Independent Candidate For Governor

Peter Hutchinson says DFL & GOP have "litmus tests"
Candidates "play to the extremes" to get endorsed
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Peter Hutchinson likes to quote a December SurveyUSA poll that shows more people in Minnesota (38%) say they are independents than they are Democrats (31%) or Republicans (30%). He says that bodes well for his Independence Party run for Governor.

Despite that statistic, Hutchinson knows that if he is get elected Governor, he must engaged the "disillusioned" voters who are tired of politicians who are afraid to "speak the truth".

"You know the formula," says Hutchinson "Play to the extremes to get endorsed and then try to convince the middle that you really were with them all along."

Hutchinson says the two major parties focus on the "five G's - Gays, Guns, God, Gambling and Gynecology". He says an independent candidate does not have to pass either party's "litmus test" on these five issues and instead can focus on education, health care, transportation and the environment.

Most people may remember Hutchinson as Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools. Hutchinson says his term was "controversial every step of the way". Listen as Peter Idusogie digs into his background.

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Inside MN Politics featured in today's Pioneer Press

The Pioneer Press interviewed interviewed Peter Idusogie & Mike McIntee about the show and blog. You can find the article here. (It includes a picture of Peter & Mike) You'll find a list of influential bloggers (including Inside Minnesota Politics) here.

Thanks to our many fans who brought our show to the attention of the Pioneer Press.

President Bush says he would get a court order for wiretaps

Listen here (29 seconds)
This is what President Bush had to say about wiretaps on April 20, 2004

Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.

Full text and audio of speech here.

Please note the President has authorized the NSA to use wiretaps on hundreds (if not thousands) of U.S. Citizens.

Ek Bounced from Special Election Ballot

The Minnesota Supreme Court today ruled that Republican Sue Ek did not establish residency in time for next week's special legislative election in St. Cloud (15B)and can not be listed on the ballot. Link to the ruling is here.

The court did not make any ruling about replacing Ek on the ballot.

Reaction
This is what DFL Chair Brian Melendez had to say:
“Today the Supreme Court of Minnesota confirmed what the facts have already shown: Sue Ek doesn’t live in St. Cloud, and wasn’t telling the truth when she ran for elected office saying that she did.

“From day one, the Republicans have been playing political games with the people of St. Cloud. Gov. Pawlenty scheduled the special election two days after Christmas, which would ensure low voter turnout, and disfranchise the students of St. Cloud State University. Then the Republicans advanced a candidate who didn’t even live in the district. The Supreme Court wasn’t fooled. The voters won’t be fooled either.

“The voters have a clear choice in Larry Haws. Haws has proven himself with over 32 years of public service to the people of the St. Cloud area. He is honest, trustworthy and the best choice to represent the Granite City at the State Capitol.”

Spying On Americans

Republicans and Democrats upset over President Bush's secret order
•NSA could be evesdropping on your conversations

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Republicans and Democrats agree you need to be careful to protect US Citizens' privacy. So revelations this week that President Bush OK'd the National Security Agency to evesdrop on Americans is very troublesome to members of both parties. Court orders are needed to allow wiretapping in the US. The President has bypassed this check and balance mechanism in the name of fighting terrorism.

Is the Bush administration spying on you? Listen as White House spokesman Scott Mclellan tries to not answer the question.

Peter also talks about why the Rochester area may turn more blue in 2006 and what the likely Republican strategy is to prevent that.

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Unhealed Rifts In DFL

Why does MNPact poll show support for Coleen Rowley is soft?
•What activists and general electorate want may be different

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Two very different polls -- one unscientific poll of DFL activists and one from a consumer research firm paint an interesting picture of the 2006 elections.

MNPact (Minnesota Network for Progressive Action) invited activists (mostly southern suburban DFLers) to answer some questions and turned up some surprising results. Less than 50% of those who replied were supporting Coleen Rowley for Congress. So far, Rowley is running unopposed for the DFL endorsement. (Some of the poll votes went to Peter. Peter wants to make it clear HE IS NOT RUNNING FOR CONGRESS) The poll also showed three other surprises a tight race for Governor, a lack of support for Patty Wetterling for U.S. Senate, and a 21% negative rating for the DFL's new Chair Brian Melendez who has been in office for less than nine months.

Listen as Peter digs into the rifts that are behind these numbers and looks for the answers to heal them. He finds some of them in a very non-political place --a poll from a consumer research firm. It asked more than 9,000 people what "issues were on their mind". The responses show that people have some serious concerns about the state of our economy, government, leaders and the general direction of our country.

We guarantee this podcast will tick you off or enlighten you... or perhaps both.

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DFL Wins Middle In Minnetonka

Newly Elected State Senator Terri Bonoff
•"Uniting The Middle" campaign resonates with voters

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Terri Bonoff ran as a moderate and as a DFLer. She won a special election in a district that leans heavily Republican. Listen as she tells Peter why she was successful.

Is this an indication of how the 2006 elections will go? Maybe, maybe not. Republicans were able to hang on to a central Minnesota Senate seat in a three way race. Listen as Peter says what can be learned from these two different races.

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