Last fall, Minnesotans elected a Democratic governor who pledged to tax the rich and a majority Republican legislature who swore by no new taxes, period. Their first major task? Craft a budget for the next biennium that addressed a projected $5 billion shortfall. Months passed, no agreement was reached, and this morning at midnight, the Minnesota government shut down. Citizens on both sides are not pleased. [more inside]
posted by Flannery Culp on Jul 1, 2011 - 92 comments

"Bachmann's entire political career has followed this exact same pattern of God-speaks-directly-to-me fundamentalism mixed with pathological, relentless, conscienceless lying. She's not a liar in the traditional way of politicians, who tend to lie dully, usefully and (they hope) believably, often with the aim of courting competing demographics at the same time. That's not what Bachmann's thing is."- Michele Bachmann's Holy War - Matt Tabbi - Rolling Stone
posted by The Whelk on Jun 23, 2011 - 283 comments

Earlier this week, the Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives asked Bradlee Dean to give the morning prayer. [more inside]
posted by jiawen on May 21, 2011 - 80 comments

"I, Amy Myers, do hereby challenge Representative Michele Bachmann to a Public Forum Debate and/or Fact Test on The Constitution of the United States, United States History and United States Civics."
posted by Brandon Blatcher on May 14, 2011 - 42 comments

ReturnTheDVD.org "Dear Archbishop Nienstedt, We write to you as a small group of faithful Catholics. This letter, however, represents the voices of thousands of families who were as disheartened as we were by the DVD Preserving Marriage in Minnesota..." [more inside]
posted by jillithd on Dec 10, 2010 - 31 comments

An NYT primer on MN politics A quick, breezy explanation for those wondering, "WTF?" about a state that has elected anyone from Bachmann to Ventura to Franken. You betcha.
posted by ShadePlant on Jul 5, 2009 - 42 comments

Green screen or not? The latest advertisement for incumbent Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota is raising questions about whether his wife (actress and model Laurie Coleman), shown drinking coffee with him presumably in their home, was anywhere near her husband during the shoot. The controversy might amount to nothing more than the many terrible photoshop disasters we've all seen before if it weren't for all the rumors about the state of the marriage between Senator Coleman and his wife, where she resides, and the growing internet accusations and general political hackery over the new advertisement. [more inside]
posted by Muddler on Jun 20, 2008 - 74 comments

Minnesota is a state rich in study material for fans of political oddity. The state has faced famous (and infamous) political news in the last few years, from the legendary surprise independent gubernatorial victory of Jesse "The Body" Ventura to the tragic death of Senator Paul Wellstone and its ensuing fallout, controversy, and lunacy. It holds a unique variation in the usual two-party system with the DFL replacing the Democratic Party. St. Paul will host the 2008 Republican National Convention. And now, the ongoing oddity that is Minnesota politics will now enter a new chapter as Comedian Al Franken, who moved his Air America radio show to his home state of Minnesota a year ago, will be leaving radio in February to run for his late friend Paul Wellstone's old Senate seat against incumbent Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. Another unique fact would be should Franken win the DFL nomination, it would be a rare instance of both candidates from the major parties in a statewide race being Jewish- Franken and Coleman are two of the less than 50,000 Jews living in the state.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Jan 31, 2007 - 48 comments

A concession e-mail to returning House Rep Satveer Chaudhary from loser Rae Hart Anderson. [via]
posted by bardic on Nov 18, 2006 - 187 comments

Is Keith Ellison liberal enough? Ellison is currently the representative from Minnesota district 58B. Now, he's the DFL's candidate to replace outgoing DFLer Martin Olav Sabo as representative for Minnesota's 5th district in the US House. Ellison got the nomination pretty easily. If he wins, he'd be the first Muslim in the House of Representatives.

Some people are worried about him, though. He's apparently had links to Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, but it's mostly only conservatives pointing that out. A better question might be, Is he liberal enough for Minnesota's 5th district? The Fifth District (located in Minneapolis and the western suburbs) has traditionally been a very strong Democratic stronghold. Ellison will probably have little trouble defeating his opponents (who were they again?), so the question for liberals in his district is: Is he liberal enough? One of the few opportunities for liberals to get someone who really goes the whole nine yards -- so does he?
posted by jiawen on Jul 1, 2006 - 16 comments

So if you run the CD in your personal computer, by the end of it, the Minnesota GOP will not only know what you think on particular issues, but also who you are. --a cd being sent out to home by the Minnesota GOP is polling people who use the cd, sending their personal info, including name, address, and phone, among other info, back to party headquarters. No privacy policy or statement identifying what the cd does is visible anywhere: ...As far as I could tell, nothing tells you that the answers are about to be e-mailed or otherwise transmitted to the Minnesota GOP. So you finish, and then the phone rings. "Hello, Mr/Mrs. Voters, it's Joe and I notice you support gun control and the marriage amendment, would you like to donate some money to us?" That might startle the person who may have thought he/she was viewing the presentation in the privacy of the computer room. ...
posted by amberglow on Feb 28, 2006 - 80 comments

Voters in the US state of Minnesota may find a self-proclaimed vampire on the ballot for the office this year when Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey of the Vampyres, Witches and Pagans Party announces his plan to run for Governor, expected later today. Acknowledging that "politics is a cut-throat business", Sharkey has let voters know that whilst he is a Satanist, he dosen't hate Jesus, "just God, the Father."
posted by Effigy2000 on Jan 12, 2006 - 39 comments

This Guy in Minnesota just got laid-off and he's spending his time following around Bush's economic team on their tour of the upper midwest as they share their "upbeat outlook" on our nation's economy. He's following their tourmobile with his own tourmobile and has been chasing them around in parkinglots and at fast food places. He finally cornered the Treasury Secretary whose advice to the job-seeker was to "just wait." What's your economic reality? Is it closer to the sunny optimism of the big shiny tourbus, or the laid-off reality of the homemade minivan? (Check out the particularly funny bit about how he stumbled on the entire press corps only when he was looking for a dumpster.)
posted by amoeba on Jul 30, 2003 - 84 comments

After her experience in the weeks before Sept. 11, she said, "I promised myself that in the future I always would try." Time magazine person of the year - Coleen Rowley warns of more attacks. Is she doing the right thing or out of line by going public with warning?
posted by specialk420 on Mar 6, 2003 - 45 comments

MN Governor Jesse Ventura announced he will not run for re-election -- Ventura said, "You've got to have your heart and soul into these types of jobs. You've got to want to do it. * * * I feel that it's time to go back into the private sector." (He also said that his decision was "partly tied" to allegations by former employees that his 22-year-old son had thrown parties in the governor's residence.)
posted by subgenius on Jun 18, 2002 - 15 comments

Minn. Nat'l Guard Replace Strikers 22,000 state workers on strike and the media isnt reporting it? Odd in these propaganda filled times?
posted by Niahmas on Oct 2, 2001 - 30 comments