A quick look at developments in the U.S. Senate and House races in Minnesota:

Senate:  Prepare for an air war:  Just as DFLer Al Franken announced that he would hit the airwaves early in 2008, fellow DFLer Mike Ciresi beat him to the punch with two ads focusing on his legal resume and on the plight on the middle class in America.  Due to a quirk in Federal Election Commission regulations, it appears that Ciresi will be able to self-fund a portion of these ads without giving Franken and Coleman (or Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, for that matter) an advantage in increased matching funds. More analysis needed on that, but a decent situation for Team Ciresi to be in, should they choose that route.CD3:  Iraq vet and attorney Ashwin Madia holds a press conference today to discuss the status of his campaign, endorsements, and Q4 fundraising totals. California congressman Mike Honda has endorsed Madia’s campaign in recent days, but local legislative endorsements are going to be hard to come by — State Sen. Terri Bonoff has already locked up most of those. Madia’s campaign has been tight-lipped about the content of the press conference, especially fundraising numbers, but numerous sources indicate that the press conference would not be happening, especially leading off the CD3 announcement circuit, if it were not a strong fundraising total heading into precinct caucuses. As of this morning, Madia had raised about $96,000 online (courtesy of ActBlue, where his campaign website points potential donors), and traditional fundraising totals will add to that.

CD1:  Republican candidate and Mayo Clinic physician Brian Davis is out this morning with a press release calling for “alternative” energy in the United States and attacking Tim Walz on the issue. “Alternative” is in quotes because the issue of alternative/renewable/clean energy is a tightly phrased one in Congressional circles.

  • Alternative = domestic oil and gas exploration and renewable energy sources too
  • Renewable = biodiesel, ethanol, and clean energy too
  • Clean = wind, solar, hydro, nuclear (sometimes, sort of)

See the order of priorities? Rarely will you hear Republican congresscritters support anything but increases in “alternative” energy production, Sen. Norm Coleman included. Many Democrats, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, usually include “Renewable” in their energy policies instead of advocating solely for “Clean” energy.  Davis calls for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, opposes clean energy mandates, and argues for a market-based approach to raising fuel economy standards. I may be calling down a nastygram from Davis’ campaign for this one, but ANWR exploration didn’t pass under a Republican Congress (including Walz predecessor Gil Gutknecht), and it sure as heck isn’t going to pass a Democratic one. Davis also says we should “Remove automobile mileage standards and government imposed production mandates because they often work against the free market and have failed in the past. Let individuals decide what is best for them.”

As is said on the Internet, YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary. Especially if you just have to drive a Hummer to get to and from work each day.