The Eagle's Nest Blog

On to More Important Matters!

The DFL is gathering in Rochester to endorse a US Senate candidate this weekend. It's likely to be Al Franken, who may just be the DFL's worse decision since running Mike Hatch in 2006. Although there is talk of Mike Ciresi returning to the race as an alternative, and a darn good one, it will be interesting to see if the DFL delegates realize that Franken is mortally wounded. A Ciresi or a Betty McCollum (Mee Moua would be the likely replacement) candidacy would turn the tables on Senator Norm Coleman and likely guarantee his defeat in November.

As I have posted before, endorse Franken and the election will be about Franken. Any other endorsed candidate will make the election about Norm Coleman's record. If the DFL wants a victory and support from moderates, Independents and unhappy Republicans, they should get smart and endorse Ciresi or McCollum. Many political insiders have told me that this is Obama's year in Minnesota and the opportunity to retake the seat that was held by Paul Wellstone may never be better. Let's see if the DFL unites behind a winnable candidate this weekend. I bet they wont!

Bait and Switch - The Old Smokescreen Trick!

UPDATE #2, Ryan Flugaur, Deputy Chair of SD38 has resigned over the planting of internal BPOU business and private e-mails on a DFL web blog to attack a fellow Republican activist. Although I have been supplied his letter of resignation, I will honor his request not to post it. Ryan did everything humanly possible to get the chair of SD38 to release the tapes and deserves much credit for doing "the right thing." He is the second executive committee member of SD38 to resign over this unconscionable act.

UPDATE #1, I plan this to be my last post on the subject raised on MNPublius.com regarding the internal actions in GOP SD38. This afternoon another DFL blogger called me confirming they were also approached by the "well known GOP blogger" (I'll spare you his name) and asked to plant the story he was peddling.

What amazes me is that a GOP blogger would go to DFL bloggers to plant a story, complete with private e-mail traffic, that would be not only damaging to a fellow Republican but impact negatively on his own MN House candidate. I fully admit that I threatened to blog on my site about the incident to force my BPOU chair to do the "right thing" and help other SD's, but here is the catch.....I didn't! I promised my MN House candidate that as long as no further attacks were made on me or my wife, the matter was settled.

For the record, this incident should never have been made public, let alone provided to the DFL, throwing the GOP House candidate under the bus!

It appears that it was decided by party officials that an attack on my character and an attempt to disgrace me was far more important then winning back a House seat in Eagan. Shameful to say the least! 

Yesterday, a well known GOP blogger planted a story with MNPublius.com about the SD38 GOP executive committee passing a condemnation resolution for my attempts to get their SD Chair to share important video. Last night I found out that this blogger had shopped the story to no less then three blog sites. The other two declined wanting validation from both sides. Only the blog willing to run the story first and ask for confirmation after was given the story and some hand picked e-mails

I think many people are missing the point. Yes, it is a personal attack on me, but why? I believe it is the old bait and switch. The MN GOP has been embarrassed by their horrible performance at their state convention and state central meeting last weekend in Rochester, so they need to change the focus. By attacking someone critical of their lack of proper leadership, people will focus on a unimportant story and the real story of Republican disunity, incompetence and growing financial irregularities will fade into the distance.

My story is just a smokescreen. No more and no less. The MN GOP is in sad shape it is because it's leadership pits Republican against Republican in an attempt to remain in power. You can't unify that way.

My hopes are that perhaps the focus can be redirected to the financial practices of the MN GOP. Remember bloggers, follow the money! "Simple clerical errors made by staff" over a 6 year period? Nondisclosure of nonfederal disbursements paid for out of state Republican's federal accounts of seven digits? Follow the money. Where there is smoke you are bound to find fire!

The Minnesota GOP Attack Machine in Action!

The Minnesota GOP attack machine has me zeroed in their sights. Having lost the chairman's race last year I have been a vocal critic of the current leadership, or lack there of, of MN GOP Chair Ron Carey. As a result, I have over the course of the last year been the target of retribution from the party.

The latest came today when MNPublius.com (here) posted a leaked story that I had been condemned by my BPOU SD 38 for "threatening, coercive and abusive behavior." After speaking with one of the SD 38 executive board members I was informed that this action took place at a hostility called meeting May 22 and was the work of Justin Countryman and Michael Brodkorb (Ron Carey's former campaign manager and who is believed to have leak the story). I was also told that the SD 38 executive board agreed to keep the condemnation private until the release could be made at a "more optimum time."

The bottom line is that this was a personal attack to discredit my party standing as a RNC National Delegate and a possible future candidate for party chair in 2009. Unfortunately, they left out many important details.

The following information is all true and I have an extensive e-mail paper trail to prove what I'm about to disclose.

On February 18, I met with Ben Golnik at the request of Marty Seifert. I was asked to step forward and run for the Minnesota House SD 38A endorsement. I was told that there was little confidence in the two candidates that had announced their intentions to run at the SD 38 BPOU Convention in early March. On February 22, I sent Golnik and Seifert my response that I would not run and supported Diane Anderson in her bid for that endorsement. This is important because of what would happen later.

On April 19, I attended a Town Hall meeting in Burnsville put on by three DFL freshman House members: Sandra Masin SD 38A, Shelly Madore SD 37A and Will Morgan SD 40A. The following week I had a letter to the editor in ThisWeek Eagan stating my concern about some of the statements made by these three legislators. The following week I receive two phone calls asking me for my notes from two other GOP BPOUs (37A & 40A). I told them they didn't need my notes because SD 38's Deputy Chair was their and video taped the event. I gave them Justin Countryman's phone number, since he is SD 38 Chair.

On May 9, I received a call from one of the other BPOUs Vice Chairs saying they have had no response from Countryman or the Deputy Chair of SD 38 after numerous phone calls and e-mails. I call Countryman and got his voice mail. I said I wasn't sure what the problem was that he had not returned call or e-mails, but that I would be happy to pick up the tape and make copies for the other BPOUs. I would return him the original the same day. I received no answer, so I called again on May 10, again getting the voice mail and again leaving my message.

On Monday, May 12, I e-mailed Countryman to please contact me as soon as possible. I then received a disturbing phone call from the Deputy Chair of SD 38 who tells me he was ordered not to e-mail or return the phone calls from the two BPOUs. I then sent off an e-mail to Countryman asking for an explanation. Later that evening Countryman fired off a terse e-mail accusing me of "maliciously accusing" him of not doing what was best for the cause.He stated the following:

"The word got out that we had footage of this event which also contained comments from Morgan and Madore. I was contacted by two BPOU chairman in the last few weeks who asked for the tapes. I have ignored them and have instructed (my Deputy Chair) to do the same.

Let me be clear about this whole situation. The people of SD38 have busted their butts working on getting opposition footage. I am not going to hand over our hard work to other BPOUs with whom I have no previous relationship with just because they or you demand it. If they want footage they can do it themselves and then they can own it and do whatever they want with it."

I immediately suspected that because Countryman's wife Gina worked at party headquarters that my request ( not demand) was the real reason for the stone walling of the other BPOUs. I immediately sent an e-mail to Marty Seifert and Ben Golnik asking them to intervene and settle the matter. I also asked Tim Wilkin to step in and settle the problem They all declined.

I then sent Countryman a stronger worded request on May 13, stating I would be glad to post his comments on my blog. That was met the that afternoon with an e-mail saying I was threatening him and he would not be blackmailed. That he intended to take the matter to the SD 38 executive committee, which my wife was a Vice Chair and member.

The two day later we notified Diane Anderson that although some 300 invitations had gone out we were canceling the fund raiser scheduled at our home from May 22, because of this matter. My wife announced her intentions to resign from the SD 38 BPOU Vice Chair position. We also canceled a fund raiser date for Congressman John Kline and have resigned as the prescient Eagan 12 captain and vice captain positions.

My wife and I have been loyal Republican volunteers who have worked hard and raised tens of thousands of dollars for GOP candidates in the past. We have worked hard for many GOP candidates including Governor Pawlenty, Senator Coleman, Congressman Kline and many local candidates. I have served on the finance committee's of John Kline and Norm Coleman, and we have been invited to the White House because of our activism. To stand by and watch this type of behavior towards other BPOUs, to receive this kind of response by our own BPOU officials, these actions have left us with no other recourse but to pull back our support and watch from the sidelines.   

Now, for party operatives to attack us with distorted facts to discredit us because of our questioning of the party leadership is just unacceptable. We will no longer remain silent.

As of last weekend I was told that no tapes had been given to the other BPOUs.

Little wonder the DFL blogs claim the have a secret weapon this year to use against the GOP - Ron Carey!

UPDATE #1, Earlier today I had to clear my good name from the attacks leveled against me by SD38 Chair Justin Countryman and the SD38 executive committee members by leaking a condemnation of me to the DFL blog MNPublius.com with the above post.

I e-mailed to Zack Stephenson at MNPublius all e-mail traffic pertinent to the incident. Let the people decide if this was a conjured up attack against me or not. I believe that a dispassionate mind will conclude that this was a setup to create embarrassment and to damage my good reputation amongst the Republican rank and file. J Repya

Is Minnesota a Swing State?

Like John McCain, maybe it's a military trait, I'm more of a straight talker. There has been a fair amount of talk that Minnesota is going to be a player in the November election. If anyone has any doubt whether Minnesota will be in play as a possible swing state in November, let them look at the Saint Paul Xcel Center. Massive crowds have been forming since early this morning to greet Barack Obama. Even the most die-hard spin doctors for the Minnesota GOP are going to be at a loss for words to explain the drama playing out in the very location that the National GOP will come to endorse John McCain in September.

Look at the ages and passion that those in the crowd waiting for Obama. They demonstrate just how energized their side feels for their candidate. Where in the MN GOP do we see that sort of passion and excitement? Oh wait, we saw that in the Ron Paul people. Youthful exuberance and passionate dedication to work hard for a candidate, but "these people" were not welcome last weekend at Rochester. Now granted there are some weird people associated with the Paulite's, but I could say the same thing about some of the establishment GOP folks as well. Every candidate had an extreme element or two. That went for the Democrats also.

The big difference is that the MN GOP did everything they could to deamonize the Paulite's and make them enemy number one. That seems to be the mode of operandi for the MN GOP lately. They have to have an enemy to belittle and marginalize to keep their power base frightened like heck so they will do the establishments bidding.

Every poll I've seen has Obama many percentage points ahead of McCain. I have said for sometime now that Minnesota is going to experience a "nightmare" scenario where Obama energizes the DFL base and hundreds of thousands of first time voters to paint Minnesota solid "BLUE." I've warned party leaders that the GOP will likely lose 4 to 10 MN House seats, 1 or 2 Congressional seats and the GOP Senate seat.

Ad to the mix the inept MN GOP leadership and less then stellar candidates and you can figure which way this story is going to end. Fasten your seat belts MN GOP, your train wreck is quickly approaching and you have know one to blame but yourself!

UPDATE #1: Wow! 32,000 greet Obama (17,000 in the Xcel plus 15,000 outside). Did you see the crowd? Did you see all the bright young faces demanding change?

The question of the day is: Can the MN GOP leadership or their candidates inspire this kind of enthusiasm?

Republican Disasters - "Get Over It?"

Last weekend Brian Sullivan, Minnesota's Republican National Committeeman, told the MN GOP convention that if they are in the dumps, feeling blue, feeling down to just "get over it!" Sullivan, lost in 2002 to Tim Pawlenty for the MN GOP endorsement for Governor. Many establishment GOP insiders say that Sullivan has been promised the governor's endorsement for 2010, if Pawlenty doesn't run again.

I admit I like Brian Sullivan, a lot more now then I did in 2002. However, I have started questioning his judgment. His speech rang hollow when he said that "When Republicans act like Democrats, Democrats win." Why do I feel this way? Sullivan has sat on the MN GOP executive committee for a long time now and has allowed an out of control leadership to lead this party down the path to a crushing defeat in 2006 and another one that will happen this November.

Sullivan has allowed the party leadership to ramrod the party rank and file through fear and hate for anyone who challenges their power grabbing authority and heavy handed methods. You build winning parties by bringing people together with common goals not by tearing them apart pitting one interest against another.

Perhaps the reason Brian Sullivan has not stepped forward to exert any positive leadership is that he doesn't want to risk the promises that have been made to him. Minnesota's GOP is in need for leadership, the recent state convention proved just how badly it is needed. It is time for real leaders to step forward. I question whether Brian Sullivan has what it takes to be that leader?

The Minnesota GOP is Hemorrhaging

I was asked by another blogger to write how I would have conducted the state convention if I were in charge. I plan to do that sometime this week. But after the unwarranted personal attacks on me at the State Central meeting by party leadership yesterday, I have a few other topics to get off my chest first.

It is my opinion that the Rochester GOP Convention will go down in political history as the day the Minnesota GOP began to bleed to death. Believe me there was heavy bleeding everywhere. It didn't have to be this way if this party had sound leadership.

Unfortunately, it does not. After opening the convention urging that all Republicans become united, the GOP leadership did everything in it's power to further divide the party. Time and time again this weekend the party establishment leaders proved their ineptitude, incompetence and total lack of any leadership skills. This party leadership suffers from severe paranoia of imagined threats to it's power base from within and without. So much so that it continues to blame everything negative that is said or that happens on the Star Tribune or party activists that do not espouse their spin on events.

Look at the polls from Minnesota and across the country. America no longer trust the Republican brand. The folks that promised smaller government, lower taxes, a higher standard of integrity, more personal freedoms, a sound energy policy and family values have squandered, lied and spent money like drunken sailors. Now, those same elected officials who once called themselves "Conservatives," tell us we are out of touch and have to be "Democratic Lite" to get Republicans elected. All you have to do is look the candidates the GOP is fielding to understand why the rank and file are so unenthusiastic and fleeing in a state of revolt.

So what did we learn this weekend. First, that their are a lot of Republicans willing to act like lemmings and blindly follow their MN GOP leaders over the cliff of oblivion for a third disastrous election cycle. Second, the this state leadership can manipulate the rules to suit their power grab agenda without any checks or balance by the party faithful. Third, rules matter if you want to run for a national delegate spot, but only if you are in the opposition. Finally, the only people that matter are the elected officials, special interests and the big money folks that pony up the expensive signs and brochures.

Lets look at each one more closely. The party leadership screamed alarm because of a fraction of Republicans convention attendees, 25% according to statements to the Star Tribune by Chairman Ron Carey, supported Ron Paul. It seems that the Ron Paul people were trying to get some names on the ballet to run as national delegates. So what does this leadership do? Instead of sitting down and discussing how the problem could be settled, the party chair spent the last month and a half belittling "these people" as outsiders, unworthy, and unwanted. Now that is a perfect example of great leadership technique on how to unite the party when one of every four at the convention was one of "these people." To make sure that the rank and file stayed in line, red capped party storm troopers complete with ear pieces and two way radios roamed the halls and byways holding signs to tell the lemmings how to vote.

Second, this party leadership imposed draconian style rule changes to the State Constitution, all in the name of controlling "these people." The rules change was not so much an attempt to control the Ron Paul people as it was to signal the party faithful that if you step out of line like the two BPOU's that sent Senator Norm Coleman letters saying they could no longer support his reelection, you will be stripped of your elected BPOU positions.

Thirdly, the party in a premeditated action stacked the deck of the nominating committee to insure "these people " who applied for a national delegate position would not meet the requirements imposed. Leadership structured hard and fast rules that applied to "these people" but not to some of the highest ranking elected Minnesota politicians. What is more shameful, is that a majority of the convention goers, who are very good people, actually went along with this charade and voted down a proposals that would have done the right thing. It is amazing how fear and hate can motivate good people to do wrong things. Selective rules are no rules! But what can we expect from a group that believes a tax is really a fee.

Finally, the grassroots be damned, only high ranking elected officials and their big buck backers are all that matters. It's all about the power baby! Follow the money folks. Just who is the "Minnesota Conservative Delegate Team" really? Certainly this new Edina based group are not "Conservatives," they are just using the word as a smokescreen. Some in this group belong to the most liberal wing of the Republican Party and are responsible for Edina turning "Blue." How did they afford enormous signs in the auditorium, mass mailings and a 30 page glossy brochure? Who picked up the bill? Not authorized by any campaign or candidate? Then why did Ben Golnik, John McCain's man in Minnesota take the microphone and say that the slate proposed by the Minnesota Conservative Delegate Team were approved by the McCain election committee? These items didn't come free. Someone in power felt incredibly threatened to pony up this kind of money. Who was it? What party rules were violated? What FEC rules were violated? I guarantee you that there are a lot more questions then answers.

The convention was an utter failure. This party came away more un-united then ever. Where are the young people with passion going to come from to do the grassroots work to win this election in November. Too many, including myself a national delegate, feel more disenfranchised then before the convention. Lord knows I'm no Ron Paul supporter. But I believe in honesty, fairness and civil treatment for all who don't attack me. That was not practiced by this parties leaders in Rochester!

Sadly, this pathetic party leadership is thumping themselves on their chest saying what a great victory they had in Rochester. With their delusional bunker "us against them" mentality, these idiots don't realize that they only won a fixed battle while they were losing the entire war.

Minnesota a purple state? Get real! In November the DFL is going to paint this state solid "blue."

Like the DFL blogs are saying, their secret weapon is - Ron Carey.

Rochester - The Morning After!

After sleeping on my experience in Rochester yesterday one now has to question whether or how involved one want to be with a political party that openly attacks it's own and treats people with so little respect. The mean spirited behavior witnessed in Rochester was nothing short of appalling. The Minnesota Republican Party "establishment" has developed a bunker mentality that attacks anyone suspected of not towing the establishment party line and it is costing them dearly.

Senator Norm Coleman likes to say, "A leader without followers is just a man taking a walk in the park by himself." The treatment of fellow Republicans witnessed in Rochester is chased many from this party. If you don't believe me just look at the election results by BPOU in 2004 and 2006, where the MN GOP has been significantly defeated in state house and constitutional officer seats. I have heard the horror stories of dedicated Republican activists who have stopped volunteering, working and donating to the MN GOP after rude treatment including being called "non-Christian", "devil worshiper" or "cult fringe" for not supporting certain candidates. I witnessed this type of behavior yesterday in Rochester and it sickened me. This is no way to build a political party and is completely opposite of what Ronald Reagan meant when he encouraged a "Big Tent" approach for the GOP.

The shocking hypocritical quote in today's Star Tribune by the MN GOP Chair: "We want the Ron Paul people to be part of the party - they are part of the party," begs the question Mr. Chairmen, were you sleeping during the political training class on good leadership techniques? After openly attacking the Paul people for weeks as unworthy to participate in the process, by accusing them of not being true Republicans, by stacking the convention rules to exclude them from participating, and by refusing to allow them the opportunity to address the convention, you now expect them to rejoin the effort to elect GOP candidates this November? It reminds me of the scene in the movie Animal House where the fraternity pledge is getting paddled and after every smack to his bottom he says, "Thank you sir, can I have another."

Yes, this has been a sad weekend for Republicans in Rochester. Is there any doubt now why it is so difficult to recruit qualified individuals to run under the MN GOP banner? Perhaps when integrity, respect and civility is restored in the MN GOP things will change. Until then, you will see the MN GOP brand in the losing column and former MN GOP volunteers who are passionate, motivated and staunchly conservative seeking a more accepting venue somewhere else.

Oh what the hell! It was only one quarter (about 500) of the people who chose to take a day from work and attend the convention. Who needs them anyway?

You'll excuse me now, I have to return to Rochester for more classes on how to bury my head in the sand so I can be a good Minnesota Republican!

 

Minnesota GOP - Delusional in Rochester?

I awoke this morning knowing that my trip to the Minnesota State Republican Convention in Rochester was going to be a difficult one. I was held out hope that cooler minds would win the day and convince the inept leadership of the MN GOP that they were about to make a major public relations error and surrender the days news to the Ron Paul faction of the party. I hoped that they would do the smart thing and invite Ron Paul in to address the convention.

Alas that didn't happen. Ron Paul was forced to speak outside to some 500 on lookers. In doing so, the MN GOP made the entire story on all the television and radio stations about divisiveness in the party and the snubbing of the Paulites. So much for the old Republican "Big Tent" of political inclusiveness.

Later in the morning the battle changed to the inside of the convention when a major power grab by the MN GOP establishment led by it's Chairman Ron Carey took place. Full disclosure here: I ran last summer against Carey for the chair position. Regardless, an attempt was made to disenfranchise any Republican who was suspected of anything short of complete and total loyalty to the establishment. When I left the convention this afternoon, results of a vote to change the State GOP Constitution to give exorbitant power to the executive committee to replace any BPOU leadership within the state they felt were not following their directives was yet to be announced. From the jeers and boos from the convention goers, it may not pass. In truth, this change came about because two BPOU's announced they would not support the re-election of Senator Norm Coleman. We can't allow any independent thinkers in the new GOP.

In a day that made it difficult to be proud to be a Republican, the leadership successfully limited any attempt to nominate delegates or alternates from the convention floor. Having selectively required delegates or alternates (not all mind you) candidates to arrive in Rochester to be interviewed on Thursday to be judged whether they met the numerous and rigorous requirements to pass the nominating committee, which naturally was made up of mostly party establishment loyalists. What a way to motivate, energize and unite a terribly fractured party.

Perhaps one of the most puzzling actions by the MN GOP leadership, Carey announcement that the convention would close "by someone who can really fire them up," an address by Karl Rove. This year nearly every national Republican candidate, including John McCain is trying to distance themselves from the Bush White House. The only people in Minnesota, besides Carey and his executive committee, fired up and energized over Rove will be the Democrats. Instead of being smart and bringing in a conservative like: Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity or Laura Ingrams to really fire up the convention crown, the "Minnesota Gang Who Can't Shoot Straight" gives the DFL at cause to crow about.

I'll return to Rochester tomorrow for the State Central meeting that will follow the convention. If this is the best decision making the MN GOP can do, any chance of winning anything this November has to be rated slim to none. No wonder one of the DFL blogs recently posted that this year the DFL has a secret weapon - Ron Carey!

This Post is Far Overdue!!!!!!!!!!

This morning's Star Tribune brings another story by reporter Pat Doyle (here) discussing the Federal Election Commission's problems with the reporting accuracy of the Minnesota State Republican Party. It appears that the MN GOP has amended 60 reports to the FEC in the last two weeks with 15 more coming next week. Some of the revised reports date back to 2002. Poor accounting or something worse?

Well as someone once said, "the chickens are coming home to roost!"

Last summer I ran for the MN GOP Chairman position and lost. I ran on a platform vowing to reform the Party operations and put our finances into order. I questioned how the former Party treasurer of 12 years, now Party Chairman for the last 3 years, could allow the financial situation to get so out of hand. I vowed to have immediate independent audits completed and to report to the State Central delegates the results, good or bad. I warned then, that if this reform and transparency of our finances wasn't accomplished, the MN DFL would accuse the MN GOP of corruption and would use it as a major election issue in 2008.

I'm fully aware that there will be calls attacking me as a "poor loser," but frankly, there are those of us in the MN GOP that are sick and tired of the shell games, delay tactics and lame excuses that we have been getting for the last year. It is time to stop trying to deflect the problem as an attempt by the Star Tribune to discredit Republicans. These are not imaginary problems. It appears from a leaked February 2007 internal memo (of which neither I nor my campaign had ever seen or were responsible for leaking) and numerous FEC reports that the Party has been successful in discrediting itself.

This Party stands on the verge of a political disaster equal to that of 2006, because of either the ineptitude by our leadership or worse, the dishonesty of personnel with fiduciary responsibility. It is time to determine what is wrong and who is responsible and correct the problem once and for all. It is time for complete accountability. We have had a year to correct these problems and obviously have not.

As I repeatedly said in 2007, "Leadership Matters." It does not appear that the MN GOP Executive Board has been willing to step forward and solve these problems. Nor are any of our GOP elected officials willing to tackle this issue. It is high time for someone at the State Central meeting next weekend in Rochester to demand a full accountability. If none is adequately provided, the State Central delegates should take steps to replace those who have failed to solve these issues.

We better act now instead of waiting for more irregularities to be exposed before the Republican National Convention or the fall 2008 election. The stakes are far too high to keep silenced anymore, and I for one will not bury my head in the sand any longer.

Run Jesse Run!

Last night Jesse Ventura was on CNN's Larry King Live and said once again that he was considering jumping in the Minnesota Senate race before the filing deadline of July 15. Ventura said if he does run, he would run on the Independence Party ticket. All I can say is "Run Jesse Run!"

Don't get me wrong, I really don't think Jesse would be able to win as he did in the 1998 Governors race in a three way split. But then I was wrong in 1998. Too many people who supported Jesse discovered he wasn't the politician they thought he would be. After all, it's really about Jesse and what the job can bring to his pocket book. Still, Jesse would make what is shaping up to be a sadly dull race interesting again.

Al Franken may have been fatally damaged by his tax problem's but the DFL will still endorse him anyway. The DFL lost it's best chance to win the seat when they turned their collective backs on Mike Ciresi. As I have warned here before, endorse Franken and the race will be about Franken, endorse Ciresi and the race will be about the record of Norm Coleman.

As far as Norm Coleman's chances for re-election, it is always very difficult to unseat an incumbent. In Coleman's case however, many Republicans have said they will hold their nose if he runs against Franken and vote for Norm, while others say they will not support Norm's run for a second term.

All this could be a moot point if Ciresi returns to the race or if Ventura enters the race. The Obama factor will have a strong impact on the DFL vote in Minnesota, but maybe not strong enough for the scales to tip in favor of Franken. So let's hope that Jesse runs just to give us some comic relief from a boring Senate election.