Category Archives: Minnesota U.S. Senate campaign

How In the World Did Minnesota GOPers Screw Up Their Golden Opportunity?

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I have a prediction, though not a particularly prescient one.  Minnesota Republicans will say they lost the election because of bad candidates.  Mitt Romney, Kurt Bills, and the Tea Party-supported freshmen legislators were all just bad candidates, they will say.

“Victory has a thousand fathers, and defeat is an orphan,” as John F. Kennedy observed, and in the coming days a lot of Republican candidates will be orphaned.

But for their own good, Republican leaders need to objectively ponder this question:  Bad candidates, or bad policies?

After all, on a policy level, Mitt Romney made himself into everything the Republican Party activists demanded of him.  He could not have been more ideologically obedient.  He flipped on banning abortion for them.  He flopped on Romneycare/Obamacare for them.  He flipped on assault rifle bans for them. He flopped on the minimum wage for them.  He flipped on stem cell research for them. He flopped on amnesty for undocumented workers for them.

This move toward being what Romney himself described as “severely conservative” was demanded by the extremist ideologues controlling the Republican Party these days.  With Romney now having lost to an embattled incumbent burdened by a long-suffering economy, is the bigger problem really Romney’s relative political skills, or the party ideas that Mitt was forced to espouse?

Likewise, the Minnesota Republican Party picked Kurt Bills, arguably the most conservative candidate in the field, to run against incumbent U.S. Senator Amy Kloubachar.   Bills was joined at the hip with fringe presidential candidate Ron Paul, who backs the legalization of heroin and hookers.  Mr. Bills made a name for himself in the Minnesota Legislature by suggesting, I kid you not, that Minnesota have its own currency.

The Tea Party right demanded Bills, they got him, and he won just 31% of the vote.  Who knew, but it turns out that Minnesotans weren’t craving their own currency after all.  So is the bigger problem really that Mr. Bills failed in the mechanics of campaigning, or that Minnesotans rejected the extreme ideas that Mr. Bills and the Minnesota Republican Party are embracing these days?

And then there is the GOP-controlled Minnesota Legislature that was swept into office in the 2010 wave election. The freshman-dominated GOP-controlled Legislature insisted on an unbalanced approach to closing the budget shortfall, against public wishes.  The GOP legislators’ undying fealty to the tax pledge police caused them to shut down state services, and ultimately to use school budgets as their personal ATM.   They frittered their time in office dreaming up divisive constitutional amendments that voters rejected.  They compared children on Food Stamps to wild animals.  All of this led them to having the approval of just 17% Minnesotans, making them the least popular Minnesota Legislature on record.

So, again, was the bigger problem that every last one of these freshmen legislators lacked campaigning skills, or was it the ideas and values they espoused?

Keep in mind, this should have been a fantastic year for Republicans.  We’ve slogged through high unemployment over four difficult years, and people are understandably weary and worried.  At the same time, Democrats needed to do some very politically risky things, such as rescuing the auto and financial services industries, passing a stimulus bill during a time of high deficits and passing the most sweeping health care reform law in American history.

Against all odds, in the midst of this electoral hellscape for Democrats, the Republicans lost big.  Now they are left to sort whether they lost this golden opportunity because their leaders weren’t sufficiently talented campaigners, or because they weren’t sufficiently temperate leaders.

- Loveland

 

Note:  This post was also featured as a “best of the best” in MinnPost’s Blog Cabin feature.

Photo by Star Tribune

Brodkorb Says Gay Marriage Opponents Are Being Used As Political Pawns. Photo ID Supporters Too?

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Michael Brodkorb, former top political strategist for Minnesota Republicans, recently made it perfectly clear that the Republican-proposed gay marriage ban amendment was motivated by politics, not principles.

As WCCO-TV’s Pat Kessler reported:

 In an interview with WCCO, Mr. Brodkorb discussed the scandal, and gave a surprising inside look at the gay marriage amendment.

…Brodkorb — once a powerful Republican insider — says a big reason it’s on the ballot isn’t family values. Top Republicans needed a way to get conservatives off the couch and into the voting booth.

“It provided a turnout opportunity for Republicans,” he said.

Brodkorb was former Deputy Chairman of the State Republican Party and top Senate staffer, and says GOP Senators knew a driving force behind the gay marriage amendment wasn’t morality. It was political reality.

Top GOP leaders thought they couldn’t beat incumbent Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Republicans would stay home.

“The belief was, the United States senate race was not going to be close, and that Republicans needed and social conservatives needed a reason to get to the polls in November,” he said.

So despite the Republicans claims about backing the amendment to defend “family values,” Brodkob says that is nonsense.  Mr. Brodkorb was the chief political strategist at the time, and he says this amendment was pushed to promote partisan politics, not principles.

So gay marriage opponents, elite GOP operatives are using you like their political puppets.  Feel like chumps?

And speaking of crass partisan amendments, what about the Photo ID amendment?  Behind closed doors, Republicans in other states have made it clear that the Photo ID requirement is also being pushed because of politics rather than principles.  That is, Republican political hacks want to  erect bureaucratic barriers that disproportionately impact the voters who are most likely to vote for their opponents – minorities, students and seniors.

Now that Mr. Brodkorb is inclined to tell the truth about the Republicans’ political playbook, he should be asked by reporters about the photo ID ruse too.  Before next week’s election, photo ID supporters also deserve to know about the political puppeteers trying to control their strings.

- Loveland

 

Bills’ Minnesota Currency Proposal: Change We Can Believe In?

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U.S. Senator Amy Kloubachar’s virtually invisible campaign opponent Kurt Bills borrows many of his policy ideas from his mentor, libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul.  One of the least discussed of Bills’ proposals is his call for Minnesota to consider issuing its own currency.

Like Congressman Paul, Mr. Bills backs a national return to the gold standard.  In addition, Bills has sponsored state legislation to study whether Minnesota should adopt an alternative currency.  Bills’ bill (H.F. 1664):

“A joint legislative committee is established to study the adoption of an alternative currency by and for the state of Minnesota and its citizens, in response to the abdication by the United States Congress of its constitutional duty to regulate the value of its money, which it has failed to do through the Federal Reserve System.”

Financial experts are not so sure about Mr. Bills’ state currency idea.  For instance David Parsley, a professor of economics and finance at Vanderbilt University was quoted by CNN saying:

“Having 50 Feds” could debase the U.S. dollar and even potentially lead the country into default.  The single currency in the United States is working just fine.  I have no idea why anyone would want to destroy something so successful — unless they actually wanted to destroy the country.”

Despite the naysayers, the prospect of having a cool new state currency raises many creative possibilities for Minnesotans.

Name.  For instance, what would we call the new Minnesota currency?

MinneDollar quickly comes to mind, but that seems much too obvious.  Plus, if the dollar collapses, as Mr. Bills foresees, “MinneDollar” wouldn’t inspire much confidence, now would it?

Alternatively, perhaps Minnesota’s dollar could be called “ “The Viking,” to symbolize our ability to dust ourselves off after humiliating defeats, and come back for more humiliating defeats, without ever seeing the epic futility of it all.  Very Minnesotan.

Or, the corporatist Republicans controlling the Legislature might prefer to sell off the naming rights of the new Minnesota currency for a price, to someone like Twin Cities Federal (TCF) Bank, which  already owns the naming rights to a largely taxpayer-funded stadium, and is run by a former GOP Party Chairman.  Yes, Minnesota’s equivalent to “the dollar” could be called “The TCF.”

Finally, there is always “The Gopher.” What better name to carry on Minnesota’s rich tradition of picking really humiliating names to represent our state?  Plus, “Golden Gopher?”  Gold standard?  Get it?

Faces.  After we name our new currency, we, of course, need to put a good face on it.

America’s first President, George Washington, preferred faceless money.  He was staunchly opposed to putting President’s images on U.S. currency.  Modest George thought doing so was too self-aggrandizing, elitist and monarchical.  In other words, George was a socialist.

However, something tells me that the likes of Jesse Ventura and Tim Pawlenty wouldn’t let modesty get in the way of monetary immortality for themselves.  So we’ll let those former Governors fight it out to determine whose face is on our new Minnesota currency.

Why did I leave current Governor Mark Dayton off my list?  Ah shucks, Modest Mark doesn’t need that.  (Owning most of the new currency is good enough for him.)

Motto.  After our currency has a name and a face, it would need a motto, something akin to the saying on U.S. currency, “In God We Trust.”

If we go with selling off the naming rights, as contemplated above, I guess we’d need the new currency motto to be “Your convenience bank.”  Stop whining, it will grow on you.

“In Ron Paul We Trust” also could work, since Mr. Paul is the brainchild of all this, and because he is treated like a deity by his adoring followers.

But given the Minnesota Republicans’ obsession with proving they are tighter with the Almighty than everyone else, the GOP-controlled Legislature would probably make the motto something more like “In God We Trust, Unlike the Godless Liberals.” Bam.  On-message.

The more I think about it, though, the more I think my vote for the new Minnesota currency name goes to “The Loon.” I know it’s hackneyed.  But loons are graceful creatures with a gorgeous call that is closely associated with Minnesota’s iconic lakes.   Loons are our State Bird.  ”Common Loons” are both beautiful and “common,” just like the great people of Minnesota.

Besides, “The Loon” perfectly captures the merits of the Mr. Bills’ idea.

- Loveland

Note:  This post was also featured in the Politics in Minnesota Morning Report “Best of the Blogs” feature, as well as a “best of the best” in Minnpost’s Blog Cabin feature.

Film Premier: Bills’ Choice

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Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate Kurt Bills apparently has produced a movie trailer to promote his forthcoming short “film,” Staring at the Future.

In an oh so artsy black-and-white trailer for the film, Bills, doing a pretty fair Rod Sterling imitation, warns viewers:

 “The right choice will lead to growth and family. The wrong choice:  Despair.”

But the full film won’t be released until tonight at 9 p.m., leaving us hanging in agonizing suspense to guess what Bills’ Choice is about.  What a tease!

 

It would be way too tedious and predictable for Bills’ film to be another detail-free sermon about debt reduction.  He’s already been doing that for months.

So maybe Bills’ film will  finally offer some details about his policy agenda.  Maybe we’ll find out what “Bills’ Choice” actually is for Minnesotans.

  • The choice of whether to enact Congressman Ryan’s family-cutting, growth-killing austerity budget?
  • The choice of whether to enact the heroin and prostitution legalization proposals of Ron Paul, Bills’ choice for President?
  • The choice of whether to invest in pro-family, pro-growth education, health care and infrastructure improvements, investments that polls show most Americans are choosing?

In real life, these are the choices Bills’ campaign poses to Minnesotans.  So will art imitate life?

- Loveland