An independent Justice Department watchdog is probing allegations that President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, B. Todd Jones, improperly retaliated against a whistle-blower while working in his current job as a federal prosecutor in Minnesota.
via Roll Call.
Minnesota Today from MPR News
April 24, 2013
January 21, 2013
Minnesotans on #inaug2013
“While these truths may be self evident, they have never been self executing.”#inaug2013
— Emily Hinds (@gracie8884) January 21, 2013
Amazing to see President Obama be sworn in for his second term. Thanks to all who came out on this cold day! #Inaug2013 twitter.com/BettyMcCollum0…
— Betty McCollum (@BettyMcCollum04) January 21, 2013
More via Storify.
November 28, 2012
DNT: In unsolved Obama effigy case, surely someone must have seen something
“Three weeks ago today, someone — or a group of someones — put a President Obama mask over the face of what has been described as a scarecrow, wrapped a rope around the scarecrow’s neck and threw the rope over the top of a billboard across from Miller Hill Mall.
“Along one of Duluth’s busiest corridors, our president was hung in effigy,” via Duluth News Tribune.
November 8, 2012
Mayo Clinic to national leaders: Talk to us
“Mayo Clinic wants President Obama to make health care a priority once again during his second term.
“On the day after Obama was re-elected, Mayo CEO Dr. John Noseworthy invited him and members of Congress to work with Mayo on fixing the U.S. health care system, which he called ‘unsustainable’ in its current form.
“‘To preserve and strengthen our nation’s economy, it is imperative that we take action now to create a new health care model for America,’ Noseworthy said,” via Post Bulletin.
Election 2012: Wisconsin
Image: Wisconsin 2012 Presidential results by county via Huffington Post
Minnesota’s purple neighbor, Wisconsin, hasn’t had a break from campaigning in a mighty long time. A union-led attempted recall of Republican Gov. Scott Walker failed earlier this year, but as Tuesday’s results suggest, it isn’t because the state has become more conservative. More Wisconsin voters, 70%, went to the polls Tuesday than they did in 2008.
President: Obama by six points
U.S. Senate: Tammy Baldwin (D) elected as first openly gay member of the Senate
U.S. House: All seven incumbents, including GOP VP candidate Paul Ryan, safely re-elected. Republicans hold five of the eight House seats, Democrats hold the other three. Mark Pocan (D) easily won the open seat Baldwin vacated in the Madison-area.
State legislature: GOP takes new majority in the Senate, expands margin in the Assembly. Democrats may make up lost ground in recounts.
“President Obama won the state by nearly six percentage points, thanks, at least in part, to support from labor unions and voters who approved of the auto industry bailout. A majority of voters in exit polls also blamed President George W. Bush, not Mr. Obama, for the economy’s problems. (more…)
November 5, 2012
Poll: Obama expands Minn. lead 52% to 41%
“In the Presidential election to capture Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes, Barack Obama appears to have a tailwind at the finish line, defeating Mitt Romney 52% to 41%, Obama’s largest lead in 5 SurveyUSA tracking polls going back to July 2012. Obama has polled at or above 50% in every poll since September 2012. Romney has never polled above 43%,” reports KSTP.
November 2, 2012
Biden time
Packin’ ‘em in for the VP in Superior. Hope he’s on time so I can make my deadline ! twitter.com/dankraker/stat…
— dan kraker (@dankraker) November 2, 2012
Vice President Joe Biden paid a visit to Superior, WI as part of the Obama campaign’s effort to keep Wisconsin in their column. MPR reporter Dan Kraker expresses a concern that Biden’s travel schedule might not mesh well with MPR’s broadcast plans.
November 1, 2012
With no boots on the ground, can a deluge of spending give Romney a win in Minnesota?
The Romney longshot in Minnesota continues to capivate national media outlets. Most recently, the Washington Post which reports:
Romney “has had scant presence in the state, leading analysts to question whether this is all a head fake by the GOP. ‘Romney has absolutely no ground game [in Minnesota],’ said one outside Romney adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid in assessing the race. ‘I can’t imagine it’s real.’
“Others familiar with Minnesota politics, on both sides of the aisle, said that while Romney remains slightly behind in the state, the race is tighter, making it a smart move for the Republican candidate to invest some of his extensive resources there.”
October 31, 2012
Poll: Obama keeps lead in Minnesota, race is tightening
KSTP/SurveyUSA: Obama 50% Romney 43% Other/undecided 7%. Obama had 50% to 40% lead two weeks ago. Margin of error +-4.2%
— Tom Hauser (@5hauser) October 30, 2012
To be clear, those KSTP/SurveyUSA poll numbers are MN. Poll taken 10/26-28. 574 registered voters/likely to vote. 74% landline/26% cell.
— Tom Hauser (@5hauser) October 31, 2012
Noose hanging empty chair near Rochester intended to send message to Pres. Obama
“The noose was my husband’s idea. The chair, we got that from when Clint Eastwood spoke to that empty chair at the Republican National Convention. That’s where we got the idea to hang the empty chair from the tree,” Laura Mulholland tells KAAL. “President Obama needs to go, by the ballot box. He needs to go. What he’s done hasn’t been good for our country,” added Mulholland via (KAAL)
Minnesota gets a turn in the political spotlight
Photographer Derek Montgomery caught Bill Clinton campaigning here in Minnesota for President Barack Obama’s re-election.
Star Tribune: “On a day when Hurricane Sandy put the presidential campaign on hold for most of the country, Minnesota caught more political action than it has seen this entire election cycle.”
October 30, 2012
Former President Clinton to fire up Democrats at UMD rally
“Former President Clinton is slated to visit the University of Minnesota Duluth campus this afternoon, his first stop in Duluth since Nov. 4, 1994.
“During his previous visit to Duluth, President Clinton went for a morning jog on Skyline Parkway with then-Mayor Gary Doty and stumped at UMD for Ann Wynia in her unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid. She ultimately lost that race to Sen. Rod Grams.
“This time around, Clinton will lend his support to the campaigns of fellow Democrats Rick Nolan, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and President Obama,” reports Duluth News Tribune
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October 29, 2012
Bill Clinton coming to town
Democrats bring out their biggest gun to make a closing argument for DFL in Minnesota.
Photo by Center for American Progress via Flickr
Bill Clinton to campaign in MN on Tuesday for President Obama, DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar and other DFL candidates: minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/sp…
— tomscheck (@tomscheck) October 29, 2012
Minnesota moonlights as Swing State
“This year’s polls show that Minnesota has been about five points more Democratic-leaning than the country as a whole. Perhaps a late effort by Mr. Romney’s campaign could bring it back to within three points of the national average, as it was in 2008. But it is questionable whether that would be a good use of resources, since Mr. Romney would probably win it only if he were performing strongly elsewhere, especially in the Midwest, and that would mean that he probably would have already accumulated 270 electoral votes. Minnesota, despite the new polls, has only a 1-in-500 chance of being the ‘tipping-point state’, according to the FiveThirtyEight model, meaning that its electoral votes would be decisive given how all the other states might line up,” via Five Thirty Eight.
