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Bachmann hasn’t paid Iowa campaign staffers yet

by The Big E on January 12, 2013

Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) presidential hopes peaked in the fall of 2011 after she won the Iowa Straw Poll in August. But campaign soon fell apart once the media spotlight was upon her. She withdrew in January of 2012.

In October 2011, her New Hampshire staff quit en masse protesting they hadn’t been paid and were treated poorly by national staffers.

Not paying her campaign staff seems to be a pattern for Bachmann. The folks who helped her nab the Iowa Straw Poll win haven’t been paid because the staffers haven’t signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Her top Iowa staffer Peter Waldron has decided to have a public hissy fit over Bachmann’s negligence:

Waldron said the staffers are owed a mere $5,000, and that Bachmann has more than $2 million in her campaign account, but has refused to pay unless the staffers sign the agreement. Negotiations over payment with Bachmann Finance Chairman James Pollack eventually broke down and Waldron decided to go public with the news, posting a press release on Christian Newswire this evening.

“I feel a moral obligation to see that my Christian brothers and sisters are paid for worked performed in good faith. I’ve continually communicated by telephone and email with Mr. Pollack for 1 year but he broke every promise made to me to pay the staff. I appealed to Dr. [Marcus] Bachmann for help. I appealed to Representative Bachmann’s Chief of Staff Robert Boland to intercede with Mrs. Bachmann on behalf of her loyal Iowa staff – all of whom are married, all have children,” Waldron said in the press release.

“It is sobering to think that a Christian member of Congress would betray her testimony to the Lord and the public by withholding earned wages from deserving staff,” Waldron added.
(Salon)

In October 2011, Bachmann staffers simply denied the reality that her NH staffers quit. Her staff is doing the same thing with this controversy.

James Pollack, cited by Waldron above, categorically denies Waldron’s charges and accuses Waldron of lying.

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Klobuchar for President?

by The Big E on November 20, 2012

The rumors have begun that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN) is aiming for a 2016 Presidential run. Klobuchar first ran for Hennepin County Attorney in 1998 and was reelected in 2002. Soon after her reelection victory she began touring Minnesota relentlessly. Nobody was surprised when she ran for US Senate in 2006.

She walloped rising MNGOP star Mark Kennedy in the 2006 MN-SEN race and her popularity has always remained high. In her 2012 reelection bid, she klobbered Ron Paul minion Kurt Bills who barely even campaigned after winning the MNGOP nomination.

I’ve spoken with plenty of political insiders and hacks who are convinced Klobuchar will run for President. Personally, I always thought she’s angling for a Supreme Court nomination. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been wrong. Either way, these rumors are rampant.

Now we have a well-connected woman urging her Facebook followers to tell Klobuchar to run.

So what is the deal? Does she have a chance? What are her strengths/advantages? What are her weaknesses?

Chances?

Her chances hinge entirely upon one and only one name: Hillary. If Hillary Clinton does not run, she is well-positioned to vie for the nomination.

Klobuchar the Moderate

Sen. Klobuchar has positioned herself as a moderate. Despite the clear and obvious dysfunction of the US Senate in that the minority (concerned only about political posturing) virtually controls the Senate via the threat of filibuster, she always talks up bi-partisanship and explains how she works across the aisle.

She has a liberal voting record on all the important issues and she’s reliably voted the right way on the big issues. Democrats can trust her to do the right thing.

On the other hand, she rarely takes a stand on the issues of the day.

She’s vote correctly, but she won’t lead. For example, she was absent during the health care reform debate. When pressed she offered non-commital statements about how important the issue is.

Her triangulation toward the middle is probably an advantage nationally, but progressives in MN consider it a weakness. We want a leader and this is something Klobuchar hasn’t done.

She is quick-witted and funny

Klobuchar is great at the unscripted moments. She is really calm under pressure and this is a huge advantage over the stodgy, over-scripted alpha males she’ll face if she runs.

Furthermore, she’s often quite funny.

There is no better way to make voters comfortable with you than making them laugh. She’ll never get herself in trouble, either, as her humor is self-effacing. Her jokes are about herself and her family or about her interactions with the press or other politicians.

Don’t discount the ability to make non-offensive jokes that make people laugh. It’s a rare ability. I think she has the ability cut through to the heart of issue in a memorable way.

Conclusion

Klobuchar will likely join Michele Bachmann and make it two Minnesotans (and 2 MN women) to vie for their party’s presidential nomination. One representing the wackiest far right and the other a confirmed moderate.

Unlike Bachmann, Klobuchar will not embarrass us if Hillary decides not to run. It will be nice to have a Minnesotan on the national stage who isn’t crazy.

So … who has Hillary’s cell and can ask her what she’s planning to do?

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Dear Media: Fox News Blames You!

by TwoPuttTommy on November 7, 2012

To Be Clear: Locally, Fox9News does a pretty good job.  This is a quick post about some of the nastiest Republicans in the state of Minnesota – the GOP SD48 – and the National Faux “Fox” News.  

It’s the morning after a historic election; locally the ethically challenged Kirk Stensrud got knocked off by Yvonne Selcer in 48-A.  Knowing how “classy” the local GOPers are (not), I went to their website – let’s look!

OK, see that on the bottom, middle?  ”• BIAS ALERT — Five ways the mainstream media tipped the scales in favor of Obama.“

That’s “right” – blame the media.  That’s the local GOPers excuse for possibly the worst candidate a party has ever put up for President, the “fiercely conservative” – until he got the GOP’s endorsement – “Multiple Positions” Mitt Romney (who even the Salt Lake Tribune couldn’t endorse).

“Blame the media” from the local Party of Personal Responsibility (from OTHERS).  Forget Etch-A-Sketch; forget Romney Shambles; forget the non-existent tax returns; forget…  well EVERYTHING – it’s the media’s fault.

These local GOPers are the ones that rallied behind disgraced former Mayor Phil Young.  The ones that two years later; still vilify former DFL State Representative Maria Ruud.  The ones that…  well, I could go on and On and ON. The local “leaders” of the Mn GOP SD48 simply are NOT nice nor classy people.

And their very first post on their website, on the day after an election rejecting their candidate for president, saw the DFL take over the House and Senate in St. Paul (including the defeat of their endorsed candidate in SD48-A, Kirk Stensrud), saw the defeat of two State Constitutional Amendment proposals is a link to the National Fox News, whose message is:  ”blame the media.”

Message to GOP SD48:  take some responsibility.  

You know, like you’re always demanding, from everybody else.

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Compare and contrast: Obama events vs. Romney events

by The Big E on November 5, 2012

Just in case anyone thought Minnesota was in play, let’s compare and contrast the two Presidential campaigns’ activity in Minnesota. Yesterday, Barack Obama had 82 events in MN or just over the border in Wisconsin. The Romney campaign? Zero.

A Stillwater reader emailed me two screenshots.

Romney hasn’t opened an office in MN. Obama has a huge grassroots campaign targeting the ’08 voters who didn’t vote in ’10.

Furthermore, the Republican-owned KSTP has a poll showing Obama with 52%, Romney with 41%.

Nate Silver of the NY Time’s fivethirtyeight blog has never had MN in play. I’ve been watching this blog as a sanity check. Silver has been the most accurate polling analyst since he came on the blogging scene in 2008.

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Compare and contrast: Romney placing ads in Minnesota to Obama’s grassroots campaign

by The Big E on October 27, 2012

The AP breathlessly reports that Mitt Romney will have television ads running in Minnesota starting this weekend. I guess Romney can waste his filthy lucre however he wishes, but this isn’t a prudent ad buy.

Republican Mitt Romney is placing television ads in Minnesota, a move that pushes his presidential campaign into a state Democrats have held for more than three decades.

Republicans and Democrats who track campaign spending confirmed late Thursday, Oct. 25, that Romney will begin running ads in Minnesota over the weekend.

Romney has no Minnesota campaign. He hasn’t opened a campaign office. Romney didn’t even participate in the GOP straw poll this spring.

The reason is Minnesota has never been in play. Never has been and never will be. Heck, we went for Mondale in ’84 … only state to do so.

In contrast, President Obama’s campaign has multiple offices in Minnesota. OFA’s grassroots effort has been up and running at full speed since May. Their main goal is to find the 2008 voters who didn’t show up in 2010 and get them to the polls.

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Great new book compares Obama to Lincoln-really interesting similarities

by emily16 on October 15, 2012

I am a Public Health Grad student and I just finished reading Gene Griessman’s “Lincoln and Obama.” I was surprised to learn the depth of the parallels in these two Presidents’ lives.  Both acquired the presidency during struggling economic times and war.  Both were Washington outsiders and underdogs within their own party.  Griessman paints a detailed picture of Obama as a man who not only utilizes Lincoln as a guiding example, but as a man whose experiences and persona are so similar to our great 16th, it is a wonder I never realized it before.

I strongly encourage you to read this book.  I feel I learned a great deal about our current president.  With the election process in full swing, I feel that it gave me an even greater insight into the man I plan on voting for next month.

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Rumors suggest Romney might be considering Pawlenty as VP

by The Big E on June 21, 2012

While I can’t fathom why Mitt Romney’s campaign would want a dud like former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty on the ticket, rumors swirl that suggest Timmeh is on the list.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels are apparently being vetted, but here’s what NPR says about Pawlenty:

Tim Pawlenty, 51
Current job: Romney campaign co-chair; paid speaker represented by Leading Authorities agency (typical fee about $24,000, according to a 2011 FEC filing); serves on several corporate boards

Past posts: Governor of Minnesota; member and majority leader of Minnesota House of Representatives; vice president of software company Wizmo Inc.; Eagan City Council member; lawyer

Upside: Comfortable, “Joe Six-Pack” balance to businessman Romney; two terms of executive experience as governor; evangelical Christian

Downside: Referred to Romney health care overhaul in Massachusetts as the blueprint for “Obamneycare”; taint of failure after missing the vice presidential nod in 2008 and his short-lived, lackluster 2012 presidential campaign

They forgot about Pawlenty’s anti-charisma.

And that he couldn’t deliver Minnesota.

And that teabaggers, e.g., the party base, hate him.

And that he flip flops quite a bit, but maybe that’s a good thing cuz Mittens does that a lot?

Other than that, he’s a great choice.

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Pawlenty lies and claims that Romney would have saved the auto industry

by The Big E on June 20, 2012

Former Minnesota Governor and failed 2012 presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty appeared on ABC’s This Week to stump for Mitt Romney. Host George Stephanopoulos let Pawlenty claim that Mitt Romney would have saved the auto industry. Pawlenty was lying.

Watch him fib for yourselves:

Unfortunately for Pawlenty, Romney wrote a little op-ed in the NY Times back in 2008:

IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course – the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

Oops.

Too bad President Obama’s bail-out succeeded and GM and Chrysler are doing much better now and paid back their bail-out loans.

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More fodder for Michele Bachmann’s islamophobic conspiracy theories

by The Big E on June 16, 2012

Because Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) sits on the House Intelligence Committe, she was allowed to view secret documents on the FBI’s counter-terror training. Obviously, we’re going to have to take Bachmann’s word about what she read and remember that she’s just a wee bit unreliable and crazed.

It certainly seems that what she read is only going to fuel her inflammatory, islamophobic conspiracy theories.

While the Minnesota representative is barred by the FBI’s confidentiality agreement from revealing what she saw in the documents, she said the briefings she received “raise even more alarm bells” that the agency is going too far to appease Muslim-American groups.

“This is truly censorship by our government, the government purging itself of documents,” Bachmann said. “We are not only seeing documents purged. We are seeing trainers purged and we are seeing the FBI library purged.”

The FBI began reviewing all of its counter-terror training materials last September in response to media reports describing controversial statements in documents and lectures, allegedly including the assertion that devout Muslims are more likely to become terrorists.

Islamic and Arab-American groups protested and demanded removal of all references they deemed to be anti-Islamic. Within days, the bureau launched a review to ensure all FBI training materials are factual and do not rely on stereotypes.
(Washington Examiner)


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Bachmann invents jobs numbers created by Korea trade bill

by The Big E on June 12, 2012

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) would really, really like it if the invisible free hand of the market would create some jobs in her district. Since it hasn’t she just lies about it.

In a mailer to constituents that looks remarkably like campaign literature and not a Congressional mailer, Bachmann claims that a recent trade pact with Korea created 1,000 jobs in her district.

If only it were so:

Bachmann misreads a report produced by the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs. The report states that 1,001 jobs in Bachmann’s district already exist because of merchandise exports to South Korea. The association does not predict how many jobs the new pact will add, although the group supports the agreement and expects employment gains.

The 1,000 new jobs already existed become jobs that will be created in the Bizarro World in which Bachmann exists. Just click on the image to see the entire mailer.

She also touts the Drill, Baby, Drill campaign, pretending it will lower fuel costs. Which it won’t, but that’s already been debunked.

I love her questionnaires. Here’s a fun question to answer on this particular piece of campaign lit Congressional mailer: Given the high level of unemployment, what does Congress need to do to speed up the economic recovery?

Did she just admit that our economy is recovering?

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