' over the past several months about policies and ideas.

``I'm not really pushing for an endorsement,'' Obama told reporters on his plane last night as he flew to Chicago. ``I'd love to have it, but when you've won the Nobel Peace Prize, making an endorsement politically is maybe a step down.''

Seriously, it really doesn't matter. This race is over, and short of a catastrophic collapse, it will be Obama -v- McCain. Both candidates have vowed a clean fight. Obama has even reeled in some outside groups to do his best to control his own message.

The Right, of course, is a 'damaged brand'. The results in Mississippi made that clear.

Flash

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Rush Countdown

Rushisaband

Thursday, May 22nd, Xcel Energy Center

I'll be there, again, will you!!

In other news, John Rutsey, founding drummer for Rush passed away of an apparent heart attack. Rutsey performed on the first RUSH debut album before being replaced by Neil Peart.

John Rutsey, a founding member of Toronto rock band Rush, passed away this weekend according to Rush management company Anthem Entertainment. He was 55.

Rutsey was famous for playing on Rush’s 1974 debut album, including the song “In The Mood,” before deciding to leave the group due to health concerns. Rutsey suffered from diabetes and was unable to go on extended tours with the group.

Rutsey was replaced by drummer Neil Peart, which marked a turning point in the band’s sound towards progressive rock.

Flash

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Turning a Darker Shade of Blue

When things like this happen, I'm thinking even the 6th-MN may be in play:

A Democrat won the race for a GOP-held congressional seat in northern Mississippi yesterday, leaving the once-dominant House Republicans reeling from their third special-election defeat of the spring.

. . .

"No one could have imagined the tsunami that just crashed on Republicans in Mississippi," Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in an interview after the victory. "There is no district that is safe for Republican candidates."

And before the Righties start squawking about me just trying to stir the pot, here is a message from your own:

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, sounded an alarm for all GOP candidates "to take stock of their campaigns and position themselves for challenging campaigns this fall" while lashing themselves to the presidential candidacy of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"The political environment is such that voters remain pessimistic about the direction of the country and the Republican Party in general. . . . Time is short," Cole said in a statement.

Now, if you have been following these recent special election battles, you'll know that the Right has tried their standard attacks and attempted to see how a Barack 'ball and chain' would effect their electability. Their strategy failed . . . . miserably:

the National Republican Congressional Committee sponsored a television ad tying Childers to Obama and the Democrats' 2004 presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

In the ad, Childers is shown next to Kerry and Obama while the Illinois senator's ranking from the National Journal as the most liberal senator is noted. Read more on the ad controversy

In an ad paid for by Davis, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is shown and a narrator chastises Childers for not publicly denouncing the pastor's controversial remarks.

It would appear that the RNC's tool box is empty, and their ability to get traction on new attacks has shown the electorate to be much less susceptible to the slime. This will force the Right to actually engage in debate, and discuss issues, a tactic they fear most.

Overall this is frustrating news for the Right, and especially local congressional Republican candidates. They are facing a competitive retention in the 3rd, where the Democratic candidate is a much closer moderate fit than the fringe candidate Paulson. Sgt. Sarvi is set up to be the Tim Walz sleeper in the 2nd. What is most embarrassing for the MNGOP is that Michele Bachmann is their best, and only credible hope at retention. They must be proud!

Flash

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HiJacking

The GOP is so desperate they have decided to attempt a HiJack of the 'Change' slogan, and boy did they jump off the deep end:

It looks like Republicans will counter the Democratic push for change from the years of the Bush administration with their own pledge to deliver, drum roll please, “the change you deserve.”

Hmm, 'Change you Deserve'. Here is the stickler, our friend from the South has been linked all over the national blogosphere for her pointing out the TradeMark on that slogan

Americans have heard that slogan time and again.

Unfortunately, it wasn't pimped for political discourse, but to market an anti-depressant.

According to Wikipedia, the prescription drug "Venlafaxine is used primarily for the treatment of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults."

The brand name version, Effexor, is sold by Wyeth, which marketed it using the slogan, "The Change You Deserve™."

The GOP is kleptoing a slogan used to sell depression medication, seems apropos. Maybe they are just giving up already.

Flash

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Electability?

Don't listen to the GOPers behind the curtain. If the election were held today, Clinton would beat McCain; Obama, probably not.

RealClear Politics has the current snapshot in time.

Pennsylvania has Obama up 1.2 but Clinton outside the margin of error with a +6.8%
Ohio shoe McCain over Obama +3.4% with Clinton holding him off at +5.4%. And the dangling chads in Florida stay with McCain, handily, at +9.0%, yet Clinton with a shot +1.7%

Even Electoral-Vote.com shows the electability reality

280 Clinton
258 McCain

254 Obama
273 McCain

And what of my favorite Right leaning Pollster, Rassmussen. They've decided the Democratic nomination battle is over, and will stop tracking it.

However, while Senator Clinton has remained close and competitive in every meaningful measure, she is a close second and the race is over. It has become clear that Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee.

We don't need no stinking elections, we have Rassmussen to decide for us.

Flash

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Happy Birthday, MN!

Minnesota is 150 years old today.

After you have wished your Mother a happy day, stop by the capitol and participate in the festivities.

Several of my ancestors were Minnesota Pioneers including my Great Great Grandfather Seth Trowbridge. I leave you with his picture, and obituary as printed in the Madelia Messenger, April 9, 1915

Madelia Messenger
April 9, 1915

Another Pioneer Gone
Mr. Seth Trowbridge, one of the very early pioneers of this section, breathed his last at his home in this village at 1:40 a.m. Wednesday, April 7. He contracted a cold on February 22nd, which developed into pneumonia and was the cause of his death. Mr. Trowbridge was born July 1st, 1828. The funeral will be held at the Presbyterian church at 2 o'clock tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon. Obituary next week.

Madelia Messenger
April 16, 1915

Mr. Seth Trowbridge

Mr. Seth Trowbridge, the announcement of whose death appeared in these columns last week, was born in Preble, Courtland County, NY. At the age of seventeen years he bought his time from his father, paying therefore the sum of $10, and started out in the world to fight his own way.

He left New York in 1847, in company with his brother, Milo, in a covered sleigh, headed for the state of Ohio, and there he worked making staves in the timber country, until 1850 when he returned to New York and was married to Miss Angeline E. Comstock, and soon afterward returned to Ohio with his bride. Of this marriage one daughter, Mrs Alice V. Adams of Lewiston, Idaho survives.

In 1854, with his brother, Alexander, he went to the state of Texas, but not finding conditions there to his liking, he returned to Ohio, and later visited Illinois and Minnesota. He was pleased with Minesota and in 1856, moved to Winona county. In later years he told friends the coldest winters he ever experienced in Minnesota were those of 1856 and 1857.

His second marriage was to Miss. Clarrissa A Brown, the ceremony being performed at Rochester. To this union four children remain. They are: W. E. Trowbridge of St. Paul, Mrs. Minnie Manning of St. James, Mrs. Hattie M Anderson of Unionville, Mo. , and John J Trowbridge (my Great Grandfather) of Madelia, MN.

Mr. and Mrs. Trowbridge left Winona county for Watonwan county in 1868, and for a time they farmed about two sections of land in Fieldon township, about six miles south of Madelia, but they were practically ruined by the grasshoppers and prairie fires, and then moved to their farm north of town. Later they built the brick house in Madelia, where he has lived most of the time since, dividing his time between his home here and the farm.

For many years Mr. and Mrs. Trowbridge served meals in the brick building, and many of the "old timers" remembered the price charged for meals-- all you can eat for 15 cents.

Mrs. Trowbrdige died in May. 1903.

Those from out of town who attended the funeral are : Mrs. Manning and son of St. James, Mrs. C. L. Anderson of Unionville Mo., Mr and Mrs. W. E. Trowbrdige of St. Paul, Lewis Trowbridge of Rosendale, Mr. W. G. Manning, Mr.s J., J. Lenertz and son , Mr. and Mrs. Peter King, Mrs. J. C. Bermel, Mrs. Hottinger and Mrs. E. C. Fuller of St. James and Mr. Avon Gillman of Truman.

Enjoy your day!

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Twins Win

I was really tempted to turn off the game last night. Our Twinkies blew a nice lead after Boof gets shelled and Rincon couldn't close the deal in the 5th. Down 6-5 we then went through shut out baseball for the rest of the game.

I wasn't really keyed in, but as we were sitting in the bottom of the 9th, something interesting happened. The club manufactured a comeback the old fashioned way. A hit here, a bunt sacrifice there, a walk, and a stolen base while a green back was up to bat.

Delmon Young led off the ninth with a single to center and was bunted over to second by Matt Tolbert. While Carlos Gomez batted, Young stole third.

Gomez . . . drawing a walk

Up came Lamb . . . He kept his at-bat alive with a couple of foul balls off Papelbon, who hit 97 miles per hour on the gun. Gomez stole second during the at-bat, putting the winning run in scoring position.

Lamb was down on the count 1-2, fouling off a few after that. Then, CRACK, a chopper just inside the 3rd base line, enough to score both base runners and the win.

The STRIB Headline said it all; Twins' Lamb Chop - Served to go!

A scrappy, never say die, we'll fight till the end, victory. Reminded my of a Twins Club from 1991.

I'm glad I didn't turn the channel.

Flash

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We've Been Stimulated

True to their word, the IRS dumped our stimulus funds into the bank. Joint filing, two kids, $1800.00.

Half will go to buy down our only short term debt account, the other half will be used for stimulating. Unfortunately, what has made the short list of our shopping list are either Japanese or Chinese products. So with the exception of local retailers, truckers, and some dock handlers, not sure how much the purchase will actually assist in this trickle around experiment.

What are YOU going to do with your windfall?

Flash

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The Hillary Bunny

via Bagley:

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Time to Suspend?

Both Sen Clinton's and Sen Obama's spin machines are in full force. You can sense from their post election night E-Mails where they are at.

An out of character 'reserved' HIllary Campaign:

Tonight's victory in Indiana was close, and a margin that narrow means just one thing: every single thing you did to help us win in Indiana helped make the difference.

From Obama:

As of Tuesday morning, we needed just 273 delegates to clinch the nomination. When the votes are fully counted Wednesday morning, we will have gained more than a third of them in a single day.

We have a clear path to victory.

And he's right!

But it wasn't that long ago, that Senator Obama drew the line in the sand:

"You know, Sen. Clinton is more favored in Pennsylvania,” he added, “and I'm right now a little more favored in North Carolina, so Indiana right now may end up being the tiebreaker.

And to be fair, Obama set the goal posts, and Hillary won the tiebreaker, so maybe she should fight on.

Personally, I think it is time. There is only a few more weeks until the last primaries. Then the DNC will pressure the Super-Ds to get off the fence. If Hillary waits that long to acknowledge the inevitable, her withdrawal will be hollow and the healing more difficult to take place.

The negativity we have seen in this campaign, be it from Hillary or the Right is only the tip of the iceberg. Time to let the GOP put all their guns on the future President Obama so he can continue to display the courage, character and experience he will bring to a fresh new White House. Should he falter or fall, Hillary will still be there to grab the mantle, but the likelihood of that happening are nill.

I'm not ready to officially hop on the train yet. I'm just glad I don't have a dog in this fight. I just wish it would be over so I can roll up my sleeves and get to work. Too much is at stake to let this opportunity slip away!

Flash

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Duck Hunting

I'll be in the classroom all day today, and last night I had company till later than normal. Johnny's dad, 'the Colonel ' was in town so they stopped by. A career Army guy he retired from his Pentagon job in 1998. It was my first time meeting him so we had much to talk about. No shocker here, he is a diehard Obama supporter. Maybe more on that another time.

For now, I'll just have to point you to Phoenix Woman's counterpoint of Pat Condon AP puffy on MDE. From the Intro:

Condon's article read as a classic puff piece. If it wasn't for Condon's writing skills being several notches above Brodkorb's (that is to say that Condon actually writes as if he made it alive out of his seventh-grade English class), one could suspect the man known in local blogging circles as "STB" (Spawn of Turd Blossom) of having written it himself.

Hmmm, Spawn of Turd Blossom. When you think of it, that is actually a compliment. To be compared to the greatest smear artist of all time should be an honor I would suppose.

Anywho, read the whole thing, there is so much there. For me, my day is full and I need to get ready for my students!

Flash

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Walz's Veteran Status

In an article on Steve Sarvi's endorsement we find this:

""Sarvi is now the third Iraq veteran running for Congress in Minnesota as a Democrat this fall: The other two are Ashwin Madia, the endorsed DFL candidate in the Third District, and U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, who represents the state's First District.""

According to Congressman Tim Walz's website he is not, nor has ever claimed to be, an Iraqi war veteran. He served in "Operation Enduring Freedom".

A correction request was sent to the Strib and I received the following reply from the original reporter of the story (printed with permission):

Thanks for your e-mail. I appreciate you pointing out the mistake - please understand it was an honest one, and we're correcting it.

I understand how easily this error could have happened and am pleased it will be corrected.

Thanks Emily!

Flash

H/T (BSP)

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Loving Beer to Death

Now, I like my beer, but not this much:

Glenwood village administrator Bill Bramanti's favorite beer is Pabst Blue Ribbon. He loves it.

Really loves it.

So much so that he's already had his coffin specially made, and it's designed to look like a can of the trendy brew. Bramanti isn't sick, so he doesn't plan on needing it just yet. For now he plans to use it as a cooler.

My wife asks me if I want to be buried or cremated. I look at her with a soft smile on my face and say . . .frozen *grin*

Flash

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Puffy

In the much talked about puff piece on Mike over at MDE, many of us who were contacted by the AP writer are still scratching their heads. See, when Mr. Condon made initial contact, we were lead to believe this story was going to be more of an exposé exposing the exposer.

Here's what I mean, from the original media request (posted with permission)

"I know you've been critical of Brodkorb on disclosure issues. This is an aspect of his existence I'd like to explore a bit further, and I'm curious if you'd be willing to explain to me how exactly you think he's falling short in this regard."

We talked at length about my posts here, here, and here. None of the conversation made it into the story. I guess I am holding out hope that an alternate article is in the works to provide balance from the backslapping puffiness of this one. But I am not holding my breath.

Flash

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Closed to the Public

It wasn't that long ago that a Paid Republican Operative was complaining about access to private events being attending by soon to be Senator Al Franken. Yet his own party refuses to allow access to media at their public conventions. theUpTake has the video:

Minnesota’s Republican Party seems very camera-shy. Over the past several months Republicans have prevented journalists from recording their candidates at events. The latest incident was rather dramatic as Gavin Sullivan was tossed out of the Republican convention for district 42B for shooting video.

The UpTake’s Mike McIntee shows us Gavin Sullivan’s video and talks to another journalist who has been tossed out twice from Republican events.

The DFL, of course, allows for the credentialing of all media types regardless of ideological bent. That's what openness is about.

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Fishing for a Fissure

Let's be clear, polls are nothing more than a snapshot of a moment in time. Their accuracy is no better than the methodology used, and the credibility of those responding. But for the subject of this post, numbers matter.

Real Clear Politics has been tracking general election scenarios for awhile now. Now one would think, with all the internal scuffling going down in the Democratic endorsement battle, that McCain, at least for now, should be cleaning house. But that is not the case.

When we look at general election polling, both candidates seem to hold up pretty well. Granted, there is movement at this early stage, but there is no sign of fracturing within the party. The Right will point to the Obama -v- Clinton factions bickering within the blogosphere, but that is inside baseball. The general populace, I believe, is pretty flexible at this point. They, like myself, recognize the importance of returning the White House to the party of sanity.

I don't read too much into the "I won't vote for your candidate if mine doesn't win" talk. When I see numbers like this, as early as it is, it sure looks to me like the Democratic candidate, regardless of whom, is set up nicely for a November 'W'

Now, anything can happen in the world of presidential politics, but one thing I am pretty confident about, the fissure in the party is greatly exaggerated.

Flash

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King Recovering

Look out, he is getting better:

UPDATE (11am): Many thanks to all of you. I just took the most tiring, most exciting 10-minute, 150 foot walk ever taken by this human being and found I had a wire for my laptop here. I am shocked beyond words at the outpouring of friendship shown me the last few days by you all on the comments, in other posts and people who've come by the hospital so far. I'm a little too weak to do lots of blogging, so this is all for today most likely. I'll tell you the rest of the story sometime. But when I tell people that virtual friends can be just as vital as those in real time, your comments, thoughts and prayers will be Exhibit A for the prosecution. God blesses me with your friendship. --kb

My favorite in the comment thread:

What some people will do to get out of teaching the last week of classes!!!

My hopes for a continued and speedy recovery!

Flash

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